Getting Steamy on a Saturday Night (Tefal 2-Tier Aquatimer Steamer)

Name: cmh4135

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Product:	Tefal 2-Tier Aquatimer Steamer
Date:	12/01/08 (141 review reads)
Rating:

Advantages: Switches itself off, easy to clean

Disadvantages: Cord is a little short and some plastic stains

I, like many, seem to have a thing for kitchen gadgets. You buy them, or receive them as gifts, thinking that they're a great idea and then they languish in the back of a cupboard after the first couple of uses never to be seen again. One of the items that I acquired that this happened to was a steamer, but I can now say that it's back out of the cupboard and firmly attached to my kitchen work top in almost daily use.

Along came baby and daily portions of fresh vegetables were soon required, cooked without salt and in a way that didn't require constant supervision. After ruining a couple of pans that I simply forgot about on the stove I had to come up with a new method - ah, the steamer. It's proven to be a Godsend.

The Tefal Aquatimer steamer is an electrical steamer. Technically it works rather like a kettle, heating water up to boiling. The difference with a steamer is that rather than switching off when the water boils the steamer allows the water to continue to simmer, producing steam with which to cook your food. Your food sits in one of two (or three on some models) clear plastic containers which have holes in the bottom (rather like a colander). The steam is contained by use of a clear plastic lid with a couple of vent holes which let out any excess steam that hasn't condensed back to water. The steam that does condense falls back through the containers and into a collecting reservoir.

The joy of this steamer is that there is no guesswork involved in how much water is required for a given steam time. Clear indicators in the water-reservoir tell you how much water to add for a given cooking time. When the water runs out a buzzer is heard and the unit switches itself off. This makes it ideal for me as it means that I can set the steamer to go and then not have to worry if I'm in the middle of something else when it is due to finish - I know that it will switch itself off.

I find the unit easy to use. It all comes apart for washing and is easy to clean. If there is a cleaning negative then it is twofold. Firstly the reservoir that catches the used water is made from white plastic. Regular cooking of carrots means that this is now stained an orange colour which doesn't look that good. Secondly you will get some standing residual water (and limescale, if like us, you live in a hard water area) in the reservoir that you fill up to set it going. This water is held in the base unit and can only be emptied out by unplugging the unit and tipping it out. This can be awkward as the base unit has the lead with the plug permanently attached and so you have to be careful not to pour water all over the lead.

I like the fact that you can tier the steamer meaning that you can put foods in the steamer at the same time which would normally require different cooking times. For example, if cooking fish and veg I would put the veg at the bottom with the fish, which requires less cooking, above. This way you food can all be ready at the same time.

The unit comes with a special container for rice steaming. I've used this once but must confess that I tend to microwave my rice and it's quicker. It did, however, do the job.

This unit is now in almost daily use. I steam vegetables for my toddler and the steamer allows me to get consistent results. I can vary the cooking time according to how soft I want the vegetables and I know that I'm preserving as many of the nutrients as possible. Twenty minutes will give me nice, soft carrots, potatoes, beans and broccoli with no attention required.

The unit also comes into it's own when entertaining. It's great for cooking larger quantities of vegetables and takes away the worry that a pot will boil over, boil dry or that the vegetables will be over or under done. Simply load it up, add the water and let it go. The containers are easily large enough to do veg for 6 in each.

I found that the recipe booklet that came with the steamer is accurate as to cooking times, quite novel in my (limited) experience. There's also a few handy times printed on the base of the machine, lest you should forget.

The flavours of the food are preserved and you don't get much leeching on the goodness into the water. What you end up with are natural, fresh tasting foodstuffs without the need to add seasoning. The tastes are fresh, as if straight from the field (or sea/river).

I was surprised at how little steam is let out into the room whilst steaming and, although on cold days the windows will steam up we're not talking sauna qualities.

If it does end up in the back of your cupboard it will take up quite a bit of space (particularly height wise) but I'll hazard a guess that it'll be back out quite soon!

Summary: A great, easy machine to cook those veg!