Life Hacks:
7 Things to Instantly Improve Microwaving:
Tip 1: Cut food into even pieces
Pieces of similar size are more likely to cook through at the same rate, and smaller pieces will cook faster than larger ones. This works perfectly for tasks like softening butter or melting chocolate: Just cut it into tablespoon-size chunks.
You can also try tucking thinner pieces of food — like the tail end of a fish filet or the skinny ends of chicken breasts — underneath thicker pieces. Or consider cutting off those thinner segments so you can remove them from the microwave before the rest of the food is done, which prevents them from overcooking.
Tip 2: Spread food out
Avoid a big stack or deep bowl full of food. The centre of a microwave-safe bowl of mashed potatoes or mac and cheese will be ice-cold long after the top and sides are sizzling. Instead, try spreading food out on a plate or in a smaller casserole dish.
Tip 3: Use a cover
Covering food traps steam and helps dishes cook more quickly and evenly. It also minimises splatter, which can eventually lead to smoke, a fire, or just a really gnarly, baked-on mess.
Microwaves pass through most glass, ceramic, plastic, and paper, so a cover can be almost anything that isn’t metal: an overturned plate, a plastic lid, parchment paper, or paper towels. Just don’t use paper towels made of recycled paper, which can contain metal threads.
If your microwave has automatic sensors that shut off when they detect a certain level of humidity from cooking food, make sure that the cover is vented or porous enough to release some steam; otherwise, the sensors won’t detect it. You’ll also likely want to reduce the time slightly, as it will usually take slightly longer for your microwave to detect the right amount of moisture.
Tip 4: Separate different food items
Reheating multiple kinds of food at the same time produces uneven results. Foods with more water, starches, and fats, such as mashed potatoes, heat faster than foods with lower concentrations of those components, such as slices of chicken breast. (Fatty foods in particular tend to heat quickly, because fats have a low specific-heat point.)
Reheating different food items one at a time, or even on different plates or in different containers, gives you far better-tasting meals. And you can still cook multiple containers at once: Remove each one when it’s done.
If you really can’t resist zapping that perfect plate of leftovers, covering it (as discussed in tip 3) can help.
Tip 5: Start at a lower power level
Begin microwaving on a medium power level — or at least lower than the highest level — if you have a microwave with more than 700 watts of power, which typically includes all but compact models. In most cases, the highest power level heats food faster but not better, quickly overcooking parts of the meal or drying out or burning the exterior before the inside is heated through. (This goes for nearly all other forms of cooking, too!)
Tasks where speed doesn’t come at the risk of splatter or overcooking — like reheating coffee, cooking pasta, or bringing a lot of liquid to a boil — are the exception.
Tip 6: Stir, flip, or move your food
Stirring or flipping foods from time to time while they simmer on the stove or cook in the oven is second nature for most people. You should do it when microwaving, too. Stirring a few times during the cook cycle eliminates hot and cold spots, so you’ll get more even results. Flipping pieces of food over halfway through the cooking time or moving them to different parts of the carousel promotes even heating, too. Moving food also gives you a chance to monitor its progress and adjust time or temperature, or to remove items or pieces that are done.
At a minimum, stir food before serving and eating it. This applies to packaged microwave meals as well.
Tip 7: Let it rest
Let foods stand in the microwave — with the door shut to keep in that warm steam — for about a minute after the cooking cycle finishes. This helps heat move to the centre of the food.