Norpro 1963 Bamboo Steamer, One Size

Excellent. Works perfectly

I purchased 4 2-tier bamboo steamers. They were reasonably priced and appeared virtually identical to another higher priced bamboo steamer. The steamers arrived in excellent condition and were put into service immediately. There was a recipe on the box for steamed pork dumplings which sounded yummy but I haven't tried to make dim sum yet. There were also instructions on how to care for the steamers. However, I purchased the bamboo steamers primarily as storage containers. Martha Stewart recommended using bamboo steamers as a much prettier way of storing vegetables and fruits, onions, potatoes, peaches, etc. that don't require refrigeration. Keeping produce in brown bags looks tacky. I placed two of the steamers in the garden window right over my sink. If you don't have a lot of shelf space, you can stack the baskets into a 3 or 4 basket tower. The other 2 steamers will be used in the pantry for the same purpose. The only limitation I have encountered in using the steamers for storage is that the produce can't be oversized, larger produce fits easily in the top basket with cover but only small to medium size produce fits into the other baskets.Fortunately, I like small potatoes, apricots, etc ... And, yes, I do plan on making dim sum some day.

I know there are lots of choices, but this has turned out to be my favorite over the years because of the depth of the area where the vegies go. The one like this I had from before just gave out. It was at least 30 years old. The other set I have will last a long time also, but it holds maybe 1/2 as much, which is o.k. sometimes, but it won't even hold a whole head of broccoli. Sometimes I stack as many as 4 or more things at a time so the depth is really important to me. I can't afford to use 2 baskets for 1 item. I put whatever will take the longest on the bottom and so forth all the way up. It can get really complicated, and then things often end up in my cast iron wok. So I really need even steaming. I really love these baskets in combination with more like them or other baskets if you get stuck with those with less depth.

I haven't stopped using this product since it showed up at my door. In looking for a way to cook delicious food without turning my oven on during the hotter months, I turned to the steamer. It is incredibly simple and easy to use. I can cook all my courses in this vessel while only turning on one burner in my house. Fish, vegetables, and any kind of dumpling you can imagine fit easily within the layers. I use parchment paper when cooking things that I imagine would stick and that has made clean up a breeze. The only concern I had was storage as I have limited space in my cupboards, but I have found that separating the pieces have made it that much more storage friendly. So far it seems to be durable after fairly heavy use. A quality product that no kitchen should be without.

Perhaps it was my fault since the website does NOT specify size. I assumed, wrongly, that I was ordering 6-inch steamers. Instead, I got 10-inch baskets which I did not want. Looking at the website again, it does not give the dimensions. In any event, I am stuck with them since it does not pay to return this low-priced item.Moreover, I was disappointed to see that bright metal (copper?) staples, not shown on illustration, are used to hold the bamboo. I've been using bamboo steamers for 60 years from my early days in the Far East and never, never had seen metal used as a binding and wouldn't have wanted any.Nota Bene: Amazon later did the right thing upon my complaint and refunded the total cost. Cheers to Amazon.

Until it let go where lid tied. Should have glued it. Don't know if replacement will be identical.Update: New one not identical - original had several strands tying sides together, this one has a single strand. Strand holding cover together was already broken - could have caught on edge of box when inserted. Returned for replacement. The saga continues.

Cheap. Does the job well. Exactly what you would expect to buy from a store in chinatown. Probably wont last a life time or hold up with consistent use, but it will do a great job for the home chef. I've used this to steam dumplings and vegetables, and they have turned out great each time.Make sure you follow the directions and soak the pieces in water for an hour before using it. Also, keep the bamboo hidrated every now and then if you are storing it for long periods of time.

Great product! Incredibly good bargain too. This is a major improvement on a simpler design i have that lets smaller food chunks fall between the slats. This one is well and thoughtfully made, space btwn slats is narrow and slats stay in place. Outer ring has a thick enough wall to fit a variety of pots if youre like me and set it on the rim of a pot (rather than in a wok, etc). Whoever complained that it needs to be soaked for an hour before each use is clearly not eating enough vegetables for a clear mind, as the package clearly specifies that soaking in water for an hour before First use is recommended.

I like this streamer and use it all the time. But.....then I was buying groceries and saw a big selection of cheaper bamboo steamers at the Asian grocery store. Thats probably where I will buy my next one.