Storing food or leftovers such as diced fruit, mashed potatoes or cooked meat in plastic containers is common. Almost all plastic containers are microwave-safe, but do not attempt to place them in a regular oven or they will melt. When heating food in plastic containers, make sure you heat them for an appropriate amount of time, and stir the food to distribute the heat around the container. Add this to my Recipe Box.
Instructions
1. Make sure your plastic containers are microwave-safe. This is tricky because even though plastic containers may be labeled as microwave-safe, they can still release dangerous chemicals during the heating process (see Resources). These can be especially harmful to infants and pregnant women.
2. Open the plastic lid of the food container slightly and place in the microwave.
3. Heat the food. Meats usually need to be heated for a minute to three minutes. For soups, dips and casseroles, the the heating time is usually around two minutes. For thicker substances like mashed potatoes and packed vegetables, cooking time is around two and a half minutes.
4. Stop the microwave halfway through the cooking time. Take out the plastic container and stir the food thoroughly to distribute the heat. Leave the lid off and replace it with a paper towel.
5. Put the container back in the microwave and heat until finished.
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