--- slug: bamboo_or_metal_which_steamer category_path: home_kitchen/kitchen_dining/cookware/steamers type: buying_guide title: "Bamboo or Metal: Which Steamer to Buy?" lead: "A stainless steamer basket for everyday vegetables, fish, and reheating — it drops into a pot you already own, takes the dishwasher, and lasts for good. Choose a bamboo steamer if dumplings and buns are the point: it wicks away the drips that make a metal lid soggy, and goes to the table." recommendation: name: "A stainless steamer basket for everyday steaming — a bamboo steamer for dumplings and table service" reason: "Steaming just needs a perforated shelf over boiling water, and a folding stainless basket does that for pennies: it fits several pot sizes, cleans in the dishwasher, and never wears out. Bamboo earns its place for one real reason — the woven lid absorbs the rising condensation instead of dropping it back onto the food, so buns and dumplings stay dry-topped, and the stack looks good enough to serve from. The trade is care: bamboo is hand-wash, thorough-dry, and mold-prone if stored damp, and it stains over time. Size the basket or steamer to sit inside your widest pot with the lid still closing." published: 2026-07-08 updated: 2026-07-08 ---