Black & Decker Food Steamer
by Black & Decker
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List Price: Category: Kitchen See more product details |
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Kitchen and Housewares Reviews of Black & Decker Food Steamer
Customer Review: Vegetables never tasted so good.
Summary: 5 Stars
I have purchased two of these steamers for us and one for my parents. After changing my diet after some medical concerns, I started adding more vegetables to my diet. I became interested in a steamer after I heard that boiling your vegetables gets rids of many of the nutrients in the vegetables and that steaming "locks in" flavor and keeps the nutrients. At around $20, I figured it was worth a try. I was quite suprised to find out just how great it is. We use it on almost a daily basis. The vegetables taste great! I have steamed the following vegetables so far: corn, peas, carrots, lima beans, green beans, speckled butter beans, italian style green beans, french cut green beans, mixed vegetables, broccoli, sliced squash, sliced zucchini (fresh and frozen), cauliflower, broccoli normandy, chopped spinach, and asparagus. I have also steamed king crab legs. One of the great things about this model is the adjustable divider since you can separate good vegetables from your wife's yucky brocoli. (smile)
Another thing is that I have never really been able to steam anything too much. The book that comes with it gives you all of the times for steaming different foods, but I have found that you don't need to follow it. In fact, you will want to steam a little longer than the book says. Basically I fill the steamer up with 3 to 4 different vegetables and set it for 25 minutes. If I have corn on the cob in the mix (2-4 mini ears work great) then I steam everything for 30 minutes. Doesn't matter if the vegetables are frozen or fresh or a mix of both. Clean up is easy as all the parts except the base go in the top rack of the dishwasher. You simply empty the base and rinse out with water and it is ready for the next use. I cannot recommend this steamer highly enough. It's provides a way to prepare healthy, nutritious, quick food that is delicious. (and I don't add any butter or fat) Get yourself one and you won't regret it.
Customer Review: Perfect Steamer for Family Life....I'm buying another for a gift
Summary: 5 Stars
We purchased this Black and Decker food steamer a year ago and we use it almost every night. If you love veggies or need to eat more veggies (and who doesn't) it's important to have one of these machines in your kitchen. Veggetables come out brilliantly colored, appetizing, and delicious. Makes steaming a no-brainer....anyone can do it. There is no fat added and with this particular steamer, you can add broth, herbs or spices inside to add flavor. Yes, I too have have beautiful, high-end pots and pans with steamer inserts. Guess what? I didn't use them often for steaming because there were too many pieces to clean afterwards. This small steamer is perfect for families up to 4 to have a large amount of say, broccoli, for dinner. Plus, clean-up is usually just rinsing off the pieces, restacking, and setting on top of my refrigerator until tomorrow.
There is a steamer time guide on the side of the steamer body for reference, herb suggestions, and a bell that dings when the timer is competed. You can make starches, too. Potatoes, sweet potatoes, rice, quinoa, etc., cook perfectly. Dinner is now a snap because the steamer takes care of the sides while I bake or roast the meat. What could be easier. For those of you still microwaving your veggies, please give this steamer a try. The flavor improvement will impress you.
As with all electrical steamers, it's best to use distilled water when steaming to prevent mineral build-up on the heating element. I've had mineral build-up but it has yet to affect heat or steam producing ability. Soaking in white vinegar removes the mineral build-up. I've done this once in one year so it's not an inconvenience. Remember to open the lid away from you to prevent steam burns.
I'm purchasing a second Black and Decker steamer for my mom this Christmas. She's so impressed with our steamer that she's requested one!
Customer Review: Worth the money and very good product
Summary: 5 Stars
I recently bought this a month ago from Target and I love it. When I saw this listed in deal sites, thought how it will be useful to me. Being Pregnant and working woman, I was looking for something that can help fasten my cooking time and less my cleaning time. In my first trimester, I was able to eat 'Idli' (one of Indian break fast items, rice cakes) only. As the traditional way of steaming idlis needs keeping an eye on stove and water level in the cooker/vessel and cleaning the idli cooker/vessel everyday is time consuming, I was badly looking for something that eases my idli making. So, when I saw this, I immediately thought why can't I use to steam Idli as well.
I got the steamer and It did really work well to make idlis (This machine is in circular shape unlike others which allows me to make idlis and I use the regular steel idli plates, 4 of them can fit for a total of 16 idlis at one load) and because of its timer and beep feature, I need not be near the machine to check. I just put water and set the timer and i'll be doing other work. now I use this to steam cook vegetables (rather than boiling vegetables, the traditional way by which we loose most of the nutrients) to make side dishes to go along with roti or rice.
cleaning is also real easy. Now It won't take much time everyday to clean it after use. Just clean the vegetable holder and the collector tray which collects all the colored water from vegetables and leaves NO stains in any where else. I even have no problem with beets also. I haven't tried the rice in it. So, don't know how well it cooks rice.
Many of my friends bought this after seeing the use at my house. I use it everyday and definitely recommend this. Worth the money.
Customer Review: A mainstay of our kitchen for almost 10 years!!!
Summary: 5 Stars
When some friends gave this little steamer to my husband & me almost 10 years ago, we thought it was a dumb idea! "What do you need a whole separate appliance like this for?" we laughed. After all, we assured each other, we had a complete set of pots & pans, running water, etc. We thought this was just a silly affectation. We were wrong. We finally decided to use the steamer when our friends were coming to dinner, cooked some broccoli in it and....had our revelation. That night the broccoli was crisp, bright green & "al dente" after 12 minutes of steaming. In other words, "perfect." So was the asparagus we steamed the next night, the rice we steamed the night after that, and so on. 1001 nights later, having used this handy little appliance almost each & every night, we finally had to admit that we'd been wrong, completely wrong, totally wrong! This is no affectation! Not only did our vegetables, rice, couscous, etc. come out perfectly every time, steaming preserved their nutrients & this little steamer was incredibly easy & convenient to use. I've even used it to sterilize my younger child's bottles & to steam foreign stamps off envelopes for my son's collection. The only small appliance we all use more frequently is our electric kettle! This steamer's compact size, however, makes it easy to store & all of its plastic bowls/covers/baskets fit easily in the diswasher for easy after-dinner clean-up. After nearly 10 years it still works as well as it did that first night!
You need this steamer. You may not realize it till after you've owned it for a bit, but if you don't find yourself discovering multiple uses for it, well, your imagination is lacking!
Customer Review: A mainstay of our kitchen for almost 10 years!!!
Summary: 5 Stars
When some friends gave this little steamer to my husband & me almost 10 years ago, we thought it was a dumb idea! "What do you need a whole separate appliance like this for?" we laughed. After all, we assured each other, we had a complete set of pots & pans, running water, etc. We thought this was just a silly affectation. We were wrong. We finally decided to use the steamer when our friends were coming to dinner, cooked some broccoli in it and....had our revelation. That night the broccoli was crisp, bright green & "al dente" after 12 minutes of steaming. In other words, "perfect." So was the asparagus we steamed the next night, the rice we steamed the night after that, and so on.
1001 nights later, having used this handy little appliance almost each & every night, we finally had to admit that we'd been wrong, completely wrong, totally wrong! This is no affectation! Not only did our vegetables, rice, couscous, etc. come out perfectly every time, steaming preserved their nutrients & this little steamer was incredibly easy & convenient to use. I've even used it to sterilize my younger child's bottles & to steam foreign stamps off envelopes for my son's collection. The only small appliance we all use more frequently is our electric kettle! This steamer's compact size, however, makes it easy to store & all of its plastic bowls/covers/baskets fit easily in the diswasher for easy after-dinner clean-up. After nearly 10 years it still works as well as it did that first night!
You need this steamer. You may not realize it till after you've owned it for a bit, but if you don't find yourself discovering multiple uses for it, well, your imagination is lacking!