A Gentler Heat

Place the trivet inside the pot and add water below the food. With the lid fitted, steam rises through the rings to cook fish, vegetables and dumplings.

Cookware: Lennox Hastie Fire Oven Set
Time: As your recipe directs.
Frequency: Whenever you steam.

Ingredients

Pot
Lid
Trivet
Water
Food

Method

Set the trivet inside the cold pot and add enough water for the cooking time. Keep the water below the trivet’s upper surface so the food sits above it.

Arrange the food on the trivet with a little space between pieces. For dumplings, use a suitable perforated steaming liner to help prevent sticking.

Put the lid on and heat the pot until the water reaches a steady simmer.

Follow your recipe’s cooking time, checking that there is still water beneath the trivet during longer cooks.

Top up with hot water if needed, pouring carefully beside the food. Do not let the pot boil dry.

Wear heatproof gloves and lift the lid away from you so the steam can escape clear of your face and hands. Remove the cooked food and let the set cool before cleaning.

Good to Know

The trivet holds the food above the water, while the lid keeps steam around it. You only need a steady simmer. A fierce boil uses the water faster without helping the food cook more evenly.

Leave a little room around a piece of fish and enough space for dumplings to expand. Steam needs to reach between the pieces, so a loosely filled trivet will cook more evenly than a tightly packed one.

Thin fish fillets and tender greens can be ready quickly. Start checking them at the earlier end of your recipe’s timing. Thicker pieces and dense vegetables will need longer.

Steaming may leave very little to wash away, but there will be moisture on the iron. Once the pot is safe to handle, empty the water, dry every piece thoroughly and wipe on a thin coat of oil.