Are steam ovens a fad or fabulous?

Are steam ovens a fad or fabulous?

How good are these steam ovens?  Is this a kitchen revolution or just another passing fad?  QuestionsI asked myself many times at the beginning of my journey into steam and combi steam oven cooking.

I remember being very excited when I saw the ovens in situ at the kitchen manufacturers.  That excitement grew until the fiest time I used my combi steam oven.   My first few attempts cooking with steam really were a complete disaster.  To my defence, this was a few years ago and steam ovens and combi steam ovens for  home use were really very new.  Thinking back, the worst meal was Rockling  (which is a fleshy white fish)  and salad.  After reading the manual I thought it be best to use the preset option.  The result was a rubbery mess of what had been really nice fish fillets.

Bosch combi steam oven - fad or fabulous
Bosch Combi Steam Oven- fad or fabulous

 

We sat down to eat and before the first bite we knew that something was terribly wrong.  It was pretty obvious really as soon as I took the fish out of the oven, but deep down I ‘d hoped that it would be okay once it got onto the plate.

The next few attempts were not much better.  For a while I stopped using it altogether and instead started researching again. I had really lost my confidence with my combi steam oven.  Regret was setting in.

So, why did I buy a steam oven?

In essence, to broaden my cooking skills.  I work full time and don’t really have a lot of time to devote to learning new culinary skills.  I had thought about learning more about  a particular cuisine but I couldn’t decide which one.  Learning how to cook in a  combi steam oven seemed like an opportunity to become a better cook without restrictions.

I discovered steam ovens while spending endless hours researching for our home renovation. This was a major overhaul of our old house.  By adding  one room we were able to change the internal layout.  The result was a new kitchen, new bathroom and a new laundry/bathroom.  I had a wish list of appliances and all but one made it into the new home.  We didn’t have room in our laundry for the Airer.   But, I did get the wine fridge and the steam oven.

Three years in and now we use the steam oven 90% of the time and our standard oven is for the overflow cooking.  Steam ovens are easier to clean and can cook on really low temperatures.  If you have a combi steam oven then it can cook on either dry heat, steam only or a combination of both.  I wish I’d bought 2 combi steam ovens now.

So, I can say that steam ovens really are the next best thing.

Happy cooking!

2 Replies to “Are steam ovens a fad or fabulous?”

  1. Each manufacturer of Steam Ovens has a lot of literature available to help explain the difference in models. The main differences are:

    Steam Only: this oven only cooks in steam mode with the temperature range from 30c to 100c.

    Combi Steam: this oven allows cooking in either dry heat, steam only or with a combination of both high heat and steam

    Steam Assist: this terminology varies slightly between makes and models but generally refers to steam being injected into the oven during the cooking process.

    I hope this helps,

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