- What is a microwave oven?
- What are the different types of microwave and what is difference between them?
- What should you consider when buying a microwave oven?
- What is the recommended capacity in microwaves for a family of 2?
- I want a microwave mostly for reheating which one is best suited?
Modern day living does not accept the traditional, slow technique of cooking practiced earlier. One device that has defeated the clock in the kitchen is the microwave oven. It not only cooks faster, but is also healthier and convenient to use.
Micro Oven too has changed, thanks to the technology improving day by day. One of the easiest ways to examine how significant is the change is to learn people’s expectations of appliances in the house today and fact most kitchens have a micro oven.
With proper tools and kitchen appliances, you can cook almost everything in a microwave, all you need to remember are a few simple things!
But before you learn about the working and types of microwave ovens available in the market, you must get familiar with the basic microwave oven terminology.
Basic Microwave Oven terminologies
| Term | Definition |
| Instant Action – keys / Easy – touch buttons | These features are on keypads that have preset times installed by the manufacturer to determine how long a dish should take to cook. Common instant action keys are for potatoes, popcorn, pizza and hot beverages. |
| Convection | A means of cooking that involves circulating hot air around foods. It may be used alone or combined with microwave cooking to add speed to the cooking process. This process allows even browning and crisping of foods almost like a normal oven. |
| Convection Micro oven | A model that offers both microwave energy and cooking with heat in the same oven. Microwave energy and heat can be used separately or together. This is the most versatile and heat performing of ovens. |
| Inverter Microwave ovens | A slightly different technology that allows for a more spacious interiors and lighter weight oven. |
| Automatic Defrost | When food type and weight is entered into control panel, the unit programs the time and power levels to best defrost the food. |
| Turn Table | Turntables are revolving plates, usually glass, inside a microwave that automatically turns a food as it cooks. Turntables eliminate the need to open the microwave and turn the food by hand. Nearly all full-size and tabletop microwaves have turntable. Some microwaves have turntables that automatically place the dish at the front of the oven when the cook time is finished. |
| Grill | A grill consists of a cooking surface, typically made of parallel metal bars or porcelain – covered metal grid, over a fuel source capable of generating intense heat. |
- Simple microwave ovens
- Microwave with grill
- Microwave with grill and convection (Combination cooking)
| TYPE | USAGE |
| Basic / Simple Microwave | Only simple cooking, heating, defrosting. |
| Microwave with grill | Simple cooking, heating, defrosting and baking. |
| Microwave with grill and convection (Combination cooking) | Simple cooking, heating, defrosting, baking and crisping. |
Feature comparisions of microwave ovens
| Features | Simple Microwave | Microwave with grill | Microwave with grill and convection |
| Heating | Yes | Yes | Yes |
| Frosting | Yes | Yes | Yes |
| Baking | No | Yes | Yes |
| Crisping | No | No | Yes |
The capacity of a microwave oven defines the size of the oven and the amount of food that you can cook in it at one time. To decide the capacity that best suits your needs you must consider the following:
Family size - The number of people in your family will directly affect your capacity requirement. The larger the family, the more food you will need to cook at one time. Therefore, the larger the family, the larger the microwave oven you will require.
Usage - Whether you plan to use the microwave oven for actual cooking or to supplement your cooking will make a difference. If you only need a microwave oven to reheat and defrost food, a smaller size will suffice.
Microwave ovens are safe to use for defrosting, reheating and cooking. However "cold spots" can occur in micro-waved foods because of the irregular way the microwaves enter the oven and are absorbed by the food.
- Be sure to use non-metal utensils in the microwave.
- Paper plates, cups and napkins can be used in the microwave. But don't use foil-lined paper products, paper towels that include nylon or synthetic fibers, or newspaper.
- When defrosting food in the microwave, remove food from store wrap first. Foam trays and plastic wraps may melt and cause chemicals to migrate into the food.
- Due to the possibility of uneven heating, microwaving baby food and formula is not recommended
- To ensure that food cooks fully and evenly in the microwave oven, stir food and turn dishes periodically while they're cooking.
- Do not heat airtight and vacuum sealed bottles, jar container e.g. baby foods jar, eggs, nuts in shells tomatoes.
- Do not operate the microwave oven when its empty.
- Do not cover the rear ventilation slots with cloths or papers.
- Always use oven gloves when removing dish from the oven.
- Remember we also need to take care of our microwave oven in order to would avoid bacteria
Cleaning Tips - Before cleaning a microwave oven, use a microwave safe container, pour water in it, and then heat up the water in the microwave for about 2-3 minutes. When it's finished, leave the microwave closed for about 5 minutes. The moisture from the water will soften tough stains in the microwave and make cleaning easier.
What should you consider when buying a microwave oven?
| Usage: Reheating, full cooking | Basic features work well if you just use your microwave for reheating |
| If used to make entire meals, look for latest innovations | |
| If your children use the microwave, then ease of use and safety are important | |
| Size availability: Compact (0.5-0.8 cubic feet), Mid-size (0.9-1.3 cubic feet), Family (1.4-1.6 cubic feet), Full-size (1.8-2.0 cubic feet) | Larger families need larger microwaves |
| Other factors include space in the kitchen, size of vessels and type of food cooked | |
| Wattage: Mostly falls between 600 to 1200 watts | Higher wattage cooks food faster |
| 800 watts is good enough to cook food evenly | |
| Features: Sensor, Preprogrammed and Programmable cooking | Sensor cooking cooks food based on humidity in the oven from moisture in the food |
| Preprogrammed cooking starts with one touch - add food, tell the appliance what is to be cooked and start | |
| Programmable cooking allows you to select power changes and timing |
Simple versus Convection Microwave Ovens
| Simple microwave oven | Convection microwave oven |
| Cooks and re-heats food | Heats, browns and dries the surface of the food for crisping |
| Best suited for regular cooking | Best suited for preparing tandoori food and baking cakes that need crisp crusts |
| Heatproof cookware | Heatproof cookware and microsafe in case of combination cooking |
