Undoubtedly, the use of a microwave oven is ubiquitous as it is one of the commonly used kitchen appliances in the household. This amazing machine is now our saviour in baking 5-minute microwave chocolate cakes or making microwave scrambled eggs without the hassle.

How do you feel when you are in a hurry, you have to eat your lunch and suddenly your microwave oven stopped working? Irritated and frustrated, obviously! But did you notice why it stopped working? There are several things that you must be careful about while using microwaves. These include microwave utensils.

Be careful as some kitchen utensils are simply not suitable for cooking or reheating food in microwave ovens. In addition, the food available in plastic foil, aluminium foil or metal cans cannot be directly reheated in the oven. Therefore, it’s important to remember that any plastic or metal containers are not suitable for the microwave oven, so their contents should be removed from the containers before being placed in the microwave.

The following points can be considered as guidelines for choosing kitchen utensils that will not harm your food or your microwave oven.

 

How to make sure utensils are 100 percent microwave-safe?

The first thing you need to check is whether the utensils are 100 percent microwave-safe or not. You can verify this by looking at the back of the utensils and see if there are any symbols or signs indicating that you can safely use them in a microwave oven. Pay attention to squiggly lines as this symbol indicates that the container is microwave-safe. Other symbols can vary widely, but the squiggly lines always indicate that you can use the container in your microwave. It’s worth remembering that very few glass or plastic cookware can be used for cooking or heating food in microwave ovens. However, borosilicate is an ideal material for use in a microwave. Avoid using utensils that don’t have the microwave-safe symbol embossed on them.

 

Check the shape and size

When choosing utensils for microwave ovens, an important thing to keep in mind is also to check the size and shape of the cookware. The shape you buy depends on the type of food you are going to cook. For instance, round shapes are considered to be much better than square ones because the round shape prevents the food from getting burnt. When purchasing microwave-safe utensils, check their size according to your preferences.

 

Don’t compromise on quality for price

In most cases, we compromise on the quality to take advantage of attractive deals or discounts. But when it comes to microwave cooking utensils, this is not recommended. It is better to pay a little extra for durability and quality. Borosilicate material is a bit more expensive but more stain-resistant, durable and strong, easy to clean and 100 percent microwave-safe!

 

Sides of the microwave utensils

When choosing microwave utensils, it’s equally important to check the sides as well. It’s not advisable to go for the cookware that has straight sides. Straight sides don’t tolerate heat transfer, while sloped sides work best.

 

Follow the instructions below

— Only use oven-proof glass in the microwave oven.

— Paper plates can be used to warm up the food in the oven but don’t overuse them.

— Metal cookware should not be used in the microwave oven.

— Plastic pouches should not be placed directly inside the microwave; instead, they should first be placed in a microwave-safe container.

— If ready meals in cans or plastic containers say that they are microwave-safe, only then place them inside the oven.

 

Wrapping-up

Now, you’ve got enough information on how to wisely buy microwave utensils and how to use them safely. In conclusion, it is not recommended to use plastic, aluminium or metal inside the microwave. When the plastic components are mixed with the food, it makes the food unfit for consumption. It is recommended to use microwave-safe materials such as borosilicate or glass instead.