When I tell people that my favorite gadget in my kitchen is my Black and Decker vegetable steamer I often get the strangest look from people. You see i'm a gadget guy and a foodie so I love cooking good food with unique methods. Steaming food is probably one of my most favorite things to do for a number of different reasons but probably most importantly is the nutritional aspect.
What a large number of people do not realize when cooking in the kitchen is that the majority of cooking methods actually destroy a large amount of the nutritional value of the food. For instance, using a microwave to cook say frozen vegetables can actually really eliminate almost all the vitamins and minerals they provide than if say you had used a Black and Decker vegetable steamer. Steaming food helps to keep the vitamins and minerals inside the actual vegetables themselves.
Furthermore I really enjoy the simplicity of my Black and Decker vegetable steamer because I can quite literally come home after a hard day of work and pop in some vegetables and meat (I prefer some fresh salmon), add a little water and then within 30 minutes or less I have a healthy fresh meal prepared. The benefits here of a good vegetable steamer extend to all the members of your family and could possibly even change the way you approach food altogether. Personally I have had my Black and Decker vegetable steamer for a couple of years now and really do not think I could do a weeks worth of meal planning without it.
If you are looking for the quintessential gadget for your kitchen then you really need to look no further than a Cuisinart rice cooker to do the job. The beauty of these units and the models they make is the flexibility and use in your kitchen they provide. Even though the name “Cuisinart rice cooker” conjures up thoughts that this is only a rice cooker you would be very much mistaken. Using a rice cooker solely for cooking rice would be potentially a waste of money considering it can be used for my favorite use – steam cooking!
Most Cuisinart rice cookers include optional added features that allow you to steam cook food at the same time you are cooking the rice! This is a tremendous time saver and also produces fantastic results with regards to the quality of your food! The Cuisinart rice cooker I have at my house includes a built in timer function to simplify the cooking process and help guide you through making great rice.
Making great rice is a fairly simple task assuming you have the correct ratio of water to rice and you don't over cook it which can be very easy if you are simply making rice over the stove. Cuisinart rice cookers with their built in timers assure quality cooking each and every time. Even if you are not cooking rice with a particular meal (and let's face it we don't eat rice with every meal in the US) you can use the steaming function anyway to make great vegetables!
Having a stainless steel rice cooker in your kitchen can really make a great difference in your kitchen not just from an aesthetics perspective but also to the quality of the food and rice you make! You see a stainless steel rice cooker is not just for cooking rice you can actually steam quite a large variety of food too! The dual purpose of your new stainless steel rice cooker really means that often times you are getting two or three really good kitchen devices which means more bang for your buck!
Click here to find out more about the Stainless Steal Rice Cooker
Using a stainless steel rice cooker is a cinch and you will really wonder why you ever cooked rice in anything else. Most rice cookers are fairly simple to operate with a few basic functions including on/off switches, built in timers and most recently adjustable sizes for larger batches of rice or steaming. The unit I have at my house includes pre-set timers, different settings for various types of rice (white, brown etc) and also a built in steamer mode.
One of my favorite things to do with my stainless steel rice cooker is throw two cups of water to one cup of rice in the bottom then add a steaming tray on top with some fish and frozen vegetables. Once I have gotten everything together I just turn it on and let it sit with the lid closed. Remember if you are looking you are not cooking so don’t open that lid! Usually a timer will let you know when it is all done (about 40 minutes or so) and that is it – super quick, super healthy and VERY tasty! Make it in your own stainless steel rice cooker today!
