When you purchase a microwave grill, one of the most important features that should be included is a good cookbook written specifically for use with your new appliance. If this is missing for some reason, look online for recipes and instructions specific to the model you have acquired. In addition to this specific information, it is smart to have a good general understanding of the principles of microwave grilling. In this article, we cover the basics. Read on to learn more.
Getting Started
Follow these steps to get started cooking with your new microwave grill:
1. Be sure your foods are properly prepared by removing excess fat, skin and bones. Doing this helps your microwave work more efficiently and delivers more uniform results. Because microwaves work by heating up the water molecules in food, trimming away excess material promotes safe, even cooking. If you leave all that dross on, you are likely to find that some parts of your food are over-cooked while others are not cooked at all. This is due to inconsistent water content.
2. Place the grill in your microwave and heat it for a minute before adding the foods you want to cook. This helps preheat the grill to create distinct “grill marks”.
3. Remember to wear oven mitts when handling the grill. Some can reach temperatures as high as 725 degrees Fahrenheit in just a minute or less.
4. Once you have prepared your food and preheated your grill, add food. Promote even cooking and heating by putting a cover on your microwave grill (if one is provided). If there is no cover, put a couple of layers of paper toweling over the food. This promotes even heating and reduces splattering.
5. Cook for the right amount of time. If you have a recipe, follow it. Otherwise, become familiar with the amount of time it takes to cook your food traditionally. Begin cooking by setting your timer for about a quarter of that amount of time. For example, pan-fried bacon takes three or four minutes to cook. In the microwave, it takes about 45 seconds.
6. Don’t clean a hot grill. Let the grill cool down entirely before cleaning. To clean, use paper towels to wipe off grease and bits of food. With this done, wash the grill by hand in hot, soapy water.
Tips for success:
- Turn the food halfway through cooking. If you are using the convection oven setting, your appliance will not stop cooking when you open the door. Remember to treat this small appliance as you would any heat generating appliance. Wear protective kitchen gloves and handle the food sources with oven mitts.
- It may take a little trial and error to attain the best results. If you find your meats are cooking unevenly, try coating them with a marinade of barbecue sauce, teriyaki, Worcestershire or other sauce. This will help distribute the heat evenly across the surface of the meat.
- Some items will need slower cooking for safety and flavor. Larger cuts of meat and hamburgers should be cooked for about three or four minutes per pound.
Can Grill Microwave Oven Be Used For Baking?
Baking is not typically done in the microwave, but if your combination microwave includes a convection oven setting, you can use it just as you would a toaster oven. Be sure to turn the microwave function off and the heating elements on.
Choose your heat settings and the amount of time needed to bake your products. Remember to preheat the oven for ten minutes before placing your aspiring baked goods in the oven.
For the most part, you can bake cakes and other baked goods in any toaster oven or convection oven just as you would a standard oven. Just follow the directions on the package mix box or recipe.
If you have a microwave grill that does not have a convection oven option, you’ll need to use specially adapted microwave recipes for baking. There are lots of single serve cake-like options you can try, such as microwave brownies.
1 Minute Microwave Brownie | Single Serve Brownie
Microwave Grilling Is Efficient, Easy and Healthy
Using your microwave helps save energy with faster, more efficient cooking. It also helps you save on your cooling bills because it will not heat up your whole house the way that open cooking on the stove top or baking or roasting in the oven can do. Foods prepare using a microwave grill are better than pan-fried foods or foods that have otherwise been cooked and served swimming in grease and unhealthy oils. When you cook with a microwave grill, your food sits on a raised surface, so excess oils can drain off.
