It’s a well known fact that besides being one of the oldest preparation methods, steaming is also one of the healthiest. This was probably not yet known in Asia and Africa thousands of years ago. However, even then they saw other important benefits of steaming. Besides retaining vitamins and minerals, they saw it kept the shape, colour, flavour and aromatic juices.
In order to understand how that happens, you need to know a bit more about steaming as a technique.
When water reaches boiling point, steam is formed. Minuscule drops with a high temperature, whose density is a lot less than liquid water. Nevertheless, this gaseous water contains a great deal of energy. When steam condenses on a colder surface, it releases this energy again, whereby the surface of the food soon reaches boiling point. Making for very efficient energy transfer.
Due to its smaller density, steam makes less contact with the food than liquid water. And that’s the difference. Because they are not constantly in contact with water, the cell walls of the food remain better intact. Not only the soluble nutrients, but also the taste and colourings will therefore be less likely to ‘leak away’
In steaming, a good cooking time is important, but it doesn't come down to a minute. In a steam oven, you can cook several products at the same time. This is easy at different levels with a pre-set cooking time. That creates a sense of calm in the kitchen and takes the pressure off.
Can you only steam vegetables? No! The possibilities of steaming are endless. Meat and fish become beautifully tender in the steam oven.