Expert: Donovan Fandre - 6/12/2008

Question
QUESTION: Hi,I had tried to cook the CAKE in the plastic utensil which are provided as free starter kit with our micro wave oven also the seller told us that you can cook any thing in it, you will not have any problem for this. But when we prepared the cake in it the lid of the utensil,melted down, also I tried other cooking the utensils were melted again. What is exact cause such melt down.
Can I use our regular steel utensils to cook the food?
{while cooking these things I had used the preset cooking selection}

ANSWER: Dear Vishwesh, it sounds like you were using convection energy to cook your cake because plastic dishes should not melt from microwave energy. Use only microwave for cakes and they will be lighter and more moist than cooking with thermal energy. Also, the free dish you received must have been an inferior plastic for it to melt from microwave energy. Use microwave proof plastic, glass, and ceramic dishes for cooking by microwave. Metal utensils can be used only when cooking by convection.

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QUESTION: I would like to cook tie biscuits ( known as Bombay khari ) please suggest -
Recipe for it?
Which oven mode should I use is it convection/grill/convection comb/grill comb/preset temp such as 180,540,900 degree Celsius.?
What type of utensil should I use for it, can I use my regular steel utensil or I have to purchase new one.

Answer
Hey Vishwesh, I'm not familiar with Bombay khari but Google revealed khari biscuits that were made with puff pastry and a selection of Indian spices. You cannot bake these with microwave energy so you must use your convection mode. Pre-heat your oven to 500C and place the pastry on a shallow metal pan (pie plate works well or use a sheet of foil)and bake for about 20 minutes or until the pastry is puffed and flaky. Try it and let me know how it turned out. Thanks.