The Regeneration programme can be used to gently reheat everything from convenience products and leftovers to pre-prepared meals for guests – so they taste as though they have been freshly cooked. In our expert discussion, customer advisor Dominic Distel from the ZUGORAMA in Zug tells us how the Regeneration programme can reheat stale bread to make the outside crispy again and the inside soft.
Dominic Distel, customer advisor ZUGORAMA Zug
Mr Distel, can you explain to us the advantages of the Regeneration programme featured on the Combi-Steamer and Combair-Steam appliances?
The Regeneration programme simultaneously combines steam and hot air and is particularly suitable for warming up pre-prepared meals and convenience foods (ready meals). It reheats food gently and evenly without any loss of quality or moisture, so it tastes as if it has been freshly cooked. On average, it takes about eight minutes to warm up a dish, although this can vary depending on the type and quantity of food being reheated. The temperature is set at 120 °C as standard, but this can be adjusted manually. What’s particularly useful is that different dishes can be reheated on several shelves at the same time.
The Regeneration programme uses a special combination of steam and hot air – as does the Hot air with steaming programme. What’s the difference?
The main difference is the way in which the steam is introduced into the cooking space. Both programmes use hot air, but the Hot air with steaming programme introduces steam intermittently, while for Regeneration the steam is constant. There is also a difference in what the programmes are used for: while the Regeneration programme is suited to warming up food, Hot air with steaming has a wider variety of uses, for example baking bread or crispy pastries.
What foods are suitable for reheating?
Essentially, any food can be reheated using the Regeneration programme, but it takes significantly longer to heat up liquids such as water, milk or soup. It’s better to reheat these foods on the hob. Slow-cooked dishes such as bolognese and goulash taste even better after regeneration as it enables the flavours to develop even more. Bread up to around three days old can also be regenerated to make it crispy on the outside and soft in the middle – as though it’s been freshly baked. And a great side effect is that thanks to the Regeneration programme, people are far more likely to warm up leftovers, which reduces the huge amount of food waste.
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What effect does regeneration have on the taste and moisture content of the food?
The dishes don’t lose any moisture because the even and constant level of steam in the chamber stops them from drying out. In addition, because the food is reheated gently at around 120 °C, it retains its flavour and vitamins for longer.
Microwaves are often used to reheat food. What does the Regeneration programme do better than a microwave?
The Regeneration programme reheats the food more evenly and more gently than a conventional microwave, so there is no reduction in moisture or flavour. What’s more, meat – particularly chicken – tastes significantly better when regenerated rather than reheated in the microwave.
So can a Combi-Steamer replace a conventional microwave?
Theoretically yes, but it comes down to personal choice. As customer advisors, we’ve noticed that once our customers find out that they can use our Combi-Steamer or Combair-Steam appliances to reheat as well as cook their food, they no longer want a microwave. They like the fact that one appliance has lots of different functions and that they don’t need a microwave as well, but some customers do still like to have a microwave – to reheat liquids more quickly, make popcorn or save even more time.
And what exactly is RegenerateOmatic?
The Combi-Steamer also has a RegenerateOmatic programme to reheat food automatically, leaving it crispy or moist: simply select GourmetGuide and then RegenerateOmatic to choose whether you want your reheated food to be crispy or moist. This programme is unique in allowing pizzas and quiches to be easily reheated while remaining crispy. RegenerateOmatic automatically sets the timing and temperature for reheating, and just as with the Regeneration programme, dishes can be reheated on different shelves simultaneously with no loss of quality or moisture.
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