Steam Ovens – Should You be Considering One in Your New Kitchen?
Lorna Smith-Reeve is a designer at Clarendon Kitchens, Norfolk
I don’t know about you, but I’ve noticed a real difference in attitudes towards health and fitness in recent years. I know my own cooking habits have changed; the thought of reaching for a microwave meal now fills me with dread and instead my freezer is filled with pre-prepared homemade meals.
People seem so much more conscious of the importance of maintaining a healthy lifestyle from 10,000 daily step goals to getting at least 5 portions of fruit and veg a day. Steam cooking can really help towards this. Cooking with steam offers a healthier, low-fat method of cooking, locking in food nutrients, vitamins and minerals. Delivering meals deliciously moist and full of flavour. You can steam cook all kinds of foods; vegetables, meat, seafood, fruits and desserts.
Steam cooking isn’t a new thing. It has in fact been used for centuries, and is one of the most popular cooking methods in the East. It offers a clean way of cooking and removing the need for cooking oil results in food that is light, healthy and fresh.
“Cooking with steam offers a healthier, low-fat method of cooking, locking in food nutrients, vitamins and minerals.
At Clarendon Kitchens our preferred appliance provider is AEG. Being a Premier Partner means that we can provide AEG appliances with a free 5 year guarantee offering peace of mind for years to come. AEG are also rated no.4 in the Which single oven reliability table sitting above Neff and Siemens, with their sister brand, Electrolux, coming in at the top spot.
So what are my options if I want to get steam into my cooking?
STEAMBAKE
SteamBake technology makes AEG the first appliance manufacturer to offer a steam option at no extra cost on its entry-level built-in ovens. In addition to all of the fantastic benefits of a multifunction oven the SteamBake option is designed to accommodate a small quantity of water in the base of the oven for an even distribution of steam.
Once filled with water and SteamBake has been activated, a humid atmosphere is created during the first 10 –15 minutes of baking, ideal for enhancing many baked goods. After the steam dissipates, dry hot air results in even browning, a perfect rise, moist cakes and bread that has a crisp golden crust but is wonderfully soft and fluffy on the inside. This range recently took home a gold award for ‘Innovation in Technology’ at the Designer Kitchen and Bathroom Awards.
PRO COMBI STEAM OVEN
For a greater steam experience you have the ProCombi Steam Oven which offers three different cooking methods; heat, steam and combination. In the combination mode it will automatically adjust to the correct combination of heat and steam.
PROCOMBI PLUS SOUSVIDE
Finally, for the master chefs amongst us, you have the ProCombi Plus SousVide. The SousVide oven function cooks vacuumed sealed food at lower temperatures to provide optimal conditions for enhanced food results. The food is cooked gently and is not overcooked, so all flavours end up in the finished dish.
Steam ovens are available in both the single oven range and compact oven range meaning whatever your cooking requirements we can find the best combination to work for you.
For further information: http://www.aeg.co.uk/taste/discover/explore-steam-oven/
AEG Recipes: http://www.aeg.co.uk/local/recipes/