Practical tips
Tips on steaming
–In general, the cooking durations for cooking with steam are the same as for cooking food in a saucepan.
–Steam prevents food from drying out so it remains moist, and juices are not lost. This applies to a wide variety of food, including dumplings, steam puddings, fish and meat dishes, as well as vegetables.
–You can select any shelf level. You can also cook on several levels at the same time. This will not alter the cooking duration.
–Food does not brown or get crisp from
–When cooking frozen food, e.g. vegetables, ensure that any large clumps frozen together are broken up first so that they cook evenly. The cooking duration is approximately the same as for fresh vegetables.
–Frozen and fresh vegetables which take the same length of time to cook can be cooked together.
–Frozen fish should be partially defrosted before cooking. We recommend using the "Defrost" temperature of 60°C (see "Defrosting" for more information).
–Cooking with steam retains the true taste of the food better than conventional cooking. Therefore food should not be seasoned until after it has been cooked.
–Only fill solid containers 3/4 full with liquid.
–Dried foods like pasta and rice must be cooked in liquid. Pasta should be well covered with liquid. With pulses, grains, parboiled rice, basmati rice and wild rice, the proportion of food to liquid should be 1:1, with brown rice 1:1.5 and risotto rice 1:2.
–When cooking noodles, follow the manufacturer's instructions on the packaging regarding cooking duration.
–Cooking liquids do not boil away. They are either absorbed by the food, as with rice and pasta, or they remain in the dish to form a sauce, as with casseroles. The sauce can then be thickened or added to after cooking.
–You can thicken sauces in the steam oven by adding flour and butter to liquid (40 g flour and 40 g butter to 0.5 litres liquid).
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