One of the most enjoyable steps in the custom home building process is making selections, and few rooms are more fun to design than the kitchen.
Modern kitchen appliances are truly remarkable, fused with technology, functionality, and style. These high-end appliances have the ability to transform the way in which a homeowner utilizes their kitchen space on a daily basis, while contributing to the homeowner’s individual style. And no appliance exemplifies this more than the convection steam oven.
“I’m in awe of the convection steam oven and all that it offers our homeowners,” says Michelle Moran, co-owner of J&K Custom Homes. “It adds a whole new dimension to cooking and the kitchen, and I’m excited to see our homeowners taking advantage of this innovative technology in their homes.”
What Is a Convection Steam Oven? Simply put: it’s an oven that does everything. A convection steam oven has the ability to use steam heat or dry convection heat (or a combination of both) to cook anything you want, however you want. With multiple options for how to cook a meal, this type of oven opens up a kitchen’s possibilities.
Of course, one of the oven’s distinguishing features is the option to cook using only steam heat. When cooking with steam, high-end ovens draw water from a water tank filled with standard tap water, allowing the internal temperature to reach about 210 degrees.
A convection steam oven allows owners to cook without steam as well, using the even, dry heat of a convection oven to roast and bake, doing things that a regular convection oven has the capability of doing. But some of the most innovative uses come from the combination of steam and convection, where the dry heat creates browning and the steam maintains moisture.
Ways to Use the Convection Steam Oven
Steam ovens have a wide variety of modes and functions that allow an unlimited range of cooking styles and options to amplify the use of the oven. And simple cooking is only the beginning.
1. Cooking with Steam
A major function of this oven style comes from the many uses of steam cooking. Owners use this function to steam dishes like vegetables, fish, rice, and eggs. This allows the food to cook while infusing it with moisture. It also provides the option to thaw certain frozen foods.
“Using steam, you can orchestrate a four-course dinner for the whole family in a quick and healthy manner,” Moran says. “It opens up so many more cooking options and makes things easier at the same time.”
2. Cooking with Convection Heat Using this mode, the oven conducts heat (without steam) evenly throughout the interior cavity, allowing owners to cook anything they would normally cook in an oven, from baking cookies to roasting meat. Since these ovens can reach temperatures up to 440 degrees, the oven creates the possibility of air-frying as well.
3. Fusing Convection and Steam Cooking with both functions together, this mode allows owners to facilitate browning with high heat while using steam to maintain moisture throughout the cooking process. Cooks find this mode beneficial for meat that would otherwise dry up in a standard oven. Bakers use this function to infuse their baked goods with moisture.
Wolf’s High-End Convection Steam Oven
Many luxury homeowners want their custom homes to center around the kitchen. And for good reason. The kitchen serves as a daily gathering place, an inviting area to entertain guests, and a laboratory for creating memorable meals.
In a custom home, a high-end convection steam oven can only add to the functionality and the style of a custom kitchen. Wolf’s upscale collection of convection steam ovens bring luxury and functionality into the kitchen, making it a must-have appliance for a custom home.
“The Wolf Convection Steam Oven is capable of so much and is my go-to appliance in our collection,” says Brandie Lamb, Executive Chef with Tisdel Distributing.
Here’s what the Wolf Convection Steam Oven brings to the kitchen:
1. Cooking Capacity When it comes to entertaining in your home, cooking for large groups of people can seem overwhelming at times. Luckily, the convection steam oven from Wolf has a large capacity (24- and 30-inch models), which allows multiple dishes to cook at the same time. (And the even heat of the convection oven allows all dishes to cook at a consistent heat.)
Wolf’s ovens also come equipped with full-extension oven racks to increase cooking flexibility, allowing easy access to hot dishes inside the oven.
2. Style Wolf’s convection steam ovens through Tisdel Distributing come in multiple styles, allowing any custom homeowner to personalize their kitchen, whether they’re going for a contemporary or classic look. Depending on a homeowner’s lifestyle and entertainment focus, convection steam ovens come in single and double oven options. They can also pair with other Wolf-branded products (like a vacuum seal drawer below the oven.)
3. Saving Space Wall and counter space in a kitchen is already limited. Fusing the steamer and convection oven into one sleek appliance allows the kitchen to open up, eliminating any unnecessary appliance clutter. “By combining two appliances into one, the convection steam oven gives more precious wall space to the kitchen,” Moran says.
4. Personalized Cooking The touchscreen menu gives owners the chance to save recipe presets, so favorite recipes are easily recreated and risk is eliminated. The chef-tested cooking modes provide a flawless cooking environment inside the oven, ensuring that each dish comes out the right way. And Wolf’s convection steam oven allows chefs of all types to personalize their cooking style.
“For all my bakers out there, you can use the auto steam bake for your baked goods,” Lamb says. “Pump steam into the cavity, activate the yeast in those baked items, come back through with convection for that beautiful browning and top. You have that nice chewy center and that nice crusty top on your bread.”
5. Intuitive Controls Despite the oven’s wide range of options, the full-color touchscreen makes navigation easy. And it adds a touch of sleek, contemporary technology to the kitchen’s style. These user-friendly controls allow for more precise cooking results.
“It will alert you when it reaches that perfect internal temperature, taking the guesswork out of cooking those very expensive cuts of meat,” Lamb says.
6. Creativity With the steam’s high heat, Wolf owners get creative with the oven’s uses. Families and multigenerational homes with young children can use the oven to sanitize baby bottles. The simple process of reheating leftovers takes on new life with the addition of steam, bringing dried out food back to life. And many people even use the steam oven for their summer canning process.
“I use the convection steam oven to do all my canning from the produce I grow in my garden at home,” Lamb says. “I can sanitize the canning jars in minutes, then turn around and seal the jars – all using just the steam oven.”
Next Steps
As a custom homeowner, you know your lifestyle and how you want to use your kitchen. So, as you work through your appliance selection process for your new custom build or renovation, investigate the Wolf Convection Steam Oven as a strong addition to your kitchen layout.
Talk with your custom builder to determine if including a convection steam oven system is a decision that would enhance your lifestyle. This kitchen appliance upgrade might just provide the extra spark that your luxury kitchen needs.