There’s no doubt that microwaves make our lives easier, simplifying and streamlining our time in the kitchen. But what microwave oven tips and tricks maximize its capabilities? Using this helpful appliance to dry fresh herbs prepares and preserves them for future use. Learn how to use a microwave for more than just reheating meals with these helpful cooking hacks.
Keep Kitchen Time Quick with These Microwave Oven Tips and Tricks
Microwave oven tips and tricks involve more than just cooking shortcuts. Using it the right way expands its capabilities and keeps it functioning optimally. Before we discuss microwave hacks, we’ll start by reviewing basic user tips for everyday use.
Important Microwave Tips
Microwave cooking is different from cooking with electricity or gas, necessitating different practices and materials.
Practice these everyday microwave cooking tips to get the most out of your appliance and use it properly:
- Avoid metal cookware: Microwaves don’t penetrate metal, leaving food uncooked.
- Don’t cook with water: Cooking pasta, rice, or other foods that require water in the microwave alters the texture. These foods are best cooked on the stovetop.
- Cut foods in small pieces of similar size: This enables food to cook faster and more evenly.
- Arrange foods properly: Keep thicker ends facing outward and circle items around an empty center with space in between each.
- Stir, turn, and rotate during cooking: This ensures proper heat distribution, eliminating hot and cold spots.
Mastering these basics can pave the way to the more advanced microwave oven tips and tricks below, maximizing its capabilities.
1. Extract More Juice From Citrus
Want to get more juice from citrus fruits without straining your hands? Simply pop the whole fruit in the microwave for 20 seconds. When it’s warm to the touch, slice in half and juice with minimal effort.
2. Peel Garlic Easily
Peeling garlic can be time-consuming, leaving you with sticky, smelly hands. One of our favorite microwave oven tips and tricks takes the mess out of peeling garlic and gets it done faster. Microwave whole, wrapped cloves for up to 15 seconds. Heating removes the moisture that holds the skin tight, enabling it to slide off easily.
3. Cut Onions, Tear-Free
A microwave cooking guide would be incomplete without a hack that takes the tears out of cutting onions. Just heat the whole, unpeeled onion for 30 seconds in the microwave. The heat destroys tear-causing compounds, allowing you to cut with dry eyes.
4. Scramble Eggs
Microwave recipes for a fast, hot breakfast are always appreciated on busy mornings. For scrambled eggs in minutes, beat two eggs, two tablespoons of milk and a pinch of salt in a microwave-safe bowl. Heat for 2 minutes to enjoy a hot breakfast on the go!
5. Dry Herbs
Dried herbs are not only preferred for some recipes, they have a longer shelf-life and are easier to store. Dry your herbs in minutes by laying them flat between two paper towels on a microwave-safe dish. Heating for 30 seconds will extract all their moisture, preserving the herbs for longer periods of time.
6. Cook Crispier Bacon
There’s nothing like a crispy bite of bacon. What’s the secret to getting that perfect crunch in the microwave? Overturn a bowl in the center of a dish and drape the uncooked bacon slices over the bowl. Any grease will run off the bowl and into the plate while cooking, maximizing crispiness with less grease and fat.
These microwave oven tips and tricks won’t be of much help if your trusty appliance is breaking down. For the best microwave repair service in Albuquerque, call Ortega’s Appliance Service.
