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What are the best tips to preserve the color of green vegetables when steaming them, since steaming requires a lid?

Ask Me Anything (Office Hours)

Eric Wynkoop - Ask Me Anything (Office Hours)

Recorded

This event was on April 8, 2025

Join Chef Eric Wynkoop in his virtual office as he welcomes all of your questions. This event was created for you and we encourage you to Ask Anything – from cooking techniques to course-specific questions, to how to turn your cooking passion into profit or simply hearing the perspective of a professional chef, Chef Eric is ready to answer them all.

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Question

Sherry Morgado

What are the best tips to preserve the color of green vegetables when steaming them, since steaming requires a lid?

Answer

You know, this is, uh, a question that comes up every once in a while. And, you know, the, the suggestion that I have and what, what works for me really is to manage your cooking time. That's gonna be the biggest factor. Uh, when it comes to the degradation of chlorophyll. Uh, it's gonna be your cooking time. So, you know, my suggestion is to keep a, a close eye on that. And you control the size of these items by, um, your prep, right? And how small you might cut them, uh, preparing for the steaming. And then again, take notes if you need to. But just control your steaming time to get to a point where the color is still preserved and you have a texture that you can work with, and hopefully one that is, uh, you know, not, um, too soft, um, still gives you some satisfaction as you chew your food, um, you know, yet gives you some nice color to look at as well.

Eric Wynkoop

Director of Culinary Instruction

Eric Wynkoop previously served as a founding faculty member at The International Culinary School, instructor in anthropology at Portland State University, and Senior Instructor at the Le Cordon Bleu program at Western Culinary Institute, in Portland, Oregon. He holds Master’s Degrees in postsecondary education and cultural anthropology, as well as credentials in Ayurveda wellness and cooking. Eric has spent more than twenty years in the food and beverage industry. His experiences include banquet management, catering, personal chef, winery cellar hand, educator, textbook contributor, consultant, and ethnographer. He also brings food and cultural insight from nearly a decade of residence in Japan, studies in Mexico, and research in India as a Fulbright Scholar. After graduating from the University of Oregon with a dual degree in Japanese and Asian Studies, he went on to receive his formal culinary training at Western Culinary Institute, in Portland, Oregon. Eric’s role with Rouxbe is central to enhancing the student experience through quality course content and new course development at Rouxbe. Eric is also the lead instructor in Rouxbe courses, a role which he has enjoyed since 2016.