Conference turris::cooks

    The basket stretches like an upside-down umbrella. It is placed
    in the pot in which you're cooking veggies to hold them above the
    steam. The steam (rather than water) cooks the veggies so that more
    nutrition is left in them. 
    
    			Russ

    You just put the steamer in a pan/pot, with water just up to the
    bottom of the steamer.  Then put your veggies in and cover - the
    cover of the pan might not fit perfectly, but who cares!
    
    Steam the veggies until desired, and voila'.... steamed veggies.
    
    Its incredibly easy and nutritious.
    
    BS

    I use it for making artichokes.  Never eaten them?  Here's how:
    
    Get one artichoke per person (at least!) at the grocery.  Pull off
    about 2 rounds of leaves from the bottom (stem end) - they're usually
    too tough to eat anyhow.  Cut the end of the stem off and, if the
    artichoke is large, you may want to remove one layer of skin from
    the stem, oh about an eighth of an inch.  Chop about half an inch
    off of the top.  Pare off the points from the leaves that have
    not been trimmed from your chopping.  Go to next artichoke and
    repeat.
    
    Now you're ready to cook.  Put your steamer basket in a large pot.
    Put water in the pot until it's almost up to the level of your
    steamer.  Should be about 1 1/2 inches or so.  Put some vinegar
    or lemon juice in the water, and I like to add some garlic.
    Put your artichokes in - doesn't matter how - usually between 4
    and 6 will fit in a pot depending on the size of the pot and
    the size of the artichoke.  Put a cover on, and put over medium
    heat.  It'll be done in about 45 minutes, or when a leaf will
    come off the artichoke easily.
    
    To eat, pull a leaf off and scrape the tender inside layer off
    of it with your teeth.  Continue doing this until you get to a 
    layer of very small thin leaves which cover the CHOKE - this is
    fuzzy stuff that you can't eat.   You will notice that more and
    more of the leaf is edible as you work your way in.  Now, scrape
    all the choke stuff off with a spoon or knife, and you now have
    the bottom left.  It should all be edible, and is the most 
    delicious part.
    
    Many people like to dip artichoke leaves into butter, or garlic
    lemon butter.  I eat them plain or with a dusting of lemon juice
    these days, since they're very low in calories without the butter.
    
    --Louise

    addition to .3 - check after about half an hour to see that there
    is still enough water in the pot.  Depending on what medium heat
    is on your stove, and how tightly the lid to your pot fits, your
    water may all boil out - add some if you need to .
    
    --Louise

    I like to put a few whole garlic cloves and some sliced-up celery
    in the water for steaming them.

    ...to equal amounts of water I add white wine....
    
    Rick

When steaming asparagus or broccoli I add several slices of fresh
lemon to water.

When steaming green beans, I add dried dill.

Steaming is also one of the fundamental cooking methods in Chinese cookery.
In particular, cha shu bow (roast pork steamed buns), the recipe for which can
be found in dim sum cookbooks.

--PSW

    I'm not sure *exactly* what you mean.  If it's one of those that
    expands to fit different size pans, you'd simply put enough water
    in the pan to cover the bottom with 1/4" of water, put the veggies
    in the basket, cover and cook.  Keep an eye on it so the water doesn't
    boil away.
    
    That's the *only* way in my book to cook veggies . . . either frozen
    or fresh.  I even use it in cooking veggies (frozen or fresh) in
    my pressure cooker, which is the best way to maintain color and
    nutrients.  By adding a few drops of oil over the veggies, helps
    to keep the natural color.
    
    If by metal basket steamer you meant a large and deep wire basket,
    that's best used with steaming clams or other seafood, in which
    case again, you'd add enough water to cover the bottom of the pan
    with about 1/4" to 1/2" of water, and boil 'til done . . . keeping
    an eye on it so the water doesn't boil away.

    1) A huge lightweight aluminum pot with aluminum racks that fit
    over it, for steaming Chinese dishes such as roast pork buns, turnip
    cakes.  This is a really BIG kitchen gadget so most people probably
    wouldn't want one.   The enormous pot could double as a lobster
    pot.
    
    2) Bamboo steamer racks for a wok, for cooking things like shu mai
    or steamed Chinese fish.

    Just a little trick for those who are afraid of running out of water.
    My mom always put a nail or a small metal object in the bottom of
    the water pan.  This way, when the pan starts to run out of water,
    the metal object starts to rattle and you can add more water.
      This works great in a double boiler also.
    
    Manina

    My mother uses a couple of marbles.

    I've steamed various vegetables for years -- there's no better way
    to cook them!  They retain their vitamins and minerals, and
    crisp-tender is just done enough!
    
    As far as how long to cook them, a general range of 5 - 13 minutes
    would probably cover most things.  But the way to make sure they're
    just right is to taste them periodically.  The time will vary greatly
    depending on the size of the vegetables and the way you've cut them,
    so it would be very hard to just set a timer and forget them.
    
    Besides, tasting is half the fun!
    
    							Pat

broccoli - medium sized florets at approx. 6 to 7 minutes.
green beans - 7 to 9 minutes
carrots - 9 to 11 minutes

			D

    
    
    Thanks for the advice.  I tried broccoli over the weekend and
    it was excellent.  What about shrimp.  I would guess about
    5 to 8 minutes, but I would hate to ruin shrimp from over
    or under cooking.
    
                                        Donna
    

I learned to judge steamed veggies by looking at the color.  As they 
steam, they'll get brighter and brighter until they reach a peak, and 
then start to get dull.  To my taste, I like to pull them out as soon as 
they approach top brightness.  If you like them a little mushier, then 
you can pull them as soon as they start to turn dull.  

					>>>==>PStJTT

    Try asparagus in your steamer.  It's delicious, and does not lose
    flavor to the water like boiled asparagus does.  This is the time
    of year when asparagus is readily available, too!  They're so good
    you don't need anything with them, not even butter.  They're low-cal
    this way, too, so you can REALLY pig-out on them.
    
    I use the color/taste method described in the previous 2 notes.
    A general gauge is about 7 minutes, but thinner stalks will take
    less and thicker ones will take more.
    
    Another veggie to steam is artichokes.  Try about 45 minutes for
    them.  If you want, add either lemon juice or vinegar plus some
    garlic to the steaming water.  The acid will keep the artichokes
    from browning on the edge.  I like the lemon/garlic flavor best.
    After 45 min. test one artichoke by removing a leaf and tasting
    for doneness.  Again, big artichokes will take up to an hour,
    and the little tiny ones will take 30 min.
    
    --Louise
    

    Why didn't I think to watch the colour change??  My wilting carrots
    and grey broad beans are becoming quite infamous.  However, don't
    you find there's not much time to stop and stare?  I'm invariably
    trying to cope with sauces, telephones, etc. at the same time.
    
    Debbie 

Yes, it does get to be trouble when too many things are going on at
once.  But that's true of anything. Fortunately, veggies are fairly
forgiving, and missing by a minute or so doesn't hurt.  By the way, I
meant to mention that shrimp also can be cooked by observing the color.
They go in gray, they come out pink to garish red.  If you're really 
scrambling around the kitchen, set a timer for the least amount of time 
it would take for what's steaming, and then you don't have to start 
checking until then.

About phones: I have a silly story about cooking and phones.  I had just
taken 3 calls in a row from people trying to sell me things, and I had
started to cook something that needed my complete attention.  The phone
started to ring, and with a mind-boggling flash of insight I realized I
didn't have to answer it.  

If there had been someone in the house who wanted to talk to me, I
reasoned, I would have asked them to wait until I finished what I was
doing. So why should I de-reail what I was doing for a phone? If it was
a salesperson, to hell with them.  If it was a friend or someone I'd
want to talk to, they'd call back. 

					>>>==>PStJTT

    When I'm expecting a call at a time when I know I'll be cooking
    too, I wrap a paper towel around the phone handle first -
    that way, if it does ring I won't have to stop, grap a dishcoth,
    wipe my hands first (or be tempted to just grab it anyway, or wipe
    my hands on my jeans!)

    
    
    (better late to reply than never?)
    
    Yes, shrimp can be steamed, in fact that's probably the best
    method for cooking shrimp.
    
    I stir mine a couple of times while they are cooking, and remove
    them from the steam as soon as they turn pink. Now for the trick
    (which my husband discoveredand his shrimp are invarily better
     than mine, which means he cooks all the shrimp I bring home)-
    take the top part of the steamer directly to the sink, dump the
    shrimp in a colander and cover them with cracked ice. This stops
    the cooking immediately.
    
    I'm guessing 5 minutes for a pound of jumbo shrimp, although the
    size of your steamer will determine your actual cooking time.
    
    Deb