Greg Kot from Chicago Tribune noted that "Steamy Windows" begins with some of Tony Joe White's trademark "Polk Salad Annie" guitar, "a funky, gut-bucket sound that is further enhanced by some back-porch harmonica fills.

"[5] David Giles from Music Week wrote, "Delightfully risqué number that finds Turner's trad blues vocal neatly complemented by a spruced-up country-style rhythm with plenty of harmonica and mischievous guitar runs."

[9] In a 2019 retrospective review, Matthew Hocter from Albumism stated that "Steamy Windows" is the "epitome" of adult contemporary, adding that it "in true Turner style", incorporates elements of the blues and a whole lot of rock.

[12] In a 2015 review, Pop Rescue found that the singer's voice is "hard, confident, and perfectly suited to this pop-rock sound, which she delivers an effortless growl.

Tony Joe White later recorded his own version of the song (alongside "Undercover Agent for the Blues", another track he wrote for Foreign Affair) on his album Closer to the Truth (1991).