Losing weight is not just about what and how much you eat, but it also has a lot to do with how you cook your food.
Steaming maintains the food’s natural crispness, freshness, colour and natural taste, so it tastes and looks much better than boiled or blanched food.This is according to Mercia de Jager from Miele, who says the way you prepare your meals can have a big impact on its calorific content, as well as its nutritional value.
She says steaming remains one of the easiest, cleanest, tastiest and healthy all-purpose cooking methods, and with steam or combination-steam ovens, steaming has never been easier.
Mercia shares reasons why owning a steam cooker is a healthier option…
1. Preserve the natural goodness
Mercia says since steamed food doesn’t come into direct contact with boiling water, like it does when boiling or blanching, no important nutrients are lost during the cooking process.
She says steaming also maintains the food’s natural crispness, freshness, colour and natural taste, so it tastes and looks much better than boiled or blanched food.
2. Minimise fat intake
With combination steam ovens, you can prepare delicious breads and other baked goods like a professional. Also, with steaming, there is no crossover of flavours, so you can stack different layers of food one on top of the other.No oils are required in steam cooking, which makes it a considerably healthier way of cooking compared to grilling, baking, roasting or frying.
Mercia says the absence of oil automatically reduces the fat content in the food you are preparing.
Steaming cooks your food thoroughly without the need of any additional fat, butter or oil, allowing the true, clean taste of the food to shine through.
Herbal seasoning or citrus juices can be used to bring out the flavours of steamed food without adding any unwanted fat, sodium or calories to the meal.
If you want to add some oil, then your best bet would be to drizzle a little bit of cold-pressed, virgin olive oil over the food once it has been steamed. This ensures that the oil is not broken down during the cooking process, and retains all its healthy goodness.
3. No cooking disasters
Unlike frying, boiling, baking or roasting, when you’re steaming, you can easily ensure that your food is not overcooked or burnt.
According to Mercia, steaming is a much quicker and easier way of cooking when you compare it to other cooking methods.
Steam cookers make sous vide cooking easy, as all you need are a vacuum-sealing drawer and a quality steam oven.4. Quick and easy
You can cook all types of food in a steam oven, from meat, to poultry, fish, vegetables, and even an array of deserts.
“With combination steam ovens, you can prepare delicious breads and other baked goods like a professional. Also, with steaming, there is no crossover of flavours, so you can stack different layers of food one on top of the other.”
Mercia says this allows you to prepare an entire meal at once, saving you time, energy and money.
She says steaming makes cleaning up afterwards an absolute cinch, as there is no oil, no smoke and no mess.
5. Perfect for sous vide cooking
Sous vide cooking, which is French for ‘vacuum', is the term given to a method of food preparation in which vacuum-packed food in plastic bags is cooked at low, steadily maintained temperatures over an extended period of time.
Sous vide is ideal for meat and fish as this method allows herbs, seasoning and marinades to develop their full aroma without the flavour evaporating - the effect of marinating is even considerably enhanced.
Low levels of moisture loss mean that meat and fish do not lose substance. The results are particularly tender, leaving a uniform texture. For this preparation method, a vacuum-sealing drawer and a steam oven can be joined together to form a formidable team.
Sous vide cooking is a convenient way of prepping tasty, healthy meals in advance, ensuring that all the effort is taken out of thinking about what you need to cook every night.
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