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- A good food steamer helps you prepare delicious, healthy food without extra oil or fat. Plus, steamers help preserve the nutrients, vitamins, and minerals in your food.
- The Hamilton Beach Digital Food Steamer is our favorite electric food steamer because it's affordable, steams all kinds of foods, and is super easy to use.
Unlike boiling, where the food is actually submerged in hot water, steaming involves cooking food in the water vapor rising off the boiling water. This means your fish, vegetables, or fruits will be moist and tender, but not soggy or mushy, as long as you don't overdo it. Plus, there's no need to add oil, butter, or fat to your recipe, which lowers the calorie count.
Another benefit of steaming is that it doesn't reduce the vitamins, minerals, and other nutrients in your food as it cooks. It's a quick-cooking method, as well, compared to many other kitchen techniques such as baking, roasting, or stewing.
While you might think that the only foods you can steam are vegetables, this easy cooking technique is also perfect for turning out many tasty dishes. Steaming is commonly employed in Asian cuisine to prepare delicious rice, spring rolls, dumplings of all sorts, and fish.
Turning out perfectly steamed foods requires a steamer of some sort, of course, and that's where we come in. We did the research for you and whittled down your choices to the best food steamers in six categories.
Here are the best food steamers:
- Best overall: Hamilton Beach Digital Food Steamer
- Best basket insert: OXO Good Grips Stainless Steel Steamer
- Best for stovetops: Farberware Classic Stack 'n' Steam Set
- Best for microwaves: Sistema Microwave Steamer
- Best silicone basket: Kitchen Deluxe Premium Silicone Steamer Basket
Updated on 7/10/2020. We updated prices and links for accuracy and removed the best budget electric food steamer due to stock issues. We also added a selection of relevant buying guides.
The best overall
You can steam your entrée and side at the same time with the two-tiered Hamilton Beach Digital Food Steamer.
The Hamilton Beach electric food steamer takes away just about all of the guesswork of cooking, and makes steaming super easy. Just put your food into one or both of the food containers, fill the reservoir with water, set the timer, and walk away.
Once the time is up, the Hamilton Beach Digital Food Steamer automatically switches to the "Warm" mode to keep your dinner ready, but not overdone.
The appliance also has a delayed start setting, an alert if the water reservoir runs low, and an easy-to-use touchpad. It includes two food containers that hold a total of 5-1/2 quarts, but you can remove the center divider to create one extra-large container, if desired. You'll also get a rice steamer insert, so you can make perfect rice.
Pros: Stackable food containers let you cook two separate dishes at the same time, count down timer, keep-warm setting, low-water alert, reasonable price
Cons: Food containers are not dishwasher safe
Check price at Amazon Originally $49.99Save 10%The best basket insert
If you just steam vegetables occasionally, the OXO Good Grips Stainless Steel Steamer makes it oh-so-easy and folds away for storage afterward.
If you don't steam often, or don't want to be bothered with using and storing an electric steamer, the OXO Good Grips Stainless Steel Steamer lets you convert any pot that's eight inches or smaller into a stovetop steamer. It can also be used in the Instant Pot.
The steamer is simple — it's a folding, stainless steel "basket" with small wire legs that hold the food above the water level so that your veggies, fish, eggs, or dumplings are bathed in steam, not water. The handle makes it easy to lift the steamer basket in and out of your cookpot, but if you need more space in the basket for larger foods, such as corn on the cob, the handle easily unscrews for extra room.
Pros: Easy to store, no electricity required, fits in Instant Pot and other pressure cookers, dishwasher safe
Cons: Some complaints the handle is flimsy, may rust
Check price at AmazonThe best for stovetops
With the Farberware Classic Stack 'n' Steam Set, you get both a 3-quart saucepot for all types of stovetop cooking, plus a steamer insert with a perfect fit.
Made of heavy-duty stainless steel, the Farberware Classic Stack 'n' Steam Set brings versatility to your kitchen. Perfect for those just starting out or new to the kitchen, the set includes an aluminum-core stainless-steel 3-quart saucepot with easy-grasp handles and a self-basting lid, plus a stainless steel stacking steamer that fits over the saucepot for easy steaming. The set is also oven-safe up to 350 degrees Fharenheit.
On the downside, this steamer is not very large. Although the saucepot holds three quarts, the steamer basket only holds two quarts.
Pros: Sturdy stainless steel with aluminum core, dishwasher and oven safe, versatile
Cons: Steamer and saucepan are not very large
Check price at AmazonThe best for microwaves
Combine the speed of the microwave with the healthiness of steam cooking, and you get the Sistema Microwave Steamer.
If you prefer to do your steaming in a hurry, you'll love the Sistema Microwave Steamer, which turns out perfectly steamed vegetables, fish, dumplings, fruits, and chicken in minutes. The steamer basket, the main container, and the lid are all made of BPA-and-phthalate free plastic that's safe for the dishwasher, freezer, and refrigerator.
When using the steamer, put water into the main container, set your food into the steamer basket, clip the lid into place with the easy-lift tabs, and then open the lid's steam vent. Pop the steamer into the microwave, set your desired number of minutes, and voila! You have tasty, healthy, steamed food.
The Sistema Microwave Steamer is available in three sizes: small, which holds 1.5 quarts, medium, which holds 2.6 quarts, and large, which holds 3.4 quarts.
Pros: Easy use and cleanup, quick results, freezer safe
Cons: Some complaints of the lid not locking securely during use
Check price at AmazonThe best silicone basket
The Kitchen Deluxe Premium Silicone Steamer Basket doesn't get hot to the touch, fits in any saucepan that's 8 inches or less in diameter or your Instant Pot, and easily washes clean after use.
Made of flexible, nonstick, easy-clean, and durable 100% silicone, the Kitchen Deluxe Premium Silicone Steamer Basket fits in your favorite saucepan or Instant Pot, won't scratch or damage your cookware, won't burn your hands, and won't tip or wobble during the steaming process.
When not in use, it rolls up for easy storage in a drawer, but you'll be reaching for this useful kitchen utensil over and over again.
Pros: Flexible and easy to handle, dishwasher safe, can be used in an Instant Pot
Cons: Food can get stuck in the small holes
Check price at La CourtisaneSee more great cookware buying guides
The best baking sheets
A top-quality baking sheet is easy to handle, cleans up effortlessly, and bakes food without warping or buckling.
While researching the best cookie sheets, we examined hundreds of buyer and expert reviews as well as the ratings of dozens of pans. The baking sheets included in our guide have a sturdy construction, bake foods evenly, and are simple to clean.
The best cookware sets
Whether you only cook when necessary or love nothing better than preparing something tasty in your kitchen, you need a sturdy set of cookware. Here are our favorites.
The best cast iron skillets and pans
Cast iron cookware is one of humankind's greatest gifts to itself. Almost nothing short of nuclear warfare can take it down. If you're looking for cookware to last you your whole life, you can't do any better. Here are our top picks.
Michelle Ullman Freelance Writer Michelle is a home and garden guides writer for Business Insider. She’s a freelance writer specializing in all things related to life at home. Her favorite kitchen appliance is her Crock Pot. Read more Read lessYou can purchase logo and accolade licensing to this story here.
Disclosure: Written and researched by the Insider Reviews team. We highlight products and services you might find interesting. If you buy them, we may get a small share of the revenue from the sale from our partners. We may receive products free of charge from manufacturers to test. This does not drive our decision as to whether or not a product is featured or recommended. We operate independently from our advertising team. We welcome your feedback. Email us at reviews@businessinsider.com.
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