Last month I was invited by AEG to attend the launch of
their new domestic SteamBake oven at the Good Housekeeping Institute in London
and I was intrigued to see whether this appliance could take my bread-making to
the next level. Richard Burr (of GBBO fame) gave an interesting demonstration
showing how and why an AEG SteamBake oven could be used for all kinds of
recipes and he effortlessly prepared a Basic White Loaf, a Rhubarb Bakewell Tart and a savoury Chorizo Sausage
Toad in the Hole.
AEG
has very kindly asked me to review this revolutionary appliance for the home
market and it was duly installed in my kitchen a week or so ago. To say the
least I was excited to try it out and I decided to firstly prepare a Crumble-topped
Summer Fruit Traybake which, much to my disappointment, resulted in a catalogue
of errors – mine, not the oven, I should hastily add! I prepared the cake
batter as usual, then poured into the oven the required 100ml of water, set the
temperature and then I had to wait only 5 minutes before a bell ‘pinged’ and I
popped the cake in to bake.
All was well until I looked through the glass
door and realised that I had used too small a tin and the mixture was rising
like a volcano and overflowing onto the walls and floor of my nice, shiny and
precious new oven. Hastily, I whipped out the frothing hot mass, popped the tin
onto a baking tray, to help stem the flow, and burned my hand in the process!
Miraculously,
the resulting cake, trimmed, tidied up and iced didn’t look too bad and was
definitely moist.
Next
on the agenda was a Sourdough Loaf and I baked this the very next day.
Of
course, I didn’t have to use my usual method of throwing in a few ice cubes at
the beginning of the bake and the completed
bread had a very nice open and soft texture together with a lovely crust
which the SteamBake oven created after
the initial steam dissipated and the dry hot air took over. I even found that
my bread had a longer shelf-life as it stayed moist and didn’t dry out so
quickly.
Having had the oven for a few days now, trying out its
various other cooking functions, I have found
it to be an excellent addition to my kitchen and I have been truly
converted to the art of 21st century baking with steam. For other
home bakers and cooks like me, I heartily recommend the AEG SteamBake oven
which I understand will be available in
the shops from June 2016.
