The Best Collapsible Steamer Baskets

Our old favorite fits a good amount of food, and we love its new telescoping handle: When the handle is extended to the full 4 inches, it's easy to grip to move the steamer in and out of the pot. The handle can also collapse to 2.5 inches when the steamer is in the pot or for compact storage. Our only quibbles? The metal leaves are a bit finicky to clean and bent a little during testing, though the unit remained perfectly functional throughout.

We liked how much food this metal steamer basket holds on its wide cooking surface; it fit 26 dumplings in a single layer when the leaves were fully extended. The tall, telescoping handle extends smoothly and can go as high as 4 inches, which made it easy to lift and remove the whole steamer basket when it was full of food. The foldable, 1.5-inch legs stood tall in the pot, so we could add plenty of water for steaming under it without the water touching our food. We liked that the leaves could stay up to form a bowl with a flat surface inside, which prevented foods from falling over when transferring the steamer in and out of the pot, but those walls also gave us less flat space to put the food on. When the basket was fully extended, there was much more room for food, but there were barely any walls to contain the food. Another quibble was that it didn’t fold up as compactly as our winner, and its handle stuck out, which made it harder to store.

We liked this steamer basket’s large cooking surface, which held up to 22 dumplings or four chicken breasts. We also liked how the basket folded up compactly. But it was a little harder to open because the edges of the leaves rose so close to the center handle; we had to pry it open, which was uncomfortable. Though its telescoping handle was tall and can be extended for easy transport, it was a little stiffer than ideal; we struggled to pull the handle out. And, in the process of maneuvering the model and getting the handle to work, we accidentally left a few dents on the basket.

This utilitarian stainless-steel steamer held plenty of food, and it survived testing intact. But its short, coat hanger–like hook of a handle was tricky to grasp without tilting the whole unit, making it easy to accidentally tip food into the water. Its overlapping metal leaves took a little more work to clean than did the smooth silicone models. Finally, while we appreciated the fact that its interlocking legs folded up for easier storage, they refused to stand evenly in any pot, making it feel a bit less secure.

Testers liked the options promised by this capacious tiered steamer, whose two baskets could be used together for bigger jobs (they held 26 dumplings) or separately for smaller tasks such as cooking a half-dozen eggs. But regardless of how the tiers were used, the central handle was too short to grab easily, making it dicey to remove the steamer from the pot. The handle broke after we dropped the steamer off the counter three times. And, like the other metal models, it's fussy to clean.

We liked this steamer’s spacious cooking surface, which fit 20 dumplings. Its metal leaves are large, and there were only six of them to clean, which made it a bit easier to wash and dry than other metal models. However, its legs were a little shorter than we preferred, so we had to refill the water in the pot more often when using it. One of the legs fell off and almost went down the drain when we washed the steamer. Then, despite our best effort to re-attach the leg, it fell off again when we steamed broccoli, which caused the whole steamer to lose its balance and tip a few broccoli florets into the water. Though we liked the height of the handle, it was hard to lift the basket from the pot because the handle itself was a bit too thin to grasp securely with tongs, and the loop on the handle was also a bit too small to grab. When the steamer was folded up, its large leaves didn’t collapse fully and tightly toward the center, which created a bigger, bulkier unit that was less convenient to store.

Made out of nonstick silicone, this steamer basket was impervious to damage and easy to clean. But its steeply sloping sides limited the amount of usable flat space, preventing us from cooking much food at a time. And because those sides were floppy, the steamer didn't always contain food well, sagging and requiring some effort to avoid dropping eggs or broccoli. Finally, while its handles were big and easy to grab, they often popped up inside the pot, preventing the lid from closing tightly.

This spacious metal steamer was pretty sturdy, with just some minor cosmetic leaf deformation over the course of testing. But its handle was dinky, made of two short loops that lowered the unit's center of gravity so that it tilted precariously during removal, and the loops were hard to grab with oven mitts or tongs. Like the other metal models, it can be a pain to clean.

This slick silicone steamer was easy to clean and looked as good as new at the end of testing. But it held a paltry amount of food, and its soft sides drooped readily, threatening to send fragile eggs or broccoli into the water. As with the other silicone model, its large handles—though easy to grip—sometimes rose too high in the pot, preventing its lid from sitting tightly and allowing steam to escape.