33
Affects of the foods
Reheating by Microwave
9.Doubling Quantities
A reheating time is based on weight and usually a
time is given for a particular quantity of food, i.e.
11oz Lasagne takes 2 minutes. When the number
of portions to be heated together doubles, then the
reheating time will need to be increased by 75-
100%. Two portions will take 4 minutes 30
seconds to 5 minutes. Generally two lighter
textured products
such as pastries will take the shorter time, whilst
two denser products such as Lasagne will take the
longer time.
10.Frozen Foods
For speed, some foods can be reheated from
frozen but they must be foods that can be
STIRRED eg meat sauce, Chilli con Carne. Set
the total reheat time but open the door to stir
regularly.
DO NOT COVER.
AVOID REHEATING solid foods that cannot be
stirred, eg Lasagnes/Shepherds Pies from frozen.
Avoid reheating PLATED MEALS from frozen.
.
1.Starting Temperature
The colder the food the longer it will take to heat to
72˚C. Extra time must be allowed if food has been
defrosted as the centre may still be icy.
2.Headspace
When heating liquids, ensure they do not
completely fill their containers; a headspace allows
the liquids to be stirred during and at the end of
the heating time without spillage.
3.Covering foods
A container covered with either cling film, a plastic
plate cover or even the lid to the dish, will heat
fractionally faster then an uncovered dish. Do not
cover foods which require a drier texture, such as
pastries, as the steam that becomes trapped
under the cover will cause the food to go soggy.
4.Crisp Foods
Reheat pastry and bread items, such as sausage
rolls, pies and croissants, on a plastic rack to
reduce the chance of “sogginess”. The rack allows
the air to circulate beneath the food and remove
steam which causes moist, limp pastry. Your
Panasonic Combi offers a COMBINATION facility
which will help crisp pastry items as they reheat.
5.Uneven shapes
When heating uneven shaped pieces of food,
place the thick part of one piece against the thin
part of the second. This helps the food to heat
more evenly.
6.Porous Foods/Dense foods
Porous foods reheat more quickly than dense
heavy foods.
7.Food with “Skins”
When reheating foods with a skin such as fish,
chicken or baked beans, reduce the power to a
lower setting to prevent the food from heating too
quickly and “exploding”.
8.Heating two dishes together
It is possible to reheat two products with the same
heating time together. For example, two Chicken
Curries with a reheating time of 4 minutes each or
one Taglatelle Carbonara and one moussaka, both
of which have a heating time of 4 minutes each.
Microwave