Steamer or multicooker, what to choose

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To make life easier for modern housewives, much has been invented and invented in our high-tech time. However, most consumers are confused by the question: the choice of which device will bring more benefits, benefits, saving time and effort - a double boiler or a slow cooker. The latest models of multi-cookers are equipped with a grid for steaming, however, they produce separate, autonomous, steam boilers. Only a few consumers are aware that half of the vitamins are lost when cooking in the traditional way, and only 3% of the food retains some of the nutrients. In order to help consumers quickly resolve this issue, you need to consider these two devices from different angles.

What is the multicooker

Multicooker has already been appreciated by many, but the inventor of this miracle pot is unknown. All signs indicate that the multicooker was originally a product of Korean, Chinese, Russian well, or, with a big stretch, Japanese production. In America, the slow cooker is not very popular. In the United States, domestic products or products of foreign production, dictated by the needs of residents of the country, are preferred. The products of the national invention are considered to be convection oven and microwave. Americans supporting the domestic production with a slow cooker and its functions are almost not familiar. In addition, most modern multi-cookers, with the exception of multi-cookers from Philips, are made in China or Russia.

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Multifunctional and convenience of multicookers is a set of programs that simplify the cooking process. Included( on the manufacturer's website), the user will find a recipe book, with detailed and step-by-step instructions and all sorts of recipes for tasty and healthy food. Even a young and inexperienced hostess, after reading a recipe, painted step by step with an indication of proportions and the corresponding program, with one touch of a button turns into an experienced hostess, who is able to tasty cook any dish.

Let's look at the appearance of a typical multicooker:

  • A bowl with a non-stick coating is inserted into a cylindrical body with heat-resistant walls, a shape resembling a traditional saucepan. In some models, for better and more convenient removal, handles are attached to the bowl. At the bottom of the case there is a heating element - it is built on the principle of an electric kettle - a protected heating element is installed under the flat bottom. Now induction models are also sold: they work faster, they heat only the cup, and the efficiency just goes off scale. The steel capacity of such models has a thickened bottom and a ceramic protective layer; induction models are, of course, more expensive, although they last longer.

  • The bowl is installed inside the container and covered with a lid with a sealing ring for secure and tight closing. To bleed the steam in the design provides a bypass valve. Depressed along the perimeter of the hull, the hull forms a circular groove, and near the door's axis a pair of small openings are provided for draining the condensate collected by the side transparent cup. At times, the accumulated moisture must be poured.
  • Products are placed in the bowl, then the composition of the dish and the cooking time are selected according to the recipe book. In the simplest devices, special programs are not provided, so you have to experimentally select the necessary conditions( time and temperature of preparation).In more advanced and modern models there is a special function “Multipovar”, which allows you to set the desired temperature at any time, as well as the option to memorize programs. Allowed to bookmark several temporary sections, each of which represents a separate stage of cooking dishes.

  • In addition to the charms described above, a modern multicooker is often equipped with a delayed start function and a heat maintenance mode. In the heat maintenance mode, the consumption is 20 W and does not consume large amounts of electricity. The advantages of the delayed start function in the automatic start of cooking - at a given time, the program activates the device itself. This function will allow to feed the children and the family as a whole in time.

Not all multicookers work according to the specified principle. There are models where only the timer knob with the names of dishes is highlighted. Moreover, the device is combined with a pressure cooker, and a reinforced lid allows you to cook under pressure. The drawbacks of the multicooker are obvious - during cooking it is impossible to change the temperature and the possibility of automatic cooking is lost according to the usual norms. In a typical multicooker, the programs differ in time and temperature, which can be changed during the process.

What is an

Steamer Now let's look at the configuration and the “appearance” of a double boiler:

  • The housing includes an integrated heating element - a cylinder located in the center of the device. The steamer is able to quickly generate steam due to the small area of ​​contact of the heating element with water. In the case there is a reservoir where water is poured to form steam. Disadvantages of plastic steam boilers in the depolymerization of plastic in contact with high temperatures.
  • The exit to the working section of a cylindrical heating element is surrounded by an annular bowl, which is placed on top and serves to collect the condensate formed during cooking. To track the degree of capacity overflow by manufacturers, various methods are invented. For example, in Tefal, from the bottom of the appliance, a small tray comes out at the time of cooking, the appearance of liquid in which means that it is time to drain the condensate.
  • Trays with special holes at the bottom are installed on top of the condensate bowl. The device of the holes is such that the upward flow of steam moves in the center, and the condensate formed flows along the walls. In a double boiler( although bowls placed on top of each other allow it) you should not cook several dishes at the same time, smells can mix.
  • The top compartment is covered with a lid.

Bowls are made of glass or plastic. It is better if the bottoms of the bowls are removable, which will facilitate the process of obligatory washing, cleansing the bottom of the bowls of hardness salts evaporated from the water, in common people called scum. Cleaning is performed by boiling water with vinegar or citric acid. For convenience, minimum and maximum water levels are set on the bowl, making it possible to pour the optimum amount. To prolong the service life of the heating element, try to use purified filtered water.

There are two ways to control, like multivarks:

  1. Mechanical is popular in Russia because of its cheapness and ease of manufacture. Sometimes we see only the timer, which is not very convenient - the names of dishes and cooking time are written on the body. Sometimes there are stylized images of dishes with numbers next to them - a kind of cheat sheet for the cook. For a simple steaming, this is enough, but for cooking on the function of convection oven, such a system works poorly, it is better to monitor the degree of readiness.
  2. Touch control allows you to set operating parameters. With a set of ready-made programs, cooking is greatly simplified. But you have to choose what, how much and on which tier to put in order to make it tasty.

Summary: The question of the choice between a slow cooker and a double boiler lies more in the plane of individual culinary preferences. Doctors say that more vitamins are stored in steamed food, but research has not proven this. Differences only in the process of working instruments and a set of programs, but with a large family, a double boiler is more profitable - it will allow to cook more.

This is interesting! Another advantage of the double boiler is cooking without oil. Now the reader himself, depending on his culinary preferences, the amount of free time and the level of technological know-how, will be able to decide whether a multicooker or double boiler is needed.

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