I was all atwitter when I ordered this item, thinking I would be able to do LOTS of different things with it. I'm not sure if my expectations were just too high or what but this turns out to be a glorified rice/oatmeal cooker and unfortunately, it won't get much use for just those purposes. As for the steaming feature, I don't steam very many things and when I do, I generally use my double decker steamer pan on the stovetop for that purpose. It's a nice appliance but not something I'm going to get much use out of.