When we think about steaming food, the first thing that comes to mind is healthy cooking. We also mistakenly think that means cooking without much flavour, something that leads us to use steam for no-culinary enjoyment. So we are going to tell you how to start in this world without turning your kitchen into a Finnish sauna, thanks to the possibilities of a steam oven, and also how to choose one.
Can we use steam with any kind of food?
There are few limitations when it comes to steaming food. It works well with fish and seafood, of course with greens and vegetables, and some meats become much juicier. If you want to cook a steak, better to look for other options. But if you want to make chicken, turkey, or a family-style roast beef, steaming is your bestie.
What tools can we use for steaming?
The most common method is to use an aluminium basket or similar. You place it in a saucepan with boiling water and arrange the food on top, better with a lid on it. But thanks to Asian and other cuisines, steamers have become popular in the rest of the world. There are bamboo steamers—you have probably seen when ordering dim sum or gyozas—, silicone steamers—to use them in the microwave—, plastic steamers, or even steamer pots, commonly used for tamales, for example.
The next and increasingly most popular option is a steam oven. We can find two choices to use steam in an oven:
- Use of oven-safe steam trays and containers.
- Ovens with a special steam function.
Steaming with the oven
Use the oven for steaming food is one of the easiest and most convenient ways to use this cooking technique for several reasons:
- It is simple and clean. Since there is no grease, the walls, trays, etc., you can clean the oven with a cloth and soap. Additionally, you can put the food containers and utensils in the dishwasher.
- It doesn’t fill your kitchen with extra heat because ovens already have a very good insulation to keep the heat inside and not cause issues outside.
- You will make the most of your leftovers. Reheating leftovers using the steam from an oven is a game changer. Forget about biting a slice of pizza that tastes like cardboard.
- The food stays juicy and perfectly cooked, keeping flavours. The heat and moisture work with food differently than a conventional oven heat.
- You can achieve greater temperature control and, therefore, better cooking results.
And, of course, a steam oven maintains the rest of the benefits of the technique: it boosts flavours, preserves nutrients and antioxidants of the food, your stomach will feel better than with other cooking methods, and you will prepare healthy, low-calorie recipes.
Which steam oven to choose
Short answer: the one you need. Depending on your household habits, you need to look for the oven that suits you the best. For instance, if you cook occasionally at home but you love the idea of having quick and healthy dinners, choose a steam tray for the oven. However, if you are going to make regular use of steam for various reasons (frequent cooking, special diets, baking or bread making, more professional results…), consider getting a more professional steam oven that will help you make the most of this cooking technique.
Steam trays for the oven
There are steam trays designed to use in any oven. They can be single or double, allowing you to prepare multiple dishes at once, such as a fish with a side of vegetables. They are an excellent option if you don’t cook with steam very often but feel curious and looking for something quick and simple. You can find trays made out of glass, a more sustainable material. If you need some ideas to begin to use your steam tray, here is an inspiring recipe book to make the most of it.
Ovens with steam function
There are multifunction ovens with an extra steam feature, expanding the range of possibilities offered by a conventional oven. If you’re curious about a more advanced use of steam, an oven with a steam function can help you take full advantage of cooking all types of food and (drum roll) finally achieve a decent bread crust without having to use strange tricks with water. It works really well for pastries and bread, leaving a moist and tender interior, with the classic crumb you’ve been dreaming of since you baked your first yoghurt sponge cake at home.
But let’s go a step further: if you need to reheat leftovers—and we all do—a steam function oven will make it taste almost freshly made. When it comes to pizza, we can say the result would bring tears to the eyes of an average Italian (or at least make them a bit happier).
Functions of a Steam Oven
By their functions, you will know them, and an oven with steam function can offer advanced features according to your needs:
Conventional Heat with Steam Function
The combination of conventional heat and steam can help you achieve a crispy finish and a juicy interior in both meats and fish, but also in bread and bakery recipes, as we said above. So, an oven combining both types of heat can be very useful and they are the most common ones.The result is quite different from what you achieve with a conventional oven, especially as the fear of food drying out inside disappears. With Teka’s CombiSteam technology, you can use steam as an ally for dishes that previously eluded you, and with the Steam&Crisp function, your lasagnas will taste like never before, featuring a perfectly crispy and gratinated layer on top.
100 % Steam
Some ovens have more basic steam function, while others can achieve restaurant-quality dishes. A more advanced use of steam also means access to more demanding results, so it’s worth exploring what the appliance market has to offer. With a 100 % steam oven, you can go into techniques like sous-vide, being more creative in the kitchen. The FullSteam function of Teka’s SteamGourmet ovens is the equivalent for those seeking for a bit more than ordinary use. The goal is to bring steam cooking to the next level with an exceptional little helper, such as this feature that uses 100 % steam for a professional finish.
Leftovers Are Love
One function that answers many of our culinary prayers is the Regenerate function, available in Teka’s SteamGourmet ovens. Coming straight from professional kitchens, it helps you reheat food while maintaining the original flavour and texture of your recipes. Thanks to the hydration, the food regains much of its original state, which is exactly what you need when you come home on a Monday at three in the afternoon without having had lunch, to feel much, much better. And we don’t want to revisit the pizza example…
Anyway, If you don’t have a professional oven, you can always try reheating leftovers using steam with whatever way or tools you can use, really, it is a whole new world.
Keeping all this info in mind, try to analyze what you need to choose the best steam oven for you. Whether it is an advanced steam oven or it has any other kind of features, the truth is these types of ovens have a lot to offer everyday and they can easily become one of your favourite appliances in the kitchen.