Microwave Cooking Times at a Glance: An A-Z (Tom Thorne Novels)

This little paperback has proved to be an excellent source of reference for me as a newcomer to owning a microwave. For years I was anti zapping my food with radiation, preferring to cook ‘properly’. However, ill health has meant it is not also possible now to spend lengthy amounts of time cooking meals in a traditional oven. Despite being a good cook, I needed not a recipe or traditional cookbook but to know how long it took to steam carrots or whether I needed to add water to something and when to cover something or cook it uncovered and at what power I needed to use etc - not recipe questions but basic microwave guidance. And this is where this little unassuming book has fully redeemed itself. It sits by the side of my new microwave and I dip into it regularly. It is hard to imagine there are still people out there like me unused to microwave cooking as most families have a microwave and it is something kids learn to use whilst still of school age. However, if like me, your microwaving to date has been not much more than heating your lunchtime soup up in the office kitchen or reheating a meal when staying with friends or family, then this book will be invaluable. It will also be helpful to those wanting to expand their microwave cooking to include more elaborate meals as it includes most of the basic food ingredients you would want to use. The book is not expensive and printed on low grade paper but it is very well organised in alphabetical order eg Pasta under ‘P’, carrots under ‘C’ etc. There are cooking times for both raw and cooked food, for dried and fresh, for meat, vegetables and pasta etc and it includes specific times for every wattage of microwave as well as indicating what the cooking power should be for each model. Whether you are packing your kid off to uni, setting them up in their first flat or have an elderly parent no longer able to use a conventional oven, or just want to expand on how you use your microwave, this book is a must. It saves the embarrassment of having to phone a friend or family member and ask ‘how long does it take to cook frozen peas in the microwave?’!

Just what I wanted it to be, a quick look-up guide to microwave times for cooking everyday foods like vegetables and defrosting bread rolls. One of the best things is that it gives times for single portions too, and covers a wide range of microwave powers. There are a couple of instances where the book assumes you are using bought-in products, and a few items I looked up weren't included, but overall this is an excellent and very useful little book.

I've recently bought a microwave for the first time, having only used them in the past to re-heat food at work. It was a good job I did buy a microwave because our cooker went on the blink, and now we're having to cook ~everything~ in the mike. We're vegetarian so I bought a few veggie microwave cookbooks which have been very useful (especially the Sarah Brown one, as it explains the principles behind microwave cooking) but this is the book I refer to most. It makes it easy to adapt recipes I already use, or to find out the times for things like side dishes, eggs, potatoes, etc that aren't really recipes as such. The guide to different wattages is useful too. I would recommend to anyone who would like to use their own recipes and isn't used to cooking in a microwave.

I wanted a book to give me approximate times for cooking stuff in the microwave. This book does just that and I have found it very useful. The only fault I can find (and it's not the authors fault) is it doesn't give times for steaming veg which I'm having to sort out by trial and error.

No times for sweet potato there is only a small selection of things with times for cooking and reheating it would be just as good to look it all up on the web

This book is exactly what I wanted. No recipes. Just clear time instructions. Quick and easy to see exactly what you need.

Timings for most kinds of foods, most of which cook well. Cheaper and quicker than using conventional oven

Good "reference" book for microwave cooking. Comprehensive & very useful.