Full Steam Ahead Return to the Main Menu What's on This Page? Full Steam Ahead A Few Key Points Steam Roasting Methods and Equipment So, you're tired and coming home after work you pickup some kind of takeout, or you order a pizza. Maybe you're doing this three or four nighst a week because you can't stand the thought of standing over a stove and cooking a meal at the end or a long day, but you worry about your diet and whether your family is getting anywhere near proper, balanced, nutritional meals. When you are tired of the heavy cooking of the cold months but it is too hot to think about heating up the kitchen or standing over a flaming outdoor grill, what do you do? The pressure cooker is your best summertime partner when it comes to fast, good tasting, and healthful cooking. Now let's look at steaming combined with either my popular PIP [Pan In Pot] cooking method or the Tiered Cooking for a complete two or three course meal in one pot if your cooker is tall enough to accommodate the stack. Instead of boiling foods directly in water, use your pressure cooker for fast steaming. Contrary to preconceived ideas, steaming in a pressure cooker does not mean bland, overcooked mushiness. In fact the flavors, aromas, colors and texture of all kinds of meats, fish, vegetables, and fruits is enhanced when steam cooked rather than fried, baked or boiled. Steaming has many healthful advantages over other cooking methods, and it’s a natural for the pressure cooker because it's suitable for many kinds of meats, fish, vegetables, fruits and desserts. Steaming is also an excellent way to reheat and thaw foods without drying them out or over cooking. Pressure cooking uses the natural convection of heat that is traveling in steam or liquid. The superheated steam inside a pressure cooker bathes food in heat energy that is eight times higher than that of a convection type heat. Because steam diffuses throughout the food in a pressure cooker it is not immersed in water, or exposed to air, so a far higher level of nutrients, vitamins and minerals is retained than by other cooking method. Vitamin C, for example is contained in large amounts in vegetables such as squash and broccoli, but it is a nutrient that is easily broken down by oxidation (air). As the interior of the pressure cooker fills with superheated steam, it is purged of oxygen, and this reduces the decomposition of nutrients such as Vitamin C that are easily oxidized. A Few Key Points To Produce Perfect Results Use the minimum amount of water as recommended in your owner's manual for the length of the cooking time. To get those fresh veggies tender-crisp accurate timing is a must, as is the all important cold water release method to immediately stop the cooking and depressurize the cooker so it can be opened quickly. Ensure the ingredients used are fresh and of the best quality and in perfect condition. Make sure chopped foods to be cooked together are of a similar size so that they will cook in the same amount of time. Portions of meat, fish or poultry should have similar cooking times, or the phased cooking technique should be used to make sure everything finishes cooking at the same time,. Keep food or steamer pans raised at least 1 inch above the water used for steaming. Do not allow the liquid in the bottom of the pressure cooker to touch the food, or the food will boil -- and be overcooked and mushy -- rather than steamed. Arrange food in loose layers in steamer trays to allow steam to circulate and cook more efficiently. Don’t cram pieces together or pack them in too tightly. Always defrost frozen meats, fish and poultry before steaming to allow for correct and complete cooking within the recommended times. Place meats or the longest cooking food in the bottom tier where they are closest to the direct heat source. Place the most delicate or quickest cooking food in the top tier where they are further away from the direct heat. Do not exceed the two-thirds full rule Steam Roasting You don’t have to spend thousands of dollars on a new steam oven when many foods can be steam roasted in a pressure cooker. Steam Roasting rapidly reduces the fat content because a great amount of heat is delivered to the food from all directions. Fat within the food reaches its melting point in a brief period of time. The fat liquefies, flows out of the food and drops away in the water below the meat. Steam cannot brown foods, and I recommend browning for most meats prior to cooking in the pressure cooker or the result is a rather pallid, anemic-looking piece of meat, much like meat that is boiled or poached. This extra time added to the cooking process should not be considered as a drawback because the speed and nutritional benefits far outweigh the extra step. Methods and Equipment My PIP [Pan In Pot] cooking method is perfect for steaming, and the use of insert pans can really increase the versatility and the maximum potential of your pressure cooker.  This cooking method is an excellent way to prepare colorful and flavorful dishes with fresh textures that healthier and more nutritious. There are all kinds of steamers that are suitable for pressure cookery, and your cooker may have come with a handy perforated metal steamer tray or cooking pan.  If not, these accessory items can be ordered from many companies, just make sure the diameter does not exceed that of your cooker.  There are Chinese bamboo steamers, and expanding basket steamers.  Foods can also be cooked within sealed or perforated wax paper and parchment paper parcels. Pleated foil packets are another quick and easy way to steam individual servings and the folded pleats expand as the steam fills the parcel. The Tiered Cooking Technique uses steamer trays and/or metal pans that are stacked up in tiers on a rack over water in a tall pressure cooker (the use of stackable inserts is one of the reasons why I recommend tall rather short pressure cookers).  If the insert is covered by a tight fitting lid to prevent steam escaping the food can be cooked in its own juices since the boiling water and steam do not come into direct contact with it. Foods that are cooked in sealed metal containers will take a slightly longer cooking time than foods cooked directly in, or over hot liquid. Remember the cooker should never be more than two-thirds full and there must be enough room between the inside of the cooker and the insert for steam to circulate freely.