The Benefits of Steam Oven Cooking

What is Steam Cooking?

Steam cooking is a cooking method which uses the power of hot water to create steam,  which is then used to cook food. Steam cooking is often times oil-free, with minimal or no oil required, delivering healthier results that retains nutrients, vitamins, proteins and minerals.

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Steam Cooking Benefits

Steam Cooking is well-known for a wide range of benefits, both culinary and for health. As a healthy cooking method, steam cooking is ideal for maintaining overall wellbeing, letting you enjoy delicious food without the excess oil, fat or guilt.

• Retains nutrients in food:

  This is especially true for vegetables and fresh foods. Steam cooking ensures nutrients, vitamins and minerals are not lost from food.

• Enhances flavour without fats or oils:

  Since gentle heat is used, steam cooking does not easily burn food and requires little oil to cook, with food that retains its flavours, colours and textures. Roast meat like chicken, lamb and duck stays juicy and succulent.

• Aids the baking process:

  Steam cooking, when used alongside baking helps keep baked goods soft and moist while ensuring a crisp exterior and crust.

• Reduces cooking time:

  When compared to boiling foods, steam cooking is typically faster, helping you save on time and energy used for cooking.

• Cooking versatility:

  Cooking with steam helps keep food moist and succulent as opposed to drying it out, making it suitable for a range of foods such as vegetables, meats, fish, dumplings, bread, pasta, desserts and pretty much anything that can be steamed, you can cook it in a steam oven.

An Introduction to Steam Ovens

Steam ovens work like any other oven, with the main difference being that a steam oven features a water canister which needs to be filled before cooking with steam functions. When the oven is on and heated, the water turns into steam, cooking your food. As the water canister is not connected to the water main, the water needs to be manually topped up.

A Steam Oven will generally have a steam cooking function, with some ovens uniquely dedicated to steam cooking, boasting several steam modes for specific food types (vegetables/roast/baking etc). All steam oven brands and models will have varying operating instructions, so it’s ideal to consult the product manual.

Popular Steam Ovens to Love

Curious about steam ovens? Below, we examine three popular steam oven models from major appliance brands Electrolux, AEG and Neff. All three steam oven models are uniquely different from each other, offering varied cooking experiences to suit every type of home cooking lifestyle.

Steam Oven #1: Electrolux 60cm Steam & Pyrolytic Oven – EVEP619DSE

Functionality

With multi-functional cooking programs, this Electrolux 60cm Multifunction Steam & Pyrolytic Oven features a large, family-friendly 80L oven capacity. The oven features 19+ functions to suit any culinary need, ranging across traditional oven cooking methods, grill and steam cooking.

Cooking Modes

As mentioned, this Electrolux Steam Oven features over 19+ oven programs/modes to satisfy any cooking need. Enjoy typical oven cooking modes such as traditional bake, roast, pizza, fan grill, air fry and slow cooking to simplify everyday cooking. Meanwhile, speciality programs like dough proving and Bake +Steam will delight home bakers.

Being a steam oven, this Electrolux 60cm Multifunction Steam Oven boasts 3 types of steam modes:

• Steam cooking
• Steam reheating
• Bake +Steam

Ease of Use

Controlling the cooking process via this Electrolux 60cm Multifunction Steam Oven is effortless with the full touch control panel which displays the cooking mode, temperatures and cooking times.

Included Smart Food Probe: this is a helpful accessory for when you’re cooking roasts or dishes that need a certain internal temperature. The food probe automatically switches off the oven when the set temperature is reached within the core of the food. Perfect for roasts of meats, poultry and seafood, as well as bread, custards and puddings.

Cleaning

Cleaning up after cooking is effortless with this oven’s pyrolytic functions, which burns at high temperatures to melt food residue/spills into ash that just needs a simple wipe down. This Electrolux Steam Oven boasts 3x pyrolytic cleaning modes to meet any level of mess.

Suitable For

Families of all sizes, daily and occasional cooking, as well as home bakers and entertainers.

Steam Oven #2: AEG 60cm Steam Oven – BSK99733PT

Functionality

When more is top of mind, AEG’s 60cm Steam Oven will do the trick, with its large 77L cooking capacity and 25 cooking functions sure to meet every recipe requirement.

Cooking Modes

25+ cooking functions across traditional and speciality varieties, this AEG 60cm Steam Oven will delight home cooks and entertainers. Traditional cooking programs include conventional cooking/traditional bake, pizza, grill, keep warm, true fan cooking and bread baking

Speciality cooking programs designed to diversify home cooking includes browning/ au gratin, dough proving, preserving, slow cooking, sous vide and yoghurt.

A range of steam functions in this AEG Steam Oven (called Steamify®) will hit the target for healthier cooking and eating. The 3x Steamify® cooking modes include heat, steam, and a combination of both.

Ease of Use

An intuitive command wheel and colour touch display makes the cooking experience effortless. Enjoy a helping hand provided by the Assisted Cooking function – your at-home sous chef, which ensures optimal cooking settings based on your selection (food type).

Included food probe: this AEG Steam Oven’s SenseCook food sensor ensures amazing results based on your chosen level of doneness. Great for use on roasts, simply assign your doneness level and the sensor will power off the oven when the right conditions are met – delivering melt-in-your-mouth meals.

Cleaning

Love the care-free cleaning effort provided by this AEG 60cm Steam Oven’s Steam Cleaning Program. Say goodbye to harsh scrubbing as the power of steam lifts dirt and grime for a simple wipe down.

Suitable For

Avid home cooks, entertainers and those who like to experiment in the kitchen and diversify their cooking and dining experience.

Steam Oven #3: NEFF 60cm Built-in Steam Oven – B69FY5CY0A

Functionality

Part of NEFF’s Flex Design series, this 60cm Built-in Steam Oven features a completely adjustable oven frame trim, with 4 colour options including Deep Black, Brushed Bronze, Metallic Silver and Anthracite Grey. Find a shade to suit your kitchen design and personal preferences.

Aside from its customisable trim colour, this NEFF 60cm Built-in Steam Oven is designed to meet all home cooking needs with its spacious 71L cooking capacity and 24 cooking functions.

Cooking Modes

Master favourites and upskill with new techniques with the wide-ranging 24 cooking functions, complemented by the combination of 3x cooking methods:

1. Traditional cooking functions: including Full surface grill, Pizza, Sous-vide, Bread Baking and Air Fry
2. NEFF’s CircoTherm® rapid air technology: can be used separately or with Roasting and Steam
3. Steam cooking: can be used with various programs like FullSteam, Circo-roasting + steam, Bread Baking + steam, keep warm + steam and CircoTherm® + steam

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Ease of Use

An extra-large 6.8” full touch display makes it effortless to manage cooking. Prefer the manual dial control? This NEFF steam oven features space to fit up to 2x of NEFF’s magnetic, removable Twist Pad Flex® (sold separately), which provides manual twist changes to cooking.

Smart control: smart home ready, this NEFF 60cm Built-in Steam Oven can also be managed via the Home Connect app via your smart device and with voice control assistants such as Amazon Alexa and Google Assistant.

Using the Home Connect app, enjoy an enhanced steam oven cooking experience:

• Preheat the oven
• Access recipes
• Get notifications

Included food probe: like the Electrolux and AEG steam ovens featured above, this NEFF 60cm Built-in Steam Oven also includes a multi-point meat probe with built-in gauge. Enjoy professional roasting results as the steam oven stops cooking once the internal temperature of your food has reached your desired level.

Cleaning

As like many other steam ovens, this NEFF 60cm Built-in Steam Oven also ensures effortless cleaning up with its steam-powered EasyClean® program. To clean in interior of the oven, simply add water and liquid detergent to soften food for easy maintenance.

Suitable For

Entertainers and regular home cooks who fancy cooking flexibility and customisable design to suit their personality and kitchen décor.

Steam Ovens: A Comparison

Stuck on which steam oven will work best for your home cooking lifestyle? Below, we lay out all the essential features and functions of each model to help you better select the steam oven for you.

Ready to transform your cooking experience?

Explore our range of steam ovens and start cooking healthier meals today!

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FAQs

1. What is a steam oven?

A steam oven is an oven that enables steam cooking in addition to traditional oven cooking methods. Steam ovens feature a water container that must be filled to carry out the steam cooking programs. Steam ovens can be used to cook and enhance a variety of dishes such as roasts, bread, desserts and vegetables.

2. What is the difference between an oven and a steam oven?

A steam oven differs from a typical oven as it features steam-based cooking programs, with the inclusion of a water container to facilitate steam cooking. The steam cooking programs generally can be used on their own or with other traditional methods to enhance cooking and baking results.

3. How does a combi steam oven work?

A combi (combination) steam oven features both traditional oven programs and steam programs to enable 2-in-1 cooking. Users of a combi steam oven can enjoy typical oven/ baking programs, enhanced by steam for succulent (roasts) and crispy (baked) goods. Combi steam ovens will have a water tank that will need to be filled up to enable steam cooking.

4. Is a steam oven better than a microwave?

Cooking with a steam oven is similar to microwave cooking. Both can be used to steam cook your food. Featuring both traditional cooking programs and steam functions, steam ovens are more advanced, delivering a greater range of dish and meal creation options to be enjoyed.

5. Is steaming a healthy cooking method?

Steam cooking is a healthy cooking method when compared to other techniques as it requires less to almost no oil to cook. Cooking with steam is also better as it retains nutrients, vitamins and minerals in food for healthier eating and wellbeing.