dtremit

The CSO did a good job pinch hitting on dinner tonight in between a work trip and a weekend away. Cooked a mixture of purple top turnips, Yukon Gold potatoes, fennel, and onion -- all sliced thinly -- on Steam Bake @ 375F for 30min. Atop that went the thighs and wings of what was supposed to be last night's rotisserie chicken, a dinner I missed thanks to a three hour flight delay. 15 more minutes, and dinner was served. Deeply impressed by how the chicken came out -- I also put the skins from the breasts on top of the veg while they were cooking and those ended up as nice little croutons. The turnips were particularly nice. Whole thing could have used a bit more creative seasoning, but I can't blame the oven for that.

I've tried that, and it works decently well -- but honestly, at that point it's more work than just popping them in the oven and letting them cook. The oven beans never seem to end up overcooked, and never scorch on the bottom of the pot. (Plus I probably need the Instant Pot for something else I'm serving with them 😀I think my SO would kill me if I bought a second IP but there are times I wish I had one.)

Typically when I cook beans in the (regular) oven, I take off the lid towards the end to reduce the liquid. Was hoping the humid environment of steam bake would mean I didn't have to remove it in the middle. (The All-Clad lids seal pretty well when turned upside down, with the handle facing down; that helps a lot with clearance.)

Our leftover BBQ lunch this weekend can attest to that. Reheated ribs with bark were neither dry nor soggy.

Anything will do, honestly -- in this case I used a 4 quart stainless soup pot like this, but almost anything you can heat on the stove and fit in the oven would probably do just fine. (This particular 4qt pot fits nicely with the lid off, and you can use the lid upside down to reduce clearance.)

Honestly, it's the one thing I don't like cooking in the IP -- I've never gotten them to come out as well. I think it's the lack of reduction in the broth. If they're going into a chili or something I don't care, but for bean salads and the like I've gone back to the oven.

My general method with beans is to follow the "Parsons method" (so named after Russ Parsons of the LA Times who advocated for it). No soaking required; simply combine beans (about a half pound in this case, but you could do any quantity in the right size pot), water, salt, a glug of olive oil, and any aromatics* in a suitable pot, bring to a boil on the stovetop. Once it boils, cover, and move to a ~300F oven until the beans are done. Timing varies, but it's foolproof otherwise. The only adaptation for the CSO was to leave the cover *off* the beans so the steam could get in -- and as mentioned, cook on super steam. I only covered the beans by about 1" of water, which is usually plenty for a lidded container, but wasn't sufficient here. I topped it off after 45 minutes with boiling water from a teakettle. Next time I will use more water and/or partially cover. Total cooking time was ~90 minutes, but almost totally hands off -- and these were older beans of a slow cooking variety. [*] re: aromatics: If I don't know what I'm going to do with the beans, I usually just throw in a few smashed cloves of garlic, a half onion (with a toothpick through the layers if I want to fish it out), and a bay leaf or two; this seems to boost the flavor of the beans without introducing any flavors that limit their versatility.

I've had good luck baking in a Lodge "Combo cooker" (which is like a Dutch oven with a skillet lid) -- but that only fits in my main oven, not in anything smaller. At this time of year, I'm trying hard not to run my big oven unless I'm making a big batch of bread on a cooler day.

Latest round of experiments. Apologies for not taking pictures outside of the bread! First up -- beans! I figured that if super steam was good for rice, it would probably be good for beans. I've been accustomed to making beans in the "Parsons Method" -- bring to boil on stovetop and finish in a low oven -- but found that it was sometimes a little tricky to calibrate the water level properly to account for both evaporation and absorption. Too little, and the beans on top got exposed and leathery; too much, and they were absolutely swimming in liquid. So I tried baking some nice @rancho_gordo Christmas limas (which admittedly were about a year past their "best by" date, I have a backlog) *un*covered @ 300F Super Steam -- and they came out just about perfectly. I had to add boiling water about halfway through (they took 90min to cook, which I suspect is on the long side due to size and age), but ended up with a nice broth coming only about halfway up the beans. As this is only a slight modification to my usual method, and with better results, I suspect I'll be using it frequently in the future. Dinner was a lovely chunk of hake loin cooked @ 300F super steam. I made a "rack" out of green beans and surrounded it with cherry tomatoes and onions, which became the sauce. 20min was a little too long, but it was still quite tasty; my partner who's not always crazy about fish really liked it. For sides, I tried the halved eggplant, which I did @ 400F super steam for 20min, alongside some batons from a large zucchini that needed using up. The latter I finished for 10min on convection bake, and tossed with a handful of Thai basil; the eggplant went under the Breville broiler for a few minutes just before serving. I made a quick tahini-garlic sauce for the eggplant. Also did some ears of corn according to the in-husk spreadsheet method (400F S-S for 30min), which worked well; very easy shucking when cut at the stalk end. Sounds like a lot, but we had a lot of veg to cook! Now, the bread. Glamour shots of the loaf are in the bread topic, here. This is the same dough as my first loaf, held in the fridge for a few days. I preheated @ 450F along with the 8" cast iron skillet (only one I have that fits!), did 15min super steam @ 400F, and then finished on convection bake @ 450F for another 15min. Except for the burnt top, I'm thrilled with how it came out -- but that burned top is really frustrating! You can't really tell from the picture, but it's a tiny loaf, only about 4" tall to the highest point. I don't think there's any way I'm going to get the color I want on the crust in just the CSO; I expect I'll be starting loaves on steam in the CSO and then transferring them to the Breville to finish. It's still an improvement, as I can't get anything close to these results out of the Breville by itself, and I'd rather leave my main oven off in the summertime. I don't actually think the height of the oven is the major factor here. I made some cinnamon swirl bread in the Breville the other day, and it got close enough to the top elements that I was worried it'd get stuck between them. But no charring on that loaf. The Breville has small metal guards over its top elements, though, which shield the bread from direct heat. I think either the lack of those on the CSO -- or some difference in programming which favors the top element more -- is the root of the issue.

Second loaf from Sunday's dough, baked yesterday in the CSO. This time I dropped it (on parchment) into a preheated 8" cast iron skillet. 15min Super Steam @ 400F, followed by 20min convection bake @ 450F. CSO-specific discussion on that thread, but other than the blackened top, I'm pretty thrilled with this. May need to start in CSO and finish in the Breville as @ElsieD is doing.

We did some wing flats last night @ 400F S-B and they came out well, though only crisp on one side. They were done enough (skin brown, and meat pulling away from the bone) after 25min that I pulled them. Was worried they were overdone but the meat and skin (on one side) were great. Think I may indeed try the next round at a lower temp. Also, I did these on a rack; that allowed for great drainage, but there was no crisping on the underside. Wonder if doing them in a pan would provide better results due to the contact.

That looks great! Out of curiosity, what did you use for a pan/stone/etc?

Thanks! It was straight down, but the pan is the 12.5’’x10’’x1’’ pan that was recommended...somewhere upthread. Smaller than a quarter sheet but otherwise pretty similar. I bought two a while back to have something dishwashable for the Breville.

Got a nice surprise from FedEx on Saturday -- despite my refurb being scheduled for delivery on Tuesday, it managed to trek up from NJ in less than 24h. Put it to work pretty quickly: Started with some single ingredient wonders. First, toast (no picture, sorry!) -- and I can see why people like the toasting function, though it's not someplace where I'm picky. I was worried the edges wouldn't be crisp but they were, despite a moister center. Wasn't using my usual bread, though, so will have to investigate further. Second up -- oven fries, since we needed a quick snack. Two russets, peeled, cut, and tossed with oil: Tried these on steam bake @ 400F for 20min, and they weren't quite done; flipped them and went for 10min more. The interior was amazing, though I didn't think the exterior was as good as ones I've done with the BSO convection setting. Also tried a couple of beets per @weinoo 's method which came out nicely. Not hugely different than my Instant Pot results, but way less hassle -- no foil wrapping is a huge plus. Sunday morning I needed to make bacon for breakfast, and decided to do a literal bakeoff: Same bacon, same pan (TeamFar), same time. 400F convection in the BSO and 400F steam bake in the CSO. Both very good, and *very* similar. The BSO bacon was crisper, but the CSO had better flavor and rendering. I'd take either any day, though. Final test -- bread. I won't duplicate my pics from the baking forum, but I'm very pleased at the results from a first effort. Frankly, I wasn't really sure my dough would even come out, so I didn't put much care into the process; I preheated the (empty) oven to 450F and then switched to the Bread cycle, also at 450F. (As an aside, the steam cycle was also really helpful for coaxing my very reluctant naturally leavened sourdough to rise in our over-airconditioned apartment.) I'm definitely going to need a stone or skillet to get the results I want, and will need to play with the cycles / timing; I pulled it a little early due to the browning on the top, and didn't get much color on the bottom. Fantastic oven spring, though. I think I've seen others here post about preferring the Steam Bake cycle to the Bread cycle for bread baking. I'll probably review those posts and try that next. I'm curious, though, if anyone has played with Super Steam in their bread-baking process? Since that only uses the bottom element, I would think that starting on Super Steam and then switching to Convection Bake might prevent over-browning on the top rack.

First loaf baked in the CSO for me. No real diversion from my previous recipe -- still working off the KAF naturally leavened sourdough recipe as a base. 50% bread flour, 45% whole wheat flour, and 5% rye. Definitely have some tinkering to do with the CSO itself (will leave that discussion for the CSO thread). My dough was also pretty sluggish yesterday -- I'm guessing I didn't let the starter sit long enough after I fed it. Took a lot longer than usual to rise, and despite the bubbles, the crumb is a little denser than I usually like. A bit of shine in the holes, though. Have another loaf that I stuck in the fridge after initial kneading; we'll see if a few days of rest will do it some good.

That's fairly accurate, though they're a bit softer. Have not made them myself, but they are common to find at Brazilian restaurants and bakeries here in Boston. If nothing else, ATK should have had access to good examples!

This was in the Breville (BSO) -- my CSO is on the truck for delivery as we speak! That said, I just checked it against one of these TeamFar pans that @JoNorvelleWalker recommended for the CSO, and it fits entirely inside that pan. So it should fit in the CSO. Sadly it's an oldie -- unmarked WagnerWare, I think, that my dad bought in college. So hard to source.

Made a little extra effort this morning as last night the partner made dinner for our sort of anniversary. Pre-baked a hash brown crust (with butter and cheese) in my 8” cast iron, then lined it with a layer of prosciutto. To that I added mixed mushrooms sautéed with thyme, a basic quiche custard (5 eggs and a glug of heavy cream), and a bit more cheese. Garnished with some strips of the Fresno chilies (which I bought to try to clone Sriracha Panich). Came out very well, if I may say so myself. I think it was 20min @ 400F for the crust, and 20min @ 350F for the custard, both w/fan in the BSO. Leftovers should make a nice “light” lunch with a salad.

I'm guessing no one ran to B. Altman to buy it based on that! A little searching suggests Tefal had steam toaster ovens until somewhat recently -- I found references to one called the "CROUSTY VAP" whose manual had a copyright date of 2005.

Only one "renewed" oven left, after my order this morning! You are all a bunch of terrible enablers I did the same -- realistically, I think it's just going to get me my $125 back if it breaks, but I'm hopeful that if it lasts past 90 days it'll keep going for a while. And if it conks out, I think there may be other options that will work. There seem to be a lot of additional steam oven options coming onto the market -- just in the suggested items on the Amazon page I see this AEG, the smarty-pants Tovala (now in Gen2), and a few others. Sharp has been making countertop steam ovens for years; sadly the one they've brought us is the SSC0586DS, which seems like it's a great option if you never cook anything more than 2" tall. Hopefully they'll bring us one of the larger models they sell in Japan.

Curious as well about @KennethT's question. I can't figure out *any* difference between the N and N1. Have been putting this off due to the size of my kitchen, but for $125 it's hard to argue with.

I've also had a Benriner for years, and love it, though I don't use it every day. Apparently they've just released a new version with a much improved hand guard (to call the old one an afterthought would be undue praise) and a few improved features. Wirecutter picked it as #1 in a recent comparison test; I have to say I'm tempted by the new design.

I can't speak to small towns, but grocery chains have been abandoning inner cities for a long time. Detroit was without a single chain grocery from 2007 (when the single remaining store closed) until 2013 (when a Whole Foods opened, which I'm not sure helped all that much). And that's in one of the largest cities in the country by square mileage. I'm pretty sure there was another similar period in the early '90s.

I think certain flavorings can amplify, rather than mask, the flavors of fruit. Ginger with stone fruit, for instance (or almonds, which aren't quite a spice). I also love a tiny, tiny, tiny hint of rose with strawberries. That said, too often any of these flavors are added too heavily. My pet peeve is actually over-mixing of fruits -- I know folks love strawberry and rhubarb together, but to me the flavors of each get lost. Ditto for a lot of "mixed berry" concoctions that aren't as good as a single berry.

My father has had to be on a low salt diet for the past year, and in helping him navigate that, I've found that Swiss is almost always the lowest-salt cheese option -- lower in many cases than "reduced sodium" cheeses of other types. That may be a useful guide.