Aroma Housewares 5-Quart Food Steamer, Stainless Steel

Exceptionally well-designed and well thought-out product. The plastic is BPA-free, or so the manufacturer claims. The plastic parts are not the clear brittle type like I have seen on other steamers, they are soft and opaque, similar to Tupperware, and seem very unlikely to crack or break.Boneless skinless chicken and broccoli could not be easier. I marinate the chicken in some olive oil, garlic, salt and soy sauce for a few hours. Put the chicken in the bottom tray and steam for 10 minutes, then add broccoli to the top tray and steam for 10 more minutes. Everything is tender and perfectly cooked. Steamed chicken breast turns out moister than you could ever get by grilling.The design allows the chicken fat and oils to collect in the "drip tray" away from the heating element. The actual heating element is located in the bottom most section where the water reservoir sits. This water stays clean, which avoids a lot of unpleasant clean-up. Drip tray is black plastic, which avoids staining. It's still a good idea to drain the water from the reservoir when you're finished cooking, but that's all I have found I need to do, other than rinse off the trays.About the only downside is that there's no way I can see to cook rice, but I plan to experiment with that, as it's my understanding that older models of this steamer came with a rice bowl. Also, the timer is a little noisy, sounds a little like the "60 Minutes" stopwatch ticking away.But all in all, this is one of the best designed products I have bought in quite some time. I've only had it three days now, so I can't vouch for long term durability, but it's such a simple product, the only things I could see possibly breaking are the timer or the heating element.

I have cooked some of those frozen steamer bags and the vegetables were tasteless and rubbery. So I thought I would absolutely hate all steamed veggies. One day we ate at Cracker Barrel and I had steamed broccoli and it was fabulous. I came home, did research on brands and decided on this one which was in the top 3 of my research. The no. 1 steamer was way too expensive, the no. 2 was a Hamilton Beach. Found it here but it wasn't the model that was BPA-Free (if the model #ends in "Z" it's supposed to be BPA-Free, the one on Amazon ends in an "A". Another reviewer said they called Hamilton Beach, and they said both the "Z" and the "A" were NOT BPA-Free!!! So I went with the no. 3 of the top 10 steamers, and that was THIS ONE HERE, The Aroma 5 Quart.I received it, and immediately washed it, and put in raw broccoli, cauliflower, and baby carrots. In 18 minutes it was done, and I had the best steamed vegetables I've ever eaten. I just put a little butter (not margarine, ugh) and a little salt and ate until I was stuffed. It was heavenly! Perfectly steamed, tender, flavorful, and I know nutritious since nothing was boiled or cooked out. I wish I had this years ago. And, clean up was a snap. You can put the top parts in the dishwasher, but it was so easy to just wash by hand, and I didn't want to take the chance my dishwasher's heating/drying element might warp it, even though it said dishwasher safe.I'm in love!!!!!!

This is a wickedly simple and clever design. It is as easy to clean as imaginable. There are four plastic pieces that sit on top of each other. They unstack so that they can be cleaned with no area that can trap bacteria. You don't even need a spoon to remove the items. Just take the top and side rail off and tip over the plate where they rest. This is very convenient for steamed vegetable medley, which I eat every day. A review said the plastic warps. No matter, no steam vents. We are just used to gaskets and tight seals - this has none to go bad over time, to trap bacteria; there are none necessary. It even uses an old-school mechanical timer rather than a digital one. This simplicity of design is why it costs less than other models. Even though I have a nice stainless steamer set, I prefer to use this as I don't have to worry about burning down my house because I forgot I was making lunch.My only complaint is it is hard to get a grip on the timer dialto turn it counterclockwise (off). If my hands are wet, I use pliers which I keep in my kitchen anyway.

Overall I like this steamer the old one I had I believe was an Oster simple 2 tier steamer, had the base and 2 steaming containers with a lid and it lasted me almost 7 years. I like this steamer but there are multiple parts to assemble. Other then that it works great, I have not had an issue with the outer ring bending it is a softer plastic but does have some durability to it. I am a hand washer when it comes to my dishes I saw the one review with the bent ring not sure if they use a dishwasher or not so that may make a difference.

The first time I used it, it seemed to take forever to create steam. A bit alarmed, I took a look a look at the manual and realized that I needed to put the heating element cover over the heating element. No other electric steamer I've used in the past has ever used or needed this part. And, when I had opened up the packaging, I had assumed that the heating element cover was some kind of flavor infusing component.Once I had the heating element cover in place, the product seemed to steam up fairly quickly.The plastic trays and cover seem to be made of a fairly rugged and durable plastic.Interestingly, the plastic parts don't lock together, so it's a bit disconcerting, but it works fine and you get used to it.My one criticism at this point is that the dial knob is black against a back background, so it's a bit awkward to visually confirm that I've set it correctly. Make the knob a slightly different color from the background so that it's easier to see what you've set it to.So far, I'm happy with it. Will try to update this review if any issues arise..