9
INFORMATION YOU NEED TO KNOW
ABOUT MICROWAVE COOKING
•Arrange food carefully. Place thickest areas toward
outside of dish.
•Watch cooking time. Cook for the shortest amount
of time indicated and add more as needed. Foods
severely overcooked can smoke or ignite.
• Cover foods while cooking. Check recipe or cook-
book for suggestions: paper towels, wax paper,
microwave plastic wrap or a lid. Covers prevent
spattering and help foods to cook evenly.
• Shield with small flat pieces of aluminum foil any
thin areas of meats or poultry to prevent overcook-
ing before dense, thick areas are cooked thoroughly.
•Stir foods from outside to center of dish once or
twice during cooking, if possible.
•Turn foods over once during microwaving to speed
cooking of such foods as chicken and hamburgers.
Large items like roasts must be turned over at
least once.
... for fresh pork, ground meat,
boneless white poultry, fish,
seafood, egg dishes and
frozen prepared food.
... for leftover, ready-to-reheat
refrigerated, and deli and
carry-out “fresh” food.
... white meat of poultry.
... dark meat of poultry.
160°F
• Check foods to see that they are cooked to the
United States Department of Agriculture’s recom-
mended temperatures:
ABOUT SAFETY
•Always use potholders to prevent burns when
handling utensils that are in contact with hot food.
Enough heat from the food can transfer through
utensils to cause skin burns.
•Avoid steam burns by directing steam away from
the face and hands. Slowly lift the farthest edge of
a dish’s covering and carefully open popcorn and
oven cooking bags away from the face.
• Stay near the oven while it’s in use and check cook-
ing progress frequently so that there is no chance
of overcooking food.
• NEVER use the cavity for storing cookbooks or
other items.
•Select, store and handle food carefully to preserve
its high quality and minimize the spread of
foodborne bacteria.
• Keep waveguide cover clean. Food residue can
cause arcing and/or fires.
•Use care when removing items from the oven so
that the utensil, your clothes or accessories do not
touch the safety door latches.
To test for doneness, insert a meat thermometer in a
thick or dense area away from fat or bone. NEVER
leave the thermometer in food during cooking,
unless it is approved for microwave oven use.
TEMP
• Rearrange foods like meatballs halfway through
cooking both from top to bottom and from the center
of the dish to the outside.
•Add standing time. Remove food from oven and
stir, if possible. Cover for standing time which
allows the food to finish cooking without
overcooking.
•Check for doneness. Look for signs indicating that
cooking temperatures have been reached.
Doneness signs include:
-Food steams throughout, not just at edge.
-Center bottom of dish is very hot to the touch.
-Poultry thigh joints move easily.
-Meats and poultry show no pinkness.
-Fish is opaque and flakes easily with a fork.
FOOD
165°F
170°F
180°F
To Next Page
Loading...
Need help?
General
