Microwave Cooking - How to Microwave Food Properly

Microwave cooking - Background
The first ever microewave oven was built in 1947 by a company called Radarange. They were huge, a lot bigger than the ones we use in our homes, a massive 1.8m tall and weighing in at an incredible 340kg. They also came with an equally impressive price tag of US$5,000 per machine, which was great deal of money at the time.

Over the years as technology has improved microwave ovens have become more ane more sophisticated and have become much smaller and cheaper to buy than their predecessors.

The more densely packed together the molecules are - in the constituent food - the faster the said food will heat up. The theory behind this, is that the Molecules bounce off and rub against each other more often in a set period of time. For example lets take a bowl of water - where the molecules are relatively uncompacted compared with other food sources - and a bowl of custard - where the molecules are more closely compacted compared to water. If you wanted to heat both substances to a temperature of 50 degress C, then you'll find that the custard will reach the required temperature in the faster time.

Now that we've got the science over and done with we can now concentrate on using the our microaves to their optimum levels.

How can I microwave eggs?
Although it is true that microwaving eggs will quite possibly result in your microwave oven blowing up, there is a way to cook them using your machine without having to run for cover and replacing the oven when you're done.

Before we start this microwave egg recipe there are a couple of good housekeeping practices you should make yourself aware of. Firstly you should Never microwave the egg whilst in its shell, this is because the pressure within the egg and yolk caused by the molecules heating up will have no place to escape and eventually will cause the egg to explode.

The following egg recipes can be made using your microwave oven. Scrambled eggs, pouched eggs and omelettes.

Scrambled Eggs
In order to cook scrambled eggs in your microwave all you need to do is grab yourself a two eggs and break them into a mug or a similer vessel. When you've done this add two tablespoons of milk (the general rule here is to use 1 tablespoon per egg) and a pinch of pepper and salt.

Next you'll need to beat them, until the yolk, albumin (egg white) and the other ingredients have fully blended. When you've finished this taask just pour the contents into a bowl and cook on full power for. N.B. Cooking times are for standard microwave ovens ranging from 600 - 700 watts - times may vary for more powerful machines.

1 egg = 35 - 45 seconds
2 eggs = 70 - 90 seconds
3 eggs = 110 - 130 seconds
4 eggs = 150 - 180 seconds
6 eggs = 210 - 270 seconds
8 eggs = 270 - 330 seconds

Poached Eggs
When making poached eggs in your microwave oven, firstly, grab a breakfast cereal bowl and pour into it 100ml of water.

Next carefuly break into it, two eggs. Please ensure that you pierce the yolk with a tootpick or a fork prong to limit the chances of the yolk exploding during cooking.

Now cover the bowl with clingfilm and proceed to cook on full=power for 90-120 seconds and leave a minute or two to allow the whites and yolk to set. Remove from bowl and serve.

Fried Eggs
For fried eggs you'll need to grease a small plate (5-6 inches wide) and break onto it one egg.

Now prick the yolk as you did with the poached egg, cover with clingfilm and cook on half power for 2-3 minutes or until you're satisfied it has cooked properly.

Hard Boiled Eggs
Although in the context of this article we refer to this dish as a hard-boiled egg recipe, that's a little bit of a white lie because we don't actually use the natural boiling preperation in the preperation of this dish. But the results are virtually the same.

This microwave egg recipe is a little bit more difficult to pull off than the others, but with a little bit of practice you'll become a pro in no time at all. Firstly you'll need to seperate the yolk and whites into two seperate bowls - which have been greased.

Next gently stir the yolk and then cover both containers with plastic wrapping film and cook seperately on 50% power, remembering to stir the occasionally. When they are both cooked to about 80-90% through remove from the microwave and allow to cool for couple minutes. Take egg contents from the bowls and serve as you wish.

Cooking Times - Yolks (for 600-700 watt microwave oven)
1 = 20-30 seconds
2 = 45-60 seconds
4 = 90-120 seconds
6 = 145-190 seconds

Cooking Times - whites (for 600-700 watt microwave oven)
1 = 30-60 seconds
2 = 60-120 seconds
4 = 135-195 seconds
6 = 180-320 seconds

Microwave Omelette Recipe

Ingredients
4 eggs
75g grated cheddar cheese
25g butter
1 chopped onion
4 chopped rashers of bacon
20 ml worcestershire sauce
1 chopped bell pepper
Black pepper and sea salt to taste
Mixed cookes vegetables

Directions
For this microwave omelette recipe, firstly grab yourself a largish microwaveable dish and the butter, onion, bell pepper and bacon and cook on full power for roughly 4 minutes.

Next grab yourself a vessel large enough to whisk the the eggs, cheese, worcestershire sauce, sea salt and black pepper together.

Finally add the cooked vegetables to the whisked mixture and cook on full power for roughly two minutes or until you're satisfied the eggs are cooked. Fold the omlette and serve.

How can I microwave bacon?
Although there are now microwave bacon cookers on the market, there really is no need to open your purse strings and purchase one. Your microwave is already capable of doing the job without much assistance.

Firstly you'll need to grab some kitchen towel and line the rashers of bacon on it - you can probaly fit 4-6 pieces onto it at a time. When you're satisfied put another layer of kitchen paper on top and cook on full power.

If you manage to get six rashers on the paper towel this will take roughly 5 minutes to cook depending on the wattage of your microwave oven. I find it best to cook the bacon for two minutes and then in 1 minute intervals thereafter, until you fell satisfied it has cooked properly.

A nice good housekeeping tip to stop the bacon from curling during the cooking process is to lightly score it before commencing.

How can I microwave bacon which has already been cooked?
Have you ever noticed how bacon can go quite brittle and chewy when re-heating it in the microwave? You have? Well the reason for this phenomenon is down to water molecules - which are naturally contained the bacon - evaporating. Therefore in order to stop this from happening you need to fight fire with fire, or even water with water in this occasion.

What you need to do here is get yourself a small plate, put your bacon onto it, add two tablespoons of water, cover with plastic wrapping film and microwave until you're satisfied it is hot enough. Finally, remove from microwave oven place the bacon on a clean plate (when doing so you'll notice the bacon has kept its form) and serve.

This good housekeeping trick with work for sausages too.

How can I microwave jacket potatoes?
If you haven't got much time on your hands and you want a baked potato but don't want to go through the hassle of cooking it in your conventional oven or you just want to limit the amount of time taken to bake the potato you've come to the right place.

The first thing you need to do before microwaving a baked or baking potato is to wash it, making sure there is no soil left on it. Next pierce it several times with a fork, place on a microwave, cover with plastic wrapping film and cook on full power for 10 minutes. If you want too cook four potatoes at the same time then - providng they can all fit in your microwave - then you'll need to account for at least 25 minutes cooking time.

When the potatoes have been cooked to a satisfactory standard, remove from microwave and serve as you like.

On the other hand if you've got a little bit more time to spare and you want more of a crispy texture for your microwaved jacket potatoes. Then pre-heat the oven to a temperature of 200 degrees C (390 degrees F), lightly brush them with vegetable oil, sprinkle with a little salt, cover them in oven foil and bake for roughly 20 minutes or until they are nicely browned.

What are the benefits microwave cooking?
One of the best features of the microwave oven is often over looked when it comes to listing their attributes is the fact that it's got a timer. Therefore you can place your food in it set the timer and relax. However whenever you're cooking food in your microwave ensure that you keep an eye on the thing, because accidents do happen afterall.

Before, during and after you've cooked using the microwave it doesn't get too hot. Where as, on the other hand conventional ovens, grills and hobs can become dangerously so and can be a real cause of concern especially when young children are in the vicinity. In relation to this plates, cups, bowls and saucers when used to hold food whilst it is being prepraed don't get staggeringly hot, which cannot be said when using a standard oven.

Closely related to the above benefit is the fact that microwave ovens provide a self contained cooking area for your food whilst it's being cooked - providing you stick to the general cooking rules regarding microwave ovens i.e. no metal object that is.

The biggrest overall benefit of cooking food using the microwave is that the radiation penetrates deeper and faster in to the food, ensuring that it cooks quicker, thus saving the user time.

What are the dangers microwave cooking?
Some of the biggest problems - which may occur when cooking using a microwave oven - are quite obviously related to the objects and food you put in it. Metalic objects, closed containers, eggs, certain fruit and vegetables can all explode due to the immense build up of steam within the said object.

In addition some items which are cooked for to long a period of time in your microwave may catch fire, which can really get out of control if left un-attended.

In addition to the hazard outlined above, caution needs top be taken when heating certain liquids in the microwave which are placed in vessels with smooth sides as can superheat i.e the liquid may not look like it is at boiling point on the surface but, below it the temperature may have reached temperatures which have exceeded their normal boiling points. This phenomenon becomes a danger when it's time for you to retrieve it from your microwave oven and therefore the liquid is disturbed. It's at this point that it can become pretty volitile and allow extremely hot steam to surge out, causing quite severe burning in some cases.

One other action which can be fraught with danger when dealing with microwave ovens is if you run it without placing anything inside. What tends to happen - if this is the case - is that the radiation which is produced by the the machine won't have anything to absorb itself into; therefore the energy will rebound from the magnetron tube and the cooking department until the timer runs out or the magnetron tube burns itself out, would could result in a fire.

Extreme care needs to be taken if your microwave is physically damaged, especially if the ceramic breaks as the magnetron tube and the broken ceramic insulators sometimes contain a substance known as beryllium oxide which can become very hazardous if it becomes powdery. And if this is then inhaled it can lead the ufortunate inhalee being struck down with the incurable lung disease Berylliosis, therefore don't handle the broken ceramic or megatron tube call the microwave manufacturers for assistance.

Finally, if you're cooking food in your microwave oven ensure that you keep an eye on things because all machinery can be un-predictable and in addition see to it that you don't stand directly in front of it whilst it is in motion, as there is a minute chance of the door being blown off, but like I said this is very rare, well, as long as you don't put eggs (in their shells), metal and other volitle objects in there that is.