OPERATING VHL2 & VHL3 STEAMERS WITH STANDARD AUTOMATIC COMPARTMENT CONTROLS
1.Prepare vegetables, fruits, meats, seafood and poultry as you would for steam cooking or cooking in water: clean, separate, cut, remove stems, etc., and place in a pan.
2.Place loaded pans in the compartment and close the compartment door. Turn the door screw handle clockwise to seal the door gasket. Normal pressure will seal the compartment; however, a new gasket may require additional pressure after it becomes heated. After the pressure gauge (located below the lowest compartment controls) reaches a maximum pressure of 5 to 6 psi, turn the door screw handle clockwise enough to stop the leakage. The pressure gauge indicates steam pressure in the steam supply pipe, not the compartments.
3.The timer knob must be turned to 10 minutes or beyond to trip the switches. The knob may then be turned back to a lower setting if a shorter time setting is desired. Set the timer to the sum of the desired cooking time plus some minutes allowed for preheating (generally 5 to 10 minutes). The preheat allowance will vary with the type, size, temperature and condition (frozen or thawed) of the load, and must be determined from experience.
4.Press the top half of the compartment switch located under the timer; the cooking light will become lit. The drain closes, steam is allowed to enter the compartment and the timer starts. The balance of the cooking time sequence is automatic.
5.Steam will automatically be exhausted from the compartment one minute before the end of the cooking cycle as the steam supply is shut off.
Never attempt to open the compartment door during the cooking cycle, when the cooking light is lit or before the buzzer sounds.
6.At the end of the cooking cycle, the cooking light goes off and the buzzer sounds. Turn the steamer off by pressing the bottom half of the compartment switch — this also shuts off the buzzer. Loosen the door screw slowly and allow moisture to escape. After a few seconds, move the door latch to the left, slowly open the door and remove the pans of food.
