Steam ovens have proven popular for their ability to cook your food while maintaining optimum moisture and nutrients. What you may not know is that they have a variety of applications beyond the dining table. ASKO has put together a convenient list of tips and tricks to help you make the most of your steam oven.
Baby Food
If you’re after a healthier alternative to store-bought baby food, your ASKO pure steam oven can make it happen (with a helping hand from a blender). To prepare a nutritious puree, simply cut up your fruit and vegetables into small chunks, place them on a perforated tray, and pop them in your steam oven for five to 20 minutes (depending on the produce). Once removed, pop your ingredients into the blender to turn your soft slices into a fine puree. Typically, you only lose 6% of nutrients when steaming fruits or veggies, whereas blanching or microwaving can incur a nutrient loss upwards of 70%.
Sterilising
Whether you need spotless bottles for home brewing or you’re after a thorough clean for your little one’s toys, steam is an excellent way to rid everyday items of impurities. Place your items into a preheated oven and full-steam at 100 ̊C for a minimum of eight minutes. Once the cycle is complete, remove your items for air-drying.
Stickers
Buying new glassware, crockery, or cutlery can be exciting, but removing the small stickers on these items can be a tedious task. Thankfully, your steam oven will serve as your secret weapon for ridding your new dinner set of that pesky glue residue. Place your items in the oven for a full steam at 100 ̊C, for around five or six minutes. Once the steaming is complete, any sticker or glue remnants should wipe away with ease. There’s no need to sacrifice a sink bowl for soaking, dabble with harsh chemicals, or break out odorous substances like tea tree oil.
A Steaming Start
While it may be tempting to use a combi steam oven to inject steam into every dish, it’s worth thinking about steam as a preparatory phase rather than as your entire methodology. By steaming proteins like pork and chicken prior to cooking them, you stand a much greater chance of perfecting a crispy skin or mouth-watering crackling. Pair your combi steam oven with an induction or gas cooktop for more nuanced culinary results.
Low Temperatures
Steam is more than one temperature, and the very low temperatures you can achieve with a steam oven will assist you in a variety of cooking endeavours. The controlled humidity makes your oven cavity an ideal environment for proving dough or making yoghurt. You can even flaunt your credentials as a master chef by using the low temperatures for sous vide cooking.
Explore the diverse range of ASKO combi steam ovens here.
