Hamilton Beach Digital Food Steamer, Vegetable Steamer and Rice Cooker, Programmable, 5.5 Qt., Black

This is my first food steamer to me the instructions are a little vague. It steams fresh veggies in about 20 minutes and all you have to do is add water to the reservoir, turn it on, change the time to how many minutes you want it to cook, and voila. In the past I would steam on the stove top. The Hamilton beach digital steamer heats up quickly, steam billows out in about 3 minutes. The timer and automatic keep warm (fantastic feature I'll never burn the rice again…) make it a breeze. The food is every bit as good as the results I can get over the stove top. Cleanup is easy. There are several plastic pieces that can quickly be washed up. The sides of the steamer base remain cool during operation so after you use it, you can pick it up and dump out any extra water into the sink. The cooking compartments are made of several removable pieces so you can configure it a number of ways. If you need to do something large, you can take out the removable bottom and make it tall or if you need room for multiple foods you can turn it into a double-decker steamer. The unit stores in a relatively small space because all of the components stack on top of each other. So far I'm very happy with this steamer. I really love that it doesn't get hot to the touch as that makes it a lot safer to use. The only thing I guess I would change is the digital display screen. It is hard to see and adjust the time without stooping to counter level.

The Hamilton Beach 5.5 Digital Steamer is a winner in my book! There are so many things I love about this steamer. First of all, it has a very small footprint for such a great appliance. The steamer can hold enough food for my family of five BIG eaters. We put an entire head of cauliflower and there was room for another one! You place the water in the base of the unit and plug it in. The unit has a light indicator that lets you know how much water is in it. The unit came with a booklet that has a timing chart for all different kinds of food. This steams more than just vegetables. You can steam fish and rice in this unit as well. When your vegetables are done the unit goes into a warm mode. When we first used the unit we over steamed our vegetables and they were a bit mushy. Now we know how to work the unit better. This unit allows you to steamer different foods at the same time. The unit has different shelves in it so this can be done. The shelves are removable so that you can make a small amount or a large amount. I am so glad I have this appliance, because it was a pain in the neck trying to steamer my vegetables in a pot with water and constantly check to make sure I did not overcook it. This made things a lot simpler.

At first, all I thought about steamed food was that it would be watery and bland. Boy, was I wrong! When I got the Hamilton Beach steamer, it came in an attractive and informative box. It had good information on it. Like I said, I was hesitant about using a steamer, but when I started to put it together and reading about it in the enclosed pamphlet, I got really interested. At first I thought I'd try to cook rice in it because good rice is hard to make. If you don't have a rice cooker, it can turn out to be too sticky or even crunchy. I don't think I know anyone who likes crunchy rice. My video captures the first time I tried the steamer and the first rice I cooked with it. I was very impressed. All I did was fill up the steamer with water, put the rice and water in the rice container and set the time for 32 minutes. The results were amazing. My husband, who is a rice aficionado, simply loved the rice. Even I thought that the rice was excellent without adding anything to it except maybe some light salt. Very good rice because it was cooked evenly and separated easily instead of sticking together in clumps. Then I thought I'd try to steam some eggs. Eggs?? Whoever would steam eggs? But I tried it anyway. I put eight large eggs into the tray which has little bowl-like indents on the bottom so you can stand the eggs up in them. Then I filled the water reservoir again to the max and steamed the eggs for 22 minutes. Those eggs were amazing! The yolks were not hard, but rather had a light, almost creamy texture even though they were thoroughly hard boiled. This is an excellent steamer because it works well. I would definitely recommend it to a friend..

This steamer may be small, but it has eliminated several of the cooking appliances I was using. Its sleek design and compact build made it ideal for my kitchen and limited counter space. I was amazed that all I had to do was fill the bottom of the steamer with water and I was able to immediately use it. Before I was using several different pots and pans to cook my foods, now I really only need this. And because the food is cooked with steam and not oils or fats it is a great option for those that want a healthier way to cook. I used this steamer to cook rice, raw vegetables, fish, and shrimp. They came out perfectly and although it takes more time to steam them with this appliance it was well worth the wait to have perfectly steamed foods. There is also a manual that has cooking times for the different foods that you can use with this steamer. I was amazed that you could steam eggs instead of boiling them and you can cook eight full ears of corn as well. This steamer is something that we use every day because cooking with steam makes the food taste great. You can actually taste the food instead of the oils and additives that you would normally use when cooking on the stove. All in all this is a great buy. With the exception of the long cooking time there isn't a downside to this appliance.

Like most everyone in America, I would like to start eating a healthier diet. I thought that the Hamilton Beach Steamer could help with that. So upon receiving the steamer I washed it out as directed and assembled it. It has a lot of parts to you it, but the nice thing is they all can nest into each other when you put it away. So I began preparing a lunch for my husband consisting of salmon, zucchini, and Jasmine rice. The salmon fillets were cut by the butcher about an inch thick and so I just plopped them skin side down on the first floor (bottom) container. I sprinkled light garlic salt on both fillets and placed a medium slice of lemon on each. I csliced zucchini and squeezed them in around the fish. In the rice bowl you just add a cup of rice and a cup of water. I added a slice of lemon into the rice as well because I cut an extra one. I plugged in the steamer and I was very pleased to see how it lit up and was very easy to read and use. I put the timer on 30 minutes. This was an executive decision because the directions say rice is about 35 minutes but the salmon is about 17, although my salmon fillets were pretty big. Well, everything was done at the same time and it came out perfectly!! My husband was really impressed with our healthy lunch and so was I. But I was also really happy about how easy clean-up was. Helpful hint, turn off power and unplug machine if you don't need it to warm any remaining food that way everything is cooled enough after dinner to wash and put away. I took everything apart and threw the top pieces (NOT the base) into to the sink and washed them easily. Helpful hint, #2, don't use a really abrasive scrubber to wash the pieces as the plastic can get scratched. I can't wait to use this steamer again, and serve easy, healthy meals to my family.

I steamed corn on the cob and hot dogs with this product. I normally do corn on the cob in the microwave, and it has worked very well and very quickly. I followed the procedures outlined in the manual, and streamed 3 ears cut in half for 20 minutes. The corn was cooked and tasted very good; however, I could not taste any difference between the steamed corn, and the microwaved corn. Additionally, it only took half the time to microwave and virtually no cleanup or prep. I placed the 8 hot dogs in the steamer to leave as many steam holes open as possible and cooked them for about 15 minutes. The dogs plumped up very nicely, and all of them were visually pleasing. Hot dogs cooked in the microwave tend to split open, and, in some cases get a little rubbery. The steamer dogs had a very nice texture, taste and aroma. This may be my new method. I am looking forward to steaming fresh vegetables and rice in the next few days. I much prefer cooking without oils so that the flavors of the items can come through when they are eaten. The controls are pretty much intuitive; however, the little window for depicting the water level is difficult to see. It appears there is some type of red light that should indicate water level, but, in my experience, it has proven to be difficult to see and therefore somewhat useless. Overall, the unit seems to be solidly built and with proper descaling of the heating unit, should last.

I've never used a Steamer before; however, this Hamilton Beach appliance is very user friendly because I was able to set it up quickly after reading the instructions. The result was a delicious bowl of steamed broccoli, carrots and string beans and I enjoyed eating veggies in less than 20 minutes. The vegetables cooked in this Steamer had just the right amount of crunch. The appliance is attractive and comes apart easily for washing and storage. The Steamer is also able to cook other foods such as rice and has several compartments so that you can multi steam two things at the same time; i.e., veggies in one compartment and salmon in the other. This Steamer would encourage someone to eat healthier because it is so easy to use and because steaming retains the nutrients in the food as opposed to boiling. The steamed vegetables also taste so much better than the boiled ones. There's only one minor fault and that is the plastic parts of the Steamer seemed a bit flimsy but this didn't take away from it functioning as it was designed to do. I am only mentioning this thinking about the durability of the Steamer. I highly recommend this Hamilton Beach steamer.

I do not have anything to compare this steamer to since this is the first time for me to use a steamer. I find it more compact than a crock pot and just as easy to use. I am a little concerned about the quality of the materials used to make it though. The two tiers and inserts are of a thin plastic. I will have to see how long this appliance will last. There are a lot of good healthy choices to cook in this steamer and with the two tiers you are able to make a whole meal. It really is a help for a small family or a single person because it makes it easier to portion out and not cook more than is necessary. So in that aspect it saves you on grocery money! What I do not care for is the clean up. There are indentions on the inserts that take time to clean thoroughly, especially if you are washing by hand. The times given seem to be accurate cooking times in the instruction manual. All you do is add water to the retainer, put whatever you want to eat in the tier, season it, put cover on and set timer. You are good to go and everything comes out tender. I have had to adjust my thinking as far as what with or how to season. I kept wanting to add broths or other liquids but I guess that is the point of the “steam”er. I am pleased with this helpful meal preparer!

I received this item at no cost through a review company. The opinions expressed here are solely mine based on my own personal experiences with this product and are not influenced in any way by the manufacturer or the review company. This steamer is fairly easy to setup, it comes with two steaming bowls and a rice bowl. The bottoms of each bowl come off so you can adjust for larger items or use to cook 2 separate things at the same time. The first thing I was not satisfied with is the cord length. It is very short. When using a steamer a large amount of steam is escaping from the top of the steamer throughout the cooking time, with a short cord this could cause the steam to collect on the underside of an upper cabinet unless you have a counter space with no cabinets to use it on. This item is digital and fairly easy to program. The timer beeps at the completion of cooking time set however it is at a very low tone so if you are not standing very close to the steamer it could be easily missed, however it does have a warming function that comes on automatically at the completion of cooking time. I used this on two different occasions to steam vegetables and both times the vegetables had an odd taste to them almost like you could taste plastic on them. I have used a steamer for years and never had this occur before using this one. The steamer bowls are made of lightweight thin plastic material and they have small holes on each side to line up the bottom of the tray with the round base of the steamer bowl. They are fairly easy to put together but they don't have any kind of locking mechanism on them. The machine does have the ability to cook larger items when combing the two bowls together and only using one bottom. I was not happy with the plastic taste that it added to the food and will not use it again.

I was a little concerned when I opened the box and pulled the steamer out that the plastic steaming bowls felt like a thin plastic. I felt like I needed to be very careful with them, washing, handling, that they wouldn't bend and crack. But I have used the steamer every day for about a week and a half now, and I'm becoming more comfortable with the plastic. They still are a little thin, and I will be careful. But they can handle daily use. While steaming, if you have to add water, there is a tiny drawer to pull out to pour water in, which drains to the base. It would be better if there were a cylinder on the corner or something, like my old Oster had. This drawer is so tiny and a pain to pull out and attempt to pour water in. You have to steam something for a very long time for it to get low on water. So this shouldn't be an issue to have to use frequently. Something I don't like is that to see the screen, setting the steam time and showing how much time is remaining, you have to bend down and be almost level with the steamer on the counter. I would like to be able to just look at it and see the time. When time runs out, there is a very soft beep. If you're not in the room, you won't hear it. Then the setting changes to “warm.” The warm function is great. I can leave it warming while I'm finishing preparing the rest of the meal. But, if you want to add more time to steam, you have to turn the steamer off and back on again. Once time runs out, you can't switch the mode back to “cook.” This is a bit of a pain. While the steamer is still in “cook” mode, you can add or reduce time. Overall, this is a good steamer. I do like using it. Just a couple items I wish were different.