We've tried a lot of different methods of cooking on EcoZoom rocket stoves: Searing, boiling, frying, grilling, roasting, and stewing to name just a few. If you have a favorite way of cooking, chances are you can do it on an EcoZoom stove. Most recently we tried steam cooking on a SteamVita. Eating steamed food was not one of my favorite foods as a kid. Most of the time eating something steamed meant that it was vegetables and the vegetables of choice were usually broccoli, spinach, or asparagus. It's not that they disgusted me, I would just rather just fill up more on grilled cheese or popcorn. Nowadays I'm a bit more concerned with my health and actually like the taste of fresh vegetables so steaming up some vegetables on my EcoZoom rocket stove on a new cooking apparatus was exciting. For the record, I still really like grilled cheese and popcorn. I recently learned of the SteamVita and had a chance to try out the smallest version that they sell. It is a simple yet effective little unit for steaming foods of all different types. Vegetables are the obvious choice, but with a little research I quickly learned that all types of dishes can be cooked up using a steamer. The SteamVita has a bottom pan that you put a little water in while nesting a second pot that has a perforated bottom to allow steam to pass through. Finally a lid is securely fasted on top of the unit.

The EcoZoom rocket stove and SteamVita steamer prior to cooking. Water pot for boiling and brussel sprouts in the steamer pot.

First things first, we lit a few briquettes of charcoal in our EcoZoom Versa Lite rocket stove and allowed them to burn hot until we had a nice set of coals in the combustion chamber. Next we placed a few brussel sprouts in the steamer along with some onions, fastened the top, and placed the unit on top of our EcoZoom. The unit fit perfectly on the stove and had the small amount of water boiling within minutes. After roughly 15 minutes we removed the lid to find perfectly steamed brussel sprouts. The SteamVita was easy to use and makes for a great cooking companion with an EcoZoom rocket stove. It's stainless steel and built to last, fits perfectly on an EcoZoom stove, is lightweight and compact while still offering plenty of cooking room, and comes with a handy set of tongs for picking up the different pans you are cooking with so you don't burn your digits. It would make for a really nice camping stove companion so that you can still eat like a king while sleeping under the stars, yet not take up a lot of space in your camping kit. Lastly, the SteamVita not only works as a steamer, but the steaming pan can be placed directly on top of our EcoZoom stove and be used for cooking over an open flame. More to come on that with a future blog post...

The SteamVita fully fastened and placed on our EcoZoom stove resulted in some nicely steamed brussel sprouts in 15 minutes.

If you haven't tried steaming food recently, give it a try on an EcoZoom rocket stove. It's an easy way to cook and helps retain the nutrients in the food that you eat. Try adding different spices and or fruit juices to add zest and flavor to your favorite foods.

  About the Author: Tom Pritchard is an EcoZoom employee and likes to cook outdoors with his EcoZoom rocket stove on camping trips or sunny days. You can email him directly at tom@ecozoomstove.com.