Hamilton Beach Complete Meal Food Steamer, 5.5-Quart
Last updated: December 13, 2022
We looked at the top Food Steamers and dug through the reviews from some of the most popular review sites. Through this analysis, we've determined the best Food Steamer you should buy.
Product Details
In our analysis of 48 expert reviews, the Hamilton Beach Complete Meal Food Steamer, 5.5-Quart placed 12th when we looked at the top 13 products in the category. For the full ranking, see below.Expert Reviews
What reviewers liked
This unit has a digital screen where you can set the timer or even use the delayed-start function, which is unique to this steamer. The size of the unit was just right for any countertop. It's big enough to accommodate a fair amount of food but not cumbersome.
One extraordinary safety feature of this steamer is that it warns the user when the water level in the bowl is low. The steamer will turn off and start beeping. You will see this display ‘- -‘. The great thing is that you do not have to open the steamer to refill the water. Just pull out the water drawer. You can also keep a check on the water level. When filled, you can securely switch on the steamer and continue cooking.
This 5 1/2-quart electric steamer has two tiers that stack for cooking then nest for more compact storage, so it’s both large and small. You can use just one tier for cooking when you don’t have as much food to cook, or use both tiers when you’re cooking for a crowd. The tiers have a removable center divider, so you can keep the broccoli from frolicking with the carrots, or remove the divider to cook a large filet of fish.
The basket gets nested inside one another to save space and will require a little space inside your cabinet.
Cleanup can be done easily—you can take away the bowl and the tray which are dishwasher-friendly. The entire ensemble feels durable and substantial.
If durability and affordability are what you look for in an electric steamer, then the 37530A 5.5-quart food steamer is the unit to go for. This electric vegetable steamer will make your mealtime more exciting and your plate more nutritionally-balanced. Use it to steam a variety of foods including delicate fish, clams, oysters, mussels, hot dogs, and chicken breasts.
- Ah Joo
Hamilton Beach always delivers high kitchen appliances, and this one isn’t an exception. It has excellent features that ease the operation. The automatic warm enables food to remain hot while digital touchpad control panel allows convenient menu setting. Furthermore, the water level indicator alerts you when water is running low to avoid running dry.
The Hamilton Beach steamer comes with two bowls to cook large quantities of food. You can also remove the divider between the bowls and steam even larger food, like a chicken part, or a huge head of broccoli. There’s also a rice bowl that’s perfect for white or brown rice and small foods. The thing also cooks eggs upright from soft to hard-cooked.
What reviewers didn't like
It didn't take an exceptionally long time to clean this unit, but it was more difficult than other steamers. All of those holes are necessary to allow steam through to cook your food, but all of those nooks and crannies collect food, and it can be difficult to get every corner clean.
It can be a little time consuming to clean the steamer.
Since some users might want their food to stay heated after it’s done steaming, this product switches to a “warm” mode automatically after your allotted cooking time is over. When we experimented with this feature, we were disappointed, though: We left our extra vegetables in the steamer on the warm setting, and after just five minutes, they were too soft and mushy to enjoy.
Among the complaints were growing mold at the bottom.
View our Food Steamer buying guide for in-depth advice and recommendations.