Steamers

When looking for kitchen steamers, consider how much food you need to steam at once, how much room you have in your kitchen and what sorts of special features you need to pull off the right cook on your favorite vegetables and proteins. Choose from food steamers with nesting baskets for easy storage, timers, automatic shutoff and warming options. There are portable and full-sized options. Multi-purpose household units for clothing or cleaning include various nozzle attachments to work on different surfaces.

Multi-Tiered Food Steamers Cook More Food

Use stackable baskets to cook more food in electric steamers. Multi-level tiers let you steam vegetables and meat at the same time in different BPA-free plastic baskets, so food is separate and steams properly. Some options, for example, come with a basket to steam eggs and another to steam rice. Steamers can hold up to 20 quarts of food combined in the various baskets, so you can make enough food for the whole family in one device, or use it alongside rice cookers and other appliances to cook in bulk and prep for a week of lunches or a family feast.

Nested Baskets Provide Compact Storage

The design of food steamers usually makes compact storage easy. If you are short on space in your kitchen, you can nest the steaming baskets and store them along with your food mixers and other kitchen appliances. Both the electric and microwaveable models have this capability, as do some traditional on-stove steamers.

Quick Cooking Saves Energy

High wattage in electric kitchen steamers helps food to cook quickly. This power ranges from 400 watts to 1,000 watts, depending on the model you choose, so you may want to choose the lowest wattage for the amount of food you want to cook to save energy. The wattage combined with steam vents in the lids ensures an even heat distribution to thoroughly cook food. Cooking guides provide information on how long certain foods, such as chicken, salmon and vegetables, should steam for optimal flavor and safety.

Multiple Settings Make Cooking Easy and Hassle-Free

A digital touchpad provides an easy way to control various settings on digital steamers. The timer allows you to steam food for up to 2 hours on some models, and the bell rings when the food finishes cooking. An indicator light lets you know when the steamer is on and in use. The timer also offers a delayed start function so that you can prepare the food in advance and set a time for it to start cooking without you there to monitor it. Use the warming setting when you have finished cooking but need to keep the food warm for up to an hour. Models with an automatic safety shutoff help save you energy and prevent food from overcooking, especially when the water supply is empty. As a specialty appliance, food steamers make cooking faster, easier and more convenient.