I’m trying to see if anyone has any suggestion. I cooked some frozen dumplings in the oven at 212F (not SV) and 100% steam. The dumplings are cooked through, but the edge/dough part is a bit dry.
Dry like freezer burn?
How long did you cook/reheat them?
Yes, like freezer burn. I put them in for 15mins. I saw that the skin wasn’t cooked through so I cooked them for another 5. There’s zero change after so I decided that it wouldn’t have gotten any better with longer cooking time.
Could be freezer burn.
I’m guessing here so ignore it if you like. Since the oven is only trying to keep 100% humidity it is not really acting like a steamer would where a steamer is bathing the food in water and in some cases hydrating it. The oven only adds steam under 212 or at 212 when it senses it needs to add it. I’m guessing that with frozen dumplings you might need to hydrate them a little so spraying them with water or dunking them might help.
I wouldn’t expect the oven to fix freezer burnt food. So you’re correct your “guess” about my dumplings having freezer burn to begin with has been ignored.
Not sure if you read the manual, it says “…when used at temperatures above 212F (100C), steam is generated constantly throughout the cooking process. In this mode, the Oven does not measure or react to the amount of humidity inside.” I wish the oven can put out more steam if required. I would like to know if this can be changed through firmware upgrade / app update.
I did. I also read this:
So you were not 'above" 212.
But if you were above 212 the constant humidity isn’t exactly wet steam like you would get from a steamer on a pot or a rice cooker etc. If you notice when the oven is 100% steam and lower than 212 there is water condensing on the glass and running down. When you have 100% steam (humidity) and 400F you see no condensing water in the oven. It appears dry, yet steam is escaping the front of the oven. Well, it’s condensing as it cools. You can’t have wet steam higher than 212 due to physics. That is why there is constant steam over 212. It’s turning to gas so to maintain a given humidity level in the oven you have to inject steam at some constant.
You would like the oven to be more like a steamer basket where a lot of steam is created and its very wet?
One thing I didn’t mention: I cooked a second batch of dumplings at 213F. Those were even drier.
You would like the oven to be more like a steamer basket where a lot of steam is created and its very wet?
Yes, when required. Are you an Anova rep? Would you be able to answer my question regarding this feature in a potential firmware upgrade?
This would be obvious, right? Water evaporates at 212F.
No.
The potential problem with turning the oven into a “steamer” vs a “steam oven” is that you would be generating a lot of steam that would need to escape the oven. Think about it.
In my personal opinion with this particular use case of wanting supple moist dumplings from frozen costco bags you should experiment with spritzing them with water to hydrate the freezer burn or dried out edges.
The potential problem with turning the oven into a “steamer” vs a “steam oven” is that you would be generating a lot of steam that would need to escape the oven. Think about it.
You do have a point. Other combi steam ovens have a way to drain condensation. The APO isn’t built for “this particular use case”. Thanks for your clarification.
1 Like
Agreed. I was hoping to replace streamer and air flyer with app. Neither can be replace by apo. I wonder if Miele steam oven would be better.