Whether you want to improve your health or enjoy steamed food, using a steamer basket ensures hassle-free cooking. But before you get too excited and make a purchase, you should understand what features make up a good steamer basket. To help you with this cumbersome task, we have curated a complete buying guide to help you invest in the perfect steamer basket.
Steamer Basket vs Steamer Pot
A steamer basket is easier to use than a steamer pot. Steamer baskets are used mainly to steam different types of food items and retain most nutrients. On the other hand, a steamer pot is suitable for cooking Asian delicacies. You can easily store the steamer basket, owing to its collapsible structure. But the steamer pots are bulkier with a non-collapsible structure, making storage a bit more difficult.
Factors To Consider When Buying a Steamer Basket
Cooker compatibility
You cannot place the steamer basket directly on the stovetop or inside the microwave. The only way to use it is by placing the basket inside a cooking pot and letting the boiling water steam the food items. You can find a lot of different cooking pots, from pressure cookers to soup pots, large open pots, and more. You must check if the chosen steamer basket is compatible with the pots you have in your kitchen. While you can adjust its size by collapsing or expanding the petals, you need to be careful about the size range.
Flexibility
While looking through all steamer basket options, you should check if their petals are flexible or not. If they aren’t flexible enough, you will have to struggle a lot when you are expanding and collapsing their size. Similarly, if they are excessively loose, cooking will take more time and the basket might not keep the food items in place. Ultimately, your chosen product’s petals should have apt flexibility.
Material
Most steamer baskets are made from stainless steel. This is a great material because it is known for exceptional durability, longevity, and resistance to rust. Thanks to the use of alloy steel, the basket won’t show any sign of melting when exposed to high heat. A few products are manufactured from silicone and polypropylene to reduce weight and boost heat resistance. Bamboo steamer baskets are popularly used for Asian cuisine. In most cases, the handle top is made from plastic while a few products feature an entirely stainless steel handle.
Handle
The handle is one of the most important aspects of a steamer basket. It helps you by acting as to move the steamer around when it is hot, and when pushing or pulling on it you can adjust the size of the basket. When you are purchasing a steamer basket, you will want to not only make sure it has a handle, but also a removable one. A removable handle is preferred because you can take the handle off when storing the basket, which will allow you more room to store other items.
Legs and feet
All steamer baskets come with foldable legs that you can expand according to your requirements. Once the legs are erect, the basket will gain more height from the pot’s base, ensuring the food items are isolated from boiling water. In some products, the legs feature silicone-covered feet to protect the pot from scratches.
Price Range of Steamer Baskets
While steamer baskets may look the same, their prices vary between $9.80 and $22.95. For instance, Stainless steel baskets are much costlier than the ones made from silicone. Similarly, if your chosen steamer basket features a removable handle with a forklift loop, its price will be higher than others.
Applications of Steamer Baskets
While steamer baskets are used for steaming food items, they also have several other applications. For instance, you can use it as a filter to strain the liquid after boiling any food item. Similarly, you can use it to wash fruits and vegetables with ease.
