Residential Steam Ovens part 2: Miele Combi Steam Oven

[revvinkevin]

I came across a really great deal on a 5 year old Miele combi steam oven that I couldn’t pass up. It had been a display / demo in an appliance store.

Fortunately I didn’t need to completely remodel my kitchen to install it. I just removed my mid-80’s, P.O.S. 24” Modern Maid gas wall oven and the microwave shelf above it, then had an electrician run two 240V lines into the kitchen.

The upper oven is an older Miele “Speed oven”, which is a fully functional convection oven, plus microwave which can cook with a combination of the two. The lower oven is the Combi Steam Oven and is also a fully functional convection oven (bake, broil, roast, etc) but can ALSO add from 0 up to 100% steam at temps up to 435°F!

The things this combi steam oven is capable of is seemingly endless. Soft or hard “boiled” eggs, flan, creme brûlée (w/o a water bath), sous vide cooking, add steam while baking bread for a more crispy crust, etc, I’m still learning what can do..... it even has a “Warm damp towels” setting!

The first thing I cooked (steamed) in it while it was still in my garage was lobster tails (the photos are screen shots from a video I made). The head of cauliflower was roasted @ 375°F with 60% steam for 35 mins. I am really happy with it so far and have been using it a lot!

Kevin

 

[chachp]

Wow

 

<span style="font-family: helvetica;">Kevin,</span>

 

<span style="font-family: helvetica;">Congrats for the great find!!  That looks like something I would love to have.  Not only does it sound like the options are endless but I love the look of the oven(s).  I would have to do major surgery to my cabinets to install one of those so I suspect it would be a hard sell in this household but it looks like it will be fun to have.  We have the Samsung steam oven but all it does is add a little humidity it doesn't get anywhere close to the amount of steam coming out of yours.</span>

 

<span style="font-family: helvetica;">Can't wait to see some of the other things that come out of it.</span>

 

[rp2813]

Wow, fancy!  How does the oven dry out after use?

 

[mattl]

I too would love one of those.  I use a broiler pan with water in when I make my SD Rye bread.  Unfortunately I see my oven does not like it as I'm seeing a bit of rust here and there. 

 

I know there are lots of different things you can do with a steam oven keep us posted on your creations.  The cauliflower looked very good.

 

[henene4]

Is it one of the permanently hooked in one's or one with water tanks?

I do like the idea of one, one down side I see is that neither the speed ovens nor the combination steamers are self cleaning.

Question as always with this is how good the Perfect Clean finish of the interiors is.
Will it be as non-stick as they promise?

 

[revvinkevin]

Ralph: Thanks!

And Ralph: I have wiped it out and left the door open to dry it, but it also has a drying program I’ve used that heats the oven for 20 minutes.

Henrik: this one has the water reservoirs.

Matt, just an FYI, The company Anova, who makes high-quality immersion circulators for sous vide cooking, just released a brand new countertop combi steam oven. If this had been available before I bought my Miele, I might have considered that as an option. Then again, I really like Miele products so maybe not. LOL

 

[chachp]

That oven makes me a little tingly!!

 

<span style="font-family: helvetica;">I am too much a gentleman to say where.  . </span>

 

<span style="font-family: helvetica;">I love the way the control panel opens to expose the water reservoir.  So many others I have seen have them to the right and having them on top seems to be a better placement because you have more room in the oven from how it looks.</span>

 

<span style="font-family: helvetica;">Really happy for you on this great find.  I'd love to have one but I know I won't in this house.  Have fun with it.  Can't wait to see what comes out of it.  That cauliflower sure looked good.  I bet a roasted chicken will be amazing.  I always cook mine using convection to seal in the juices, I can only imagine what your oven will do.</span>

 

[perc-o-prince]

Kevin-

You're gonna LOVE it! Thanks to sheer luck we have one in each kitchen. We haven't used them to their full potential, but I can tell you bagels come out great in it after using the "release burst of steam" feature! Just be sure to use the drying feature, or at least the convection heated to 4XXF for a couple of minutes after a full-on steam cooking to be sure everything has dried out. I did come across a few on service calls that had little rust spots forming, even on the broil element!

Henrick-

With the speed oven (BM), the best way to clean them if there's a but of a mess is to put a microwave-safe vessel in there with water and a little vinegar. Micro until the water simmers and keep it at a simmer. After maybe 5 minutes you can take the vessel out and wipe most everything away. If it's a Miele, there's a thumb nut on the right end of the element that you can take off, and the element will hinge downward so you can get what's on the ceiling. Not a lot of room to get in there, but it helps. Just be sure to hand-tighten the thumb nut back on to avoid any sparking next time you micro! If not kept fairly clean, that round cover on the ceiling that covers where the magnetron feeds the stirrer blade WILL fail, causing sparking and sometimes damaging the stirrer blade.

In the combi-steam oven (DGC) there's a maintenance menu that includes a "soak" feature with the drying, descale and rinse features. Soak will basically do what I mentioned above but with steam only, then it can be wiped out. Rinse will add water to the chamber to basically fill the floor, then the pump will get rid of it all- it essentially cleans out the drain.

As to the Perfect Clean being non-stick, in both the BM and DGC it's almost as good as they tout but it requires devotion like wiping carefully while everything's still warm, etc. If you're the type to cook a roast and worry about cleaning the oven the next morning, you won't be as happy.

Hope that helps!

BTW, there are many seemingly useless features on the DGC, but when you need them.... For example, it will de-crystalize honey. It's a 90-minute cycle, but it works perfectly according to one of my former customers!

Chuck

 

[thomasortega]

@Kevin

I personally saw your ovens and they really impressed me.
The steam is a whole different world from. The horrible lifmatic oven i had.

Now I'm curious. I can imagine you're playing with your ovens nearly every day since they were installed and you probably fixed over 50 dishes using them.

What are YOUR opinions? Tons of details, please. I'm very curious.