Cooking Hints and Tips   

Microwaving

Microwaves are attracted to moisture, fat, and sugars in food, so foods containing these ingredients cook or heat quickly. To make juicing a lemon easier, halve or quarter it. Heat on 100% power 20 to 30 seconds. Squeeze out juice. Nothing preserves a fruit's natural nutrients, shape and color like micro-poaching. For perfect poached peaches, combine 2 tablespoons peach or other fruit-flavored liqueur and 1 teaspoon each freshly squeezed lemon juice and vanilla in a flat, microwave-proof 2-quart casserole. Arrange 4 halved and pitted ripe peaches skin-side down in casserole, cover with lid or vented plastic food wrap and microwave at 100 percent power 2 minutes. Turn peaches over, re-cover and cook 1 to 3 minutes at 100 percent power until tender. Let stand 3 minutes, uncovered. Slip the skins off and serve warm or chilled with the casserole juices. To soften bananas for banana bread and muffins, pierce unpeeled bananas once or twice and microwave, uncovered, at 100 percent power for 1 minute, turning over at half time. Cool and peel. To heat pancake syrup in a microwave, put 1/2 cup in a microwave-safe container and heat it at 100% power, uncovered, for 20 to 30 seconds. To soften butter in a microwave, heat 1/2 cup of it, uncovered, on 10% power for 45 seconds or till softened. Use your microwave to soften butter or margarine quickly, but not on high power. Use medium-low (30 percent power), and check every 10 seconds. Soften hard-as-rock brown sugar by setting the box in the microwave with a cup of hot water. Cook 2 minutes for 1/2 box, 4 minutes for a full box. To crisp soggy potato chips or pretzels, heat for 15-30 seconds; let stand for 2 minutes. To help prevent sogginess of hot sandwiches, place a paper towel under the bread while microwave heating. When microwaving, stirring moves cool portions of the food to edges of the dish for faster and more uniform cooking. When microwaving a recipe that calls for foods to be elevated and you do not have a rack in your microwave, an upside-down glass pan or dish works well. If your syrup has crystallized, heat it for 90 seconds per cup on the high setting of your microwave and the crystals will go away. To warm tortillas, wrap them loosely in waxed paper and microwave on HIGH power for 15 seconds for every 2 tortillas. To quickly soften a stick of hard butter, cut it into 1/2-inch-thick slices and place on a microwavable plate. Microwave at Medium-Low (30%) for about 20 seconds. If you don't have a microwave oven, you can soften butter more quickly at room temperature by thinly slicing it with a vegetable peeler or grating it on the coarse side of a grater. Do NOT make popcorn in the microwave unless it is in a special microwave container or a microwave popper package. Do NOT use ceramic mugs or cups whose handles have been glued on in the microwave. Handles may fall off with continued heating. Do NOT use delicate glassware; only use heat-resistant glass cookware. Do NOT try to sterilize canning jars in the microwave. Do NOT use paper towels or cloths containing a synthetic fiber like nylon, which may cause paper or cloth to ignite. Do NOT cook in plastic food storage bags or disposable plastic containers which are not heat resistant and may melt. Use only bags or containers designated "microwave safe". Do NOT use conventional mercury-type candy or meat thermometers when heating food in the microwave. Special microwave thermometers are available.

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