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Steaming

This is a process of cookery which is particularly adapted to very delicate preparations. It is sometimes carried on upon a large scale, and then an apparatus for the special purpose is provided. In ordinary kitchens, and for every-day dishes, a kitchen steamer will be all that is required. The article of food which is to be steamed should be prepared as for boiling. It should then be placed in a steamer, which has a closely-fitting lid, over a saucepan full of boiling water, and this water should be kept boiling, and should be replenished as it boils away. When any delicate preparation is to be steamed, the cook should on no account boil anything strong and highly flavoured in the vessel under it. For instance, liquor containing vegetables must not be boiled under a pudding, or the flavour of the latter will be entirely spoilt. If a proper steamer should not be at hand, a substitute may be improvised for steaming puddings, etc., as follows. Turn a plate upside down in a saucepan, and surround it with about three inches of fast-boiling water. Place on the plate the mould containing the pudding, cover the saucepan closely, and keep the water gently boiling round it. Lay a round of oiled paper on the top of the mould.