11
General guidelines
Standing time
Dense foods e.g. meat, jacket potatoes and
cakes, require standing time (inside or outside
of the oven) after cook ing, to allow heat to finish
con ducting to cook the centre completely. Wrap
meat joints and jacket potatoes in aluminium foil
while standing. Meat joints need approx. 10-15
minutes, jacket potatoes 5 minutes. Other foods
such as plated meals, vegetables, fish etc
require 2-3 minutes standing. If food is not
cooked after standing time, return to the oven
and cook for additional time. After defrosting
food, standing time should also be allowed. See
pages 18-20.
The skin or membrane on some foods will
cause steam to build up during cooking. These
foods must be pierced or a strip of skin should
be peeled off before cooking to allow the steam
to es cape. Eggs, potatoes, apples, sausages
etc, will all need to be pierced before cooking.
DO NOT ATTEMPT TO BOIL EGGS IN THEIR
SHELLS.
Piercing
Covering
Quantity
Spacing
Small quantities cook faster than large
quantities, also small portions will reheat more
quickly than large portions.
Moisture content
Many fresh foods e.g. veget ables and fruit, vary
in their moisture content throughout the season,
particularly jacket potatoes. For this reason
cooking times may have to be adjusted. Dry
ingredients e.g. rice, pasta, can dry out during
storage so cooking times may differ.
Cover foods with microwave cling film or a lid.
Cover fish, vegetables, cas seroles, soups. Do
not cover cakes, sauces, jacket potatoes or
pastry items.
Foods cook more quickly and evenly if spaced
apart. NEVER pile foods on top of each other.
Density
Porous airy foods heat more quickly than dense
heavy foods.
Cling film
Cling film helps keep the food moist and the
trapped steam assists in speeding up cooking
times. Pierce before cooking to allow excess
steam to escape. Always take care when
removing cling film from a dish as the build-up
of steam will be very hot.
