Microwave cooking
 

Boron Elgar wrote:
On Sat, 6 Dec 2014 10:31:01 -0800 (PST), Hypatia Nachshon
wrote:

Friends, as things are a bit slow this time of year, can I get input to
deal with a friend who has an (ill-founded IMHO) prejudice against microwave cooking.

I need ammo because this is a mature Italian trained professional whose
experience I am bound to respect, even if I don't agree with his
thinking process. (He was brought up in a rural setting in the Veneto
where micros were unknown; he strongly prefers eating fresh food only;
does not like to reheat, et.

AFAIK, micros work by heating the molecules of water within the food.
Stove cooking in water works by heating the same molecules from the outside in.

Plus, you throw away a lot of the vitamins in the cooking water, whereas
micro doesn't lose them.)

He said he tried cooking in my micro a few times and didn't like. I
suspect his thinking process is, uh, unscientific, but it's his taste
buds... (and possibly his confirmation bias..?)

We agree of course that oven/toaster oven is needed to brown/crisp food.

Outside of that area of agreement, he challenges me: Why do restaurant
chefs not use micros? My first reaction was because of the large
quantities that would overwhelm kitchen resources. But any inherent reason?

Any thoughts on:

a. Basic difference(s) if any between micro & stovetop cooking?

b. Why restaurant chefs don't use micros.

c. Has anyone reference to a serious, non-crazy, cooking site
where I could also ask? I checked out a few NGs but silly and light-weight.

TIA

ONLY TWO WEEKS TILL THE SOLSTICE, WHEN THE LIGHT BEGINS TO RETURN AND I
CAN FUNCTION AGAIN!

HB


Here is an article that dispels a lot of the rumors and foolishness
that circulate online about microwave cooking.

http://www.takepart.com/article/2013...crowaves-wrong

A lot of restaurants *do* use them, of course, but since I do not know
my own way around the usual function of a commercial restaurant, I do
not know why they are not used more.

Microwaves don't heat evenly. That's why they have rotating platters or
rotating reflectors. The heat is generated in wavelengths. A half wave is
roughly 3 inches. Smaller items don't pick up heat as well. The cavity is
full of peaks and hulls.

I started using it when I built my heathkit in about 1971 . Still have my
cooking guide. I cook or reheat veggies always in a corning Type covered
dish. Add a small layer of water to help create and disperse the heat with
steam. same method with potatoes. Steaming foods work pretty well in
microwaves. Covered dishes help concentrate the steam, and also even out
the hot cold spots.

Greg

Microwave cooking
 

On Sun, 7 Dec 2014 06:26:13 +0000 (UTC), gregz
wrote:

Boron Elgar wrote:
On Sat, 6 Dec 2014 10:31:01 -0800 (PST), Hypatia Nachshon
wrote:

Friends, as things are a bit slow this time of year, can I get input to
deal with a friend who has an (ill-founded IMHO) prejudice against microwave cooking.

I need ammo because this is a mature Italian trained professional whose
experience I am bound to respect, even if I don't agree with his
thinking process. (He was brought up in a rural setting in the Veneto
where micros were unknown; he strongly prefers eating fresh food only;
does not like to reheat, et.

AFAIK, micros work by heating the molecules of water within the food.
Stove cooking in water works by heating the same molecules from the outside in.

Plus, you throw away a lot of the vitamins in the cooking water, whereas
micro doesn't lose them.)

He said he tried cooking in my micro a few times and didn't like. I
suspect his thinking process is, uh, unscientific, but it's his taste
buds... (and possibly his confirmation bias..?)

We agree of course that oven/toaster oven is needed to brown/crisp food.

Outside of that area of agreement, he challenges me: Why do restaurant
chefs not use micros? My first reaction was because of the large
quantities that would overwhelm kitchen resources. But any inherent reason?

Any thoughts on:

a. Basic difference(s) if any between micro & stovetop cooking?

b. Why restaurant chefs don't use micros.

c. Has anyone reference to a serious, non-crazy, cooking site
where I could also ask? I checked out a few NGs but silly and light-weight.

TIA

ONLY TWO WEEKS TILL THE SOLSTICE, WHEN THE LIGHT BEGINS TO RETURN AND I
CAN FUNCTION AGAIN!

HB


Here is an article that dispels a lot of the rumors and foolishness
that circulate online about microwave cooking.

http://www.takepart.com/article/2013...crowaves-wrong

A lot of restaurants *do* use them, of course, but since I do not know
my own way around the usual function of a commercial restaurant, I do
not know why they are not used more.

Microwaves don't heat evenly. That's why they have rotating platters or
rotating reflectors. The heat is generated in wavelengths. A half wave is
roughly 3 inches. Smaller items don't pick up heat as well. The cavity is
full of peaks and hulls.

I started using it when I built my heathkit in about 1971 . Still have my
cooking guide. I cook or reheat veggies always in a corning Type covered
dish. Add a small layer of water to help create and disperse the heat with
steam. same method with potatoes. Steaming foods work pretty well in
microwaves. Covered dishes help concentrate the steam, and also even out
the hot cold spots.

Greg

Microwave ovens don't "steam", they can't produce steam, what they
produce is hot water vapor... to produce steam water must be heated
under pressure... and if you can see it it's not steam, steam is
invisable, what you see coming from a hot baked potato is water vapor,
not steam. Cooking in a covered container in a microwave oven is
exactly/precisely the same as cooking in a covered pot on a
stovetop... both are cooking by convection... only difference is folks
tend to use much less liquid with microwaving so it's more important
to let food rest a minute or two for the food to continue cooking and
for the temperature to even out throughout. Thing is "microwave oven"
could be argued is a misnomer, it's not really an oven unless it's one
of the newer types that also cooks with radiant heat.