Most of us learned to cook from our mothers, grandmothers, or maybe from a cookbook. The traditional way to cook most foods is to put them in a stainless steel pot and pan with water and bring to a boil or simmer. But studies have shown that the best way to maintain the nutritional value of foods, as well as the natural flavor, is to cook them without water in special stainless steel cookware that allows the food to cook in its own juices. So what are the other benefits of cooking without water?
Most cooks will see the same problems when cooking:
- Ease of cooking
- Time to cook
- Cleaning time
- Amount of fat and oil in food.
- Taste
- Nutritional value
Cooking without water is easy and can take less time than conventional cooking. Heat is evenly distributed and without burning or sticking, pots and pans are much easier to clean. What’s even better, no oil is needed to prevent sticking and make your favorite dish lower in fat and calories. The food is cooked in its natural juices, which enhances the flavor and preserves the nutritional value.
The principles of cooking without water are relatively straightforward and simple. High-quality stainless steel cookware protects food. Aluminum cookware heat up faster, but studies have shown that some aluminum gets into food, which may not be good for your health. Waterless cookware is made of high-quality stainless steel and does not allow metal flavors to seep into food.
Stainless steel pots and pans are also easier to clean and do not require a Teflon coating, which can also get into food. Surgical stainless steel is the highest grade, but it’s more about marketing than cooking.
The bottom of stainless steel cookware is machined flat. This ensures that as much surface area as possible comes into contact with the coils of an electric stove or the grates of your gas stove. An aluminum or copper plate distributes heat evenly along the bottom of pots and pans, preventing hot spots that can burn food and providing heat to the bottom in all directions.
The special lid forms a seal, blocking the natural moisture that steams out of the food during the cooking process. This allows food to cook in its own natural juices and retain flavor, vitamins and minerals. Much of the nutritional value of vegetables is cooked from boiled vegetables and poured with the cooking water. With waterless cooking, it is not necessary to add water as vegetables contain a large amount of water. The water that is released from the vegetables as they cook turns into steam and is contained by the lid and the vegetables are actually steamed in their own juice.
A whistle or steam valve notifies the cook when the natural juices generate enough steam, and the cook can turn off the heat, saving energy and preventing overcooking. Food is cooked at a constant temperature due to the heat retention capacity of the pots and pans and the heat of the steam inside the pot. Stainless steel cookware does not radiate much energy and the iron core or plate maintains a constant temperature to continue cooking even with the heat turned off. That translates into energy savings and is a huge advantage in today’s slow economy. Food also cooks faster, at lower temperatures, and in its own juice, making it tastier and better for you.
Where can you buy these stainless steel cookware for cooking without water?
Most waterless stainless steel cookware is sold through “kitchen parties” in people’s homes. The price of the pots and pans is expensive. You can also buy similar less expensive cookware in department stores, but the quality is not that high.
At a typical kitchenware party, a vendor (who receives a portion) usually demonstrates how to prepare a meal with their product, and guests can observe the process and taste the food. The host or hostess usually gets a free tray as a reward for having the party (adding more cost to the product).
I have attended cooking parties in the past and found that the taste of food cooked with stainless steel waterless cookware is great – tender and tasty without using oil. The added benefit was that the food went from raw to table in about 10 minutes. The food did not stick to the stainless steel pots and pans, so cleanup was a breeze. The broccoli was just delicious and very tasty. The potatoes were good and the chicken was well cooked and tasty.
This really got me interested in cooking without water. I love cooking and am always interested in new ideas and recipes. Unfortunately, the waterless stainless steel cookware sold in the cookware parts is extremely expensive. A set of pots and pans from this manufacturer ranged from $ 2000 to over $ 5000! Due to their construction, waterless cookware is of a higher grade and costs more to manufacture. There are several websites that offer these types of cookware at very reasonable prices. They also have the same quality as the cookware sold at cookware parties.