Microwave Oven Still a Top Time Saving Tool

(Family Features) - The last months of the year are often the busiest - time is at a premium. As the year draws to a close, consumers need all the time-saving help they can get. Although it rose to popularity almost four decades ago, the microwave oven still reigns as a top time-saving tool. Microwaves are the go-to appliance when consumers need to reheat home cooked leftovers or warm food carried out from other places.

The number of consumers who ate their restaurant meals at home rose 15 percent from 2001 to 2006 according to NPD, a national consumer research firm. But reheating dinners one by one, or in batches, doesn't always promote family togetherness. The innovative design of some GE microwave oven models, with multiple cooking racks and recessed turntables, lets consumers utilize the entire oven cavity. The family-friendly GE Profile Spacemaker 1.8 cubic-foot, 30-inch sensor oven fits up to six dinner plates or three casserole dishes so everyone can sit down to eat at the same time.

In addition to traditional microwave ovens, GE offers models that combine microwave energy with a variety of cooking technologies, including traditional, with bake and broil elements; Advantium, with halogen light; and convection, with a fan that circulates air throughout the oven cavity.

Most regular home cooked recipes can be converted to the microwave oven with minor changes in the technique used, according to the experts at GE. The nature of a microwave should be taken into consideration - including providing less browning, and less evaporation of liquids.

Find and follow a similar microwave recipe and simply adapt your conventional recipe accordingly. Follow the power level designation in the similar recipe or use power level 10 if there is no designation. Reduce the liquid by approximately one-third - though this is not always necessary. Reduce the seasonings by one-fourth to one-third if more than 1/8 teaspoon is suggested. Reduce cooking time by one-fourth to one-third of the time suggested in the conventional recipes. For example, if a dish requires 1 hour conventionally, then it would take just 15 to 20 minutes in the microwave.

Certain types of foods are especially suited for microwave cooking. Candy making is easier and faster in a microwave oven. For example, you can make peanut brittle or fudge in a flash with your microwave oven.

Visit www.geappliances.com and click on "cooking products" to review the many model styles, configurations, energy combinations and designs of microwave ovens available.

Chocolate Fudge
Yield: 60 pieces

2-1/4 cups sugar
1 5-ounce can evaporated milk
1 12-ounce semisweet chocolate chips
1 6-ounce package milk chocolate chips
1 cup walnuts, chopped (optional)
1/2 cup butter
2 tablespoons vanilla

In a 3-quart casserole or large glass mixing bowl, combine sugar and milk; blend well. Microwave on high (level 10) 6 to 8 minutes until sugar is dissolved, stirring every 2 minutes. Add semisweet chocolate chips, milk chocolate chips, walnuts, butter and vanilla. Stir until thoroughly blended. Pour mixture into buttered 2-quart oblong glass dish. Refrigerate until firm.

SOURCE: General Electric