Full steam ahead… why cooking with steam might just be the best way to cook
Have you ever wondered why cooking with steam is so popular? Steaming is a great way to cook a wide variety of foods including poultry, seafood and vegetables. It’s a healthy way to cook, as there is no need to add oil or butter. Steam also aids in lowering cholesterol when cooking meat, as the process of cooking with steam dissolves the fat from the meat rather than promoting fat absorption with methods such as grilling or baking.
Cooking with steam not only reduces the calories added when cooking with oil, but it’s also a great way of enhancing natural flavours and colours. Should you wish to add flavour while cooking with steam, simply steam your preferred protein or vegetables on a bed of herbs, lemon rind, garlic or ginger.
As steaming is a gentler way to cook than boiling, it is a better method for retaining the shape of food, especially delicate foods like fish. It is also a lot harder to overcook with steam; at worst you’ll end up with overcooked vegetables but you are not going to end up with a charred mess as you can with other cooking methods.
Cooking with steam also lowers the chance of nutrient loss in some vegetables. A 2009 study carried out by The National Library of Medicine – National Centre for Biotechnology, found that steaming retained more nutrients in broccoli than any other method of cooking.
Another benefit of steam-cooking is that it is quick and inexpensive because it allows you to cook multiple items at once, especially if you use tiered steaming pots. This of course, also means less washing up, something that we can definitely get behind.
