Sharon Derben wrote:
> Has anyone ever found a source that tells you how long to cook more than 1
> item in a microwave oven for?
>
> For example - a simple one - if one item takes 3 minutes - how long do you
> cook 3 identical items for.

A basic starting point is to double the time for two items, triple the
time for three minutes and so on, and it's not a good idea to cook too
many items at once, perhaps 3-4 at the most, depending on the size, of
say of potatoes... but a lot depends on the power of your particular
microwave oven and also items chosen (ie. potatoes, corn) are usually
not exactly identical... ultimately you need to experiment and use
common sense... and it's a good Idea to shift items part way through
cooking. And keep in mind that typically items continue to cook after
they're out of the oven, so with items like say potatoes it's recommend
that they rest for a minute before cutting... if you add an extra
minute of cooking time they will likely dry out or even begin to char
in spots as though they were freezer burned. [don't forget to poke
hole in potatoes]

A good way to initially get some idea of the cooking power and cooking
evenness of your microwave oven is to time how long it takes to boil
one cup of water and then compare with how long it takes to
simultaneously boil two separate cups of water (using the ssme type of
cups of course).

I also very strongly suggest that in your case especially that you very
throughly read and reread your microwave oven's user manual, paying
particular attention to the Safety section and all boldened text.
Everyone who owns a microwave oven really should educate themselve
about the bassics of how microwaves work... this is very important for
safety purposes... there are many such web sites one can peruse. Simply
search <how microwaves work>.

I like this one: http://howthingswork.virginia.edu

Just pop <microwave> into the search engine. Read ALL info that comes
up carefully, take notes if anything confuses... everyone who uses a
microwave oven needs to know this information, EVERYONE, with no
exceptions whatsoever.

Sheldon For