How to choose a steamer for home

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In the era of enthusiasm for a healthy lifestyle and proper nutrition, the steamer producers are experiencing a sales boom. Everyone who has ever heard about the benefits of this household appliance, tries to get him in full possession in his kitchen. Today, cooking for a couple is not only useful, but also fashionable. But how to choose the steamer is really reliable and quality, so that it would serve faithfully for many years? We propose to learn more about this.

And we will start, perhaps, with the fact that we recall how useful a steamer is and why it must necessarily settle in every kitchen.

How to choose a steamer for home

How to choose a steamer for the house

Everyone knows that heat treatment kills most of the nutrients found in foods. And if the temperature is minimized, so that as many vitamins and other nutrients as possible remain in the food itself, and not in water - as in cooking, or in oil - as in frying? In this case, the steamer will be a great help!

Agree, how would it be cool at all to give up fatty fried foods? But the steamer gives us such a chance - here, when cooking does not use a drop of vegetable or animal fat, it means that the food is not only low-calorie, but also low-fat.

The use of a double boiler makes it possible to tasty and useful to feed young children, people with certain diseases of the gastrointestinal tract and everyone else who cares about their health and wants to eat dietary food, in particular, people who strive for harmony.

What you can cook in the steamer

What to cook in a double boiler

What to cook in the steamer

As a rule, it cooks vegetables, meat, fish, eggs, while a more delicate and rich taste of dishes is observed than with heat treatment. Some models have a bowl for making pasta and cereals, and a steamer is used for sterilizing cans and baby bottles.

Choosing a steamer for different criteria

So, how to choose a good steamer? First, let's define the capacity and volume. The more powerful the device, the faster the water boils in it, which means that the products will be prepared sooner. Although power is not a determining factor, which directly affects the speed of cooking, you still need to take into account the volume of the bowl and the design of the steamer.

Morphy Richards Steamer

Steamer Morphy Richards

With volume, too, do not lose! As a rule, one basket is designed for 1.5-3.5 liters and this is enough to feed a family of several people. But the bowl for making porridges can be from 0.5 to 2 liters, here carefully study the characteristics of technology.

What's the difference between steamers? Let's dwell on the number and shape of baskets, which can be one, two or three, while the bowls can have different sizes, for example, the lower one is large, and the upper ones are smaller, as in the pyramid. The advantage of steamers with two or three baskets can not be overestimated, agree that preparing a dinner for a family of 4 people, it will be difficult to put all the necessary products in one basket. And so all the members of the family will receive their portion of the dish, no one will remain hungry. In addition, such models of steamers make it possible to cook several dishes at once, for example, fish and garnish. Although it should also be noted here that in such double-three baskets the cooking time is increased. The fastest food is prepared in a model with one bowl.

Steamer Polaris PFS 0305AD

Steamer Polaris PFS 0305AD

Double-sided steamer Polaris PFS 0410 Twin

Two-sided steamer Polaris PFS 0410 Twin

If the bowls are the same size, then the prepared dishes can be easily exchanged, for example, the lower bowl is put up and the top one, vice versa, down. This is convenient when you prepare meals with different cooking times. Here it should be noted that on the lower tier it is better to put a bowl with products that have the longest cooking time, and on the upper one with the least time, since the food is prepared more slowly at the top.

Let's return to the size of the bowls. If the baskets are of different sizes, they can not be interchanged, but such models are easy to store, the bowls are stacked one to the other and do not take up much space.

Steamer with two bowls Binatone

Steamer with two bowls Binatone

Now let's talk about the pallet. This is the container, located at the bottom of the kitchen appliance, where the juice flows from the products being cooked. The number of pallets varies - it can be one, and can be located under each basket. On the one hand, bowls without a pallet are good, since the juice from fish or meat, which is usually cooked from above, drains onto the cereals being prepared below and impregnates them with a delicious aroma. On the other hand, it is not always necessary to mix the dishes with flavors, and a kind of "vinaigrette" of smells, then it is better to take a steamer, in which each basket has its pallet.

What kind of steamer should I choose?

Which steamer to choose - on the photo model ORION OST-3959

By the way, the last models of steamers are supplied with a double-sided tray - on the one hand it collects the juice extracted from the prepared products, and on the reverse side in such a pallet it is possible to prepare the product in its own juice. And the last thing about the pallet - it's better, if it is high enough that the liquid from the cooking food does not pour over the edge, the height of the side about 2 cm will be enough.

Steamer and steamer in a saucepan

Pan-steamers are not so popular today, but they still have a place to be. In such steamers, the bottom container is filled with water, which when heated forms steam, and the latter, in turn, passes into the upper tanks, which can be several, and the food is cooked. This is the cheapest way to make steam, especially if you have a gas stove in your apartment, not an electric one. In this case, you will once pay for the pan-steamer and the costs will end there.

Saucepot Steamer Photo

Saucepot Steamer Photo

Paste into a saucepan - this option is very beneficial in terms of saving money and space in the kitchen. Usually the inserts in the pan are quite budgetary and do not occupy useful space. Today, in addition to metal steam baskets, silicone inserts, steamers, including two-level ones, are very popular. If it is more convenient for you to cook in such a liner for a pot, then why not?

silicone insert steamer

Silicone insert steamer

Which steamer is better - detached or built-in

Like many kitchen appliances, the steamer can be detached and built-in. It's hard to say which steamer is better - in the first case such a kitchen device has sufficient mobility and it can be transferred from one place to another, in the second case it is part of a kitchen set and it will not be possible to move it to another location.

As a rule, the latest models have a stylish appearance that fits into any, even the most modern kitchen interior, and are stuffed with various additional functions, such as a touch screen, automatic heating control, on-off programming, automatic descaling.

Steamer built-in Miele DG 5080

Steamer built-in Miele DG 5080

Certainly, a stand-alone steamer is much more popular than its built-in sister. Moreover, various kitchen appliances have the functions of a steamer - a multivark, aerogrill, microwave oven and even an oven. So in the acquisition of multi-functional household appliances there are pluses, among which one can note the compactness of the device, which can not only cook, extinguish and fry, but also steamed.

Microwave oven with double boiler

Microwave oven with steamer

As you can see, the steamer is quite diverse, it differs not only in its configuration, but also can be part of other home appliances. We hope that our councils will be assistants in answering the question of how to choose a steamer and how to use it with advantage for the preparation of healthy and tasty food.


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