Anova Precision Oven aims to make steam combi cooking affordable
Anova may be best known for its home sous-vide devices, but the company has a new countertop combi oven that aims to make steam cooking mass-market. The Anova Precision Oven looks at first glance like a microwave but, thanks to a water tank on the side and a bevy of temperature probes, it actually cooks in a very different way.
Steam ovens combine steam and convection heat to control not only the temperature but the humidity level. The former cooks the food; the latter ensures that not too much water content evaporates during that process, to balance things like juicy meat while still allowing for crispy skin.
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They're commonplace in professional kitchens, but typically too expensive for domestic use. The Anova Culinary Oven, in contrast, is $599. It's also WiFi-enabled and comes with an app for iOS and Android for more straightforward control.
As with the Anova Precision Cooker sous-vide machines, there are various recipes and guides for multi-stage cooking in the app. Anova uses three different kinds of temperature sensor – dry bulb, wet bulb, and steam boiler – along with a food probe that can be used to track the internal temperature of what you're cooking. The advantage is extreme consistency, along with the control over humidity.
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A tankful of water is good for more than 24 hours of continuous steam cooking, Anova says, and you can top it up midway through the cooking process. A "Sous Vide mode" replicates some of the long, controlled cooks familiar from dedicated sous-vide devices, only without either a vacuum-sealed bag or a water bath. For pandemic bread bakers, meanwhile, there's the promise of proper steam injection, which can help with getting the right crust and crumb consistency.
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If you don't want to use the app, meanwhile, there are manual controls on the oven itself. The unit measures 22.4 x 17.7 x 14.1 inches and weighs a hefty 46 pounds, and has a 1.2 cubic foot interior. It'll operate from as low as 77 degrees Fahrenheit through to 482 degrees in oven mode, or 77 to 212 degrees in Sous Vide mode.
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Certainly, at $599.99 this isn't a cheap kitchen accessory. All the same, if you were looking at some of the built-in steam combi ovens on the market, you'll find $3,500+ isn't unusual. Anova's is available for preorder now, and will ship from September 28.