How to Cook in a Steam Oven

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By Gail Logan
eHow Contributing Writer

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Cooking in a steam oven offers a number of benefits that include reduced cooking times and higher moisture content. More moisture in your dishes will result in better flavor, texture and appearance. Cooking in a steam oven can also be healthier than cooking in a regular oven or convection oven because the cooking process does not leach moisture from the food as it cooks, and so the foods do not need additional fats, such as oil, to prevent the food from becoming dry.

Difficulty: Moderately Challenging

Instructions

Things You'll Need:

Steam oven Oven-safe cookware

Step 1

Turn on the oven by choosing the desired temperature setting, usually based on a recipe.
Step 2

Choose the desired position of the oven racks and adjust accordingly.
Step 3

Program the steam portion of the oven on the control panel according to how you want to cook your food and the options your steam oven offers. Most ovens release heat into the entire oven, known as diffused heating, and pump steam directly into a supplied pan, known as direct heating.
Step 4

Choose the amount of steam you want released during the cooking process. This may be done on a dial or a keypad. Most steam ovens offer a humidity range that will release from 20 to 100 percent steam.
Step 5

Watch for doneness, remembering that cooking times for steam ovens are often less than half of conventional hot air ovens.

Tips & Warnings

If a steam oven needs to to be cleaned, simply wipe with a damp cloth.
Do not expect food to brown in a steam oven, unless it can convert to a regular hot air oven upon proper programming.