Secura 3-Tier 6-Quart Stainless Steel Electric Food Cooker Rice Steamer, w/ Steam360 technology S-324

Secura 3-Tier 6-Quart Stainless Steel Electric Food Cooker Rice Steamer, w/ Steam360 technology S-324

Love this Steamer
Update on February 13, 2013. This steamer is amazing and the most used appliance in our kitchen. I steam whole grains in it, reheat food, cook vegetables - it's a true winner and highly recommended.

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I was waiting for more of you to review this steamer but then I was too curious to wait. We have really loved our Oster steamer but we are severly uncomfortable with the plastic components. I have been looking for over a year for another steamer that is BPA free/plastic free. The steamer arrived yesterday and we tried it out right away. I filled it with warm/hot tap water, and it steamed beautifully. The stainless steel bowls are neat. We bought this as an "intermediary" device until more healthy steamers come on the market. They could have added a few things to make this steamer perfect: water tank for 90 min. steaming; ability to add water while steaming; timer that allows steaming at future time; Keeping warm component -...

No BPA / plastic issues to worry about
The single best thing about this steamer is that there's no need to worry about plastics (even plastics marketed as BPA-free may leach chemicals that mimic estrogen). I looked high and low on Amazon and this is pretty much the only electric steamer not made out of plastic. FYI, I purchased the 9-quart version (9" diameter, 2.5" deep pans). While we're happy to have the larger one for the steaming capacity, it's a bit hard to find storage space when it's not in use.

Pros:
* No plastics (the "hard plastic heating element" mentioned in the other reviews looks and feel like ceramic to me - which is a common material for heating elements).
* The insert pans are optional, so if you have items that are taller than 2.5", you can add another layer and leave out the pan.
* Heats up pretty quickly, and steams all three layers well.
* Simple operation (mechanical dial to set the steam duration).
* Easy to clean, including the water reservoir. The various...

Stainless steel and a lot of stainless steel !!!!
The best thing I love about this food steamer is ... needless to say, Stainless Steel. The steam baskets are all made of stainless steel, the housing is stainless steel and the water tank is stainless steel!! My previous food steamer, while still functioning, are all plastic, even the water reservoir. Well, I am pretty sure they are safe to use and the manufacturers probably claim the contamination level is well below limit. But have they considered how many other different sources we are in contact with plastics and other contamination. When come in food, it is better to be safe than sorry, and stainless steel is proven to be safe. This is why we bought this stainless steel food steamer. We love steamed vegi, but not comfortable to use our old plastic steamer.
This new stainless steel steamer have not let us down. It is actually more powerful and steams faster. Filling with warm tap water, it steams within 20 secs, pretty amazing. Cold tap water takes a bit longer to boil...

Package includes: Steamer base, 3 steam basket sets, see through lid, heater cap.

• Stainless steel steam basket preserves the original flavor of the food and nutrients, along with being safe to cook with.
• 3 tier 6 quart, removable steam basket(D: 8", H: 2.375"), easy to cook in and serve from, and is dishwasher safe for cleaning.
• Use hot or cold tap water, generates steam in less than 15 seconds, letting food to start cooking immediately, automatically shuts off if the water gets too low.
• Cooks variety of food in the three steam baskets at the same time without the undesirable mixing of flavors.
• Cooks entire meal within 30 minutes. Model # S-324.