Beaba Babycook Baby Food Maker
by Beaba
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Our Price: $114.49 Availability: Usually ships in 24 hours Category: Baby Product See more product details |
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Baby Products Reviews of Beaba Babycook Baby Food Maker
Customer Review: Not a real timesaver, and expensive
Summary: 2 Stars
I bought this thinking it would be easier to have a two-in-one machine to make my baby's food. The problem is that you can only make about four servings of food at a time. I'm a working mom, so I need to make two weeks worth of food at a time and freeze it. That means at least six batches in the Beaba, which would take hours. In addition, the plastic is pretty thin, so I'm afraid to put the parts in the dishwasher. This means HAND washing! Add the descaling requirements, and this thing takes more time to clean than to cook with.
The steamer also doesn't have any kind of 'off' signal, so if you have 'mommy brain' and walk away from it while it is steaming, it won't remind you when it is finished so you might come back long after the food has gone cold and then you have to throw it out. The food processor blade is really inefficient so it takes a long time to get a consistent texture. If you are processing anything starchy, that means it gets pretty glutinous by the time all the big chunks are out of the batch.
For the price, you can get a full size steamer (that chimes when finished), and basic food processor or hand blender that will blend the food faster and more evenly. And you can use those products for the whole family, not just the limited time the baby needs pureed food. The Black & Decker steamer is very affordable and doesn't present the water scale problems that this machine has.
Customer Review: Superb operation
Summary: 4 Stars
I received this as a gift at Christmas and have been enjoying using it. Its very convenient and keeps all the cleanup contained in one bowl.
Best feature - the food processor is _very_ powerful and I don't need to strain foods b/c there are no chunks (I do strain peas to remove shells after processing).
The steamer is quick and efficient. With the steamer basket full, I make about one-week worth of single-ingredient food at a time. I peel foods and cut into chunks before I steam them. Holds about 2 small sweet potatoes or two pears or one bag of frozen peas.
I store foods frozen in silicone mini-muffin pans (much easier to remove than from an ice-cube tray).
This device can be used to defrost food - just pop the frozen food in a small heat-proof bowl first. But, unless you keep a close eye and check a few times, the food gets way too hot. Easier to use the microwave for 30 seconds, then stir well to make sure there are no hot or cold spots.
I will definitely use this when our baby starts to eat our food and it needs to be blenderized first. The blade and motor on the food processor are fabulous and better than others we have.
Cons:
- The price is way too expensive. I received it as a gift, but would not have bought it for myself.
- The spatula is useless, a small silicone spatula is much better.
Customer Review: LOVE it, great for toddlers too
Summary: 5 Stars
Received this as a gift from my mom. I am basically a lazy (or is it busy and overwhelmed?) person and I love the convenience and easy cleanup. The device, container and basket are BPA-free, as recently confirmed by independent testing by the Svan company who is taking over distribution of the Babycook in the USA. The steamer basket holds about a 1/2 pound of peas at a time, which purees down to a full baby food freezer tray, with a couple of servings extra. Just how much of one thing do you want to make at a time anyway? I expect that the Babycook will pay for itself, given the high cost of those little jars of babyfood from the market - over dollar ($1.29!!! in some stores) here, even more for the organic ones. Although I don't have hard water I always use filtered water, so there has been no brown stuff anywhere, like another reviewer complained about. Also, love the fact that I can use the Babycook to defrost and heat the frozen portions. Microwaves slightly change the molecular structure of foods. The best part? My three year old loves to cook her own veggie combinations in it (with adult supervision, of course) and eat what she cooks. Since she is a picky eater I am over-the-moon about this. I am also excited to be able to prepare meat in it because my husband has religious dietary restrictions and you can't get suitable prepared baby food. Again, love this product.Customer Review: Great and handy
Summary: 4 Stars
Before my purchase (from a local store, not Amazon), I had my doubts about this expensive product, but as someone who was just starting to make baby food for an 8.5 month-old who was not too keen on the chunkier textures, and since I didn't want to feed him the stage 3 store jars with meat in them, I needed to know that I was doing it right (steamed enough, etc), and this practical item did the trick. Sure it doesn't make very big batches (maybe four to six 4 ounce-containers at one time), but realistically: if you have a younger infant, you feed 1-2 ounces portions, and so that's quite a few meals (8-10). Each run is 20-30 min at the most (including the grinding), and you can do other things while the food steams. With an older infant, like mine, this is the age when you want to challenge their palate a little and introduce some variety in their diet, so it is fine for that. The verdict: 2-3 hours every Sunday (if you do it once a week) for a 9-month old who will eat out of your plate in 3 months, and I am sure half that for a younger baby who is just getting weaned. And in case you wonder, I work full time. Overall, it is nice to have one device that does the steaming and the processing (it can also reheat, but it is just as easy and safe in the microwave if you are careful). And I love the spoon that is angled just right to get every little bit of food out of there.Customer Review: Much better options out there
Summary: 2 Stars
This has been around in Europe for ages - many of my friends have it in London and I can see the apeal of this little steamer/grinder combo gadget however the price in the US is unbelievable!! It makes no sense to buy this when a regular "adult" steamer (such as the Black & Decker I reviewed) with a basket 4x the size is $30! I make my own baby food and love having a large basket to cook 4 sweet potatoes at once or a whole bag of baby carrots and freezing the extra portions in ice cube trays. With the Babycook, one would have to steam & puree almost every day -- who has the time? Secondly, with many baby foods, you have to remove the skins after steaming anyway, so it completely defeats the purpose of steaming & pureeing in the same basket. Lastly, when doing some reasearch into this product, I found that it may leech BPA chemicals so please look into this if it is important to you.
All in all, I think the Babycook looks adorable and has a cute little name and packaging but if you are a busy, tired mom, do yourself a big favor and get a regular, adult-sized steamer (like the B&D) that can make a month of purreed baby food at a time to freeze and re-heat when needed. The baby will outgrow this machine in a few months and then you are stuck with a $150 useless appliance. With a regular steamer, you can make dinner for your family simply and easily for years