All About Microwave And Power Settings

Most of us have microwaves, however the question is how to utilize them. Some people use it only for reheating, cooking veggies, and so on... However, we can cook nearly anything in a microwave. Even if we read the handbook completely, some of us will be unable to use it completely. The microwave has the advantage of being able to cook practically any form of food. There are numerous recipes that can be prepared in the microwave.

Before I give the recipes, I think it is necessary to discuss some general microwave oven information. I intend to discuss each section in its own post. Today we'll talk about what occurs when food is microwaved and microwave power settings. That will come in handy when you're cooking.

What is a microwave

So let us see what a microwave is,

"A microwave oven is a type of electrical appliance that cooks food using electromagnetic radiations (microwaves) produced by its magnetron, which is a type of electrical tube. When food is exposed to a high frequency radio magnetic field, the sugar, lipids, water, and other substances in the meal absorb the microwaves and begin to vibrate, producing heat. This heat generated within the food material causes it to cook faster than usual."

In a nutshell, this is what happens in a microwave oven,

"When microwave food is exposed to electromagnetic microwave radiations, it cooks faster."

 The process of cooking in microwave is called microwaving.

Different power levels in microwave mode

The microwave has several power levels for different types of cooking. Each microwave will have a unique method of operation, but in general, the power, output, and use are as follows.

Power level	Output	Use
High	100%	To boil water To brown minced meat (keema) To cook chicken, fish and vegetables. To cook tender cut meat
Medium high	80%	To reheat To cook all soft food items like mushrooms, shellfish, paneer and egg.
Medium	60%	In this you can bake cakes and scones, custards etc. Also to cook rice, soup, egg etc.
Medium low	40%	This is the defrosting power level, in this you can do all type of thawing melting butter and chocolates cook small pieces of meat
low	20%	Soften butter, cheese and ice cream This level is the most useful level in winter, you can keep your idli, appam or any dough for raising.

Note : Please read the manual carefully, before operating

The medium microwave power level in the table above is for baking. Yes, we have some microwave baking recipes, but the ultimate result will be imperfect. This is one of the microwave oven's drawbacks. The outside brown crust will be absent, leaving the cakes spongy and fluffy. If you don't mind foregoing the exterior brown crust, you can bake cakes in a simple microwave oven. See our earlier post for a simple and soft cake in a coffee mug, microwave spice mug cake. However, a conventional oven or an OTG is required for perfection. 

Also, if you do not want to bake, I recommend purchasing a basic microwave oven rather than a conventional oven because it is a less expensive option.

How to set different microwave power levels

Each power level has a certain purpose. Please confirm how all of these levels appear in your microwave before starting. I have an LG microwave oven. Each brand will have different alternatives displayed, but the powder levels will be the same overall.

After turning on the oven, press the "micro" button once more to access the first power level, high power, where the screen will display 700 W. Subsequent presses will reveal the following levels. So select the appropriate cooking mode. 

I hope you found this content useful. Before you begin using the microwave, read the handbook thoroughly so that you have a general understanding of the powder settings and so on, and then proceed.

Happy cooking 

Anju