Delayed Start: Working alongside the timer, some digital models may allow you to choose the time they get to work, so your veg is ready when you get home

Rice Bowl: It is hard to get rice just perfect, but steamers can do the majority of the work for you. If this appeals, look for a model with a rice steamer insert. It can take a while to cook, but results are generally impressive The compartments and lids are cumbersome to wash up (although admittedly I may change my mind about this when I get my new dishwasher plumbed into the new kitchen)

Take the hard work out of a healthy lifestyle with these food steamers

Keep Warm: Great if you’ve mistimed all the components of your meal or something has come up, but you’ll still need to ensure that there’s enough water in the base I found emptying the machine quite cumbersome. Probably if you gauge the water quantity required for cooking better you’d have less left afterwards but then I’d be nervous about it boiling dry inside. There is a spout at the side to top up. Nutrition: When steaming, more vitamins and nutrients are retained within the food than with other methods, such as boiling. This is because there is less opportunity for them to escape into boiling water or oil etc. Very very easy to use. I barely needed the brochure (in sharp contrast to the Morphy Bread Machine)

The best food steamers you can buy in 2023 1. Russell Hobbs 21140 3-Tier Steamer: Best budget food steamer Stainless steel bowls do mean you can’t see the contents as they cook, but if you place your faith in the reliable timer and get used to the appliance, then this shouldn’t be an issue. As a bonus, they don’t stain with certain foods – other plastic options we reviewed went slightly orange with carrots/green with broccoli condensation after a few uses.

Specifications

Easy to Clean】Juice accumulating plate to prevent dripping, dishwasher-safe tiers for easy and convenient cleaning. Requiring no oil and giving off no smoke, steaming your food leaves very little mess to clean up after you have finished.

Your food may not look quite as appealing as some vegetables can lose their colouring in the process, and taste may be quite bland as there aren’t as many opportunities to add seasoning during the cooking process. We were impressed with the multi-cooker for many reasons. One of which is the option to adjust the time and temperature to ensure your food is prepared exactly how you like it. And with an automated keep warm feature, there’s no need to stress about getting your dish straight on the table. As a bonus, if you’re cooking for guests, the glass basket can be lifted straight off the steamer and placed on the dinner table as a serving dish. A 1-litre water compartment should last a while, and an audible beep sounds if it starts running low. A deceivingly large food steamer, the Intellisteam is a favourite with a lot of users and effortlessly combines ease of use with efficiency. Once plugged in, the turbo steam ring takes just 40 seconds to start cooking your food, and with a large water reservoir there’s enough to fuel an hour of steaming. Juices from the upper basket run into the compartments below, so be wary of placing a strong flavoured dish, like salmon, at the top. We’d advise putting fish and meat at the bottom, potatoes or veggies in the middle and rice at the top.As someone without a functioning kitchen at the moment, in theory this is a gadget that could have been very useful during my current building work. Sadly it wasn’t practical to hump it up the stairs full of (hot) water to drain and the microwave, with zero washing up beyond wiping its interior has been serving us instead. The pudding was quite hefty after cooking and transferred easily to this glass pyrex dish. I like these dishes because they’re an efficient use of space in the fridge (as opposed to bowls) and they come with lids rather than needing to be covered with foil. Size. The Intellisteam’s footprint is rather large to leave out on the worktop unless you use it several times a week.

The end results were some of the best of all we tested. Rice was fluffy, veg was al dente, fish was perfectly steamed, and even the eggs were perfect when both soft and hard boiled. If part of our testing were blind taste tests, then we would have said they were the results of an appliance at least twice the price. One of the smallest on our list, but there is a larger 9L model available if this is better suited to your needs. There is also a plastic base option available from Salter, but we have to admit that the stainless steel version is the most aesthetically pleasing. With thanks for the Morphy Richards Intellisteam steamer review model as part of the Morphy Innovators programme. If you cook fish at the same time as dessert the flavour will be tainted. But to some extent this would be true in a traditional oven. The big downfall that we can’t really get past is that the steam holes are on the larger size. If you were to steam peas or other small items, they may well just drop through. It is also a bit of a monster in terms of storage thanks to the round shape even when collapsed, so not the best if you’re low on storage space or worktop availability.

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We loved the fact that, if divided, each half can be turned on separately, so if you’re only steaming a single serving of broccoli to go with your pie, then you don’t have to get the entire appliance going which could add time to the cooking and heating. It works by filling a central chamber with water (quite a lot) where several elements heat up underneath each section. Firstly, the quality. With a glass basket and stainless steel attachments, there is no denying that this is going to be a long-lasting and sturdy appliance to use. They’re all dishwasher safe, and they clean up very well without any staining or colouring from certain foods. A bowl is included which can accommodate rice and grains, so if you wanted to make an entire meal using just the one appliance, it is possible. This and the three tiers are all dishwasher safe if cleaning is a big concern. An alarm sounds if the water drops below the minimum level, and a pull-out refill inlet makes topping it up effortless without allowing additional steam to escape during cooking, as with some other open refill models.