Microwave Oven Power

How to Determine Microwave oven Power Settings

Microwaves are one of the best appliances to have in any modern kitchen. They are versatile and can be used to reheat as well as to cook food.

The best part is that due to their unique microwave mechanism, they can heat the food stuff a lot faster than the traditional heating techniques. The microwaves are available with different power specifications. At the lower end there are microwaves with around 600 – 700 W power while at the higher end some domestic microwaves come with as much as 1000- 1200W of power.

While the specifications of the microwaves vary, the food that needs to be cooked typically requires the same level of heating. Logically a full power 600 W microwave oven and a half power 1200 W oven would be equally effective. This is the reason that most of the microwave models come with a feature called power levels.

Typically all microwaves come with 10 power settings, some of the smaller ovens may have just 5 such levels. While cooking the food, one must determine the ideal microwave oven power settings to ensure well cooked food.

There are some standard rules of thumb you can use to cook food using variable microwave oven power settings.

Whenever the recipe states WARM settings operate the microwave at 25% of the power which would be level 2-3 in a 10 level microwave unit.
Whenever the recipe states SIM settings operate the microwave at 50% of the power.
Whenever the recipe states ROAST settings operate the microwave at 75% of the power.
Whenever the recipe states COOK settings operate the microwave at full power.

While these are simple rules that you can follow, you must also take into consideration the wattage of the microwave. While a standard 900W – 1000W microwave might comply with these settings, you may not get anywhere with a 700W microwave. You must be cognizant of this and be able to adapt your cooking power levels and timer settings accordingly.

A good solution to this would be to look at the owner’s manual of the microwave and identify the typical time and power levels specified for a similar food. Most manuals have a section of how long should various food stuffs be cooked for an ideal cooking. Using the metrics given in the manual and the ones given in the recipe you can estimate what would be the ideal settings for your microwave.

One of the most important uses of the power levels is programmed cooking. In this feature, one can program the microwave to cook the same food at different in a single go. These are usually used to cook frozen entrées. The food needs to be defrosted and then cooked and heated to serve. With variable power levels and programming logic, the entire setting can be done in one go. You just need to come back after the entire entrée is cooked and ready to be served.

The best reference for any microwave oven power settings is its Owner’s manual. This will give deep insights into what are the perfect power levels and times to cook a wide range of food stuff. Given the growing popularity of microwaves, not just as a reheating appliance, but also a cooking medium, it is no surprise that the owner’s manuals now have a very good collection of recipes and cooking tips for all kinds of foods ranging from frozen meat to fresh vegetables.

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