Any use for a steamer.....worth the expense?

[karice2]

I am trying to get in the more budget friendly habit of cooking at home for two reasons. The obvious is to save money but the second is to lose weight. I am training for the Disney Princess half-marathon. Both I know will come if I cook home more often.

I am a very good cook. When I was engaged, I went to cooking school so I wouldn't be the wife that couldn't cook. Didn't wind up married but the skills translate to my life now.

My commute is pretty long, one hour with no traffic and I leave the house at 5:15 every morning. I am only cooking for one so a lot of recipes that one would make ahead are a pain in the butt for me. I know I can freeze and reuse but you have to do a lot of cooking to have a decent variety of food.

Long story short, I am considering a steamer. I love vegetables and will eat any of them except yucky okra. I like fish and have a place that has beautiful fresh fish and chicken is everywhere. I am thinking that a steamer would be useful to put all the stuff in when I get home (sometimes 15 hours after I leave the house) and have a healthy and nutrious meal.

Anyone have any experience with one? Do you find it useful? How much did you spend?

 

[NYCDiane]

I remember watching an episode of Martha Stewart a few years back. She had this bamboo steamer thing. It was actually a series of steamers that you stack on top of one another and the fish/chicken/whatever would steam in one, the veggies in another, etc. I never tried this but it always struck me as being very convenient.

I found some links that may give you an idea:


http://www.asseenontvguys.com/bamboo-steamer-baskets.aspx

http://www.cooking.com/products/shp...oo+steamer+baskets&form=qblh&qs=n&sk=&sc=1-22

http://www.ehow.com/how_5691166_use-bamboo-steamer-baskets.html

 

[The Moonk's Mom]

I love my steamer...it is the perfect pairing with a crock pot. The one I have is the one that is a rice cooker and steamer all in one. It is digital so that I can set it ahead of time to start cooking at a certain time. So I can put my soups or meat in my crockpot and my rice in my steamer. I will then have whatever veggies I want waiting in another of the stack bowls so I can just set it on top when I get home at the end of the steaming time for the rice. Works out great for busy nights. And...it also makes the perfect boiled eggs!

I know you can do fish...but alas not a single person other than me in my family likes fish...silly people!

And...for savings...I love the thought of my steamer because I'm not cranking up that big stove and heating my house up.

Good luck and enjoy it!

 

[jennyopenny]

I have the Emril steamer. My Mother got it for me off of HSN. It sat in my garage forever. I finally got it out, and LOVE it. It has baskets for different foods, and a flat surface for meat. It can all be cooks at the same time. Everything is very moist too.

 

[karice2]

So I got a steamer today from Bed, Bath and Beyond. I have a bunch of fresh veggies that I got from the farmers market that I already precut. I already have frozen chicken, fish and shrimp so I didn't need to buy proteins. Wish me luck as I start my home eating plan. I will post my budget meal plans in a separate post if anyone wants to follow along.

 

[hambirg]

I hope you like your steamer. I have the over the rice cooker kind and a Revere Ware insert (kind if like a double boiler, but with holes on the bottom) and I use them both. I love steamed vegies! When I was reading your post though, it reminded me of a recent thread on a body building forum that I frequent. Quite a few posters there have a NuWave. They say it really works and they love it. I guess it's really great when your cooking for one. I don't have one and I've never used one, so I don't really know, but they all seem to like it. It might be worth checking out. You can't really steam a steak. . .

http://www.amazon.com/Nuwave-20322-Digital-Controlled-Infrared-Tabletop/dp/B000KGTXFW

 

[scbelleatheart]

The marathon is great! Good for you! I can't answer about the steamer because I'm just lazy and buy the single veggie steamer packs with no preservatives in frozen foods. I love my George Foreman grill though. I have two so I can cook a lot at one time and slice and repackage.

 

[phred52]

I steam stuff all the time. For my system the bottom layer is just a pot with 2 inches of water. Then I layer up however many different items I want steamed, with a lid on the top most layer. Sometimes its just one or two, but some meals it gets quite high, 4 or 5 layers. I use a mish mash of steamer pans that I have collected over the years. The main feature of all of them is the universal size which lets me easily stack one on top of the next.

 

[apnep]

I have the Emril steamer. My Mother got it for me off of HSN. It sat in my garage forever. I finally got it out, and LOVE it. It has baskets for different foods, and a flat surface for meat. It can all be cooks at the same time. Everything is very moist too.

Wow! That Emeril steamer looks great!! I'm asking for one for Christmas!

 

[MrsPete]

LOVE my steamer. Mine's over 10 years old, and it's smaller than the two-deckers that you see these days. I think it's a Black & Decker.

I steam vegetables, rice, hot dogs buns. Vegetables (especially broccoli) are much better cooked this way than in a pot on the stove.

If you're unsure about buying a separate appliance, you could start with a steamer insert that'd fit into a pot you already own. I have one just like the one at the Amazon link below, and it works great. I do like my small appliance better, but this one's just as good and cleans up easier.



http://www.amazon.com/Chefn-Sleekst...1?ie=UTF8&s=home-garden&qid=1282571766&sr=1-1

 

[bettymae1121]

I have a steamer basket insert for one of my stock pots, so I just steam on the stove. You can buy "one size fits most" steamer baskets if you don't want to buy a new pot with a steamer insert. My MIL has an electric steamer that she loves, but I don't need any more kitchen appliances, and for what I use it for (veggies and the occasional batch of steamed shrimp) I find the stove top version is perfect for me.

Below are three pictures of the "one size fits most" basket that you can use with your existing cookware set. The first picture is with the sides closed, but as you can see in the other two pictures, the sides expand so it will fit any sized pot.