Healthy food, quickly!

I've used this to cook 3 things so I may add some to this review later.

First batch - a pound of whole (ends nipped off) green beans. I cooked them for 15 minutes and took them off of the steamer and let them sit so they wouldn't continue to be exposed to any remaining heat/steam. I tested them and they were still pretty crunchy. I put them back on for another 5 and took them off again. Still a little crunch. I think, honestly, if I'd just set them for 20 minutes and left them alone they would've been fine. I think my constant on/off/on made them take longer.

UPDATE- 4-10-07 - I steamed whole green beans for 15 minutes without touching them, and left them on the steamer about 5 more minutes with the timer dial turned off while finishing up other dishes and they were perfect. I also steamed a mixed bag of raw broccoli, cauliflower, and carrots in 15 minutes and they were perfect. 15 seems to be the magic number.

Second batch - a rice test. I didn't wash the rice before steaming. I put exactly the amount of rice and water specified in the booklet (which I wish was laminated so I could keep referring to it as I hopefully use this over the years). I cooked it for 55 minutes. I think 50 would've been fine (the booklet says 50-55 minutes). It was a little starchy. I think by rinsing the rice first and then cooking for 50 minutes it would've been perfect. It was actually fine as I cooked it. I topped it with Thai red curry with shrimp and veggies (next).

Third batch, and this is what truly amazed me, is this- I was making veggies to go in the Thai red curry. I was making the sauce (coconut milk, curry, fish sauce, sugar & water per bottle directions) in a sauce pan on the stove. I steamed raw broccoli (one crown), frozen sugar snap peas (12 oz. box) and a pound of raw shrimp ALL together and in 10 minutes they were all perfectly cooked. WOW! I didn't know I could do that, mixing up the types and stages of "cooked"-ness. The shrimp were really good and all of the veggies were done and still green. I just dumped them in the sauce and served over the rice.

Here are some stats from the web site:

* Instant steam allows you to start cooking immediately (this is accurate - the steam is immediate)

* 75-minute timer with safety auto-off (I have the manual version but they offer a digital timer for a little more $$)

* External water fill with see through reservoir allows you to never run out of steam (Keep an eye on this while doing rice. I think mine actually went below the "minimum" level but it wasn't empty and did finish cooking without any problem. I would definitely watch it when cooking brown rice since I think that takes longer.)

* Cook and steam anything with our double-tiered 6.1 quart capacity steamer: includes a large 3.8 qt., and a smaller 2.3 qt. steaming bowl
(I like having these varying sizes. I haven't used the egg cooker yet.)

* Fully collapsible steaming trays for easy cleaning
(I don't know what they mean by this, other than the fact they store inside themselves - they don't collapse flat or anything.)

* Large steaming bowl includes 8 egg holders for soft or hard cooked eggs
(Have not used)

* Large 10-cup capacity rice bowl
(Have used. You place rice and water in this bowl and place inside the larger steamer bowls to cook the rice. I think for some reason I thought the rice would pour in dry and the steam would come up and cook it, but it's actually still sort of boiled, but done so using the heat of the steam.)

So, so far I am very happy. Clean up is easy also. I do wish the cord would unplug from the unit for storage but I can live with it as is.