Cooking with Steam

How do I start and what are the benefits? 

For thousands of years, humans have used steam cooking to make food. Steam cooking provides homeowners with an easy way to make nourishing, healthy meals that can feed the whole family. Investing in a steam oven or a steam and convection hybrid can help take your kitchen to the next level.

Benefits of steam cooking

Homeowners who invest in a steam oven will experience a multitude of benefits associated with steam cooking.

·         Easy to prepare meals: Steam cooking can cook multiple racks of food evenly, allowing you to cook an entire meal at the same time. Steam cooking also makes it easier to cook hard-to-prepare dishes like seafood because of the even amount of heat a steam oven puts out.

·         Easy cleanup: When you steam cook a meal, you don't have to use oils or butter, which makes post-meal cleanup a breeze.

Cleaning with a steam oven doesn't get easier. There are a multitude of health benefits steam cooking provides.

·         Fewer added calories: Oil or other cooking aids like butter can add a lot of calories to meals, and you don't have to use them with a steam oven.

·         Lower cholesterol: Preparing meat in a steam cooker separates the fat from the meat, allowing you to eat lower-cholesterol meals.

·         Increased nutrition: Vegetables cooked in a steam oven retain their color and nutrients more than vegetables cooked using different appliances.

What can I cook using a steam oven?

There's a common misperception that steam ovens are only suitable for cooking vegetables. Really, steam ovens are incredibly versatile appliances that can be used to prepare a variety of food. Here are just a few examples:

·         Dumplings and spring rolls: These traditional Asian dishes are best made with a steam oven.

·         Steamed wraps: Steam ovens are great for most foods that use a wrap, such as lettuce or cabbage wraps. The steam ensures the wrap retains integrity while thoroughly cooking the filling. Dolmas are also a great option for steam cooking.

·         Steamed seafood: Whether it's prawns or salmon, making great seafood gets a lot easier with a steam cooker. A steam oven will cook seafood all the way through without searing the outside, so it's a fantastic tool if you're not a fan of raw or mostly raw fish.

·         Steamed desserts: It's a little-known fact, but steam ovens are actually the perfect tools for certain desserts like bread pudding and sponge cake. Experimenting with a steam oven can provide delicious sweet treats for the family to enjoy.

How can I steam cook from home?

Investing in a high-quality steam oven allows you to reap the benefits of steam cooking from the comfort of your home. Appliance manufacturers like Thermador, Miele, Wolf and JennAir all have high-quality steam ovens. If cooking is more of a lifestyle and less of a hobby, a high-quality steam oven like Thermador's 30-inch double steam oven may be just what you're looking for. If you just want to experiment with steam cooking, a smaller option like Wolf's 24-inch steam and convection oven hybrid is probably right up your alley.

To shop for the latest and greatest in steam cooking, visit Queen City Audio Video Appliances. Contact us to learn more.