I've also seen it dry out broccoli pretty badly as well. Also, the flavor and texture of stuff is never quite the same as thawing it by a steamer or in the toaster oven.
How to Cook Frozen Vegetables in the Microwave
I take your point about leafy greens, which it tends to burn. Peas, carrots, green beans, diced potatoes, beets, etc. I wouldn't call it "blanching", but you can use your microwave to cook veggies well. Phil M Jones 4 8.
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The main difference between microwaving and blanching is you can add salt to the water. Look for hobodave's answer You never know that the veggie can catch fire in the microwave as some veggies have high concentrations of metals such as magnesium, iron, and zinc, which might catch fire inside the microwave.
Hope it help you. Anderson Karu 1 6 The discussion there seemed to establish that it takes more than just high mineral content for this to happen, and I think we'd know by now if things like broccoli had any chance of starting fires. This sounds like an urban myth to me. Generating Fireballs with a cut grape in a microwave oven: They don't behave like the elemental metal atoms. I guess this is marginally an answer to the question - you're saying that it's bad because it boils water in the vegetables?
Prepared Vegetables
It also sounds like this is a bit of a misunderstanding, though. Sure, it's true that microwaves work best on water, but it heats up that water, it doesn't immediately boil.
If the food contains plenty of water as vegetables do , that heat transfers quickly to the rest, so heating up the water is basically the same thing as heating the food. Sorry I have to -1 this: The suggestion that blanching keeps the vitamins and minerals where microwaving doesn't is also suspect. This answer is more suited to a question on Skeptics. Just how does a microwave oven remove vitamins and the minerals?
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In the lab your basic test for this shows they are removed over time in hot water by the osmosis process, hmm that's sounds like blanching? You must have got the two confused: Since a microwave is just a high frequency radio wave, it cooks by a process called dielectric heating, which basically results in certain molecules vibrating and therefore generating heat.
The radio wave is absorbed by the first thing it hits that it is "in tune" with it, e. It therefore can only heat the outer layer of the food it is cooking.
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The inside can only be heated by thermal conduction. Try cooking a lump of frozen beans or minced meat to check this process out: Boiling a pot of water can be very hazardous, just check the government accidents register! Nothing is simpler than placing a container with a loose fitting lid of fresh or frozen vegetables into a microwave oven. They should be first washed and cut into even pieces. To couple readily with the waves, individual pieces should be at least a quarter of that length—so about 3 centimeters a little larger than one inch.
A microwave will of course cook smaller bits, but it will do so less efficiently and effectively. It basically means you can cook them—plus virtually any other vegetable—perfectly in just a few minutes. How many minutes depends on the wattage of your machine along with the amount and size of food you are cooking.
Through trial and error, we found we got the best results by cooking one-inch pieces of vegetables in our 1,watt microwave for 30—45 seconds. Experimenting with your microwave will help determine your own optimal cook times and settings. Ready to try the technique in a finished dish? Prepare vegetables, chopping into uniformly sized pieces to help them cook evenly. Uniformly cooked food can be a challenge with the microwave, but these strategies will help. Start by preparing the vegetables.
Ask the Diet Doctor: Does Microwaving Vegetables Really 'Kill' Nutrients? | Shape Magazine
Give them a good rinse and cut away any trimmings. Next, chop the vegetables into bite-size pieces and add them to a microwave safe bowl. Stretch a piece of cling wrap over the top of the bowl very tightly.
- How to cook vegetables in the microwave.
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The time needed to fully steam the vegetables depends on two things: At home, in my 1,watt microwave, steaming one large, chopped broccoli crown took around 1 minute and 30 seconds to fully steam. Grant Crilly of ChefSteps tells Tested that vegetables like carrots won't take as long as broccoli.
But you will have to play with times to figure out which work best in your microwave for different vegetables.