Help - cooking with steamer

Penelope_Penguin

As this has fallen from the front page of OS, I'll add it to the exisitng thread on cooking with a steamer

Enjoy!

Penny. x

Kate72

I've been having a sort out of my kitchen cupboards and have found a neglected two tier electric steamer which I bought in a sale and have never used. I think its about time I gave it a chance, but don't really know how to use it. I'm a vegetarian so think it will mainly be used for veggies, but have no idea how long they will take in a steamer.

Can anyone give me any pointers?

Thanks.

McKneff

Brilliant piece of kit, I use mine most days,

Potatores 30 minutes, veg 20/255 minutes.

You can do a whole meal in one of these and save money by not having 3 or 4 rings on cooking a meal.

MuchAdo_2

I'm veggie too, love my steamer! Means you can do lots of veg without having multiple pans on the go, really useful for sunday lunch. They taste better too

I put root veg in the bottom, that take longest to cook - potatoes, carrots etc. Find potatoes take around 15 mins, depending how big you cut them.

Other veg like broccoli, green beans etc go in the top, usually just take 4-5 mins - just stick a knife to check.

Steamed potatoes make the best mash too

Any

Salmon, new potatoes, veggies. Can all be done in there. Just make sauce separately if you want some.

Pink.

Hi Kate,

I have a hob top steamer that I use on a daily basis and find that most veg cook in around 10-15 minutes (although it will depend on the type and size of the veg) but I'm not sure if it would be the same in an electric steamer. We have an existing thread that may help:

Help - cooking with steamer

I'll add your thread to it later to keep the replies together.

Pink

Merry_Wanderer

I used to use mine alot too (got rid of it after a few house moves), I'd make fish, potatos, and veg, all in one go.

squeaky

Presumably the steamer has a name on it? Or a model number on a plate at the back (or underneath)?

If so, you could google it and see if the manufacturer has a downloadable manual for it.

There are other sites that have manuals available for all sorts of things too, so once you identify it you stand a good chance.

pineapple

Having a tiny kitchen I found my electric steamer was a waste of space - an unused gadget.
I prefer the type that sits on my (gas) hob and which I can also use as individual pans.

Ilona

I steam all my veg, almost every day. I put it all in together, then p.r.i.c.k with a fork to test after about ten minutes. Cut the harder veg into small pieces, and the not so hard into bigger pieces, then they are all ready at the same time.
Ilona