blackhead > wrote in

s.com:

> Currenty I put just 3-5mm of watter at the bottom of a
> saucepan, put a lid on, turn the gas down very low so that the
> flame just comes on, and use this to steam steam vegetables,
> fish, meat together, which works a treat because the water at
> the bottom collects the juices which I can then use to flavour
> at the end. So I use everything and the method is extremely
> economical since I barely use gas and not waste energy heating
> water to heat vegetables and then throwing it down the sink
> again.
>
> Using a steamer will be more flexible, but at the very least I
> want it to:
>
> 1. Have a knob that controls the amount of power used to heat
> the water since there is a minimum amount required that will
> boil the water and there is no need to go over this.
>
> 2. Must be able to take a small amount of water, say 1/16 cup
> full.
>
> I have found that although gas is cheaper than electric on a
> purely cost/energy basis, the advantage of gas over electric
> is lost if gas is ignited in the air to heat things since some
> of the energy is lost to the surroundings, whereas an electric
> element heating water gives all of its energy to the water
> rather than the surrounding air. On the other hand, a steamer
> for a gas/electric hob satisfies 1. and 2. above but will an
> electric steamer? Looking through the Argos catalogue the
> electric steamers don't seem to satisfy any of the
> requirements 1, 2 above and so a hob steamer is my only
> option.
>
> Thanks for your advice.

I use a steamer made for a microwave. Works for me.