How To Use Your Microwave Properly

How to Use Your Microwave Properly

In today's fast paced and rushed environment, more and more people are using the microwave for all sorts of kitchen tasks. If you're one of those who use the microwave 24/7, you may often find that meat needs to be defrosted with no time for the conventional methods. (Unfortunately, those hurried mornings of getting the kids off to school and scrambling to get ready for work leave little room for considering dinner preparations.) There are a few tips to remember when using the microwave to defrost your meat.

The microwave cooks from the edge to the center. Be sure to place your larger cuts and thicker pieces near the edge of your microwave plate. Food at the edge of the plate in the microwave cooks astronomically faster. If your food is frozen when you put it in the microwave, try rearranging it after some minor defrosting.

Use the microwave to defrost the meat, not cook it completely. When meat is cooked completely in the microwave, it will have a rubbery texture and bland taste. Meats need to cook in their own juices to bring out their flavor. The microwave robs them of these juices. Also, the microwave cooks food from the inside out. (It relies on the moisture of the food to prepare it.) Therefore, the meat is basically being "boiled," as the microwave takes the moisture on the inside of whatever food is being prepared and heats it rapidly. It is best to take all the "frozen" out of the meat with the microwave and then prepare it as directed.

If you use the microwave to cook anything besides meat, it is important that, whenever possible, you frequently stir the food you are preparing. As mentioned earlier, the microwave cooks from the edges of the surface to the center and it cooks objects from the inside to the outside. In order to counter these effects, give careful attention to stirring your food to make sure it is cooked evenly and properly.

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