Keep your microwave clean by spraying the cloth you clean with; don’t spry the cleaner directly on the inside or outside of the microwave.

Sept. 7. Cornelius resident Tommy Walker had more than 50 years experience in appliance repair and operated Tommy’s Appliance Service until retiring a few years ago. Tommy will offer the community his advice for various appliances monthly.

Microwave ovens sure cut down on cooking time. They’ve come a long ways and meals can be prepared with them.

—If you like popcorn, which is a healthy snack without the butter and salt, heat up a bowl of water for two minutes prior to putting in your bag of popcorn and this will give you a bigger and fluffier popcorn.

—Inside of microwave ovens do get splatters, so be sure and keep the inside clean. Don’t spray anything inside or outside but spray your cloth to clean it.

—Learn to use your power level feature. For instance, power level seven means it runs 70% of the time and doesn’t heat 30% of the time; slow cooking sometimes is better as the food don’t heat so intensely.

Personally, I do not use any type of plastic in the microwave oven only glass Pyrex.

Happy cooking and have a nice month.

Tommy