How to make your own steamer

Most of the time we simply steam our vegetables and serve them plain, or with a little butter or olive oil and/or seasonings. Steaming is easy to do, and it preserves more of the vegetables’ nutrients than most other methods.

However, there’s one little problem at the Finite Foodie.

We have not included a steamer pan or insert in our essential cookware list, and you might not have been gifted with one. If you have a chance to raid your mom’s cupboards or want to ask for one for your birthday, we highly recommend it (even though it didn’t make our short list). Here’s one type:

Pictured below is another type of steamer that Bobbi’s mom handed down to her. This vintage, copper-bottom Revere Ware lasts forever, but sadly, the new Revere Ware doesn’t quite compare. Be sure to ask Grandma to remember you in her will and give you her old Revere Ware pots. Bobbi’s set consists of 4-pieces, including a 3-quart pan, a steamer insert, a double boiler insert (more on that some other time) and a lid.

There are also inexpensive steamer inserts that fold up for easy storage. Bobbi gave hers to the kids, so hopefully one of them will provide a photo here later. The folding inserts can be a little annoying to remove from a pan, but they fit into a multitude of sizes and shapes and make a great addition to your kitchen. Get a good one — the cheap versions tend to fall apart quickly.

This still doesn’t address our original problem. How do you steam vegetables without owning any of the above? Here’s what we recommend for a very sparse kitchen: use your 4 to 6-quart saucepan and your colander. This works quite well, depending on the size and shape of your colander. We recommend buying 2 colanders (1 large, 1 small) or a set of colanders if possible. Here’s a photo using a 4-quart saucepan and a colander with a handle. The lid doesn’t fit exactly, but it still gets the job done. Just fill the saucepan with 1/2 to 1 inch of water, then add the veggies to the colander.