Hamilton Beach Digital Food Steamer for Quick, Healthy Cooking with Stackable Two-Tier Bowls for Vegetables and Seafood plus Rice Basket, 5.5 Quart, Black & Stainless Steel

Nice product

It does not come with a converter . Cannot use it in Indian conditions. Asked for a return but refused. Total waste of money .

Overall, I like it, and it's built well, but it does have some problems. The design adds features that actually make it less usable. I bought this to replace an old Rival steamer that was simpler and much better designed.On the plus side, it heats up quickly, and having two tiers is convenient. Those are two areas where it is better than the old Rival.On the negative side... The control logic is poor. Yes, it has a timer and a computer. But that doesn't provide any value, except to slow down use of the product. You have to press buttons once it's plugged in to start it. The "warm" and "delay" features don't make any sense and aren't safe. You shouldn't leave food sitting around waiting to cook in this thing, and why would you, as it heats up to steam in about 3 minutes. Likewise, you can't safely leave cooked food in it without the steam running. To do that makes it an incubator, not a cooker.Next problem is also a bit safety related, in that the water container for the steam has inaccessible areas for the water level display that are impossible to mechanically clean. You can only rinse that out, indirectly, by repeatedly filling the bottom unit and emptying it. If you live in a mold prone area, this is going to be a problem. Water level sensing either shouldn't be done, or it should be done without hidden areas for water to flow into.Next problem is that the food trays are difficult to clean because of all of the crevices and sharp corners. For vegetables that don't leave much if any residue, this is fine. If you have a dishwasher, it's fine. But I wouldn't suggest purchasing this for meat or fish use unless you have a dishwasher. Simple flat trays with holes and little bumps would have been so much better. And easier to make. Just because you can build goofy things in cad doesn't mean you should.Finally, the water container and the overall size is a bit small.All that said, now that the Rival isn't made anymore, this is the best option for a countertop steamer that I've found. It's marginally better than using a stainless or bamboo steamer over a pot, because it's marginally more convenient and it saves a burner.

This item is not intended for use in the UK!It is rated at120Volts and not the 230/40Volts we us in the UK.Comes with a two pin American (moulded) plug. If you were to remove this to put a three pin plug on you invalidate your warranty and would be dangerous!!!!

Does the job well. Bought this in Jan 2013 and use it almost daily for many types of dishes - frozen or fresh fish (salmon), frozen dim sum, frozen dumplings, fresh veggies, reheating leftovers... Except for rice which I believe is better done in a dedicated rice cooker. But you can do rice in the supplied rice tray. I really like it for leftovers because they revive nicely moist and juicy, rather than getting tougher and dried out from a pan or even the microwave.Bottom line is it works quite well. But it's not perfect, as others have pointed out. Yet I feel the positives outweigh the negatives considering its price.Problems I've had after two years: the plastic lid has cracked across one half through the air vent and the removable tray piece is beginning to crack in many places and starting to feel a bit more flimsy. My area has hard water and calcium buildup on the heating element is inevitable. If I'm too lazy to clean it, it will lengthen cooking time and possibly evenness. If possible I try not to cook directly on the trays, as some food residue is annoying to clean (I hand wash these). Salmon filets I put on a flat plate, steamed meat buns on a perforated steamer tray because the buns tended to get soggy on the plastic tray itself as water accumulates there. Dim sum and dumplings I cook on a piece of perforated wax paper, otherwise they'll stick to the tray and tear. (I fold a sheet of wax paper into roughly a 1" square and clip the corners) It's best to clean the trays, including the drip tray, promptly, otherwise food residue will harden, requiring a re-steaming or soaking in water. If cooking anything with meat and oils, the water in the drip tray will turn grungy pretty quickly! Maybe this goes without saying, but cooking another meal while there is grungy water in the drip tray will affect the taste of the meal...It appears replacement parts are available on the Hamilton Beach US site and am waiting to hear back if it's possible to buy these from the Canadian site too. But considering the parts prices, it might just be better to buy another entire unit and keep it in reserve. While this product is still listed in Canada, it appears to have been replaced by a new, possibly slightly smaller steamer on the US site (it's also available in Canada), which has me wondering how much longer this model will remain available. That said, the new unit appears to have some refinements, such as refilling the water reservoir without having to remove the trays, which is handy when the water runs low in the middle of cooking a meal.

**Edit 9/2015: this thing is still going strong after 4+ years of being used at least once a week, usually more often. The only problem I had was the lid handle cracking off but a little Gorilla Glue healed that right up. It now looks like something with 4+ years of use but still works like brand new. However, I was shocked at a recent price ($70+) I saw, which is way more than I paid. Turns out there is a newer model at nearer the much more reasonable price I paid and it looks like exactly the same specs, just with a bit of restyling. Still loving this thing and still haven't seen anything to compete with it for a price in the $40 range. End edit.**I went shopping for a microwave steamer and was astonished at how much they cost. I'd had a stovetop steamer in the past but it seemed like too much hassle to drag out, use, clean and put up that I just didn't use it. I stumbled across this thing for less than many microwave steamers with less capacity, read the reviews and bought it. It is right up there with a microwave and a food processor as one of the very best food prep items I've ever owned. Seriously. Jump on the web and look for steam recipes and you'll find a whole world of extremely easy meals you can put together. I've never been any good at preparing fish or lobster tails, but those days are over. I've discovered all kinds of tweaks on steamed meatballs using ground turkey, pork or chicken (or combining them). Add ginger and sesame oil and you have an Asian take, add rosemary and oregano and garlic and you have more of an Italian take. Get premade turkey meatballs and add nothing to them, just grab a little orange or teriyaki sauce from the ethnic section of your grocery as a dip. Need a little more bulk? Steam up a pack of Shirataki noodles and mix them in with your other goodies when the steaming is done.Veggies - pretty much anything goes. One of my current favorites is poblano and banana peppers steamed with spicy Italian sausage. Tilapia filets steamed on a layer of lemon slices over a layer of asparagus are awesome. Cauliflower, broccoli, beans, corn on the cob, you name it.Cleanup is too easy...just a quick hot water rinse and then stick the parts in the dish drainer. When steaming meats, I cut a little piece of parchment paper for the meat to sit on to avoid getting it stuck to the steamer. (Parchment paper is mostly for baking and is in the same section as plastic wrap, wax paper, foil, etc.) I'm a single guy so I usually run the dishwasher once a week; I throw the steamer parts (except the base, obviously) in there and that is literally all the washing I do.For me, this thing is all about ease, convenience, introducing new food into my routine without a bunch of prep work or cleanup, and weight control. I like to eat a lot. I lost around 80 pounds a few years ago with Weight Watchers but I have to keep watching it. Things work out a lot better for me if I pig out on steamed shrimp and snow peas with Thai peanut dipping sauce vs. Fettucini Alfredo with Grandma's Broccoli Casserole (8 parts cheese to 1 part broccoli, bless her heart). Don't get me wrong, I love Fettucini Alfredo and broccoli casserole. I just know what they'll do to me.This thing starts steaming almost immediately which is very cool. The ability to set it to start at a later time is good stuff; the automatic pullback to stay-warm mode is very good stuff. The only negative I can think of is that the manufacturer says to only use water for steaming. I've seen recipes that call for beer. So far I'm enjoying the heck out of this thing just using tap water.

Very good Food Steamer