Carefully monitor the food in the microwave oven while it is cooking. Directions given in recipes to elevate, stir, etc., are the minimum steps recommended. If food is overcooked (dry), undercooked, or unevenly cooked, make adjustments before or during cooking to correct the problem.
Overcooked or Dry Food
Sprinkling: Sprinkle low-moisture foods such as roasts and vegetables with water before cooking, or cover them to retain moisture.
Density: Light, porous food such as cakes and breads cook more quickly than heavy, dense foods such as roasts and casseroles.
Shielding: Cover the corners of square dishes with small strips of aluminum foil to prevent overcooking. Don’t use too much foil, and secure the foil to the dish. Foil can cause arcing if it gets too close to the oven walls during cooking.
Bones and Fat: Bones conduct heat, and fat cooks more quickly than meat. Take care with bony or fatty cuts of meat.
Undercooked Food
Covering: Cover food with a microwave-safe lid, parchment paper (not waxed paper), or plastic wrap to trap heat and steam and cook food more quickly.
Standing Time: Let food stand for several minutes after being removed from the oven to allow it to finish cooking and help flavors blend and develop.
Quantity: The more food you place in the oven, the longer the required cooking time.
Temperature: Ice-cold ingredients take much longer to cook than room temperature ingredients.
Unevenly Cooked Food
Stirring: Stir food from the outside toward the center during cooking, as food at the outside of the dish heats more quickly.
Arranging: Turn food over several times during cooking. The upper portion of thick foods cooks more quickly than the lower portion.
Shaping: Place the thickest portions of foods like meat, poultry or fish toward the outside of the cookware to help them cook more evenly. If possible, shape foods into thin rounds or rings.
Foods with Skin, Shell or Membrane
Skin or Membrane: Pierce the outsides of foods like potatoes, sausages, or egg whites or yolks before cooking.
Shell: Pierce or remove the shells from eggs, clams, oysters, or other shelled foods before cooking.
Defrosting Tips
Remove fish, shellfish, meat, and poultry from its original wrapping paper or plastic package. Otherwise, the wrap close to the foods will hold steam and heat, which can cause the outer surface of the foods to be cooked.
Remove any metal twist ties.
Always slit or pierce plastic pouches or packaging.
Open containers such as cartons before they are placed in the oven.
If food is foil wrapped, remove the foil and place the food in a suitable container.
The length of defrosting time varies depending on the shape of the food and on how solidly the food is frozen.
As food begins to defrost, separate the food into pieces so that they can defrost more easily.
Turn over food during defrosting or standing time. Separate into pieces and remove food as required.
Let food stand after defrosting. Food should still be somewhat icy in the center when removed from the oven.
When using Defrost, the weight to be entered is the net weight in pounds and tenths of pounds (the weight of the food minus the container).
Slit the skins of frozen foods such as sausage.
Bend plastic pouches of food to ensure even defrosting.
Place food in a shallow container or in a microwave roasting dish to catch the drippings.
Always underestimate defrosting time. Food should still be somewhat icy in the center when removed from the oven. If defrosted food is still frozen solid in the center, return it to the microwave oven for more defrosting.
Depending on the shape of the food, some areas may defrost more quickly than others.
The shape of the package affects how quickly food will defrost. Shallow packages will defrost more quickly than a deep block.
For best results, shape ground meat into the form of a doughnut before freezing. When defrosting, scrape off thawed meat when the beep sounds and continue defrosting.
Use small pieces of aluminum foil to shield parts of food such as chicken wings, leg tips, fish tails, or areas that start to get warm. Make sure the foil does not touch the sides, top, or bottom of the oven. The foil can damage the oven lining.