Cooking food for a couple allows you to keep a maximum of vitamins in food. In addition, products processed in this way are obtained dietary and retain their color and shape. Not every housewife has a place in the kitchen for a double boiler, but an excellent replacement for such a kitchen unit will be a special insert in the pan. What are they like? What to focus on when choosing and how to use?
The main types of steamer inserts in the pan
The choice of such structures is very rich, and you can find yourself a device for cooking steam for every taste and budget. There are even folding options that take up little space in the kitchen. We analyze each of them separately.
Glass
Glass is environmentally friendly material, also not corrosive. The glass inserts-steamers in the pan resemble a bowl with handles, only low and having many holes in the bottom for the passage of steam. On top of this device is usually closed with a lid.
Conveniently, the glass heats up quickly and does not emit harmful substances under high temperatures. Therefore, in a glass insert-double boiler, you can safely cook food for children and not worry about their health.
Metallic
They are usually made of stainless steel. Often, you can meet and aluminum double boiler, it is cheaper, but not too strong and not suitable for children cooking. The most beautiful option - enamel insert in steaming pot. It is durable and easy to use, but when dropped and hit, the enamel is often damaged.
The design of a metal double boiler is a grate on a stand, the height of which will be a guideline for the level of boiling water.
The minus of the metal insert-double boiler is that it starts to oxidize sooner or later and release harmful compounds. Cooking with this device Not suitable for children and people with poor health.
In addition, food in metal dishes can burn, and hard abrasives can scratch the structure.
Silicone
Such material for the manufacture of kitchen utensils used for a long time. It is convenient to wash it, food does not stick to it, besides, it is flexible, it will not break when it falls and blows.
Silicone tips on the pan allow you to cook any food steamed, like other steamers, and their range is very large.
Types of designs
Glass inserts in the pan, as a rule, represent a small bowl or pot. They hold on weight due to the side handles or rim. The diameter and height is selected based on the size of the pan in which the food will be cooked.
Metal and silicone insert-double boiler can be folding design, which is very convenient. They are also called petal. They can change their diameter due to these petals, which change their angle of disclosure.
Steamer in the pot may look like a regular mesh, but this is a simpler option.
Double or triple insert steamers are very popular. They allow you to cook several products at the same time, without mixing them together. Thus, it is easy to prepare food that has a different shelf life. Multi-level structures are made of different materials: glass, metal, silicone.
Rules for the use of insert-double boiler
In order for the products prepared with this device to be really healthy and tasty, It is necessary to take into account several nuances of using insert-double boiler.
- Water should not touch its bottom. The distance between the surface of boiling water and the bottom of a double boiler should be at least several centimeters.
- To speed up the cooking process, boil water in advance. For example, while cutting vegetables.
- Pieces of food should be about the same. Then the result will be evenly cooked food without raw areas.
- Products should not lie too tight. Otherwise, the steam will not be able to penetrate and properly act on pieces of food.
- In the two-level insert-double boiler pay attention to the cooking time of products. Meat, fish, potatoes must be installed on the first tier, and vegetables - on the second. When vegetables are cooked, they will be easy to pull out, while other products will continue to be steamed.
For information on steaming without a double boiler, see the next video.
