Steaming: benefits and tools

What are the benefits of steaming and what tools can you use to get the best results?

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How to steam. Among the different methods for preparing food, the steaming it represents a particularly healthy alternative, as well as ecological and aimed at saving money, energy and time.

Thinking about the steam cooking, some of us may recall some dishes of oriental cuisine, while others may include steaming among the options to obtain particularly light dishes.

Not only are there more and more people intrigued by steam cooking, as for the search for more ecological and healthy cooking methods, catering also began to introduce this cooking method frequently in places open to the public, so much so that he was born in Milan a few months ago That’s Vapore, a restaurant where this type of cooking is provided for most of the dishes on the menu.

However, this cooking method can be carried out at home with great ease. What are the benefits of steaming and what tools can you use to get the best results?

Index

The advantages of steam cooking

Steaming has a huge health benefit, which consists in allowing the precious substances present in food, such as vitamins and mineral salts, not to be dispersed in the cooking water which will subsequently be drained, as occurs for example during cooking by boiling.

In this way they will be able obtain nutritionally richer foods. However, this is not the only positive side of steaming. Through it, especially with regard to vegetables, i foods tend to retain a much richer flavor, full-bodied and natural. Furthermore, steam cooking takes place without adding fat, allowing the preparation of light dishes with a low calorie content.



Steaming allows at the same time to save from the point of view of the energy consumed for cooking and the time used for the preparation of the dishes. Cooking vegetables, for example, usually takes no more than 15 minutes. Above the same pot placed on the stove can multiple steaming baskets can be stacked, in order to allow the preparation of several dishes at the same time.

There is more to it. The steam released during the prolonged cooking of dried legumes, a vegetable broth or a minestrone, can be used to proceed with the steam preparation, at the same time, of other dishes to be placed in one of the special baskets, which will be placed above the pot. While steaming, the stove flame can not only remain at a minimum, but sometimes it can also be turned off a few minutes before the end of cooking, when the steam is well formed, in order to further save on your consumption.

The tools of steaming

For steam cooking it is not necessary to have on hand particularly expensive tools. Anyone who already owns one pot with built-in steel colander may have already found a solution to be put into practice for steam cooking, placing the dishes inside the colander, and water on the bottom of the pot. There are also gods useful supports to distance the colander from the bottom, if necessary.

Steaming: benefits and tools

For a few euros it is possible to buy accessories for the home and kitchen of the in many points of sale steaming baskets of metal or bamboo. The bamboo baskets directly recall the oriental culinary tradition and are usually offered as already equipped with a lid. The only trick is to check to choose the most suitable size for the pots already in your possession, on which the bamboo basket will be placed.



Steaming: benefits and tools

Alternatively, you can purchase a metal basket with holes in the bottom, suitable for steam cooking. The dimensions of this type of basket will have to adapt to both one of your pots and your lid, so that it can be positioned correctly on the pot and covered completely during cooking. Usually this type of metal baskets fit most cookware.

Steaming: benefits and tools

Other options for steaming are represented by ovens, now also available for home kitchens, which have a special function, and from electric steamers, which however have the disadvantage of usually consisting of plastic trays, which is not exactly the most suitable material to keep in contact with food and which can contribute to altering the flavor.

The cost of one electric steamer it can be much higher than the purchase price of one or more steel or bamboo baskets. It is a household appliance that can be considered comfortable for some people, but which can be done without.

Steaming: benefits and tools

It also takes up more space than simple baskets and, if it can't be placed in a permanent position in the kitchen, it will have to be disassembled and reassembled every time, making steaming appear more challenging than it really is.

Some suggestions

In steam cooking the simple water to be poured into the pot can be replaced by vegetable broth, or it can include the addition of fresh or dried aromatic herbs, such as sage, thyme and rosemary, in order to make the dishes in preparation even more tasty in a completely natural way.

When steaming, the water present in the pot it must never touch the food. For this reason, the amount of water should never exceed half the volume of the pot. However, the quantity of water must not be excessively low, to avoid burning and damaging the bottom of the pot.

Once you have finished steaming with water only, it can be reused for washing dishes or left to cool and used for watering plants, or even used for the normal cooking of other foods, such as pasta, grains or legumes.

You might also be interested in reading “Cooking while saving: the guide to cooking food in an ecological way“.

Marta Albè

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