Customer Reviews

Black & Decker HS1000 Handy Steamer with Flavor Scenter Screen

5 star:		(37)
4 star:		(11)
3 star:		(6)
2 star:		(3)
1 star:		(4)

 

 

I've used the Black & Decker steamers every other day for 14 years. They last about 7 years of heavy usage. Unfortunately, I tried my new one with a new design. How do I get water into the little spout, it's really tough. I asked my wife and she said, no big deal, then proceeded to spill water all over the place and had to mop the water up. Why go backward in a design? And the the water tray was empty before I did a minimum amount of rice. That's never happened before on my older model, even for double the amount of rice. Do I have to stand and watch it now? I have to work and watching a steamer steam is not cost effective and boring. The instructions say I can add more rice to the cup, but it doesn't tell me the time. The timing is different than my old one so do I have to guess the time? I never use the flavor scent so I toss it immediately. I can't on the new one since the basket won't fit if removed. There were two nice finger holds under the older version to easily lift the entire unit. They disappeared and I can't get my fat fingers under the unit now. How am I supposed to pick it up? The plastic steamer basket is really flimsy now. I don't think it's going to last 7 years of every other day usage this time. The clear plastic unit is flimsy as well.It did the steaming ok, but I burned myself trying to get the unit to the sink and the top off. If you have a perfect design, why go backward? That's why very popular car companies stick with the design that works and only modify slightly with improvements. They don't leave cup holders out of the new models and forget to include power stearing.

I've purchased many of these units for friends over the years and highly recommend them. What happened?

I have been shopping and hopping from one rice cooker to another, in search of perfection + ease of cooking. Recently bought a conventional fuzzy logic rice cooker; the cooker is fantastic, but the non-stick coated inner pot is now a turn-off after my recent education about its evils. So, this food steamer was my next investment.

Wow is an understatement! There is no escaping the no brainer rice perfection. You fill the bottom compartment with water all the way to Max, place your rice container (with rice plus suggested water measurement) and then turn the thing on. It takes 60 mins to cook 2 cups of dried rice to result in 4 to 6 cups of cooked rice (depending on the variety you use). Brown rice takes 75 mins. The timer switch is an old-fashioned dial, but does its job and turns off faithfully at the end.

After that is all Rice Heaven. Basmati, sushi, brown, wild, - name it, turns out as it should. The amazing thing is, the cooking is even from top to bottom. No stirring needed.

A couple of caveats to be taken into account.
This is not suitable for making large quantities of rice. It is for fool-proof everyday cooking for a family of four to six, nothing can beat it.
You must immediately toss out that tiny flimsy plastic joke of a rice container that comes with it and get an appropriately shaped Pyrex glass bowl instead: http://www.amazon.com/World-Kitchen-pyrex-1072103-Pyrex-Tear/dp/B002IOFF88/ref=sr_1_6?ie=UTF8&s=home-garden&qid=1287594896&sr=8-6. That is about the only extra effort/expense you will need with this product.

We purchased this steamer to replace one we've had for years. The old one finally gave up. It's a great appliance to have; no worries about over cooked vegetables, simple to use and easy to clean. My only concern was that the basket is a little flimsy and not as sturdy feeling as my old basket. Other than that, we got a great product for the price we paid.

I purchased a Black & Decker HS1000 Steamer about a year ago and it has worked well for that time. Today, I took it out and unfolded the cord only to have the cord insulation on both wires crack open revealing the copper wire underneath! Had I not noticed the problem an electric short or shock could have occurred! The steamer got light to moderate use from me and was carefully stored in a kitchen drawer. The cord has been stored the same way it came from the box - accordion folded with the twist tie to secure it. The electric cord has not showed any signs of drying out or wear. The only thing remarkable about the cord has been it's unusual stiffness, which I assumed was due to a thicker grade of stranded copper wire. Now I must assume the cord insulation is substandard. I have never had this problem with a cord before. For safety's sake, I suggest people should store the cord wrapped around the steamer and to straighten out the kinks in the cord. It would be advisable to carefully inspect the cord each time the steamer is used!

I have used a previous and similar model Black and Decker Steamer almost daily for many years with great success, until the plastic tub finally cracked. It was more cost effective to simply purchase a second complete steamer rather than to purchase just the plastic tub. I found the model that most resembled the original steamer that served me so well, then shopped around for the best price, which I found on Amazon. I received this item on only a few days from Amazon and began using it immediately. The only issue I have with this model is that in comparison to the first model I used , this one is made with thinner and less strong plastic for the tub, and the white plastic lid is also made with less quality plastic material in strength and durability. I attribute this to cost saving efforts on the part of Black and Decker, which has made this product less durable than the original model I used for years. It is a shame that this fabulous product and great company has to resort to cost cut backs by using poorer quality materials, which of course is only my opinion and observation. But having said this, I use this product daily, and it works well and I would buy it again only because it is simple to use, low maintenance, easy to clean and serves the purpose that I intended. The design is slightly changed from the original model I had used, and I some of the new features are better, but some of the new features are not as good. Overall I liked my older previous model better than this newer model, but the older model is no longer available. The flavor scenter is great to use too.

I agree with the other customer who said the clear basket on this model is a lot flimsier than our previous model. It really looks like it could break very easily. Also, the reservoir seems to hold less water, so when we cook something that requires a long time, e.g., brown rice, we cannot just put in the water once and leave it; we have to replenish when it runs low. Yet the more elongated design (our old model was circular) means it takes up more room on the counter and in the cabinet. So...not thrilled with this model, but it's doing the job so far. It still beats stove cooking rice or vegetables, no question.

The mouth on the right hand side that you use to add water will have steam coming out of it. Plus the inside tray has no handles to pick it up like other models of this brand. Poorly designed.

We had an earlier model of this steamer for over 17 years and it worked perfectly. Since we have hard water in our area, we finally got too much of a calcium buildup on the heating element so we sadly had to say bye-bye to it, then we purchased this similar product and have used it many times and love it just as much. We mostly use it for rice, but it works great for vegetables too. We are very happy with this steamer and have also purchased one for each of our daughters.

This was an excellent purchase. It arrived quickly and exceeds my expectations. The flavor scenter works well and converts the steamer to an aromatherapeutic diffuser/humidifier. The entire unit comes apart for easy cleaning. I've found that food cooks more quickly than the manual's estimates but that's a bonus for me. It is very light and doesn't waste space. Well worth its price, would recommend or buy again.

I've had this steamer for about 3 months now - purchased mostly for rice but I wanted the added ability to steam veggies as well. Everything I have tried has come out perfectly from rice soft and hard boiled eggs to potatoes to cauliflour, etc.

I will agree, as other reviewers have stated, the rice bowl feels a bit flimsy which I don't like, and you do need to be careful when taking off the lid lest you burn self. These are the only reasons I gave 4 stars _ think with just a bit better material for the bowl and a bit better design on the lid, these issues could have been resolved.

Filling it is not really an issue if you use a spouted cup (I use my pyrex measuring cup). The times within the enclosed booklet are dead on.

Love this, it has earned its spot on my counter as I use it at LEAST 3x per week - and I just purchased one for my daughter as well.