Microwave ovens: Tips and tricks for the conscious consumer   by chelsea1980

#4993 in Shopping
Rating: 1 - I can do better 2 - Jury's out 3 - Pretty darn good 4 - Splendiferous 5 - Awesometastic (by 5 people)   Your rating: 1 - I can do better 2 - Jury's out 3 - Pretty darn good 4 - Splendiferous 5 - Awesometastic

I Made this lense to show all of you out there how to get more and better use out of your microwave oven =D

Tips, tricks, and anything else you might need to know about a microwave oven .. wheee

Did Your Know? 

Did you know? A microwave oven uses half the power of a conventional oven, and cooking your food in the serving dish will give you one less dish to wash.

SO..Use a microwave oven for heating or cooking, and use the serving dish and you will save energy and water!

Best Microwave Tips and Tricks ever! 

Vote on the best tricks to use with your microwave oven!

#1

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Getting more juice out of a Lemon!

Want to get the most juice from fresh lemons? Try more...1 point

#2

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Soften your cream cheese

Need Soft cream cheese and and don't want to wait? more...0 points

#3

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Get the lumps out of your brown sugar

If you've discovered your brown sugar has hardened more...0 points

#4

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Heat a washclosh with a microwave instead of Hot water!

Do you need a hot compress right away? Dont wait f more...0 points

#5

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How to soften margarine

Margarine takes a couple of hours to soften on the more...0 points

#6

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Rain soaked newspaper ruined? Think again!

It's almost impossible to read a rain soaked newsp more...0 points

#7

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Remove a stamp without damaging it!

Everyone has at one time or another placed a posta more...0 points

#8

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De-crystallize honey

A crystallized jar of honey can be restored in the more...0 points

#9

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Love Onions but dont like to cry when you Cut-em?

If you love to cook with onions but you don't want more...0 points

#10

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Melt chocolate with no mess!

Chocolate chips are easy to melt in the microwave, more...0 points

#11

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Great Dorm room microwave recipes

http://www.chow.com/stories/106800 points

#12

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Freshen stale crackers

Freshen stale crackers, rolls or biscuits by placi more...0 points

#13

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Make tomatos super easy to peel

peel tomatoes, place 2 cups of boiling water in a more...0 points

#14

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Make your microwave smell fresh

To clean your oven and remove cooking odours, simp more...0 points

General Microwave cooking advice 

Heres a list of things to keep in mind when cooking with a microwave

Microwave Cooking Tips

This is a fast, easy cooking method that requires no added fat. You do not have to add fat to keep the food from sticking to the pan because foods do not tend to stick in the moist heat of microwaving. In fact, you can drain food of fat as it cooks by placing it in the microwave between two paper towels.

If you want to adapt a recipe for microwaving, try cutting the cooking time to one fourth to one third of the conventional time. If the food needs more cooking, increase it a little at a time. You might also look for a microwave recipe similar to the one you are trying to adapt. Keep the following hints in mind when microwave cooking:

* Choose foods that cook well in moist heat: chicken, fish, ground meat, vegetables, sauces and soups.
* Pieces that are about equal in size and shape will cook more uniformly.
* You can reduce the liquid used in cooking beverages, soups, vegetables, fruits, and main dishes by about one third because less evaporates in microwave cooking.
* Choose a microwave-safe container slightly larger than the dish required for cooking the recipe in a conventional oven.
* Use a high setting -100 percent power for soups, beverages, fruits, vegetables, fish, ground meat and poultry.
Use a medium-high setting -70 percent power for simmering stews.
Use a medium setting - 50 percent power for baking breads, cakes and muffins, and cooking less tender cuts of meats.
* To create a crusty look on baked items, grease pans with an acceptable vegetable oil and add ground nuts or crumbs.
* Add lowfat cheese and other toppings near the end of cooking to keep the top from becoming tough or soggy.
* Stay away from coating meat with flour if you will be adding liquid for cooking. The coatings become soggy.
* Use quick-cooking instead of long-grain rice.

New Flickr Photos 

MicrowaveBosch by anamoly23

microwaveSiemens by anamoly23

microwaveThermador by anamoly23

microwaveGaggenau by anamoly23

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Where to browse Microwaves 

Now that you know all the cool things you can do with microwaves, Here are some manufacturer websites that have tons of info on features and new models.

Bosch appliances and microwave
Bosch appliances makes mid to high end microwaves. Built in and stand alone.
Thermador appliances homepage
Thermador manufactures all varieties of microwaves
Gaggenau's microwave section
Gaggenau is a leading innovator in microwaves. Their super-efficient technologies are very popular in Europe. Check out some of their latest models
Microwaves on shipping.com
This is a good place to find cheaper models that have been purchased online.
Yahoo shopping Microwave ovens
Yahoo shopping offers some decent reviews of products.
Siemens Home appliances - Microwave Ovens
Siemens produces some of the highest quality microwaves. Their energy efficiency is especially popular in Europe.

Hottest microwaves at amazon 

Give your feedback on the microwaves most purchased from amazon.

Wikipedia's tips for microwaves 

Check out what the Folks over at Wikipedia have to saw

A microwave oven, or a microwave, is a kitchen appliance that cooks or heats food by dielectric heating. This is accomplished by using microwave radiation to heat water and other polarized molecules within the food. This excitation is fairly uniform, leading to food being adequately heated throughout (except in thick objects), a feature not seen in any other heating technique.

Microwave ovens heat food quickly, efficiently, and safely, but do not brown or bake food in the way as conventional ovens do. This makes them unsuitable for cooking certain foods, or to achieve certain effects. Microwaving food raises several safety issues, largely connected with leakage of microwave radiation outside the oven, as well as reducing risks, such as that of fire from high temperature heat sources. There has been some concern that microwaves might damage food (microwave radiation has sounded alarming to some), but the dominant view is that microwaved food has no safety differences from other foods, except for the obvious (eg, the lack of browning); thus microwaved food is as safe to eat as other food.

Microwave ovens have revolutionized food preparation since their use became widespread in the 1970s and 80s. Microwave ovens have become a standard item in many homes.

read the rest of the Wikipedia article

What are your favorite microwave tips?! 

what have you blown up in the microwave?

leave your tips and tricks here or add them to the list above!