Bests & Worsts Reviews from Amazon

I've had this steamer for about a month and I really like it so far. It is easy to use and to clean. I like that the main cook area is made from glass with a stainless steel insert. I haven't seen any evidence of rusting at all on the insert yet. The insert seems kind of thin, it is not as thickly made as I was expecting, but it also seems to be sturdy enough to last a while so it shouldn't be an issue. I haven't had any bending issues on it. It's not that thin. The glass dish is thick. I doubt it is made from high quality glass like Corningware, but it should last with care not to drop it. The cook area on the steam tray is approx 11 3/4 x 7 inches just to give an idea of how much space you have. One of the big reasons I purchased this product is because I was concerned about cooking vegetables in plastic. I've read that there are more concerns past bpa so even if plastic is bpa free there may be more dangers. There just haven't been enough studies so far to say bpa-free plastic is completely safe to cook in. This unit was the only one I was able to find that appeared to be made of safe materials so I took the plunge. Something I really don't like is the fact that the place the water is cooked (in the base of the unit) is completely housed and inaccessible to the user. I wanted to verify that the area the water is cooked in is made of stainless steel. In the manual all I could find as a description was that the base had brushed stainless steel housing. To me that means that the external shiny stuff is stainless steel. It could be interpreted as what is inside the unit as well. It is not completely clear. I attempted to unscrew the bottom in order to open the base and see what was inside, but all the plastic is snapped together which made it near impossible to get in there. I gave up on that, not wanting to destroy my steamer. There are lots of air vents in the bottom and I was able to sort of look inside and see a large metal plate which could have been where the water is stored, or it could have been just a protective plate to guard electronics. The fact that the language they use about the material the water cooks in is so fuzzy is very concerning, as is the inaccessibility of it. There is an additional 1 liter reservoir of water stored in a plastic housing at the back of the unit. It is easily removed and refilled during cooking. If the water runs low you will hear a slow continuous beep and a low water warning on the display. You simply pull off the reservoir, unscrew the cap to fill it with water and when you put it back in there is a plastic push-pin that automatically releases the water into the base. I've been able to cook about three things in a row before having to refill, so it lasts a little while. The tube that carries the steam from the base unit to the place where the food is at is also made of some rubberized material and plastic. So if you are super-strict with how much contact steam has with those things this will be a strike against this product. I decided to hope that the area where the water is cooked is actually in that metal housing. That means that the remaining concerns are the tube the air passes through and the reservoir the water sits in at the back of the unit. If you empty the water every time you cook with it that should limit the amount of leeching of weird plastic stuff into the water, but that is so inconvenient I never really empty the water. The convenience of the cooker is what is having me eat vegetables. I'm not sure how motivated I would be to cook healthy for myself without this convenience. So I am ignoring the faults of the unit for the benefit of a much higher quality of food than the likely fast food I would be eating. It makes me feel better that at least the food is sitting on stainless steel while cooking. How bad is steamed air that comes in contact with plastic and rubber? I don't know. In the manual they have cook times for various vegetables, seafood and chicken. One of my favorite things to cook in this steamer is potatoes. If diced in 1 inch cubes it takes about 20 minutes and they turn out great! Something that annoys me about this unit is the beeping. I don't know why manufacturers don't add the ability to turn the noise off, but I work night shifts so I am concerned about the beeping waking up my roommate. If you are using this in the day time you shouldn't have issues. It is loud enough to hear in another room but not so loud to wake the dead I suppose. But if you want silence you are out of luck. It beeps when you start it up, when you make a selection, and when it's done. And I think there is one more beep when it shuts itself off after some minutes of inactivity. Beep, beep, beep. Arg. I was hoping to put some tape over an audio port but I think the noise is coming out of all of those vents in the bottom and you can't tape those over without overheating the entire unit which would likely be some sort of fire hazard. The convenience is what has me using this over and over. I don't have to stand over a stove and worry about my food. I toss potatoes on, walk away, and when they are done toss on my veggies. If I wanted I could use the pause button after a certain number of minutes are done and then toss on more food that requires less cook time. If there is calcium build up in the steam tube they have a descaling method using white vinegar and water and cooking that solution until it disappears. I haven't had to do that yet. The digital display is pretty basic to understand and use. Hit the start button to wake it up. Scroll the wheel until you get to what you want to cook. In my case it is almost always vegetables. After you click on that you scroll the wheel for the time to cook and press the start button. The time is in 30 second intervals. It will not give you precisely the amount of seconds you want. But that is probably unnecessary for a steamer. The pros are that this is VERY convenient and easy to clean. I would give this 5 stars if the entire unit were made of safe materials and if they adjusted the volume of the beeping.