| Product: |
Tefal 2-Tier Aquatimer Steamer |
| Date: |
14/06/02 (706 review reads) |
| Rating: |
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Advantages: Easy to use, Great results every time, Cheap
Disadvantages: Doesn't stack for storage
I bought this steamer about a year ago after a friend bought a (different) steamer and recommended I get one. I didn't want to spend a fortune and this was the cheapest one available at the Dixons I went to at the time. Not a very scientific way of making a purchase I know but it's all worked out really well.
I absolutely LOVE my steamer. It is quite simply the most useful kitchen appliance I have ever bought. I eat a lot of Indian and Chinese food and my friend's sister had told him that a steamer is fantastic for cooking rice. I know this is pretty common knowledge but I had always assumed that rice out of a rice cooker would be perfect and rice out of a steamer would be a bit of a compromise. Not so here. The rice this steamer cooks has been perfect first time and every time since. (Another friend who recently bought a Cookworks steamer has never managed to get edible rice out of hers). It is really fluffy, just like you get at an Indian restaurant, doesn't stick together and I've never found it to be under or overcooked. I have always followed the instructions in the little booklet you get and these seem to be spot on.
The steamer itself is really easy to use. You just put water into the bottom up to the line that represents the time you want to cook for, add the drip tray and then one or both of the tiers with your food in. The only extra thing is if you do rice you also need to add water to the rice bowl for the rice to absorb. The booklet that comes with the steamer clearly tells you how long you need to cook each food for and how much water to add to the rice depending on how much you're cooking. It gives you two times for each thing. The first one is the time if the food is in the bottom tier and the second is for if it's in the top tier. I find this really useful because if you're cooking things that need different times you can often put the one that takes less time in the top tier so that
they'll need steaming for the same time.
Now I've banged on about rice for such a long time you're probably wondering why I didn't just buy a rice cooker so I'd better set that straight. Although I use the steamer for rice about once or twice a week I also use it for fish or vegetables about once a week. Steaming is a really healthy way to cook and the best way to retain natural flavours in food. I'm not really a huge fan of vegetables but I've started eating them much more now I've got the Aquatimer. There's nothing worse than overcooked, soggy vegetables with all goodness beaten out of them.
You won't have that problem if you cook your veggies for the time the booklet tells you to and its also easy to add extra flavours to things. The flavours circulate in the steam and gently infuse the vegetables giving a subtle flavour you'd be hard pressed to achieve using other cooking methods. I suggest a couple of garlic cloves in with your potatoes or lemon slices with your fish. I've never used the steamer to cook meat but it says you can and I would imagine you would end up with a lovely moist piece of meat.
I suppose I do have one small gripe about the Aquatimer. The booklet that comes with it is great but I would have liked it to include a few more foods. It doesn't tell you how to cook leeks for example. Also it would have been nice if they had suggested whole meals that could be made in the Aquatimer.
The Aquatimer might seem a bit bulky to store and it doesn't stack for storage like some other steamers. You have to think of the number of pans it can save you though! The rice bowl is 1.1L (as are most steamers) which is big enough to do 300g of basmati rice which should easily be enough for three people. I would like to have another rice bowl as I usually cook for four but for £19.99 I'm not complaining. (I must have got it in a sale because I think the Aquat
imer is £24.99 now).
Basically as you can tell I think its fabulous and I couldn't be without it! Go and buy one. Quick!
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