Healthy Cooking With Steam Ovens…
Steam ovens have hit the kitchen and are a favorite among home chefs! When cooking with steam, food retains its vitamins, minerals, natural colors, and flavors. It is one of the healthiest and quickest cooking methods.
Some steam ovens cook only with steam, but combination steam/convection ovens are 3 in 1 units that allow you to cook with steam, convection, or a combination of steam and convection. The convection mode allows you to cook at higher temperatures to sear meats. Some models contain a water reservoir that you manually fill, while others allow you to hook right into a water line. The higher-end models sense the size and shape of the food with digital sensors that switch back and forth between steam and convection modes making adjustments automatically. These models offer hundreds of automatic preset cooking program buttons for poultry, beef, fish, vegetables, rice, breads, or soufflés. You can customize your own recipes and save them to your favorites or program a meal to be ready by a particular time.
While steam ovens have not replaced traditional ovens, for some they have replaced the microwave for reheating leftovers. Use them to quick cook a dozen hard-boiled eggs, refresh bread, sterilize canning jars, and warm plates.
For the holidays, I made a 15-pound turkey with zero effort. I set the mode to steam/convection, pressed the turkey button, and walked away. The unit beeped when the bird was precisely at 164 degrees — moist inside and browned to perfection in 90 minutes instead of 3 hours. Have a look at how this came out here.
Don’t have the budget for a fancy steam oven? Place a shallow pan of water in your oven to add some moisture.
