Customer Reviews

Oster 5712 Electronic 2-Tier 6-Quart Food Steamer

5 star:		(203)
4 star:		(58)
3 star:		(18)
2 star:		(9)
1 star:		(24)

 

 

I saw this steamer in an ad in Runner's World and just had to have it. Since going on the South Beach Diet, I've upped my intake of eggs, fish, chicken, and vegetables tremendously. And because I live an extremely active lifestyle, I never have time to wait for things to thaw before cooking. I was defrosting frozen meat and nuking scrambled eggs and frozen vegetables in the microwave everyday when I did some reading and found out that microwaving destroys over 90% of the healthy vitamins and nutrients in foods. Researchers have found that steaming is the best way to preserve nutrients if you have to cook a food.

This steamer gets the job done better than I'd ever hoped. While it does take a little longer to cook with steam than in the microwave or on the stovetop (add 5-15 minutes of cook time), it is a more hassle-free way to prepare food. You don't have to constantly check your food to see if its burning or stir it. No more exploding eggs in the microwave or rice stuck to the bottom of the pan. Just load it up, set the timer, and leave it to cook. For example, I stuck a couple of frozen chicken breasts and a cup of brown rice in, set for 45 minutes, and left to do something else. Halfway through I poured in frozen vegetables and seasoned the chicken and rice. The chicken cooked through perfectly, the vegetables were tender, and the rice was perfect. Hard boiled eggs are easy too.

Clean up afterwards was a breeze. The plastic containers are easy to wash off, but the drip pan fills up quickly and when full is hard to get to the sink to pour out without spilling. Cooking directions and times are approximate, so there is some trial and error involved. But since I love it so far, I will definitely be using it several times a week and get lots of practice. I highly recommend.

This product would have been one step up from the previous generation of Oster steamers if it weren't for two major flaws.

Good:

-it's inexpensive
-the electronic timer works really well (this was the new upgrade from previous models)
-it's versatile especially for Asian cooking
-it works really fast

Bad:

- MOLD the steamer's water inlet, that also serves to help you measure how much water is in the steamer, is a great way to collect mold. Currently it is nearly impossible to dry this inlet completely without pushing a qtip or tissue through; and no, turning it upside down doesn't help since the inlet's curves are designed to keep water in. Cleaning this part is also near impossible for the same reason. This is just really stupid. Oster should spend more time testing their products. This should have been fixed before being released.

- As other reviewers have noted, this product made with #7 plastic. This material has a great chance of leeching biphenyl-A, synthetic estrogen, when it's heated. BPA is just not good for general health (it has links to causing obesity, cancer, heart problems, neurological problems and so on); for children the issues are even more complicated. Google can tell you all the details. This just isn't something you should put in contact with your food.

Summary:

Get a stainless steel steamer instead. Yes they are more expensive, but health problems are also expensive.

Amazon sells a couple:

Oyama CFS-B12U All Stainless Rice Cooker

Aroma ARC-838TC 8-Cup Digital Rice Cooker & Food Steamer

Stainless Steel Rice Cooker Model ME81 (Formerly ME8) - by Miracle Exclusives

The Oster 5712 Food Steamer is an excellent buy. Yes, it is large but well worth it's size for a family of 5 vegetable lovers. It has all the features I wanted, such as; water level indicator, two steaming containers, and a timer. It also keeps the food warm after the steaming of the food is complete.I have used this product many times since it arrived. I have prepared complete meals at once. The clean-up is very easy and much less mess in the kitchen. No pots no pans. I have no complaints. I am very pleased with this product. It is stylish enough to place on the counter. I would most definitly recommend the 5712.

The plastic that holds the food is made from Polycarbonate. If you look at the plastic containers it has the number 7 along with the letters PC. I just read a consumers reports article May 08 on the dangers of this plastic especially when heated! This is from the article: "Some studies showed adverse health effects from exposures of only 0.025 microgram per kilogram of body weight per day, yet a polycarbonate bottle with room-temperature water can leach 2 micrograms of BPA per liter.

I'm putting this on the shelf until there is more information on this plastic.

This is our second Oster steamer, and we are very happy with it. It's extremely convenient to use and it's much easier to clean than our old model was. I have only two complaints, and they are very minor. When the steamer is finished, the timer bell is a single quiet beep which is quite easy to miss. On the other hand, thanks to the keep warm function it's not as if the food is going to burn or get cold. We usually know how long the food is going to take anyway. Also, the cooking times printed on the steamer are not accurate. Although certain fresh vegetables are supposed to cook in 15 minutes, we find that it takes more like 30. All the same, we are very pleased with the steamer and would buy it again.

I researched steamers for weeks reading reviews before I bought this one. Couldn't be happier. Once opened it has never left the counter and gets used almost daily. I have used it for rice, fresh vegtables and frozen vegtables, and fish. I have set the timer estimates and I have been a little under and need to reset it but so far I haven't gone over. The rice has been perfect everytime. Alot of the reviews have said the all purpose steamers don't work for rice and you have to buy a rice steamer as well. I found this one did a great job. It does not produce a large quantity bit fine for 2-4 people depending serving sizes.

I really wanted a steamer! So when I received this one for Christmas, I was so excited. Until, that is, I examined it further.

It's made w/ a #7 plastic (usually polycarbonate), commonly found in
baby bottles, microwave ovenware, eating utensils, and plastic coating for metal cans.
Reason why it's BAD: Made with biphenyl-A, a chemical invented in the 1930s in search for synthetic estrogens. A hormone disruptor. Simulates the action of estrogen when tested in human breast cancer studies. Can leach into food as product ages.

I called Oster and spoke w/ a supervisor, and specifically asked whether he could confirm the product was BPA free. He could not. He also told me to do what I would like w/ the info he gave me - either keep and use the appliance, or return it. I'll be doing the latter.

After 10 years of use very day, my old Black and Decker Food Steamer died. Since B & D doesn't seem to make large capacity steamers any more, I opted for this Oster model. A lot has changed in 10 years and Oster seems to have packed some pretty wonderful features into the 5712. It cooks food a lot faster than my old B & D; I suspect because the holes at the bottom of the tray are larger so the food steam cooks more quickly and because the heating element is newer and more efficient. It's very easy to clean and put back together for future use. I am very impressed by the self timer and the keep-warm features. They are both very easy to program. Buy this at TARGET for $29.95. It's the exact model for a lot less money and no shipping charges.

I'm a single 47 year old guy. I'm not a great cook. I've lost 25# (am now down to 168) and am trying to eat better. This makes it easy! No more nuking junk food, or frying food covered in fat, just steam it. No more worries about burning things (the smoke detector used to be my warning that dinner was done). I bought the Oster 5712 last week. I've cooked boiled eggs, frozen chicken breast, Contessa stir fry frozen oriental dinners and frozen fish in it so far. It rocks! Tonight I'm going to cook diced chicken breast and wild rice with seasonings in it and I'm 99.9% sure it will turn out great even though I've never tried it before. This baby makes cooking easy. Cleaning it is also easy. No burnt food on it, just hot water. For cleaning it's almost like is has already been soaking in hot dishwater. Just a bit of soap and spray it off. As far as price vs functionality this thing is a steal! - Joe

This thing is great! Steamed fish and rice... I'm in heaven. Target has them for $29.99 but eventhough their tag says, "model #5712" the box says, "model #5715"... same steamer. Well worth the money.