Microwaves Explained

What do you do with yours...... reheating food, making movie popcorn, defrosting dishes or just melting chocolate?

Many microwaves are not used to their optimum ability. Microwave Ovens are actually versatile cooking machines offering rapid cooking and ease of use within a small compact unit. Ideal for commercial catering outlets many commercial ovens, due to their robust build, are also suitable for the discerning householder.

In the past many chefs would have frowned upon using a microwave in the kitchen - seeing it as an anathema within a quality catering kitchen. However, the speed, versatility and accessibility of microwave ovens are progressively seen as a tool for the busy kitchen making light of many time consuming tasks. Often with a microwave oven these more menial tasks can also be carried out by less qualified staff so freeing up the chef’s time and skills.

For the catering trade we would recommend a power rating of at least 1000 watts and this would be mainly for light catering tasks, with most caterers looking at between 1200 and 1900 watts as standard. Programmable microwaves give control and allow different staff to easily utilize the ovens for many varied dishes. Programme modes allow dishes to be regenerated at the touch of a button with exacting results every time.

Manual microwaves allow a greater degree of intervention, where dishes require much closer handling. These cooking machines also allow more fine tuning due to variable power levels.

In addition more modern microwaves also have ‘menu creation’ options, where they can be programmed to respond to pre-defined cooking patterns. Dishes can be cooked to perfection even when chef isn’t there.

Combination microwaves are a real boon to all chefs and cooks in the catering industry. These combi ovens combine rapid cooking with perfect results. You can cook anything from roasted meats to delicate pastries. These commercial ovens are ideal for any dishes where a mix of cooking methods are required but with fast turnaround being essential, too. They can easily carry out the normal tasks expected by any microwave oven from defrosting and reheating to more specialist tasks such as baking and grilling. Combining a microwave oven with a fan assisted oven and grill increases the repertoire of dishes that can be created for modern caterers.

With many of us leading very busy lives it’s not surprising that fast food outlets are increasing in popularity. From local burger bars to garage forecourts we can’t escape the forum of fast food on the go! With this boom the traditional microwave oven has found a new niche of operation. Snacks can be regenerated from a small off the shelf package to a warming appetising meal within minutes. Many modern microwaves used for the food service industry allow scanning of labels attached to the snack. This ensures that the meal is cooked to perfection each and every time with cooking instructions encoded in the barcode itself.

So don’t take your microwave for granted – be inspired, be inventive and take a look at our range of modern microwave ovens available online 24/7 on our catering equipment website