How do steam ovens elevate your baking?

If you’re an enthusiastic baker looking to elevate your culinary creations, consider investing in a Steam Oven These appliances come with all the same features as a standard oven, but you can also use the power of steam to bake your goods, providing moist and flavourful results. But that’s not all – steam ovens offer additional benefits, such as retaining essential nutrients and reducing the need for oil and butter. So, whether you’re baking cakes or bread, you’ll end up with more nutritious and healthier treats.

How does it all work? In this guide, we explore the advantages of using a steam oven, particularly when it comes to baking cakes and bread.

 

Can you bake with a steam oven?

So, what are steam ovens, and can you use them for baking? These appliances are a fantastic option for home bakers, combining steaming and baking in one unit. Instead of using dry heat like a conventional oven, steam ovens use hot steam (wet heat) to bake.

Baking in a steam oven is a real game-changer. The magic lies in its ability to retain or add moisture to your dishes. Whether you’re baking bread, cakes, or muffins, the result is a soft and squishy texture.

 

Are steam ovens better for baking?

Baking in steam ovens offers several advantages. Aspiring bakers can opt for steam ovens to achieve consistently even baking results and retain moisture, resulting in flavourful treats. Here are some of the main advantages of steam baking:

Keep your bakes moist

Steam ovens are an excellent choice for bakers because they help maintain moisture. The steam prevents dough and cake mix from drying out, resulting in soft and tender insides.

Retain more flavour

Because steam ensures your baked goods are soft and moist, whatever you bake in a steam oven also retains its flavour better.

Even bakes

In a steam oven, the steam is evenly distributed throughout the cavity, ensuring consistent baking. As a result, you won’t encounter any underbaked or overbaked sections in your cake or bread. Everything will be perfectly baked and ready to enjoy.

Are steam ovens good for baking cakes?

You’ll always get high-quality results when you bake cakes in a steam oven. The steam not only maintains a soft and moist centre but also keeps essential nutrients locked in, enhancing the flavour of your cakes. Additionally, the moist heat from the steam reduces the need for excessive butter and oil, making steam oven cakes a healthier choice.

What type of cake can I bake in a steam oven?

You can bake a variety of cakes in a steam oven. Whether you crave a rich chocolate cake or prefer a luscious cheesecake, your steam oven has got you covered. Here are three delectable cake ideas to explore with your steam oven:

  1. Lemon drizzle cake – This zesty recipe is ideal for steam cooking and is sure to delight a crowd. Start by baking your cake mixture in the steam, resulting in a light and fluffy brown cake. Once it’s out of the oven, drizzle a lemon mixture over the top while it’s still warm.
  2. Chocolate cake – Who doesn’t love a chocolate cake? Baking it in your steam oven takes it to the next level. Place the batter into the oven and bake until it’s springy. Add a rich chocolatey frosting to round things off.
  3. Brownies – Steam ovens excel at brownies, delivering a fudgy and gooey interior due to the wet heat. If you prefer your brownies to be more cake-like, leave them to bake in your steam oven for a little longer.

Explore more delightful desserts and sweet treats with AEG’s range of recipes.

Are steam ovens good for baking bread?

Steam ovens are perfect for baking bread. In fact, professional bakers have been using steam to make bread for years. There are plenty of benefits of steaming bread, including:

  • Dough expansion: The main benefit is that the steam helps the bread dough expand as it bakes. Steam creates a moist environment that keeps the crust softer for longer, allowing the bread to expand more during baking and resulting in a lighter and springier texture.
  • Delayed crust formation: Steam prevents the surface temperature from getting too high too early. So, not only does the inside have time to cook through, but you’re also removing the risk of your crust becoming too dark. The delayed crust formation also leads to a thinner and crispier crust.
  • Enhanced colour: During the steaming process, the steam interacts with the dough and creates a wet surface, which contributes to a beautiful golden-brown crust.

For optimal results, start baking with steam to allow the dough to rise in moist heat, giving it a spongy texture. Then, switch to dry heat to achieve the golden, crispy crust. Some AEG models even have a bread-baking function that automatically transitions from steam to dry heat, ensuring bakery-standard bread.

Can you prove bread in a steam oven?  

Before baking your bread, it’s essential to allow the dough to prove. Proving is the process of letting the dough rest and rise, resulting in a lighter and softer texture. While traditional proving methods can be time-consuming, using a steam oven can speed up the process.

Set your steam oven to a lower temperature, typically between 25°C and 30°C (77°F to 86°F) to prove bread. The steam oven provides an ideal environment for proving, as moist air surrounds the dough evenly. This leads to more air inside the dough, resulting in lighter, less dense bread.

Some AEG products include a dough-proving function, automatically setting a temperature that’s perfect for your bakes to prove. Check out our comprehensive guide to learn how to utilise your AEG steam oven fully.

Discover steam ovens with AEG

AEG offers a variety of steam ovens equipped with features to help you achieve high-quality baking results.

Explore our 7000 series steam ovens, which feature the SteamCrisp function. This technology blends oven heat with steam, resulting in bread that’s soft on the inside and has a crispy crust.

Shop our 8000 series range, which includes SteamBoost technology. With a full spectrum of steam levels , you can use it for baking, roasting and steaming.

Alternatively, consider our 9000 series models, which automatically control the steam settings, so you don’t have to. These ovens also come with a food sensor for precise core temperature measurements and fast heat-up capabilities, reducing preheating time by 40%.