After my consideration about milk foaming here, I’m now considering getting a Bellman Stovetop steamer.

First of all - does anyone have any experience with it, bad or good, they’d like to share?

Secondly, I’m unsure whether to get the one with the gauge or not. I’ve read in a few places that it’s actually not quite as good with the gauge - that it doesn’t actually generate as much pressure. It’s also more expensive and money is definitely an issue.

I’ve also read that, with the one without a gauge, you can tell when it’s up to pressure with the pressure safety valve. However, I’ve also seen some retailers very firmly saying to not do this. It occurs to me that this might jsut be to cover themselves legally or whether it’s actually a bad idea.

If there is a clear way to tell when it’s up to pressure without a gauge, then it’s obviously better to get that if only because it’s cheaper. It would need to be possible to reliably tell in advance if it’s there or not though.

Thanks in advance for your thoughts!

  • daddyjonesOP
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    fedilink
    21 year ago

    Thanks for the reply. Just to clarify - you use the safety valve to tell you when it’s ready? I’m assuming without the steam valve open at a ll since, I imagine, that would stop it getting fully up to pressure?

    Is that (using the safety valve) consistently accurate? Safe?

    I’ve heard other people saying this is how they do it and it seems to make sense and be the easiest approach, but I’ve also seen retailers saying to really not do this - although that might just be to cover themselves legally.

    • @sqw
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      English
      11 year ago

      i just meant you could quickly open and close the main steam valve every 30-60s to judge how angry it is. sure, using the safety valve as your only indicator may work, until it doesn’t, with potentially dire consequences.