A carnival of technology

My steamed-food experiment was mostly a success, and everyone involved learned a little more about themselves and the world around them. One of the things I got in the holy-crap-I’m-moving sale from the guy two buildings over was a Black & Decker Flavor Scenter Handy Steamer, which steams food and, presumably, can optionally flavor scent it. Figuring out how to use it was fairly simple: there’s the place where water goes, the place where spices and stuff go (They suggested dill for green beans. I would have suggested ham chunks, but I guess those don’t dissolve as well.), the compartment where the steam hangs out, and the basket where food goes. It took about twice the recommended amount of time to get my green beans to the desired softness, but I think this could be a combination of the fact that the beans were probably a couple days older than the ideal and the fact that most of the green beans I’ve eaten lately have been boiled. Regardless of any inaccurate instructions, I do like the idea of this steamer, since it belongs to that rare class, along with the venerable crock pot, of kitchen appliances that require no human interaction. I just dump everything in, set a timer, and some number of minutes later a pleasant “ding” tells me that I can eat. There are fewer foods that can be steamed than foods that crocked, but for those where steaming is appropriate, this device seems like the laziest option. I’ll have to try it next on rice.