Product Description

T-fal VC133851 Balanced Living compact steamer has the perfect capacity with compact storage. T-fal VC133851 Balanced Living compact steamer has a 4 quart total capacity with 2 bowls at 2 quarts each. There are two tiers within one containing and a removable plate for large items. The steamer has digital controls with a timer and is compact for easy storage.

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Product Details

• Amazon Sales Rank: #3884 in Kitchen & Housewares
• Color: Silver
• Brand: T-fal
• Model: VC133851
• Dimensions: 14.20" h x 13.50" w x 15.00" l,

Features

• Ships in Certified Frustration-Free Packaging
• 4-Quart capacity; 2-quart bowls at 2-quart each
• 2 Tiers with one containing a removable plate for larger items
• Digital controls with timer
• Compact for easy storage
• 1-Year warranty

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Customer Reviews

Most helpful customer reviews

6 of 6 people found the following review helpful.
T-fal Food Steamer
By MeatiesSweetie
My husband and I are enjoying our steamer. It makes dinner a snap! Chicken breasts in the top and potatoes and broccoli in the bottom and dinner is done in 30-45 minutes. Cleaning up is pretty easy.

3 of 3 people found the following review helpful.
Cute, cute, cute - perfect for small steaming jobs only
By Kathleen San Martino
This is a toy steamer at heart. It is pretty, colorful with a lime green base and black exterior, cute and very small and works well for small steaming jobs.

I'm a steamer fanatic and selected this because I wanted a backup to my daily use mechanical steamer. In fact, I've owned 9 steamers in the past. Since 2 broke, I now own 7 steamers with the receipt of this one.

What I really like about this steamer is:

- It's great for small jobs such as steaming a bowl of oatmeal, a tiny bowl of soup, steaming 6 hardboiled eggs, steaming a small quantity of veges, etc.

- It has a small footprint. The trays are stackable within each other and fit nicely over the base for easy storage.

- The cord is 3 feet long.

- Tray 1 has six dimples/indentations to steam 6 eggs standing up.

- A plastic rice bowl comes with the steamer for steaming rice. Personally, I like to use my own dishes in the steamer and not pla stic. The only time I use the steamer without any dishes is when I steaming veges or potatoes directly in the steamer bowls.

- For those who are interested, the steamer components (except for the base) are listed as dishwasher safe. It's easy to clean even if it were not dishwasher safe.

- The steamer offers the option of two tiers for extra steaming capacity.

- All I had to do is set the timer and the steam begins almost immediately. With a digital steamer such as this it is easier to set the time than with a mechanical (or dial) steamer.

Some concerns I have:

- There's no way to fill the water reservoir during use. Most steamers have an outside compartment to pour water in the tank should it get low during steaming; this steamer does not have that.

- It is really too small for family-sized steaming jobs where large quantities of items need to be steamed.

- Hardly any of my dishes except for a v ery small soup bowl and some ramekins fit in the steamer

- The steaming times that are noted in the instruction manual are inaccurate in my opinion. For example, thin fish is usually steamed in 9-12 minutes not 20 to 30 minutes as stated.

- I think the current price of $41.92 is a bit too steep for this steamer and that it should be about $12 cheaper.

Although larger steamers allow for more time, the maximum steaming time of 60 minutes is sufficient for most steaming jobs. I was able to steam all 6 eggs in 17 minutes as is typical of my other steamer. I also steamed soup in both the top and bottom trays. Although, the soup in the top tray was not as hot as the one in the bottom tray, that is typical of a double decker steamer. This means the more delicate veges or foods that require less steaming time should go in the top tray.

I'm use to operating my steamers without the drip tray (or what T-fal calls a juice tray) when I have a bowl containing the food inside the steamer basket. Although the manual says to place bowl 1 over the drip tray, I may try using tray 2 set directly over the base. Tray 2 fits over the base well when the drip tray is not inserted and will allow the steam to work faster. My only reservation with doing this is that this unit does not have a collar that goes around the heating element because the collar is built into the drip tray and is not a separate component. Because of this it might render my method ineffective unless I use a removable collar from another steamer I have. BTW, I'm not recommending you try this as it would be against the manuals instructions; it just a method I have been using for years only when I don't place food directly into the steamer basket. If food or vegetables are placed directly into the steamer basket then this should not be considered because there's nothing to stop the vege juices from leaking onto the heating element.

In summar y, the T-fal mini compact digital steamer is great for one or two people for small steaming tasks. I think it is most appropriate for a college student, dorm room, a person who is tight on space, or a family who does not steam whole meals but just wants to steam side dishes or a couple of veges. Personally because I have other steamers that do the big jobs I need, I love it. However, if I did not have other steamers, this steamer would be too small for my use because I like to steam whole meals and large quantities of veges. Although this steamer is not a fully equivalent backup to my larger steamer like I expected it would be, it still has a great purpose in my kitchen. This and my Oster steamer will definitely be my goto steamers to steam my morning oatmeal.

MY STEAMERS - PAST and PRESENT

PAST 2 STEAMERS:
--> One small round Black and Decker Steamer (extinct now) which was great but only lasted about two years. This was my first steamer that I got in the mid-90's.
--> One Krups Optisteam Plus (viewable on Amazon at this link - http://www.amazon.com/Krups-652-70-OptiSteam-2-Tier-Steamer/dp/B00004SPEI but for some reason not searchable on Amazon by name). I had this since February 1999 and it was my most used steamer but I thought it was just a tad large for everyday single person use. It just broke.

CURRENT 7 STEAMERS:

--> This one T-fal VC133851 Balanced Living Compact Electric Food Steamer, 4-Quart, Silver
--> One Oster 5711 Mechanical Food Steamer which I used daily for my oatmeal and most dinners.
--> Two Richard Simmons EST7 Steam-Heat Electronic Food Steamers which I absolutely love. But they are very large and good for steaming full meals.
--> One rice steamer, the Zojirushi NS-ZCC10 5-1/2-Cup Neuro Fuzzy Rice Cooker and Warmer, Premium White, which is excellent but that I don't use nearly enough. It's also a little different that these plastic steamers in functi on.
--> One 14" Hard Anodized Non-Stick Wok with Steamer and Lid
--> One Stove-top fish steamer similar to the Norpro Stainless Steel Fish Poacher

2 of 2 people found the following review helpful.
Great Steamer
By Justin
Great, sleek look and works very well. Easy to clean and easy to store. If I had to put a negative it's that the heating device gets a film over it after cooking and leaves little flakes in the water when cleaning, but all that can get washed away so not a big deal.