Hellobee Boards

Believe it or not, when I married my husband and moved abroad, one of the kitchen appliances he had was a standalone steamer. I used that thing to death, it was such a wonderful thing to have, as we didn't have a microwave (so no microwave steaming). Our oven was also tiny, so it was nice to be able to make the vegetables and steam potatoes together. I even used to do fish in there!

I am actually in the market to get a replacement as we left it behind when we relocated.

I don't use a electric steamer but bamboo and stainless steel ones. I use it to steam fish, make Asian food, when LO was younger I steamed veggies. For steaming rice just soak the rice overnight and it will in no time flat.

We have one that goes on top of the rice cooker. For some reason it doesn't switch to warm (from steam) when the veggies are done, so it sort of defeats the purpose for you.

It's a cuisinart rice cooker.

If it's also a rice cooker, I have to say, I was shocked how much I love that thing.

I HATE appliances with one purpose that take up a ton of space, but DH brought a rice cooker with him when he moved it, and it's SO much better than trying to perfectly cook rice on the stove top. I love that we can set it and forget it.

@MsLipGloss: I think that's a great idea...i usually have the main course sorted, but when I was facing a pile of pots and pans last night, I figured there had to be a better way to handle the sides, particularly starchy ones, like potatoes and rice.

I use my food processor a lot! It really speeds things up if i'm slicing or dicing.

@MsLipGloss: I pretty much exclusively buy frozen veggies! haha. I was tired of dealing with things going bad. I buy the steam-in-the-bag but I've also popped them in the microwave with a bit of water in a glass bowl, covered.

@MsLipGloss: We do the steam basket in the pot method but I LIVE on steaming. I steam everything so I'm actually interested in that steaming machine! (wow I said "steam" way too many times here).