Searching for steamers 11/03/10
Laura Cooke is on a mission to find a vegetable steamer just like her mother's one. Any and all help is needed.
Who would have thought that trying to find a simple, 3-tier stainless steel stove stop vegetable steamer would be so hard?
As a vegetarian, most of us know that delicately steamed vegetables are often the most scrumptious way to cook up your meal. But, I am having a hard time trying to locate a steamer that suits my needs. ( Just like the one my mom still uses). Venturing into most stores, you’ll find loads of electric 3-tier steamers and other gadgety items that are surely just going to clog the minimal surface space I have. You’ll even find glorified colanders that you can use in a large pot.
I have tried the oh-so-trendy bamboo steamer. But, this did not work out too well. After getting frustrated with the constant water dripping onto the stove top, I developed what I thought was an ingenious way to solve the problem.
I heated up some water in a large frying pan. Then, I skillfully balanced the bamboo steamer on some carefully arranged chopstick. Everything was going swimmingly. No water dripping onto the stove and the food was cooking merrily. However, when the potatoes were finally ready – we noticed there was something a little strange about them. They had an odd reddish-purple colour and tasted a little funny. But, we persisted with the meal and thought it had something to do with the bamboo.
That was until the time came to do the dishes. As I tipped out the water from the saucepan, it ran bright red down the sink! Turns out that the chopsticks had been dyed with who-knows-what. The potatoes were infused with possibly toxic dye fumes.
That was the end of the bamboo steamer.
But, I still haven’t managed to find what I am looking for.
All I need is a simple, stainless steel 3-tier steamer.
This particular one costs 10 pounds in the UK – does anyone know a local stockist who can solve this problem?
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9 Responses to this article
I have an idea for you.
Although not a 3-tier pot, this is something a little more environmentally friendly and cooks things like rice, potatoes etc.
It’s a beanbag cooker! Bring water to the boil, add your potatoes, rice, whatever, take it off the stove, place it in this beanbag. Then let the heat retaining bag do its thing and come back 40 minutes later, and voila, cooked!
You can do this in the morning while preparing for work, and when you come back in the evening, dinner is ready.
I think it was originally developed for people who don’t have regular access to electricity, so you can be sure it works. I have a friend who bought hers from someone in Kommetjie, but here is more info should you be interested:
http://www.naturalbalancesa.com/in-the-public-eye/media-coverage/
Mmm.. this looks interesting. But I have my heart set on the stainless steel pot.
Hey Laura. I was at my fav pro am chef shop in stellies to geat a timer and I found one that your grandkids could still be using, but it’s pricey…
I guess that’s not saying much… it was just underover R2 000.
Thanks for that. I think R2 000 is a little bit on the pricey side! I am thinking of simply ordering the one from the UK via Amazon. It only costs R150 or so… not sure what the postage would be, but it’s worth a try!
Hey Laura
I think you should check out Spar first – I have a steamer like the one in the picture. I got it many years ago from Spar. Maybe they still stock them?
Success! Thanks Woolworths
http://www.woolworths.co.za/caissa.asp?Page=ITB4_RHProduct&Prod=Style_285188
I would like to purchase a food steamer with three interchangable trays same as both my previous food steamers please HELP
Hi there,
I found a two-tier steamer at Woolworths. http://www.woolworths.co.za/store/browse/product.jsp?productId=500285188 It works well, but is quite small.