Most of us have microwaves at home, but we hardly use it to its truest potential. Smart kitchen equipment is meant for more than just reheating your food and can make your life a lot easier by saving time and making you put minimum effort into cooking. A true understanding of how to use a microwave to its fullest potential may bring incredible changes in your life. Here is a list of five hacks that are recommended by professional chefs for the proper use of a microwave that is going to change your life.
Also Read: The science of microwave cooking
* Peeling Garlic
If you face a problem of peeling your garlic correctly and also taking out its skin then try putting your garlic for 20 seconds in the microwave. After 20 seconds you will see that the garlic has popped itself out of the flaky skin on the outside and you won't have to meticulously peel garlic with your hands. Garlic peeling is otherwise a very time-consuming process but by using this microwave hack, you will be able to save all your time and efforts.
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* Steaming Vegetables
Eating steamed vegetables for your salad is a great meal option. But steaming vegetables might take a very long time if you cook them on gas. So even cooking a simple dish like salad can be a time-consuming process. If you do not follow the right steps. You can steam your vegetables in the microwave in under two minutes. You have to simply put your vegetables in a bowl that is microwave-safe. Then you have to drizzle some oil and salt on the top of these vegetables. Mix everything well and cover them with a plate that is also safe to put in the microwave. A lot of people think that cooking vegetables in the microwave leads to loss of nutrients but it's not true. You end up preserving more nutrients as they do not get dissolved into the water used for cooking vegetables on the gas.
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* Potato Chips
Most of us love eating potato chips and it is one of our favourite snacks but the potato chips that are available in the market are full of preservatives and chemicals. To make potato chips at home you have to slice potatoes into very thin slices and wash them to remove excess starch. Dry them well and then lightly cover them with some Olive oil. Now place them carefully on a plate and cook them for at least three minutes in the microwave. Now flip them over and cook them for three minutes more. After cooking your potato chips for six minutes, substitute your chips with some salt or any other spice that you would like. Your home made potato chips are ready in under 10 minutes.
* Getting Juice From Lemons Or Citrus Fruits
Taking Juice out of a lemon and using it to its fullest potential requires a lot of strength. We all struggle while taking out juice from the lemons or any other citrusy food like oranges. But now you do not have to struggle to extract juice out of lemons or oranges. You can put the desired fruit in the microwave for 20 seconds. After 20 seconds of cooking the fruit in the microwave, you will see that the membrane of the fruit has become very soft and relaxed. This will help in extracting juice from the food very easily. The process will not require the same kind of strength and juice will simply flow out of the fruit as soon as you press it a bit.
* Herbs Drying
The key to using fresh herbs is to use them instantly as they can go bad in some days. Drying your herbs in the microwave can help preserve the taste and texture of these herbs for up to 3 months. All you have to do is simply separate the stalk of these herbs, and then put them in the microwave. You have to dry them in the microwave for at least three minutes without using any kind of oil or moisture. Then you can simply store these dried fresh herbs in an airtight container.
You can try these hacks at home and let us know how they work out for you. All of these are quite efficient and will help in storing a lot of your time. There are a lot of such hacks that you can do at home with a microwave that will make a lot of complicated tasks easier for you.