What temperature is the steamer?
Oct. 18th, 2008 11:45 am![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
purplecatWatching the Kamikaze Cookery sous-vide mini-episode made us wonder what temperature our steamer works at?
The episode advised sous-viding vegetables at 83C - high enough to break down the starch but too low to break down the pectin.
We acquired the steamer because I put it on a Christmas list having been... err.. impressed by some celebrity chef or other using one. B's younger brother, instead of buying the "put over the top of a saucepan" thing I'd envisaged brought us a stand alone electrically powered one.
I now only boil vegetables in extremis, ditto rice. They taste much better out of the steamer and, although they take twice as long (four times in the case of rice), they require absolutely zero supervision.
So what temperature is the steamer at? It's probably somewhat lower than 100C since the steam is rising up from below and there's stuff condensing and dripping down. However I doubt it's as low as 83C, somewhere in the 90s I'd guess.
Note to self: acquire thermometer.
The episode advised sous-viding vegetables at 83C - high enough to break down the starch but too low to break down the pectin.
We acquired the steamer because I put it on a Christmas list having been... err.. impressed by some celebrity chef or other using one. B's younger brother, instead of buying the "put over the top of a saucepan" thing I'd envisaged brought us a stand alone electrically powered one.
I now only boil vegetables in extremis, ditto rice. They taste much better out of the steamer and, although they take twice as long (four times in the case of rice), they require absolutely zero supervision.
So what temperature is the steamer at? It's probably somewhat lower than 100C since the steam is rising up from below and there's stuff condensing and dripping down. However I doubt it's as low as 83C, somewhere in the 90s I'd guess.
Note to self: acquire thermometer.
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Date: 2008-10-18 11:19 am (UTC)Having said that, I read a fascinating NYT article recently saying that the best way to cook vegetables, in fact, was to microwave them! Apparently if done carefully it's incredibly precise and retains all flavour.
No idea what temperature the steamer's at, though. I'd definitely say "get a thermometer". It might be a bit unpredictable, too - convection's a bitch.