Perfect Fish in a Steam Oven
Learn how to cook the best fish fillet you've ever done, using different settings in your steam oven.
Ingredients
- As many fish fillets as you’d like to cook size and thickness isn’t too important, you just want each piece to be similar in size so they cook at the same time
- salt and pepper or a dry spice blend of your choice, or finely chopped fresh herbs
- olive oil or butter optional but it will make your fish more juicy after cooking
- Fresh lemon wedges for serving
Instructions
Hot and fast method, for the speediest cooking and very soft, tender flesh
- Preheat the oven to combi steam, 450F/220C, 80% steam.
- Season the fish and place in a shallow, lightweight stainless steel pan. Drizzle with olive oil or dot with butter.
- Cook for 4-7 minutes, depending on thickness of the fillets and doneness you prefer (less for salmon and thinner white fish, more for thick or dense-flesh fillets).
Moderate-but-still-fast method, for fillets that resemble regular oven-baked fish with flaky but tender flesh
- Preheat the oven to combi steam, 350F/180C, 30% steam.
- Season the fish and place in a shallow, lightweight stainless steel pan. Drizzle with olive oil or dot with butter.
- Cook for 6-10 minutes, depending on thickness of the fillets and doneness you prefer (less for salmon and thinner white fish, more for thick or dense-flesh fillets).
Regular steam method, for fast, traditionally steamed fillets without any browning
- Preheat the oven to steam, 212F/100C, 100% steam.
- Season the fish and place in a shallow, lightweight stainless steel pan. Drizzle with olive oil or dot with butter.
- Cook for 6-10 minutes, depending on thickness of the fillets and doneness you prefer (less for salmon and thinner white fish, more for thick or dense-flesh fillets).
Slow steam method, for more evenly steamed fillets with minimal protein loss during cooking
- Preheat the oven to steam, 175F/80C, 100% steam.
- Season the fish and place in a shallow, lightweight stainless steel pan. Drizzle with olive oil or dot with butter.
- Cook for 8-15 minutes, depending on thickness of the fillets and doneness you prefer (less for salmon and thinner white fish, more for thick or dense-flesh fillets).
Sous vide method, for edge-to-edge evenness and a soft, flaky texture (best if you want to sauce the fish after cooking). SEE NOTE BELOW FOR SOUS VIDE
- Preheat the oven to steam or sous vide, 125F/51.5C, 100% steam.
- Season the fish and place in a shallow, lightweight stainless steel pan. Don’t use the olive oil or butter prior to cooking; save it for serving or use another sauce to serve.
- Cook according to the thickness of the fillets: ½" (13mm) thick; 15 minutes1" (25mm) thick; 35 minutes1½" (38mm) thick; 1 hour 30 minutes2" (50mm) thick; 2 hours
- Sauce or add oil or melted/browned butter just prior to serving.
Notes
Note: you should only sous vide very fresh fish that you’d be happy to eat raw. This method does not cook to a high enough temperature or for long enough to pasteurize the fish.
