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28th January 2021
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Cooking with steam: More efficient, better results
The AEG-Electrolux B98205M multifunction oven with steam functions cooks faster with less energy, while enhancing flavours, preserving nutrients and giving more control over surface textures.
Switching to energy-efficient appliances in your kitchen is a great way to make your personal contribution to reducing greenhouse emissions. So is looking at the way you cook: Using a steam oven greatly reduces cooking time and temperature compared to using a conventional oven, while bringing out tastes and controlling textures like no other cooking method.
"Because steam has a higher density than dry air, it holds more energy. In practice, this means you can cook at lower temperatures than when using hot air," says Sophie Davidson, Product Manager at Electrolux Major Appliances. "You save on energy consumption and help the environment."
The technical explanation is that when water turns into steam, it absorbs a great deal of energy. Then, when the steam condenses back into water in the oven, it transfers that heat directly to the food. As a result, 100° C steam has six times the heat potential of 100° C air.
Further changes in the way you cook can create even more savings. Cooking with steam means that foods don't dry out or trade flavours with each other. That means you can cook an entire meal (meat, vegetables, and potatoes) at the same time in the AEG B98205M multifunction and steam oven instead of using separate pots on the hob. Hob cooking is particularly energy inefficient because much of the heat escapes into the air and never gets to the food.
Using a steam oven isn't just good for the environment. It's also good for you. The AEG multifunction and steam oven enhances flavours by keeping moisture from being extracted during the cooking process so your taste buds can register more flavour in the food. It also leaves cell structures intact, preserving textures. Using steam is also a healthy way to cook, since fat doesn't have to be added to keep the food moist and because steam's lower temperature helps preserve nutrients.
Steam also helps you control surface textures. By alternating moist and dry air you can precisely control browning to get the perfect color and crust on the outside. The natural tastes of vegetables remain intact when roasted, the inside of a chicken stays tender while the skin becomes crispy and bread comes out soft inside and crusty outside.
Long the choice of professional chefs, steam ovens are becoming an essential part of the home toolbox for people who are passionate about cooking. "If you are serious about embarking on the road to gastronomic perfection, you need steam," says Sophie Davidson. "Controlling and optimizing taste, texture and mouth feel using dry air alone is complicated. You need a precision instrument like AEG B98205M."
AEG-Electrolux appliances including the B98205M have been chosen by Daylesford Organic for its fabulous cookery school. You can try out the steam oven here under the watchful eye of top chef Vladimir Niza.
T: 08445 611611
F: 08445 618 920
22nd October 2010