Change your cooking game with a handful of microwave oven hacks that you can try at home.
The compact microwave oven in your kitchen helps you save time when reheating and defrosting your food. But surprisingly, this easy-to-use kitchen appliance can do more than reheat your food. Save yourself from the hassle of cooking and food preparation with the help of your handy microwave oven. Here are some unexpected microwave oven functions that will blow your mind.
Defrost Your Favourite Food
From chicken to other frozen products, your microwave oven does a great job of defrosting your food evenly. To efficiently do this, position your food a bit on the side of the plate, as the centre is a spot where minimal heat is utilised. To distribute the heat around the food, use a microwave-safe deep platter or mug. If you need to reheat more food, position it around the plate, leaving the centre empty to promote better circulation.
Reheating Leftovers
Reheat your leftovers without adding oils or drying your food too much with a reliable microwave oven. When reheating your food, position it beside a glass of water to add some moisture to your food. This is an excellent substitute for a more specialised steam microwave oven.
Peel Garlic Faster
If you have to deal with too many garlic cloves for your holiday recipes, let your microwave oven do the work. Simply put the garlic in the oven for no more than 15 seconds at high heat. This makes it easy for cloves to get out of their skin.
Steam Fish and Vegetables
Can you really steam fish and vegetables with a microwave oven? Surprisingly, it is possible with your compact microwave oven. Achieve a perfectly cooked meal by simply placing the fish or veggies in a bowl, adding a few cups of water, and covering it with a microwave-safe wrap or a dish. If using plastic wrap, make sure to add some ventilation by poking some holes.
Melt Anything
From butter to chocolate and any other sauces, you can easily melt your ingredients using a handy microwave oven. Melt your chocolate without burning it by using a 30-second incrementing method to give you some time to stir your food.
Cook Grains
Use your microwave oven to cook some instant rice and transfer it straight to your bowl. Simply mix your washed rice and water in a microwave-safe bowl, following the correct ratio. Cover it with plastic wrap and cook for 15 to 20 minutes. In this way, you don’t need to use and clean a whole separate rice cooker for a small rice serving.
Squeeze Lemon
It is undeniably hard to squeeze all the juice from a lemon, except when you have a dedicated lemon squeezer or a juicer in your kitchen. If you are looking for an easy way to prepare your lemon juice without any tools, try heating your lemon inside the oven for two to three minutes to soften its pulp. Squeezing the juice will then become a breeze.
Stop Onions From Making You Cry
Put an end to the kitchen drama by putting them in the oven before cutting. Trim the ends of the onion and heat it for as long as 30 seconds. You will definitely enjoy mincing your onions without affecting their quality or stinging your eyes.
Dry Herbs
Dry and preserve your herbs for a variety of recipes with the help of your microwave oven. Layer your herbs on a plate and put them in the microwave for 30 seconds. Do the same thing for the other side. This will remove the moisture from your herbs, yielding crisp and flavourful results. Store them in a clean and dry container afterwards. You may store your herb container inside the fridge or your pantry cabinet. Depending on the type and amount of herbs that you are drying, the whole process may only take four minutes to finish.
Make Soggy Chips Crispy Again
Did your bag of potato chips lose its crispiness? This often happens if you leave your container open for a long time. The good news is that you can easily bring the crunchiness back with your microwave oven. Set your chips on a paper towel and put them in an oven-safe bowl. When reheating inside the oven, the excess moisture from the chips will be absorbed by the paper towel. You’ll surely enjoy your crispy and tasty chips afterwards. You can even cook potato wedges in the oven if you want.
Soften a Crusty Bread
Is your bread loaf stale? Don’t throw it out yet. Another thing you can do with your oven is soften the bread. Warp the piece of bread in a damp paper towel and heat it inside your microwave oven for ten minutes to regain its softness.
Easy Egg Recipe
If you are cooking on the go and can’t afford to deal with lots of cookware to clean after cooking, directly prepare your egg recipe in a bowl using your microwave oven. From quick scrambled eggs to slightly more complicated egg recipes, you can easily enjoy your meal on the go. You can even make a more complete breakfast by including some bacon in your bowl.
Mug Cakes
Although we love our standard ovens for baking, there are also lots of easy baked recipes that you can accomplish with your compact microwave oven. Create your own mug cake by creating a mixture of flour, baking powder, sugar, egg, oil, and milk in an oven-safe mug and baking it for two minutes. You can also make an instant cake with a premade batter mix that you can buy in stores.
Conclusion
The handy microwave oven can do more than just defrosting and reheating. This compact kitchen appliance is surprisingly versatile and fun to use if you just try to explore more. If you have limited resources, you can certainly squeeze more functions into your kitchen space with a well-used microwave oven.
If you are planning to buy a new microwave oven for your kitchen, make sure to check out Megafurniture’s collection of microwave ovens from the best brands in Singapore. From solo units to grill models and built-in microwave ovens, we have many excellent options for your kitchen requirements.