Cooking with Steam

The first time I designed a steam oven into a kitchen plan was more than ten years ago.  It was made by Gaggenau, a German company known for leading edge technology and innovation (www.gaggenau.com).  The oven was -- and still is -- equipped with both convection and steam capability, and offered an ability to control overall humidity within the baking chamber.  The homeowner, an avid breadmaker, was enchanted by the possibilities for proofing and rising doughs as well as the joys of baking in a moist chamber.   

Today, steam ovens have become much more commonplace in our kitchen plans, and are offered by several quality manufacturers.  Learning to cook with steam is really very easy, and more and more homeowners are including steam ovens in their kitchens because of the huge health and convenience benefits.  

What I'm seeing with kitchen designs is that we're still including two ovens in the plan:  one that is a fully featured convection-thermal oven, and the other that is steam-convection. (These can be designed into the kitchen in various ways which I will talk about in another article.)  

My clients tell me that their steam convection ovens quickly become a very handy, "go to" cooking tool because of all the functional capability offered.

One of the key advantages with steam cooking is that boiling water never touches your vegetables, for example, so nutrients remain in the food you eat.  The added moisture makes seafood and fish even more delicious, and you'll find yourself eliminating added oils from your cooking process as well.

Roasting and grilling and braising are other capabilities of steam ovens, and you'll be delighted to create glistening crusts on roasted chickens without using an eggwash.  

Reheating and defrosting are two other frequent uses for steam ovens. Pasta, breads and leftovers come brilliantly back to life in a steam oven - unlike microwave results where food items end up rubbery or worse.  You can take a boneless chicken breast from frozen to thawed in about 15 minutes in most models, too, which is a great help with meal prep on busy days.  

Homeowners I've worked with have selected steam ovens from Gaggenau as I mentioned above, their sister company Thermador (www.thermador.com), Wolf (www.subzero-wolf.com), and Miele  (www.mieleusa.com).  Some of the differences among the manufacturers include size of chamber, water capacity, whether or not the unit will need plumbing connections, and very importantly, style and look.  

These quality manufacturers offer training support as well as recipes and inspiration at their websites and via their dealers, so you can always get questions answered as you become familiar with steam cooking.

I've included a photo from my website below to show one option for including a steam oven in your kitchen.  Bon appetit!