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Microwave Oven

Cooking Safely in the Microwave

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Microwave ovens can play an important role at mealtime, but special care must be taken when cooking or reheating meat, poultry, fish, and eggs to make sure they are prepared safely. Microwave ovens can cook unevenly and leave “cold spots,” where harmful bacteria can survive. For this reason, it is important to use the following safe microwaving tips to prevent foodborne illness.

Microwave Oven Cooking

    * Arrange food items evenly in a covered dish and add some liquid if needed. Cover the dish with a lid or plastic wrap; loosen or vent the lid or wrap to let steam escape. The moist heat that is created will help destroy harmful bacteria and ensure uniform cooking. Cooking bags also provide safe, even cooking.
    * Do not cook large cuts of meat on high power (100%). Large cuts of meat should be cooked on medium power (50%) for longer periods. This allows heat to reach the center without overcooking outer areas.
    * Stir or rotate food midway through the microwaving time to eliminate cold spots where harmful bacteria can survive, and for more even cooking.
    * When partially cooking food in the microwave oven to finish cooking on the grill or in a conventional oven, it is important to transfer the microwaved food to the other heat source immediately. Never partially cook food and store it for later use.
    * Use a food thermometer or the oven’s temperature probe to verify the food has reached a safe minimum internal temperature. Cooking times may vary because ovens vary in power and efficiency. Always allow standing time, which completes the cooking, before checking the internal temperature with a food thermometer.
    * Cook foods to the following safe minimum internal temperatures:
          o Beef, veal, and lamb steaks, roasts, and chops may be cooked to 145 °F.
          o All cuts of pork to 160 °F.
          o Ground beef, veal and lamb to 160 °F.
          o Egg dishes, casseroles to 160 °F.
          o Leftovers to 165 °F.
          o Stuffed poultry is not recommended. Cook stuffing separately to 165 °F.
          o All poultry should reach a safe minimum internal temperature of 165 °F.
    * Cooking whole, stuffed poultry in a microwave oven is not recommended. The stuffing might not reach the temperature needed to destroy harmful bacteria.

Microwave Defrosting

    * Remove food from packaging before defrosting. Do not use foam trays and because they are not heat stable at high temperatures. Melting or warping may cause harmful chemicals to migrate into food. ( There is some controversy about this.)
    * Cook meat, poultry, egg casseroles, and fish immediately after defrosting in the microwave oven because some areas of the food may begin to cook during the defrosting time. Do not hold partially cooked food to use later.
    * Cover foods with a lid or a microwave-safe plastic wrap to hold in moisture and provide safe, even heating.
    * Heat ready-to-eat foods such as hot dogs, luncheon meats, fully cooked ham, and leftovers until steaming hot.
    * After reheating foods in the microwave oven, allow standing time. Then, use a clean food thermometer to check that food has reached 165 °F.

Containers & Wraps

    * Only use cookware that is specially manufactured for use in the microwave oven. Glass, ceramic containers, and all plastics should be labeled for microwave oven use.
    * Plastic storage containers such as margarine tubs, take-out containers, whipped topping bowls, and other one-time use containers should not be used in microwave ovens. These containers can warp or melt, possibly causing harmful chemicals to migrate into the food.
    * Microwave plastic wraps, wax paper, cooking bags, parchment paper, and white microwave-safe paper towels should be safe to use. Do not let plastic wrap touch foods during microwaving.
    * Never use thin plastic storage bags, brown paper or plastic grocery bags, newspapers, or aluminum foil in the microwave oven.

Cooking Safely in the Microwave

By

Microwave ovens can play an important role at mealtime, but special care must be taken when cooking or reheating meat, poultry, fish, and eggs to make sure they are prepared safely. Microwave ovens can cook unevenly and leave “cold spots,” where harmful bacteria can survive. For this reason, it is important to use the following safe microwaving tips to prevent foodborne illness.

Microwave Oven Cooking

    * Arrange food items evenly in a covered dish and add some liquid if needed. Cover the dish with a lid or plastic wrap; loosen or vent the lid or wrap to let steam escape. The moist heat that is created will help destroy harmful bacteria and ensure uniform cooking. Cooking bags also provide safe, even cooking.
    * Do not cook large cuts of meat on high power (100%). Large cuts of meat should be cooked on medium power (50%) for longer periods. This allows heat to reach the center without overcooking outer areas.
    * Stir or rotate food midway through the microwaving time to eliminate cold spots where harmful bacteria can survive, and for more even cooking.
    * When partially cooking food in the microwave oven to finish cooking on the grill or in a conventional oven, it is important to transfer the microwaved food to the other heat source immediately. Never partially cook food and store it for later use.
    * Use a food thermometer or the oven’s temperature probe to verify the food has reached a safe minimum internal temperature. Cooking times may vary because ovens vary in power and efficiency. Always allow standing time, which completes the cooking, before checking the internal temperature with a food thermometer.
    * Cook foods to the following safe minimum internal temperatures:
          o Beef, veal, and lamb steaks, roasts, and chops may be cooked to 145 °F.
          o All cuts of pork to 160 °F.
          o Ground beef, veal and lamb to 160 °F.
          o Egg dishes, casseroles to 160 °F.
          o Leftovers to 165 °F.
          o Stuffed poultry is not recommended. Cook stuffing separately to 165 °F.
          o All poultry should reach a safe minimum internal temperature of 165 °F.
    * Cooking whole, stuffed poultry in a microwave oven is not recommended. The stuffing might not reach the temperature needed to destroy harmful bacteria.

Microwave Defrosting

    * Remove food from packaging before defrosting. Do not use foam trays and because they are not heat stable at high temperatures. Melting or warping may cause harmful chemicals to migrate into food. ( There is some controversy about this.)
    * Cook meat, poultry, egg casseroles, and fish immediately after defrosting in the microwave oven because some areas of the food may begin to cook during the defrosting time. Do not hold partially cooked food to use later.
    * Cover foods with a lid or a microwave-safe plastic wrap to hold in moisture and provide safe, even heating.
    * Heat ready-to-eat foods such as hot dogs, luncheon meats, fully cooked ham, and leftovers until steaming hot.
    * After reheating foods in the microwave oven, allow standing time. Then, use a clean food thermometer to check that food has reached 165 °F.

Containers & Wraps

    * Only use cookware that is specially manufactured for use in the microwave oven. Glass, ceramic containers, and all plastics should be labeled for microwave oven use.
    * Plastic storage containers such as margarine tubs, take-out containers, whipped topping bowls, and other one-time use containers should not be used in microwave ovens. These containers can warp or melt, possibly causing harmful chemicals to migrate into the food.
    * Microwave plastic wraps, wax paper, cooking bags, parchment paper, and white microwave-safe paper towels should be safe to use. Do not let plastic wrap touch foods during microwaving.
    * Never use thin plastic storage bags, brown paper or plastic grocery bags, newspapers, or aluminum foil in the microwave oven.

How Food Cooks – Conduction, Convection and Radiation

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If you are feeling scientific and have begun to wonder how it is that the microwave or convection oven really cooks your food, or even what good old fashioned heat is doing to your meal, we’ve found your answers.  At drdavescience.com, a PhD candidate with a flair for explaining the scientific tells us how it all works. 

The science of heat

Cooking is the transfer of heat energy from some source to the food. In the kitchen there are three devices that are used to cook food: the stovetop, conventional oven, and microwave oven. Each of these devices are designed around a different method of heat transfer.

The movement of heat is so important that there is a name for it: Thermodynamics. By understanding how heat moves, we can gain insight into our everyday world. It is responsible for the weather, car engines, your refrigerator, cooking, and a host of other things that you may not have even thought about.

Heat is transferred in three basic ways listed below:

Conduction is heat transfer through direct contact. When cooking on the stovetop, the heat from the flame or electric grill is applied directly to the frying pan. This means that only the flat surface of the pan is sufficiently hot enough to cook anything and we must flip and toss around the food to cook it properly. conduction cooking a sandwich

It is important to note that most pans are made of metals, like copper, that conduct heat very efficiently and do not melt on the stovetop.

Convection is heat transfer through a fluid. The fluid can be liquid or gas and in the case of a convection oven, the fluid we care about is air.

An oven is a confined area that gets hot by flames or electric coils. The air inside is warmed to a desired temperature and, as a result, cooks the food from all directions. This method of heat transfer is responsible for pizzas, cakes, and other baked treats!

Keep in mind that ovens heat foods from the outside. The inside slowly heats up with time, and it is not uncommon to see food where the outside looks done, but the inside is uncooked. This is very important when preparing a Thanksgiving turkey, and there are special thermometers that measure the temperature of the food in the center of the turkey to show that it is properly cooked. (editor’s note:  All ovens cook by convection – where the hot interior air does the cooking.  What appliance manufacturers call “convection ovens” have an additional heating element and an extra fan to make the air circulation more efficient and effective, boosting the heat transfer from the air to the food, and thus altering the way the food cooks -faster, dryer etc..)

Radiation is the transfer of heat using electromagnetic radiation. A microwave oven uses very strong radio waves (a form of electromagnetic radiation), which are very weak and not hot. So how does it work? microwave oven

Microwave ovens work by spinning water, fats, sugars and oils inside the food. This causes friction, which then heats the food and cooks it from the inside.

Please do not be confused by the word radiation or electromagnetic radiation. In science, these terms are very general and mean a lot of things. Radiation comes from many sources, some are beneficial and others are harmful. For example, solar radiation from the Sun is responsible for heating the Earth and the light we see is a form of electromagnetic radiation.

As you know, heat is very important in the cooking process. Now you have the basic knowledge of heat transfer.

J.D. Power Survey Shows Major Appliance Consumers are Happy

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 WESTLAKE VILLAGE, CALIF. — J.D Power and Associates, the market research firm, said consumers are largely happy with the performance, features, styling and price of their major appliances.According to the results of its 2007 Major Home Appliances Study, only one in 10 consumers report some kind of problem with their major appliance during the first two years of ownership, and many of those problems can be resolved by following instructions in the owner’s manual or on the manufacturer’s web site. Relatively few problems actually require a service visit, the report said.Top satisfaction scores went to Bosch in dishwashers, Maytag in freestanding ranges, GE in built-in cooktops and wall ovens, Whirlpool intop-mount refrigerators, Samsung in side-by-side and French door fridges, Kenmore in O-T-R microwaves, GE in countertop microwaves and LG in washers and dryers.The study was based on 22,637 responses from consumers who purchased one or more new major home appliances through a retail store, their new-home builder, or received one through other means (such as a gift) during the previous 24 months. Customer satisfaction was measured based on performance in six factors: operational performance (including how well the appliance functions, noise level and energy efficiency); operational features (such as the number of settings available and appliance capacity); ease of use; styling and feel; price; and warranty. 

Cooktop + Microwave

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Sharp makes the Insight Pro Cooktop+Microwave Drawer Combination Unit, combining all the advantages of the Microwave Drawer Oven with a sleek electric cooktop in only 30 inches of space. This space-saving 2-in-1 cooking center eliminates steps between appliances and creates a highly efficient traffic pattern. It is an ideal companion to wall ovens.The glass ceramic electric cooktop features four heating elements plus a warming zone. Knobs control the cooktop while a backlit active touchscreen guides you through the microwave cooking process.

It offers innovation and cooking convenience at your fingertips with such features as microwave sensor technology to eliminate guesswork when cooking or reheating and a microwave keep warm setting that holds food up to 30 minutes – it’s a warming drawer inside the microwave!

Sharp’s stainless steel Insight Pro Cooktop+Microwave Drawer Combination Unit is ideal for open-plan kitchens and islands and is a great addition to a wet bar, family room, or home theater. It is built-in ready for easy installation with no additional trim kit or ventilation required.

Microwave in a Drawer

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Sharp Appliances has a great idea, they have designed a microwave for below the counter.   Built-in ready for easy installation under a counter, the Microwave Drawer Oven is perfect for islands and open-plan kitchens, as well as wet bars, family rooms and home theaters.  Not only that, it allows wheelchair users access,  as well as the very petite folks out there.  Some people really have difficulty stretching  for those over- the- oven mounted units.

The Microwave Drawer Oven opens with the touch of a button and  Sharp’s advanced sensor technology eliminates the guesswork often associated with microwave cooking. The Microwave Drawer Oven is large enough to hold a 9″ x 13″ oblong dish.  Now available as a 30-inch-wide stand-alone appliance, the 1-cubic-foot, 1,000-watt microwave drawer (about $850) installs at the same convenient, under-counter height.

In Kitchen Design, Appliances Come First

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We spend so much time in the kitchen during the holiday season. Families gather for dinner and inevitably a large group gathers in the kitchen. This gets us to thinking that we need a larger, prettier, or more usable space. That’s likely why so many kitchen remodels take place after the holidays. If you are planning a kitchen remodel, take your time making design decisions, the kitchen is a complex room with many different elements to consider.

Here are a few things to consider in your planning:

•Pick your appliances first — everything gets built around them.

• Pick your countertop before you select your cabinets. The cabinet company won’t know what height to build the lower cabinets without knowing the thickness of the countertop — they’re all different.

• Pick your backsplash before you hire the electrician. The placement of the electrical boxes will depend on the thickness of the counter’s backsplash. Will it be tile or a solid material? What thickness will the material be and will it be affixed directly to the wall or will mortar be placed between the wall and the splash? There is nothing worse than paying the electrician extra to go back and add spacers to the electric boxes because they aren’t flush with the finished surface — fire hazard!

• With certain sink/disposal combinations you may have to adjust the height of your existing drain outlet. Kohler currently offers a stainless kitchen sink 28 centimetres (11 inches) deep and ISE has a gigantic new one HP disposer. Together they fit a bit lower into the under-cabinet area than other models.

• Selecting appliances in advance will also be important to the plumber and the electrician. The plumber may need to run an icemaker line if the refrigerator has one and the electrician will have to know what size circuits will have to be run for the range, oven, exhaust fan and other appliances.

• Some sales people will offer you the least efficient alternative just to keep the price in your budget. For example: It is less expensive to use doors rather than drawers when designing a set of kitchen cabinets. However, for many users drawers provide far more efficient storage space. Also, the rails that drawers glide on vary greatly in cost and strength. There are some drawer glides that bend when the drawer is full. Better types can hold an adult doing push-ups.

You can read more here.

Fire Safety – Prevent Kitchen Fires

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The San Mateo County Fire Department has some important safety tips for cooking during this busy holiday season.

How often has the doorbell rung or a child interrupted you while you were cooking, causing you to forget about the chicken you left sizzling on the stove – until smoke filled the house?  If this scenario or a similar one doesn’t sound familiar to you, you may want to think about it a little more because it’s likely that you, a friend, or family member has run the risk of having a dangerous fire.

Cooking is the leading cause of home fires, according to the National Fire Protection Association (NFPA). The latest statistics from NFPA say that one out of every three home fires started in the kitchen and more than 100,000 fires a year were related to cooking.

Here are a few safety tips to remember:

  • Stay in the kitchen when you are frying, grilling, broiling, or boiling food. If you must leave the the room even for a short period of time, turn off the stove.
  • Keep cooking areas clean and clear of combustibles (e.g. potholders, towels, rags, drapes and food packaging).
  • Keep children away from cooking areas by enforcing a “kid-free zone” of three feet around the stove.
  • If you have a fire in your microwave, turn it off immediately and keep the door closed. Never open the door until the fire is completely out. If in doubt, get out of the home and call 911.
  • Always keep an oven mitt and a lid nearby. If a small grease fire starts in a pan, smother the flames by carefully sliding the lid over the pan (make sure you are wearing the oven mitt). Turn off the burner and slide the pan off the burner.
  • Never pour water on a grease fire. If the fire does not go out, get out of the home and call 911.
  • If an oven fire starts, turn off the heat and keep the door closed to prevent flames from burning you or your clothing. If the fire does not go out, get out of the home and call the fire department.
  • To avoid the accumulation of grease, always clean the vent screen above your stove. You can put these in the dishwasher! If you cook frequently with oils, butter, and grease, make sure to clean it at least once a month.
  • Keep a fire extinguisher in the kitchen and learn how to use it.

Recall:General Electric Microwave Combo Wall Ovens Due to Fire Hazard

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Name of Product: Built-in Combination Wall and Microwave Ovens

Units: About 92,000

Manufacturer: GE Consumer & Industrial, of Louisville, Ky.

Hazard: The door switch in the microwave oven can overheat and ignite plastic components in the control area, posing a fire hazard to consumers. The lower thermal oven does not pose a hazard.

Incidents/Injuries: GE is aware of 35 incidents of minor property damage and one incident in which a fire damaged adjacent kitchen cabinets. No injuries have been reported.

Description: The recall includes GE combination microwave and conventional built-in wall ovens sold under the following brand names: GE, GE Profile® and Kenmore. The ovens were sold in white, black, bisque and stainless steel. The brand name is printed on the lower left corner on the front of the microwave door. The following model and serial numbers can be found inside the microwave oven on the left interior wall.

  Recalled Models Serial number
begins with:
GE / GE Profile JKP85B0A3BB, JKP85B0D1BB, JKP85W0A3WW, JKP85W0D1WW,
JKP86B0F1BB, JKP86C0F1CC, JKP86S0F1SS, JKP86W0F1WW,
JT965B0F1BB, JT965C0F1CC, JT965S0F1SS, JT965W0F1WW,
JTP85B0A2BB, JTP85B0A3BB, JTP85B0A4BB, JTP85B0A5BB,
JTP85B0D1BB, JTP85W0A2WW, JTP85W0A3WW, JTP85W0A4WW,
JTP85W0A5WW, JTP85W0D1WW, JTP86B0F1BB, JTP86C0F1CC,
JTP86S0F1SS, JTP86W0F1WW, JTP95B0A2BB, JTP95B0A3BB,
JTP95B0A4BB, JTP95B0A5BB, JTP95B0D1BB, JTP95W0A2WW,
JTP95W0A3WW, JTP95W0A4WW, JTP95W0A5WW, JTP95W0D1WW		 AZ, DZ, FZ, GZ, HZ,
LZ, MZ, RZ, SZ, TZ,
VZ, ZZ, AA, DA, FA,
GA, HA, LA, MA, RA,
SA, TA, VA, ZA, AD,
DD, FD, GD, HD, LD,
MD, RD, SD, TD, VD,
ZD, AF, DF, FF, GF,
HF, LF, MF, RF, SF,
TF, VF, ZF
Kenmore
(All model numbers
start with 911)		 41485991, 41485992, 41485993, 41485994, 41489991, 41489992,
41489993, 41489994, 49485992, 49489992, 47692100, 47699100,
47862100, 47869100, 47812200, 47813200, 47814200, 47819200,
47792200, 47793200, 47794200, 47799200		 0, 1, 2, 3

Sold at: Department and appliance stores from January 2000 to December 2003 for between $1,500 and $2,000.

Manufactured in: United States

Remedy: Consumers should stop using the microwave oven immediately. Consumers should contact GE regarding their GE/GE Profile micro-oven combo or Sears for their Kenmore unit. GE is offering a free repair or rebate on a new product, a $300 rebate toward the purchase of a new GE brand unit, or a $600 rebate toward the purchase of a new GE Profile brand unit. Sears is offering a free repair or $300 rebate toward the purchase of a new Kenmore brand unit. Consumers can continue using the lower thermal oven.

Consumer Contact: For additional information on GE /Profile units, contact General Electric toll-free at (888)-240-2745 from 8 a.m. to 8 p.m. ET Monday through Friday, and 9 a.m. to 3 p.m. ET Saturday, or visit GE’s Web site at www.geappliances.com. For additional information on Kenmore units, contact Sears toll-free at (888) 679-0282 from 8 a.m. to 10 p.m. ET Monday through Saturday, or visit Sears’ Web site at www.sears.com

Picture of Recalled Built-in Combination Wall and Microwave Oven

How Microwave Ovens Work

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We use them almost daily and yet many people have no idea how a microwave oven works.  Here are the basics courtesy of the folks at HowStuffWorks.com:

A microwave oven uses microwaves to heat food. Microwaves are radio waves. In the case of microwave ovens, the commonly used radio wave frequency is roughly 2,500 megahertz (2.5 gigahertz). Radio waves in this frequency range have an interesting property: they are absorbed by water, fats and sugars. When they are absorbed they are converted directly into atomic motion — heat. Microwaves in this frequency range have another interesting property: they are not absorbed by most plastics, glass or ceramics. Metal reflects microwaves, which is why metal pans do not work well in a microwave oven.
You often hear that microwave ovens cook food “From the inside out.” What does that mean? Here’s an explanation to help make sense of microwave cooking.
Let’s say you want to bake a cake in a conventional oven. Normally you would bake a cake at 350 degrees F or so, but let’s say you accidentally set the oven at 600 degrees instead of 350. What is going to happen is that the outside of the cake will burn before the inside even gets warm. In a conventional oven, the heat has to migrate (by conduction) from the outside of the food toward the middle (See How a Thermos Works for a good explanation of conduction and other heat transfer processes). You also have dry, hot air on the outside of the food evaporating moisture. So the outside can be crispy and brown (for example, bread forms a crust) while the inside is moist.

In microwave cooking, the radio waves penetrate the food and excite water and fat molecules pretty much evenly throughout the food. No heat has to migrate toward the interior by conduction. There is heat everywhere all at once because the molecules are all excited together. There are limits, of course. Radio waves penetrate unevenly in thick pieces of food (they don’t make it all the way to the middle), and there are also “hot spots” caused by wave interference, but you get the idea. The whole heating process is different because you are “exciting atoms” rather than “conducting heat.” 

In a microwave oven, the air in the oven is at room temperature, so there is no way to form a crust. That is why microwavable pastries sometimes come with a little sleeve made out of foil and cardboard. You put the food in the sleeve and then microwave it. The sleeve reacts to microwave energy by becoming very hot. This exterior heat lets the crust become crispy as it would in a conventional oven.