I bought the APO for mainly steaming Chinese Rice cakes since standard bamboo steamers are too small or too shallow. Being an induction based kitchen, I can’t even use multi-level steamers pots. My usual steamer setup is bamboo steamers over an Instant Pot in the Saute mode boiling water.
However, my efforts with APO has been disappointing. The steam power in APO does not seem to be strong and hot enough to get decent rise from the steam cakes. I managed to make some Boa buns using 212F Bottom heater 100% steam. Even then, the rise is not as good as from a bamboo steamer over a boiling pot of water.
I am requesting advice from other experts who may have more success with APO for steaming cakes. The bottom heater has limited power. Will I get hotter steam if I use Rear or Top heaters?
Steam is generated by a separate generator, the heating element in the oven just keeps the temperature so the choice is not crucial . If you raise the temp the steam will be hotter but more importantly, below 100 degrees the percentage is relative humidity so the steam generator only has to keep the humidity level constant, above 100 degrees it is a measure of how much the steam generator is working, higher percentage means more steam generated so 100 % means full blast which is beneficial when steaming so try increasing the temperature.
Thanks, I have. The steam simply is not strong enough despite raising the temp. Higher temp with steam still dries out the skin before the internal can be cooked. The steam buns I am trying to make require high steam to rise fast and split the top of the buns or muffins. They are called Fa-Gao.
I did one batch in APO (212F, Bottom, 100%) and they never rise enough to split. I did another in my normal steam setup (steam rack over Instant Pot boiling water). The second batch rose rapidly & split their tops.
I don’t know if high steam power is the correct description but it is clear that concentrate steam is necessary for the buns to rise rapidly & split their tops.
My normal steam setup is limited on the number of buns I could steam.
No matter, my APO’s fan died after only 2 months. Anova offered replacement or return. I took the latter; no wish to do multiple returns if reliability is poor.
