Seeking advice on bamboo tiered steamers

ajax041813

Hey all! We don't own a microwave, simply because it takes up a lot of counter space and I'd rather use my other appliances! I also do a lot of batch cooking so I end up steaming things to reheat them. I recently (five minutes ago) found out that tiered steamers are a thing and after looking on amazon I found bamboo tiered steamers to be very popular and highly rated. This is ideal for us as I could reheat rice/beans in one tier and steam frozen veggies in another. Does anyone own one and use it often? Have any brand recommendations? Any other bits of advice for steaming foods?

I do find that the food doesn't stay warm for very long and I'm not sure how to address it. My husband and I both will get about halfway through and our meals are cold. I don't want to eat faster for obvious reasons, but I'd like to enjoy my entire dinner warm. Any thoughts on this?

Thanks in advance MFP!! Feel free to add me as a friend too! I could use all the support I can get!

Mezzie1024

I use a tiered steamer (metal) to make rice noodles from scratch. That's really all I use it for... I have a basket steamer for veggies that I can use in any pot and another basket steamer for my rice cooker. If you steam a lot of food, though, I could see it being handy. I love mine even though I've only ever made one thing with it.

flyingfur74

If you have a Chinatown where you are, go there to buy the bamboo steamers. More likely to be inexpensive. My mom used them a lot when I was growing up steaming dim sum and all.

RuNaRoUnDaFiEld

I hated mine, it was a nightmare to clean it and after a few uses I stopped using it. I now use a metal version and love it.

litoria

I prefer the metal version too, easier to clean, they can stack like the bamboo version. I use mine every day

ajax041813

Thanks for the feed back. I read they can be hard to clean. I was thinking about using parchment on the bottom to make for easier clean up. I have a metal one now that I've had for about 10 years. The flaps are falling off so I need a new one. I do steam foods daily, on weekends sometimes more than once. I like the tiered idea so I could steam frozen veggies separate from say rice. Right now I just put the veggies in first then the rice and deal with it all being together. The only metal tiered ones I saw only had one steamer basket and one double boiler. I would LOVE to have two steamer baskets. Hmm, I'll have to keep looking. Easy clean up is a must and finding a metal one would mean eliminating the use of parchment paper. Thanks for all the feedback!

middlehaitch

I used the bamboo ones decades ago. Balanced over a wok of steaming water.

If you want to use them to warm up things like rice or steam frozen veg, put the food in a shallow bowl that is 1/2 inch a at least away from the side of the steamer.
Food parcelled in parchment paper would probably work too.
The steam has to travel upwards to warm everything.
Stack so the things that need most heat, frozen veg are at the bottom so they get more heat faster.
As for your food cooling fast on your plate. Make sure your food is thoroughly heated all the way through. Steamers can be slow.
Put your plates on the top steamer to warm them. A couple of minutes for each plate.

You will get the best buy in a Chinatown where they are used to warm the buns and small food bundles (sat on greaseproof paper to save on clean up) for dim sum.
The food itself isn't supposed to be placed on the bamboo.


Cheers, h.

xmaplegunmanx

I have a bamboo steamer and a metal one. Honestly I hate my bamboo steamer. All the veggie taste like wood and the parchment didn't help with that at all. It was also a pain to clean because the wood isn't "finished" it's really rough and hard to wash. Honestly, the metal steamer is way better in my opinion but I only have the one level. And I've only ever had to steam one thing at a time so maybe the convenience will make it worth the pain to clean part!

girlinahat

I actually like the taste of using a bamboo steamer, but struggle to use one in conjunction with a wok or anything. I recently bought a new metal steamer - it has two tiers and a reasonable sized base saucepan, so sometimes I boil potatoes in the bottom, then do veggies on top, adding at different times according to the cooking needs of the veg. I love it. I also have a flapped basket thing, which I don't use much. Most of the metal steamers I see for sale are the ones with 2 steamer tiers.

I've not noticed veg getting cold quickly - although this is something I DO notice when microwaving veg (no idea why)

angelexperiment

What about a toaster oven? Steamer foo can tend to cool fast so I put a lid on and put in oven to retain heat. I used to use a warming pad or hot plate

ajax041813

I have a regular oven, no room for a toaster oven.