Food steamer recommendations

annie-c

I gave mine away on freecycle - just didn't get on with it - prefer the saucepan variety! Loads of people give them away if you want to try a second hand one before buying....

calleyw

Sorry to say that not all steamers are the same. Rather like bread makers a Panasonic is the rolls royce of them all.

Again the same can be said about steamers. If you have to buy an electric steamer go for a Tefal even if it is the cheapest one them have. As they are the best.

I have had three so far over the last 9 years as they do wear out over time. But I did get a good 3/4 year use out of them. And I do use them at least 3/4 times a week.

I don't have a tefal one at the moment and it is the biggest pile of steaming poo I have ever wasted money on. I have had it just over a year and keep hoping it will break so I can get another tefal one :rotfl:

It just does not seem to fit together well. Tefals are great seem to fit well together and are robust.

And you have got a good one there with the Tefal one you bought.

Yours


Calley

shoperholicnot

hi calley
Yes, I am glad that I bought the vit plus now, got it out the box and it does look and feel very sturdy. also it has a few good features, its got a turbo steam button, a bowl just for fish and an anti scale element or something. you can also refill it while it is steaming. also comes with a recipe book and all the recipes give very fast times for steaming, 15 mins for chicken breasts, 25 mins for Basmati rice and 18-20 mins for easy cook rice, in my old steamer the rice would still be like bullets at 40 mins!!

nearlyrich

I gave my electric steamer away it was too fiddly to clean, took ages to cook anything and was too big for the cupboard, I have a 3 tier saucepan steamer which I bought from Argos about 20 years ago and it gets used everyday.

It takes 15 mins to cook perfect rice in a pan with a lid why waste electricity ?

shoperholicnot

hi nearlyrich,
The thing is I always end up with soggy rice when i cook it on the hob - dont know why - and I cant abide soggy rice. I have a leccy cooker too so the electric usage makes no difference to me. mind you the steamer that i bought is BIG, but it stacks neat and I can find a spare place for it (just about) and it will get lots of usage also vor veggies and fish,chicken etc

annie-c

Deliaonline has a great recipe for fluffy rice cooked on the hob... but that's off topic, so I'll disappear now.....

shoperholicnot

Just a quick update on this,
I used the Vit plus steamer for the first time today and it is fab!
cooks very fast and my Tuna was slightly overdone because of this! I will have to get used to it..it is much much better than my old steamer and has a massive bowl at the bottom to catch the juices, very quick to clean and put away too. was worried because it is a bit expensive for a steamer and thought it might be a waste of money but now think its worth every penny!

recovering_spendaholic

shoperholicnot wrote:

Just a quick update on this,
I used the Vit plus steamer for the first time today and it is fab!
cooks very fast and my Tuna was slightly overdone because of this! I will have to get used to it..it is much much better than my old steamer and has a massive bowl at the bottom to catch the juices, very quick to clean and put away too. was worried because it is a bit expensive for a steamer and thought it might be a waste of money but now think its worth every penny!

I've gfot a vit plus steamer too - I love it!! I cook so much stuff in it! I find that when I do carrot and swede for mashing in it there is no water in the mash, but when I boil the carrot and swede it is often watery! I have also done a couple of steamed puddings and some dumplings in it and they turned out beautifully.

whistler-alison

I bought the Vit Plus Steamer and after about six months the baskets fell apart. I would recomend hand washing them rather than dishwashing.

tiredwithtwins

Glad to hear so many people using steamers! I personally dont get on with the electrical steamers, and prefer to use the saucepan stacking steamers. I got a massive pan and 3 steamer pans from tkmaxx for £12 a couple of years ago - does everything perfectly (need a big 'un for 5 of us!)

my mother in law has a steamer, a george foreman grill, a big juicer, huge toaster, microwave and about 20 saucepans all stacked side by side in her house ... i have a little chuckle to myself whenever i see them!! talk about gadgets ...