I bought this product for 3 reasons 1 - I was/am trying to be a bit healthy 2 - I was fed up of washing pans 3 - I had £20 of Argos vouchers burning a hole in my pocket!
I found this steamer in Argos on reduced to £14.99 which I thought was quite a good bargain. At the moment they are selling it for £18.99 (the original price is listed at £39.99) so it is still a good deal.
When I got it home I unpacked all the bits and I must agree with the other reviewers that it does look a bit cheap and nasty. However I have had mine a while now and use it nearly every day and it is still working and all in one piece so it must be tougher then it looks! Also there was an awful lot of unnecessary plastic and foam packaging in the box which as a keen recycler I was not too happy with. But that's probably just me being a bit neurotic!
So I chopped up my veg, filled it up with water and plugged it in. I used the booklet that came with the steamer for guidance on how long things took to cook. FYI ignore the book. After the stated 30 mins all I had was mush instead of carrots and broccoli. I would recommend, if like me you like your veg slightly al dente, that you halve the time they give.
One thing I don't really like about this steamer is that it doesn't have a mechanical timer. Instead it has little markings inside the bowl which you set the water level to. Basically the more water the longer it stays on for. This does mean you have to pay a bit more attention so you don't overcook things. Also if you don't have great eyesight I would think the markings will be a bit tricky to see properly as they are just indents in the plastic.
Timing teething problems aside, I do really like this steamer. It is very easy and quick to clean (bye bye pan scrub), and it folds away very neatly as all the bowls will stack inside each other so it takes up less room then lots of pans too. I also like the fact you can do entire meals in it as you can steam fish and rice too.
This 3 tier steamer holds a lot too. I usually only use the one bowel for myself and my partner, but I cooked Christmas dinner for 8 people and all my veg fit in it (not including potatoes as these must be roasted at Christmas!). I can't tell you how much easier tidying up was :)
The product description on the box is • 9 litre capacity. • 60 minute water timer. • 3 bowls. • Auto switch off. • External water level. • Boil dry safety cut out. • Dishwasher safe non electrical parts. • Power on indicator. • Rice bowl. • Non slip feet.
(Mine also has little dimples in the bottom of one of the bowls to stand eggs in, but I haven't tried this so don't know how well it works for eggs).
I would recommend this product especially at the price Argos is selling it for at the moment. It saves time and space and your food really does taste better. Between this and my slow cooker I may get rid of my pans completely!
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