Steamer in a multicooker how to use

How to use a multicooker

Cooking . Standard program suitable for most products.
Extinguishing . Choose for cooking meat, fish, vegetable side dishes, soups or jellied meat.
Frying . Use the mode as a main or additional mode to fry meat or vegetables, or make cutlets.
Steaming . Processing products with hot steam with maximum preservation of their beneficial properties.
Baking . Run the program to prepare biscuits, casseroles, and buns within an hour. Fry meat, vegetables, cutlets.
Jam . Make dessert from any berries and fruits.
Porridge . Set a delayed start in the multicooker in the evening to get a hot dish with milk or water in the morning.
Sterilization . The mode is intended for processing cans and children's dishes.
Languishment . The dishes come out like they came out of the oven.
Deep frying . Products are processed in oil or batter.
Yogurt . Make a dish from milk or sourdough with added sugar.

Steamer function

Take a special steamer container from the kit (looks like a colander). Download products.
Pour water into the main bowl and install a colander. The walls of the bowls are pressed tightly against each other, but there will be space between the bottoms.
There should be enough water inside so that its level does not touch the bottom of the colander. Use a measuring cup to fill the slow cooker with liquid. As a rule, 2 glasses are required for one start. If there is too much liquid, the cooking time will increase and the food will not be crispy or poorly cooked. With a small amount of water, there is a risk of premature boiling of the liquid and damage to the bottom of the pan.
Select the “Steamer” mode, set the time, click on “Start”.
When the dish is ready, a characteristic signal will sound. Open the lid carefully so as not to burn your face or hands from the hot steam. Some models are equipped with a valve to release steam when the lid is closed.

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Terms of use

Preparing the multicooker for use

Wipe the food storage container thoroughly.
Plug in the multicooker.
Close the lid of the device and start the bowl heating mode.
When a characteristic signal sounds, turn off the device. Some models have an auto-heating mode.

Loading Products

Place hard root vegetables (carrots, beets, potatoes) at the bottom of the bowl. They will take the longest to cook. Distribute pieces of meat on vegetables. Fill everything with water, wine, broth or sauce: the bowl should be 1/3 full or more. Add soft vegetables, canned foods, kefir, yogurt or sour cream an hour before the end of cooking.

Preparation

After loading the food, set the desired temperature. Low - for long simmering, high - for quick cooking. If you divide the cooking process into stages (first boil, then simmer the dish until cooked), you can save time, and the products will turn out well processed.

Selecting temperature and program:

High (160–180°, frying and deep-frying modes) . The programs are suitable for chicken; the cooking time will take 2.5–3 hours.
Medium (110–120°, baking mode) . Recommended for quick preparation of baked goods or red meat. Cooking time takes 4–6 hours.
Low (40–100°, cooking, stewing, porridge, yogurt modes) . Helps you get very healthy meals. Suitable for almost all types of red meat. Cooking time: 8–10 hours.

Cleaning the bowl

When using a multicooker, you only have to wash the container where the food is prepared. It is more convenient to do this if the bowl is removable. Otherwise, wait until the device has completely cooled down, and before washing, do not forget to unplug it.

Rules for cleaning a removable container:

Remove and cool the bowl.
Soak it in warm soapy water. Do not use cold water immediately after cooking, otherwise the container will crack.
After 10–15 minutes, clean the dishes from any remaining food. Use soft sponges or rags. Rough brushes, metal meshes, powders or compounds with strong acids will damage the non-stick coating.
Dry the bowl thoroughly and return it to its original place.

First use

When choosing a multicooker model, it is useful to download in advance the instructions for using this device from the desired website on the Internet. By reading the instructions, you will be able to understand how simple or difficult the operation of the device will be, and also determine whether the device will be able to realize your existing culinary preferences. In addition, you need to pay attention to the presence of a Russified menu. Russian-speaking controls will greatly facilitate the operation of the device. It will not be difficult to use devices whose instructions include a description of the buttons labeled in English.

If the purchase is made and a new appliance has appeared in the kitchen, do not rush to use the multicooker right away. Each model, be it a cheap Polaris or an expensive Redmond, has a persistent factory smell inside that needs to be gotten rid of.

First, you should open the device, take out the non-stick bowl and wash it well with a cleaning agent, and then wipe it dry inside and out.
Then you need to return the bowl to its place and plug in the device. Before turning on, you should check the integrity of the cord. The multicooker can only be plugged into a power outlet if it is grounded.
After this, you need to pour some water into the bowl and turn on the “heating” (or “temperature maintenance”) mode for 15 minutes.
At the end of the time, you should check how hot the liquid in the bowl is. Thus, the operation of the heating element is tested and the rate of water heating is determined.

Since most models have pre-programmed cooking modes in the menu as standard, using the device for the first time will not cause any particular difficulties. An example of their use can be illustrated by a story about how to use the Polaris PMS 0508d multicooker.

"Polaris" PMS 0508d

The rules for turning on the multicooker are described in detail in the instructions. The action algorithm is easiest to demonstrate by turning on the “Buckwheat” mode. It allows you to prepare porridge from cereals, as well as side dishes.

The cereal is first washed and steamed with boiling water for 10-15 minutes.
Then the boiling water is drained, the steamed cereal is placed in the multicooker bowl and filled with water.
The amount of water is calculated using the following formula: per glass of cereal, one liter of water. It is important to ensure that the water level in the pan is below the maximum mark on the scale located on the inner wall of the bowl.
After this, the “menu” button is turned on, which will open access to the cooking modes, and the desired program is selected (Polaris PMS 0508d has the “Buckwheat” option).
Then the “start” button is pressed, the power button starts the cooking process, eight minutes before the end of the time, the multicooker will start beeping.
An audible signal indicates that the device has entered heating mode.

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Attention! You won’t be able to manually adjust the porridge cooking time, and you won’t be able to delay the start either. All budget models have similar inconveniences. If you use a Redmond multicooker, you can independently control the cooking process and make your own adjustments.

The baking and stewing program works according to the same algorithm: first the “menu” button is pressed, then the cooking mode is set, and then the program is launched by pressing the “start” button. The “Stew” program involves cooking food with a small amount of oil. The cooking duration is two hours, when you open this function, you have access to set the required time (range from two to eight hours), one step is thirty minutes, the heating temperature is 90 degrees.

The Polaris PMS 0508d multicooker has a combined program that can be selected if you need to prepare soup, bake or cook milk porridge. The maximum time for the combined program is one hour; milk porridge cooks less, so when preparing this dish you will have to forcefully stop the program by pressing the “Cancel” button.

When baking, it is useful to first grease the walls of the bowl with margarine or butter, and only then immerse the dough in it. The program is launched according to an already known algorithm; the cooking time is controlled manually by pressing the “Cancel” button. After the cooking time is up, you need to wait about three minutes, and only then remove the baked goods from the bowl. This technique allows you to easily remove the contents of the pan.

Tips and tricks for cooking in a slow cooker

The operating principle of the device is based on 3D heating technology. After pressing the “Start” button, the bowl of food is gradually heated by electromagnetic waves. The desired temperature level is maintained throughout the entire cooking process. To make the dish as healthy and tasty as possible, it is important to follow the rules for selecting and preparing ingredients.

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Choose the “right” meat

Suitable for cooking in a slow cooker:

chicken – thighs, legs, breast, wings;
pork – neck, cheeks, knuckle, shoulder blades, trotters;
lamb – drumstick, neck, shoulder, shoulder blades;
beef - brisket, cheeks, drumstick, tail.

It is advisable to buy meat with a minimum amount of fat. This will not affect the taste, and the food will be healthier. During the cooking process, the meat will release aroma and juice and completely saturate the rest of the ingredients with it.

Prepare the ingredients for the dish in advance

Before using the slow cooker in the morning, cut up the ingredients you need to cook the night before, put them in a container and put them in the refrigerator.
Place only warm ingredients in the bowl. Before cooking, remove food from the refrigerator and leave to warm at room temperature for 20-30 minutes. Thaw meat from the freezer completely.
To obtain a crispy golden crust, lightly fry the meat before adding it to the slow cooker. If you don't have time to pre-treat, simply remove the skin.
Fry vegetables (onions, garlic, carrots, ginger) in advance to remove excess moisture from the food and give the dish a rich flavor.

Prefer dried herbs

During long cooking, fresh herbs soften greatly, lose their beneficial qualities and become brown, so add them at the very end of cooking. Along with the main products, it is allowed to immediately add dry herbs and spices. During the cooking process, their beneficial properties are gradually and fully revealed: the dish turns out spicy and aromatic.

Reduce liquid volume when adapting recipe

The multicooker lid closes tightly, so the water does not evaporate during cooking. In addition to the sauce, the food produces a lot of juice, which can cause liquid to splash out of the pan and contaminate the space between the walls of the body and the bowl. Subsequently, cleaning such places is extremely problematic. To eliminate the problem, initially pour a little water: fill the bowl 2/3-1/2, and the sauce should only cover the food.

Do not leave the dish to cool in the slow cooker

The bowl retains heat for a long time, which promotes the accumulation and active proliferation of bacteria and rapid spoilage of food. If there are leftovers in the slow cooker after dinner, put them in a container. Wait for the food to cool completely at room temperature, then put it in the refrigerator.

How to use the Timer option

The “Timer” option allows you to make cooking in a multicooker more versatile. Using it, it’s easy to independently program the cooking modes of your favorite dishes. The function is enabled as follows:

First, preliminary preparation of the necessary ingredients is carried out.
Then press the “Menu” button.
Select the desired program (for example, “soup” mode).
After this, the “timer” button is pressed. The first press displays the numbers “00:00” on the display.
Press the “timer” button again, access to setting the time “hour: minutes” opens. One step 1 hour: 10 minutes.
After setting the time, press the “start” button.

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What foods are best not to cook in a slow cooker?

Rice . Cooks on the stove for about 20 minutes. With prolonged processing, the grains soften at the edges, but remain hard in the center. Try to cook other grains, such as barley, instead of rice.
Pasta . Long cooking softens them too much - there is a high risk of getting a mushy mass.
Seafood . Shrimp, squid and fish cook very quickly, and long cooking turns them rubbery.
Vegetables too soft and green . Long simmering is ideal for carrots, cabbage or potatoes. Spinach, tomatoes, and asparagus will become overcooked and lose shape or color.
Tender meat . It is better to leave the chicken fillet for frying or baking in the oven, otherwise the fibers will turn out tough and dry.
Beans and other legumes . These products contain a toxin that is destroyed by boiling for 10 minutes at 112 degrees. In a slow cooker, the maximum temperature is much lower, so discard the beans and beans or soak them for at least 12 hours before cooking.