Microwave oven is a common kitchen appliance found in most urban kitchens, majorly used to reheat the recipes. What if I told you that there are umpteen possibilities of easing your daily kitchen chores with the help of microwave oven? Apart from the easy and quick microwave recipes to cook, there are a few hacks and tricks which will help you ease your time in kitchen. A few processes like soaking, blanching, and proofing while preparing various recipes are time-consuming. A few procedures like dehusking, frothing, deskinning, making taco shells are tricky and need experience.

Before you begin using the microwave, it's important you are well equipped with a good quality microwave and the required containers that you can use to cook with. Here is a short list that will help you get started with the tricks.

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Below are the 13 Microwave Tricks To Make Cooking Easy In Your Kitchen. You will be left with a quicker and easier option to do the same time-consuming and tricky tasks while cooking.

1. Shortcut To Soaked Pulses

Recipes that call for overnight soaking of beans or lentils can also be started without overnight-soaked beans or lentils, with the help of this microwave hack. In a microwave safe bowl, submerge the beans completely in water, add a pinch of Sodium bicarbonate (baking soda) and microwave on high for about 10 minutes. Rest the beans for 35-40 minutes and use them in recipes. Follow the same procedure for lentils with 2 minutes of microwaving and waiting for 5 minutes before using them in recipes.

2. Juicing Citrus Fruits Completely

Microwave can help you extract the maximum juice from citrus fruits. Cut lemons or any citrus fruit like oranges and lime and microwave on a microwave safe plate on high power for 10-20 seconds and extract juice.

3. Cut Onions With No Tears

Ever tried to cut onions after soaking in a bowl of water, or chopping in front of a candle or resorted to wearing onion goggles? Here’s an easy way. Chop off the bottom and top portion of onions. Microwave on high for 30 seconds and then take off rest of the onion peel and chop onions with no tears. This is since the tear-enzyme will be evaporated when microwaved.

4. Froth Milk Like A Pro

For lovers of milk beverages like coffee, tea, chocolate and caramel frothed milk, getting the light and frothy milk is a tough task if there is no electric frother. Microwave oven makes frothing of milk easy with just a mason jar! Pour milk in a mason jar, close the lid, shake it vigorously for a few seconds. Open the lid and microwave for 30 seconds to get instant super frothy milk. Take care not to let the milk overflow in microwave.

5. Dry Herbs And Citrus Zest

When you bring home cilantro, parsley, coriander or thyme and wonder how to use them for a long time, drying the herbs is the best solution. Sun drying may be tough with less sunny areas in home and longer duration and care required. You could then resort to this easy and quick method of drying herbs in a microwave oven. Chop the herbs and sprinkle sparsely on a kitchen towel, close with 2-3 layers of kitchen towel and microwave for 10 seconds on high. Check and repeat. After another burst of microwave, check and microwave again only if required, since most of the moisture in herbs are reduced by then. You can dry lemon zest also similarly.

6. Shortcut To Proof Dough

Pastry dough, pizza dough or even kulcha dough needs leavening or proofing for specified time. You can effectively shorten the waiting time with microwaving the dough. Place the kneaded dough in a large microwave safe bowl and cover it with a layer of wet towel and a layer of dry towel on top. Microwave on high for 20 second and allow the dough to rest for 5 minutes. Repeat 20 seconds of microwaving and allow the dough to rest for 35 minutes. You can then take the dough right into the oven with other ingredients for baking.

7. Toasting Nuts, Spices, Coconut, And Poha

In a microwave safe bowl, place nuts, spices or coconut to be toasted and microwave on high to toast them rightly. Nuts take about 20 seconds, spices generally take about 15 seconds and grated coconut takes about 30 seconds to get roasted.

To roast poha, microwave for 30 seconds, mix with a spoon, then microwave again in bursts of 10 seconds with intermittent mixing.

8. Peeling Garlic, Corn Cob, Tomato & Peaches

• Peeling garlic is made easiest by microwaving the garlic whole pod for up to 20 seconds, on a microwave safe plate. The locked moisture is drawn in the process, making it easy to peel.
• To peel the corn cob easily, you can microwave on high for 30 seconds, after chopping off the bottom stem of the cob. Once you take the cob out of the microwave oven, twist and de-husk the whole husk easily.
• Tomato and peaches are thin-skinned and might result in losing the pulp while deskinning. You can halve them, microwave on high for a minute on a microwave safe plate, allow to rest for 2 minutes. You can see that the skin comes off easily, without any pulp along.

9. Rejuvenate Bread And Crackers

• If you forgot to use a loaf of bread and the bread has lost moisture for a few days, you can magically add enough moisture and make the bread soft by microwaving. Wrap the loaf of bread in a wet towel, either moistened with milk or water and microwave on high for 10 seconds. Repeat 10-second bursts till the bread is warm and soft.
• When the crackers are kept in open and have lost their crunchiness, arrange them on a paper towel, one next to the other and microwave them on high for 30 seconds. The crackers will have regained their crunch!

10. Steam Veggies In No Time

The best way to steam the veggies for one or two servings is through microwaving. Place a mason jar filled with veggies to be steamed, and add water to fill about half an inch of the jar. Place a wet napkin or towel on top of the jar and microwave for a few minutes until required.

11. Making Bread Crumbs

Tear 4 pieces of bread to crumbs, put them on a microwave-safe plate or baking tray, and microwave on high for a minute. Then microwave in bursts of 30 seconds till they reach golden color and are crispy. Crumble them further if required.

12. Blanching Almonds

If you forgot to soak almonds overnight, you can microwave on high for 30 seconds in a microwave safe bowl. Try pinching off the skin. If it does not deskin easily, microwave for 30 more seconds and de-skin the almonds between fingers.

13. Extracting Tamarind Pulp

Tamarind pulp extraction is made quicker with microwave oven. Place cleaned tamarind with water in a microwave-safe bowl and microwave on high for 2 minutes. Let it rest for 2 minutes and then you can squeeze maximum pulp out of tamarind to use in various recipes. You can also preserve the pulp in freezer for a week.

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