Kenmore MS-1242KLSY Use and Care Guide - Page 37

QUESTIONS AND ANSWERS (Co,-,t'd) FOODS Q.Whal is wrong when baked foods have a hard, dry, brown spot? A. A hard, dry, brown spot shows overcooking. Shorten the cooking or reheating time. Q.Why do eggs sometimes pop? A. When baking, frying or poaching eggs, the yolk may pop due to steam build-up inside the yolk membrane. To prevent this, simply pierce the yolk with a toothpick before cooking it. CAUTION: Never microwave cook eggs in the shell. - Q.Why are scrambled eggs sometimes a little dry after cooking? A. Eggs dry out if they are overcooked. Though the same recipe is used each time, one may need to vary the cooking tbne for one of these reasons: • Eggs vary in size. • Eggs are at room temperature one time and at refrigerator temperature another time. • The shapes of utensils vary, thereby making it necessary to vary the cooking time. • Eggs continue cooking during standing time. Q. Is it possible to pop corn in a microwave oven? A. Popping corn in a microwave oven is not recommended. Microw, aves pop too few kernels to make the technique successful. Longer cooking does not yield more popped corn. It can cause fire or cause the cooking dish to become too hot to handle or to break. Microwave-popping devices are available. While safe to use, they usually do not give results equal to regular popping methods. If they are used, carefully foUow the instructions which come with the popping device and never leave the oven unattended while popping corn. CAUTION: Never use a paper bag for popping corn. Q.What is wrong when three potatoes bake thoroughly and the fourth one is still not cooked? A. The fourth potato may be slightly heavier than the others and should be cooked 30 to 60 seconds longer. Remember to allow space around each potato when baking. Also, for more even cooking, put potatoes in a circle. Q.Why do baked apples sometimes burst during cooking? A. The peeling has not been removed from the top half of each apple to allow for expansion of the interior of the apple during cookng. As in regular cooking methods, the interior of the apple expands during the cooking process. Q. How are boil-overs avoided? A. When cooking foods that tend to boil over, use a larger utensil than usual for cooking. If you open the oven door or touch STOP, the food will stop boiling. (Remember to touch START again after closing the door to restart the cooking cycle.) Q.Why is a standing time recomended after microwave cooking is over? A. Standing time is recommended after microwave cooking is over. This is to allow food s to continue cooking evenly throughout for a few moments after the actual microwave oven cooking cycle. The amount of standing time depends upon the density of the food. Q.Why is an additional time required for cooking food stored in refrigerator? A. As in conventional cooking, the initial temperature of food affects total cooking time. More time is needed to cook the food just taken out of a refrigerator than food at a room temperature. 37