Finish in the microwave?

[MJR]

Oft times I find myself browning a dish on top of the range, and finishing the dish in a 350 degree oven.

The other day I was in a hurry, and after browning a few overly large Pecan encrusted chicken breasts that I knew would not be fully cooked on the inside, I tossed them into the microwave to finish.

They came out just fine and that made me wonder if others do this on a regular basis.

Comments?

[dano1]

i try to keep micros off the line. I don't like but will admit there is a place for them in the kitchen if used correctly. Need to melt a little chocolate or heat something, great.

The problem is the misuse of the thing i've seen all too often. everthing from finishing a steak to defrosting fish or lobster tails. Forgot to fire an item? no prob, nuke it. Kinda like the fryer for a lot of cooks who dont know-or don't care-about the product.

hth, danny

[KeeperOfTheGood]

Hey oh

In school, we learned about ROUX. Starch and fat, heated together to make a thickening agent. We went through how to make variouse types of roux, named for colours and time cooked.

Then I started to look up roux on the net. I read SO many different interpretations and methodes that my head swam. There is merrit to some of the concepts, yes, but for the rest, I found it to be a load of .........

So, I use my microwave to make roux. 1 - 2 minutes and i have a nice well cooked roux. If I need colour so bad, I will achieve it in a different fasion. Toast my flour first, for example. The nuker is faster, easyer, cleaner. Of course, if I was starting with 10 or 20 kg of flour (and I understand that some restaurant do make that much at a time) it would have to be done in the oven. But for a pound or less, the nukers the thing.

Nukers can be abused, and yes, a nuker is not the way to re-heat chicken wings. I've been to a country club eatery whose chef did this. Nuked them and smotherd them with bbq sause, and charged 15 bucks!!! Won't be eating there again in my lifetime.

[kuan]

If you have to nuke something because you can't get it cooked then something is fundamentally wrong with the whole concept.

On the line the oven is normally set at 500. Turn up the heat.

[kibbymaster]

once in awhile in a pinch they are ok to finish i try little as possible not to use it.

[kibbymaster]

500* wow no wonder you dont nuke your food we have our at 350. 500 browns too much i think.

[dano1]

my ovens on the line have 2 settings- off and 500. Even at that, kicking the door open every couple of minutes the temp drops fast.

danny

[KeeperOfTheGood]

Hey oh

Danny, are you saying that your going from raw to cooked at 500, or from par to finnished at 500?

What kinds of foods does your line do? I'm not envisioning creme brulet.

[dano1]

line ovens are workhorses. almost all dishes are started in a saute pan-or on the broiler-and into the oven to finish. This is during primetime line work. I also despise convections on the line for the fact they dry sh** out.

Regarding marked items on an ala carte menu, many times this will actually slow you down due to the fact that they're cold to start. I've held items after marking at line temp, but make sure they are turned quickly and not left sitting for an unreasonable amt of time-party preorders and such.

Obviously trying to bake a sheet or 3 of creme brulees at 8pm on saturday isn't going to work-for all involved.

hth, danny'