WHY BUY? STEAMERS VS. OVEN

Steamers can be a great way to add versatility of cooking to your restaurant, commercial or institutional kitchen. Below is a brief comparison of steamers to other pieces of cooking equipment. Also included is a comparison of boiler-based units vs boilerless units and the Sterling Steamer vs all other boilerless units.

Steamer vs. Oven

Steamers are ideal for cooking large batches of food quickly without over cooking or drying the food. Steam cooks at 212 degrees while an oven cooks at higher temperatures however a steamer will cook faster because steam transfers heat 100 times more efficiently than air. You cannot bake foods or brown meats with a steamer so a steamer will not replace an oven. However most commercial kitchens could use a steamer for cooking large batches of food that do not require browning.

#Advantages of Steam

1.Less chance of overcooking

2. Faster batch cooking

#Disadvantages of Steam

Cannot bake or brown foods

Steamer vs Combi (combination steamer and convection oven)

A combi can steam and bake so it would seem like a perfect piece of equipment for a commercial kitchen. However, there are some drawbacks. A combi usually costs considerably more than a steamer for the same steam capacity. Another drawback to a combi is the expense of service and maintenance. Combis are more complicated than steamers and are more expensive to service. For the price of a combi you can purchase an oven and a double unit steamer. This gives you more cooking and steaming capacity. You also have redundancy. If the combi breaks down, you lose both the baking and steaming capacity.

#Advantages of a Steamer

1.Less maintenance

2.Lower cost

3.Higher production

4.Redundancy

5.Advantages of Combis

#Can be used as an oven

Space savings, both an oven and a steamer