Cooking with Steam: A Comprehensive Guide
Now you are cooking with steam! The addition of moisture has been the professional baker’s secret for millennia. Bread baked in the ancient wood fired oven benefited from water evaporating from cut logs so think about it makes sense that today’s best biscuits, cakes and pastries bake better in a steam oven. Steam ovens are most often used in commercial kitchens or bakeries where every loaf of bread needs to be perfect. That’s why the most popular new feature in any oven purchased in Canada either in a commercial kitchen or for home use is a steam oven. The reason is simple; food cooked in a steam oven is consistently browned, moist and fully cooked throughout.
It isn’t just baking that benefits from the superior function of a steam oven; roasted vegetables, meat and fish also retain their moisture and cook more evenly in less time. When you purchase the best quality cuts of meat, the last thing you want is to have top quality food dry out on your watch, while you are cooking.
Check the differences between type of ovens
Other Advantages:
There are other features of a steam oven that are often overlooked but they can save you time and improve your cooking.
Don’t take our word for it, read others opinions on advantages of cooking with steam
- Steam ovens are easy to clean since the moisture prevents foods from baking on
- Reheating leftovers is better with steam as foods are reheated evenly and kept moist so that they do not dry out.
- Canning and bottling is easier and safer in a steam oven since there is no dangerous boiling water to contend with. Steam is actually hotter than boiling water so jars and bottles are sterilized in one step in the oven.
- Recipes that require blanching are a specialty feature that works even better in a steam oven. Blanching softens cell walls before freezing which helps to preserve both the colour and nutrients of fruits and vegetables. Steam blanching in a steam oven is faster and more convenient than using boiled water because three large sheet trays can hold more than boiling in batches on the stovetop.
- Frozen foods can be defrosted quickly and safely using steam in the steam oven. This system is faster than in the fridge, safer than on the countertop and more even than in the microwave.
- Professional cooks often steam foods before juicing to release more juice.
- Find all the different tips and recipes in our Taste Hub
The best brands of steam oven, like AEG, have years of science and technology behind them and really do make a difference in your cooking results. Steam ovens are the top of the line oven of choice on the market. The technology of an AEG steam oven has been the choice of home and professional cooks in Europe for decades. The design features, reliability and ease of use are what keeps AEG appliances on the list of top kitchen appliances.