Bear Multi-Function Electric Steam Cooker - 3L Natural Ceramic Pot for Healthy Cooking, Perfect for Chicken Soup, Vegetables & Rice | Ideal for Home Kitchens, Meal Prep & Asian Cuisine

A high quality product if you have the patience to learn it - without instructions. Sorry I’m not exacting- I didn’t engineer this product. The last setting is the warmer. Okay, I have had it 2 days, and made incredibly delicious, and healthy food. So I am going to keep learning by the “touch”, and fail or success methods. I think the success of this product is in the gasket. The food is heated equally on the inside as on the outside. It cooks the food incredibly uniform which increases the nutrition and the looks. I have only used it too cook small potatoes, and make a soup. Looking forward to using the crock.... Good luck.... but beware it is only for the patient. Also, if there are ‘minute settings’ I haven’t found them. 2 hours is the least I have found- will keep trying. (Made won ton soup today)It's a soup cooker. The only soup cooker you'll ever want to use again once you try it.Today I'm making a soup in it with carrots, onion, cannelinni beans, fennel bulb, cherry tomatoes, chicken thigh, white wine, garlic, and oregano. The chicken thigh is the only thing I have to prep more than just cutting it up; you want to parboil whatever protein you put in it to de-scum it for a nice clear broth.All you do is put in what you want, set it to function 4, then 2 1/2 hours later you have amazing soup.Pros versus stove top cooking:1. You don't have to watch it. You can't overboil it and destroy your broth.2. There is much less heat waste. Cooking soup on the stove heats up the whole kitchen. With this, you barely add any heat to the room at all until steam starts escaping the little pressure hole an hour and a half into the cooking time, but then it is minimal.3. The flavors you get out of your produce wind up much more nuanced due to the gentler heating; since it never goes above the 212F that produces the steam, all the aromatics you put in stay intact instead of denaturing.I'll probably never make soup on the stove top again. I just have to learn how to pare down my recipes to fit the 3L interior (I come from a family where recipes usually begin: Take 5 lbs XXX). That doesn't mean it doesn't make a lot. One full batch of soup is enough for me and my roommate to have dinner and then I pack 3 lunches with the leftovers.I just received this. First, the soup ladle was missing from the package. There is a "scratch" on the inside of the ceramic cover - it's coarse and could cut your skin if you run your finger over it carelessly. Minor details but probably says something about quality control.The steam cooker feels overall rather light and on the cheap side, is not of the quality we are accustomed to - I am using the popular and much-lower priced Instant Pot for comparison. I feel I could easily dent the metal steamer if not careful. I dislike the fact that the bottom pot is not detachable like many rice cookers - making cleaning award. I think it's over-priced. I am not sure how long the product will last. We shall see.However, it does have the function that others lack. I have made quail soup with dried mushrooms. It's easy to use, soup came out pretty nice and tasty, sort of as expected. It's definitely better than steaming soup using containers and a big pot. It's a bit difficulty to get the food out of the ceramic container. I will try to make a few more soups and update the review.In a nutshell: it's over priced but provide a unique function. If you love soup and make it regularly, you may not mind paying for it, assuming it will last at least for 3 years.I had no idea that the top canister’s quality was so high. It’s heavy ceramic, well insulated with equality rubber on the handles and top cover, which you know matters over the years and uses. The instructions are a little difficult initially but really, there are only three settings, and you need to confirm to get the timer started. It gives you a pause of 4-5m before starting which is very cleaver because you can add items into the top canister. I recommend using only filtered water in the base receptacle, because it evaporates into the top canister and becomes the healthy soup you’re making and simmering ingredients into for two or three hours (you can adjust the timer). Also I recommend adding meat 15m into the heating - because it doesn’t just sit in the canister waiting for the vapor to return and fill up.I am delighted to have found this high quality product , and keep in mind I’m super fussy when it comes to product with dangerous smells or chemicals. This is very well done. Also by aiming the cover whole towards your kitchen vent, (see photo) you’ll get rid of humidity right away. Again, sit on the stove carefully to keep it stable. The instructions underline clearly that stability and safety always come first.I make soup for two days with anything sitting in my fridge - and it’s always gone the same night. You can get healthier with this system, no grease no frying. Fabulous taste.Easy to cookThis steamer is not powerful enough to make Yunnan Steam Chicken Soup. We only used it as steamer and it is not working after one and a half year of purchase. We have to buy a new steamer.I just got this, and made basmati rice. This made the most beautiful, perfect, fluffy rice that I've ever seen. It is well worth the money. It can easily make 4 cups of rice ( 2 cups dry rice + 2 cups water ), six would be the max for light & fluffy rice. I'm so pleased with this purchase!!! I've been texting friends, and sending pictures ever since I opened the box. This is the best rice cooker ever! Everything is perfectly simple right out of the box. NOTE: instructions in English are included.Only one thing I did not like. Not enough instruction. But I’m learning and each time leads to more. Put soup ingredients in pot and do not have to watch pot like I do on stove. Makes beautiful soup, stew or one pot. Can’t say enough about it. Glad I bought it. Betty.I love this steamer, cooking becomes funny and easy.