Zojirushi EJ-PC50 Gourmet Food Steamer

This is the only steamer I have experience with so I don't know if it's better or worse then others. It cooks decent rice in less time than a Zojirushi Neuro Fuzzy rice cooker which I also own. Rice cooker results are more predictable and you can make a lot of rice in a large rice cooker. The steamer is less sophisticated but if you only cook 2-3 cups of rice, this steamer is all you need. Vegetables come out very good but you need to watch them, because every vegetable requires different cooking time. Overall I like this steamer but these are some negatives: 1) If you steam a lot of vegetables the bottom water collection tray may overflow. 2) In summer time in hot and humid climate, more steam in the kitchen is the last thing you want. 3) When I use a tray for steaming fish, it collects water, and fish sometimes comes out boiled rather than steamed. Regardless of the above, this is a good way to prepare food and sometimes the only way.

This is a neat kitchen tool...easy to use and clean! I've used it several times for steaming green beans and I will probably use it only for steaming veggies, rice and other food that don't have a strong smell (Asian dumplings and buns, custard, etc). I'd be a little wary of cooking fish in it just because the "fish" smell may be difficult to wash off.

For the price, and for the ease of cleanup alone, this steamer is fabulous. I have used the "fan" inserts for pots over the last 200 years (so it seems), and bought this steamer as part of my ongoing effort to build the ultimate kitchen in the small space that I now have availabe. I figured that a plug in appliance like this would free up a burner for a real pot.

Wow! So far, I have used it for broccolli, asparagus, carrots, green beans, eggs, and fish. It is so far ahead of the pot inserts in terms of speed and quality of the finished product, that the two do not even remotely compare. One reviewer had a problem with brown rice. I have not tried to cook brown rice with it yet, but I know that rice needs a lot of water. This may not be the best machine for brown rice. A dedicated rice cooker might be the answer here. On the other hand, if you want PERFECTLY steamed veggies of any variety, even two or three at a time, and want them done to order with a bell to indicate that it's...Read more