Steam Cookers

Steam cookers or food steamers are an essential part of any modern household . They are small kitchen utensils. You can use them for cooking or preparing different food items. You can do that with help of steam holding food in a closed vessel. Such a manner of cooking is generally known as steaming.

These steamers have been in use for centuries. The ancient Chinese people used pottery steamers for cooking. The oldest Archaeological excavation uncovered was named “Yan” steamers. The Yan has two vessels; a zeng with a perforated floor surmounted on a pot or a boiler with a tri-pot base and a lid cover. The earliest yan steamer unearth was from 5000 BC. Today these cookers are an essential part of any commercial or domestic kitchen. Many recipes are incomplete without these steamers. Additionally, considering varying needs there are different types of steamer pots used for various food items.

Benefits and uses of the steam pressure cooker

A pressure cooker works by sealing food in an airtight container that looks more like a crockpot. Today we can also find electric steam cookers, but they are much different in working and results as compared to the one designed to cook on a stovetop. Usually, pressure cookers cook the food in liquid. The airtight container of the cooker creates steam and lock-in all the moisture and steam. This pressurized steam cooks the food in a shorter time. Estimated you can save about two-thirds of the normal cooking time by using a pressure cooker. Here are some benefits that you can earn from this steamed cooking process.

Saving your energy and time

Electric pressure cookers are extremely energy efficient kitchen appliances, besides only microwaving. And two main factors contribute to the energy efficiency of these instant pots. The cooking chamber has insulation in it. Hence, the cooker does not need to employ any energy to heat up until the food is ready. Secondly, these cookers lesser liquid than any traditional cooking method and will also boil faster. As compared to other cooking methods like baking, steaming, or boiling, pressurized cooking can reduce the cooking time and energy usage by up to 70%.

Retention of Nutrients and Vitamins

Both boiling and regular steaming can cause water-soluble vitamins to leave food. As a result, the nutritional value of the food decreases. Contradictory a pressure-cooking method cooks the food fast, evenly, and deeply. It may allow food to retain up to 90% of these essential water-soluble nutrients. It means you can enjoy the real sum of vitamins any food items have to offer, naturally. Besides securing the nutrients, pressure cooking also helps to reduce health-harming compounds in meat, vegetable, or fruits.

Preserving taste and look of the food

When we speak of traditional cooking in an open container the food has exposure to heat and oxygen. This exposure leads to dulled colours and almost diminished flavours of the food as it naturally has. On the other hand, pressure cooking saturates the food with pressurized heat and allow the retention of bright colours and phytochemicals. in the same way, the airtight mechanism enables faster and more profound development of flavours. And this is how it helps a cook to make tastier food.

Elimination of harmful microorganisms in food

By creating an environment that allows water to boil at a temperature higher than 100 Celsius, the pressure cookers are exceptional in their multi-faceted abilities. Thus, they can effectively destroy harmful bacteria. At times people always use it as a sterilization tool for jars and baby bottles and also for treating water. At other times, these cookers are ideal to neutral different naturally existing toxins. Ley’s say phytohaemagglutinin that is common in red beans. Hence, they are useful in killing these toxins when boiling alone cannot work.