For steam oven owners
Cook with your steam oven
Plenty of steam ovens end up used as a reheater and not much else. These guides cover the foods steam does best, with times and settings, plus the books worth owning.
Turkey, ham, leftovers, rolls and Christmas pudding, with each brand's own settings.
The first heat-up, the right water and what to empty after cooking, brand by brand.
Recipes and cooking times
Reheating leftovers
Pizza, pasta, rice and roasts come back without drying out.
Vegetables
Times for every vegetable, asparagus to zucchini.
Fish & seafood
Salmon, cod, shrimp and mussels, with times and temperatures.
Eggs & custards
Custards, cheesecake and crème brûlée with no water bath.
Bread
Bakery crust from steam in the first phase of the bake.
Rice & grains
Rice, quinoa and farro with no stirring and no burned bottom.
Dumplings
Fresh, frozen, potstickers and bao.
Tamales
Big batches without topping up a stockpot.
What else should I cook?
The foods steam does better than a regular oven, and the ones it doesn't.
Steam oven or microwave?
When reheating in steam is worth the extra minutes, and when it isn't.
The food science
Peer-reviewed research on what steam does to nutrients, meat and browning.
Cookbooks
Steam Oven Baking
The best-reviewed cookbook written specifically for combi steam ovens: 25 sweet recipes with the steam settings worked out for you. If you own a combi steam oven and want one book, start here.
Other books worth owning
Established books on what a steam oven does best: bread, dumplings and buns, and low-temperature cooking. Affiliate links, at no cost to you.
The same author's 40-plus festive recipes for combi steam ovens, from breakfast to canapés and the main event.
View on Amazon · ~$19
The standard home guide to artisan bread. Its recipes assume a covered Dutch oven to trap steam; in a steam oven you get that steam on a dial.
View on Amazon · ~$17
The book that taught a generation to bake open-crumb country loaves, from the San Francisco bakery.
View on Amazon · ~$26
Sourdough explained step by step, with the science of fermentation and baking. A good second book once the basics work.
View on Amazon · ~$17
Gyoza, bao, siu mai and dozens more, with the doughs and folds explained. Many of the recipes are steamed.
View on Amazon · ~$16
James Beard award-winning recipes from Chinese bakeries, including steamed buns and soft milk bread.
View on Amazon · ~$13
Tested low-temperature recipes. Useful if your oven has a sous-vide mode, like the Anova Precision Oven and several Miele and Wolf models.
View on Amazon · ~$18
Recipes scaled for small countertop ovens. Not steam-specific, but sized for the pans that fit a countertop steam oven.
View on Amazon · ~$27Gear these recipes call for
Pans, a thermometer and the basics. Check pan sizes against your oven's manual. Affiliate links, at no cost to you.
Miele's manual recommends perforated containers so steam reaches food from all sides. A 1/3 pan is about 12.75 x 6.9 in; check your oven's interior before buying.
View on Amazon · ~$50
For rice, grains, custards and anything that holds liquid. Set it under the perforated pan to catch drippings. Same 12.75 x 6.9 in footprint.
View on Amazon · ~$13
Steam cooks faster than you expect. A one-second probe stops you overcooking fish and chicken while you learn.
View on Amazon · ~$15
Bread and rice ratios by weight, not cups. Steam baking is less forgiving of guessed hydration.
View on Amazon · ~$10
Cut to the size of any tray. Stops fish and dough sticking to perforated pans.
View on Amazon · ~$6The right size for steam-oven custards, crème brûlée and individual egg bakes.
View on Amazon · ~$21