Life moves at a slower pace on the homestead. That’s part of its charm, particularly when it comes to food. We’re definitely part of the slow food movement, making our meals largely from scratch. The time and effort to prepare a meal contributes to its value.
However, now and then we want a hot meal in a short amount of time. This particularly comes at lunch, when we often eat leftovers.
If it’s a sunny day, we prepare the meal a little ahead of time using the sun oven (see Cooking with Solar). If it isn’t, we need a fast way to heat meals, often in individual portions, so we can eat and get back to work.
At such times, most Americans turn to a nearly ubiquitous appliance: the microwave. Here on the homestead, with no microwave, we need some other process. We steam these meals, and have discovered, much to our surprise, that it’s more effective, and almost as quick, as a microwave!