Serious question, I saw a kitchen in Portland using a steam wand for way more than just milk

I was checking out a spot called The Larder last week, and the chef was using the steam wand from their espresso machine to quickly wilt greens for a salad garnish. It was super fast and kept the color perfect. Has anyone else found a weirdly good use for a piece of equipment that's meant for something else?

2 comments

2 Comments

webb.blake2d ago

That's a cool trick, but technically it's not a new use for the steam wand. A lot of professional kitchens have a dedicated piece of equipment called a steam gun or a chef's torch that does the same thing, it just looks like the one from a coffee machine. The Larder probably just doesn't have a separate one, so they're using what they've got. It works because it's the same quick burst of wet heat.

dakota1602d ago

Okay but @webb.blake that's exactly why it is a new use. Most cafes have that wand just sitting there only for milk. Using it to finish a dish instead of buying a whole other tool is clever and saves space. It's like using a wine bottle as a rolling pin because you don't have one. The innovation is seeing a common thing in a totally different way. Why buy a special steam gun if the coffee machine already does the job?