Oster Rice Cooker Steamer - Double Stack Steamer
I bought the Oster 10 cup rice cooker and steamer so I could cook some healthier meals with steam rather than with oil in the frying pan. The Oster steamer is a double dish model, so I envisioned tossing in the food, kicking back and having a healthy dinner waiting. That is basically how it works, so that's good.
It's an Electric Steamer
The Oster double steamer is an electric plug in rice cooker/steamer. Alternatives include buying a stovetop steamer pan or a steamer insert to go in a pot you already own. Tupperware also makes a microwave steamer. Actually I have all those items, so I didn't technically NEED an electric steamer.
Oster Steamer Out of the Box
The Oster has a base which makes the steam. It's super fast. Steam in seconds. Quite amazing.
Inside the base is the heating element. There is a sleeve to go around that. It's a safety feature I'm sure, because the heater element has to get really hot to make all the steam that pours out of this steaming machine. The sleeve comes out. The steamer won't work, unless you put it back in there.
There's a drip pan that goes on top of the base unit and over the safety sleeve. It catches the excess water and any drips. It can get pretty full, so be careful when emptying that.
The base holds the water. There's a hole to the right hand side where you add water. There are marks to show the lowest and highest levels of water to include. Just fill it up to the high mark. You just pour off the extra water afterwards anyway. That prevents refilling if you have a long steaming dish in there.
It is hard to see the marks on that show the low and high. I have to get down real close to see them. They are kind of clear lines on clear plastic. I know from using the Oster that it will hold around 6 cups of water. I don't really measure, but I do fill three times with my two cup measuring cup close to the amount of two cups each time.
On the base is the timer. It starts at 5 minutes. Then there's an up arrow to add more minutes. Just press until you get the number of minutes you want. Then press the on button. That's it. Again, very easy.
When the time is up, the Oster steamer beeps — pretty loud too. It then shifts into warm mode, so if you happen to miss the beep, your food stays warm.
The Oster Steamer Baskets and Rice Dish
There are two stackable steamer baskets with the Oster steamer. Then there's a lid. You can use either basket or both. The lid fits both baskets, so you can stack with the big basket on the top or the bottom.
Also included in a rice dish. Rather than having holes like the steamer baskets, it's a solid container. It will fit in the big or small basket. It's good for cooking rice, of course, but also frozen vegetables especially small vegetables like corn or lima beans.
I do wish that the Oster steamer had two rice dishes, because that does stop dripping from level to level. That isn't an issue with some foods but is with others. It's OK to use an ovenproof dish though, but it has to be the right size which is kind of an odd size.
Cooking in the Oster Rice Cooker Steamer
Coordinating meals turned out to be more difficult than I expected with the Oster steamer. Different foods need to steam for different times. I can add a second level after starting the bottom level but must figure out the times and keep track to time out full meals.
Rice has been the biggest challenge which is surprising, since the Oster is advertised as a rice cooker. The first few times I made rice, it was cooked but floating in water. The water amounts listed in the booklet are too high.
Vegetable — both fresh and frozen — are fabulous in the steamer. I've been eating a lot of broccoli. It turns out perfect every time. I also love to put Bird's Eye veggie mixes in the rice bowl. Very nice and tasty.
Seafood is great in the steamer. Chicken is good. Other meats are not so great. Beef and pork look kind of gray when steam cooked.
Oster Cuts Corners on the Booklet
The booklet that comes with the Oster steamer is very disappointing. It does list times for basic foods. But times aren't all that accurate. The rice is way off for example. But that's the amount of water really — not the cooking time.
There are no real recipes in the Oster steamer booklet. And it sure doesn't include any information on steaming full meals like you'd hope to do with a double steamer.
I even checked the Oster website. They had a very few recipes for the steamer — under 10 I think. You'd think they'd hire someone to play around with their machines and come up with helpful recipes.
Using Google I find that folks do ask about Oster steamer recipes. The responses are usually along the lines of: "Stick something in and steam it." Come on. There must be some great dishes to make in the steamer and also nice coordinating foods to double steam.
I'm working on it, and I'll post some recipes when I come up with some really good ones.
Safety with the Rice Cooker Steamer by Oster
The Oster steamer really does get hot and puts off a lot of steam. It's so steamy, I can't really see the food inside. That's kind of disappointing. I thought I would be able to see the food and gauge whether it was ready or not. Not the case.
Do not put the steamer under your cabinets or you'll mess them up with all that heat and steam.
Also be careful taking off the lid. Tilt away from your face rather than toward your face. The handles don't really get hot, but the escaping steam is super hot.
Unplug the Oster when you're done. Otherwise, the warmer is on. Then let it cool before washing. The baskets lift off and cool pretty quick. Give the base with the drip pan more time to cool down.
Benefits of Electric Steaming
The benefits of buying an electric steamer are several.
First I'd say that the Oster electric is on a timer. Once you nail the times, you put the food in, set the minutes and forget it. The steamer cooks. You eat. Very convenient. I like that.
The Oster also has an automatic warmer, so if you don't time everything just right or aren't ready to eat immediately, then that's not problem either. We often get sidetracked around here and eat later than planned.
If you're cooking other foods on top of the stove, it's good to have an electric steamer. You can do the rice or vegetables to the side and have all your range space to do whatever you plan to do for dinner.
Finally, the Oster is super easy to clean up. Since the food is steamed, there's no grease or oil. The machine comes apart too, so it takes very little time to have it as clean as new.
All in all, the Oster steamer is a good kitchen tool. I like it, but I'm sure I'll like it even better after I've had more time to play around with recipes.
