Neither Toaster Ovens Nor Air Fryers: This Appliance Could Replace Your Microwave

Imagine a new appliance that cooks quickly like a microwave oven, but more evenly without cold spots or overcooked areas. One that does not harm the nutrients in your food and will adjust its cooking method to accommodate the internal temperature of your food, an oven that will reheat your pizza, crisping the cheese without turning it into a lake of molten lava. Sounds quite good, doesn't it? But does such a magic cooking box exist? The answer is yes, it's called a steam oven, and they are growing in popularity. Could one be in your future?

It may be obvious, but steam ovens cook with moist aire, rather than the typical hot, dry air of a regular oven. As such, they need a water supply, whether plumbed in a tank or reservoir. Some full steam ovens only cook with steam. Others combine steam cooking with convection oven cooking (hot, dry, moving air) to allow more versatility in the cooking results. A steam-only oven can't brown or crisp food, a combination steam and convection do both.

In addition to cooking foods very quickly (not as fast a microwave), the food remains moist and is evenly heated. The results are considered healthier with foods retaining their nutrition, color, and textures. Steam ovens are energy efficient and reduce the chances of burning foods due to the use of steam. The versatility of the combined convection and steam oven make them hard to beat in your kitchen.

With that said, they tend to be more expensive than traditional ovens. A hundred percent steam oven does not perform as well with pies and cakes since they won't brown the crust. As well, most steam ovens on the market are smaller than traditional ovens.

Because of their amazing versatility, the market for steam ovens is predicted to continue to grow. Once they become more familiar to consumers, it is easy to think of them as the next technological elevation (the "hot new thing!") of our new streamlined modern kitchens.