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1.Arranging
When cooking fillets or whole fish, always arrange
the thicker part to the outside of the container and,
wherever possible, make even-shaped parcels of
fish. Cook two whole fish together, placed head to
tail with backbone towards the outside of the dish.
2.Shielding
Single whole fish will need to have the head and
tail ends shielded with aluminium foil halfway
through the cooking time.
(See page 42)
Cooking by Microwave
Fish
3.Whole fish
Score the sides of whole fish prior to cooking; this
prevents the skin from bursting and splattering the
oven cavity. A better result is obtained if whole fish
are cooked on a LOWER power setting rather than
HIGH power.
4.Fish fillets
Fish fillets should be rolled so that the head and
tail of the fillet overlap forming a fish parcel. Any
number of fillets can be cooked together, on HIGH
power, in this way. Arranging food in this manner
means that it cooks evenly and without the need to
shield with aluminium foil.
Vegetables
Commercial ovens are primarily used for reheating and defrosting. It is possible however to cook certain foods
eg. fish and vegetables very successfully by microwave. These foods should be limited to small quantities as
larger amounts will not offer any time saving.
1.Adding salt
Vegetables cooked by microwave, retain their
colour and texture. The short cooking times and
small quantity of cooking liquid required ensures
the vegetables do not lose their nutritive value.
Do not add salt to the vegetables.
2.Cooking vegetables together
It is possible to cook a selection of vegetables
together in the same dish if they have roughly the
same cooking time per pound. Do not, for
example, cook new potatoes alongside frozen
peas, as the peas will be cooked and the potatoes
almost raw.
3.Adding water
A small amount of water is required to generate
sufficient steam to begin to cook the vegetables;
the microwave energy will then complete the
cooking within the vegetables themselves. If too
much liquid is added this will increase the cooking
time considerably.
4.Container size
Choose the size of the dish to match the quantity
of vegetables to be cooked. A large, covered bowl
with only a handful of food in the base does not
cook very well.
5.Arranging
Always arrange the denser parts of the vegetables
to the outside of the dish. With vegetables such as
broccoli the denser part is the stalk.
6.Part-cooking
If the vegetables are going to be pre-cooked for
plating up, refrigerating and regenerating at a later
date, reduce the cooking time by about a third;
during the reheating time the vegetables will
complete their cooking, retaining their “bite”.
7.Standing time
It is important to allow vegetables to stand before
testing to see if they are correctly cooked. This
prevents the vegetables over cooking and
becoming tough.
Microwave
