You Can Totally Hack A Steamer Basket. Here Are 5 Easy Ways To Do It

Steaming is one of cooking's most-underrated techniques. While you might initially associate it with bland, limp vegetables and boring-looking, health-conscious dinners, steaming is a deeply versatile method of prepping both produce and protein. When done properly, it can leave you with perfectly textured, deeply flavorful food. It can also keep veggies crisp, puff up the most flavorful soup dumplings, make gorgeously fluffy brown rice, and keep proteins, such as fish, tender.

There are plenty of ways to actually steam your food. Some give you more control than others, and control is the key to avoiding overcooked, mushy food. The go-to, for most of the world, is the steamer basket. This dedicated dish, often made of bamboo, is placed over a pot of water, trapping the vapor and gently cooking your food. If you've ever needed to steam something in a pinch but don't have one on hand, you might be glad to know that there are a host of great DIY options available. Here, we break down five of our favorite ways to hack a steamer basket to make sure you never wind up short-changed in the steaming department again – no specialist equipment needed. With a little ingenuity (and some basic kitchen supplies you probably already have on hand), you could be well on your way to steaming like a pro.

Chances are, you've got some disposable aluminum pie pans kicking around in your kitchen. They're great when you want homemade pie without the laborious cleanup of using a traditional ceramic pie dish. They're also great for roasting veggies and even meats, such as chicken or beef. With one of these pans — or two if you really want to get creative — you also have yourself a pretty solid homemade steamer.

Take your pie pans and use the tip of a knife, a sharp skewer, or a pair of scissors to poke several holes in the base of the pans. These act as vents to let the steam come through from below, ensuring your food cooks evenly. Then, flip one of the pans upside down and place it on the bottom of a lidded saucepan. If you're using two pie pans, take a rolling pin and flatten the second one so you can use it as a removable platter to easily move food in or out of your makeshift steamer. Next, pour a small amount of water into the saucepan and bring it to a simmer to get things nice and steamy before placing the lid on. This traps the steam inside — bonus points if you wrap the lid in a cloth to create a more effective seal. Just make sure you cut your holes evenly — you don't want any jagged metal edges getting into your food, or tearing anything open, while you steam it.

Even if you don't have disposable pie pans or roasting tins in your kitchen, you surely have a roll of aluminum foil. It's not just good for keeping your pans clean and your food warm. First, take aluminum foil and tightly pack it into three equally golf ball-sized balls. Then, place them in the bottom of a lidded pot with about 1 inch of water in it before resting a plate on top and whacking the heat up as before — just make sure you're using a heatproof plate. Place whatever you want to steam on top of the plate; the hot air and vapor circulate around it while the balls keep it high up, stopping it from making any contact with the water. Place the lid on top of the pot to ensure no steam escapes when it isn't supposed to.

Don't go too big or small with the balls — the name of the game here is stability. Too big, and you overcrowd the pan (and risk not properly cooking your food). Too small, and you might run into some balance issues, potentially letting water get onto your plate (leaving you with soggy food — hardly ideal). Et voilà: A DIY steamer that keeps your plate warm!

If you want to steam something slightly more delicate — think thin rice paper dumplings — you might not need to use a plate at all. In fact, all you really need is foil and a lidded pot. Heavy-duty foil works better here, but you can layer up regular kitchen foil and achieve the same effect if you've got a little more time on your hands.

Form sheets of foil into a shallow tray or bowl shape, poke holes all over its surface, then form a lip that you can rest over the edge of your pan. Fill the pot with a little water before placing your foil bowl on the rim of the pan so it's suspended over the water. This essentially mimics the design of a purpose-built steamer basket: It's elevated above the water, perforated, and easy to change the size to fit whatever pot you're using. Just make sure you firmly secure the edges of your foil basket to the side of the pot for stability — the last thing you want is your food falling into a pot of boiling water. To do this, form a gentle arch out of your foil and keep it taught, perhaps by wrapping it around the handles of your pot (if it has them).

People often confuse colanders (more commonly known as strainers) for steaming baskets. It's easy to see why. More often than not they're made of metal, perforated, and, well, bowl-shaped. While they're not perfectly suited for use as steamers just as they are (there's no way of keeping the steam inside so they aren't particularly efficient), it's easy to modify one into a perfectly effective at-home steaming solution. A sieve works here, too, or any metal strainer that you can fit inside a pan.

Bring a pot of water to boil and place the strainer over the top, making sure it doesn't touch the water and, if possible, high enough up that water can't splash up through its base. Add the food you want to steam and cover it tightly with a lid or some kitchen foil. You can either tent the food directly with the foil or, if the strainer fits entirely within the pot, you can throw on the lid. You can also create a makeshift lid out of foil; just make sure to wrap it tightly to create an adequate seal. Make sure you use a metal strainer, not a plastic one — it could melt. Use oven mitts or kitchen towels when lifting the strainer away from the pot to avoid burning yourself.

This simple elevation trick uses common items you probably already have knocking around in your kitchen drawers. It's also great for more demanding steaming tasks, such as cooking fish, frozen dumplings, or even setting puddings. A riff on the aluminum foil ball trick — though perhaps a little more sturdy — this hack requires a heatproof bowl or plate (depending on what you're steaming) and a riser, such as a ramekin, cake ring, or even a cookie cutter. 

Like with our other tips on this list, place the riser in a lidded saucepan with about 1 inch of water. You can add more initially or top it up as needed if you're steaming something for a longer period of time. Set the bowl or plate on the riser so it's nicely balanced, place your food on it, turn the heat on, and seal with the lid. To avoid any cracking, make sure the bowl or plate you're using is heatproof and tempered — that means oven-safe glass or ceramic is the way to go. Metal works, but it's super-conductive; you need to keep a close eye on it to ensure you don't overcook more delicate ingredients, such as white fish. Happy steaming!