Looking to make your own baby food — look no further than the Beaba Babycook ($149).
It’s four-in-one-product – you can steam cook with it, blend with it, defrost, and reheat. It’s got a 2 cup capacity and cooks super fast (less than 15 minutes for some foods). They’ve got a small recipe book included, but I wasn’t as impressed with that. But I was impressed with how easy the Babycook was to use. If you want to steam and puree carrots, for example, pour some water into the heating unit, put your carrots in the steamer basket in the bowl, put the top on, and turn the dial to steam to cook. Come back 15 minutes later to take the basket out of the bowl (be careful, use the provided spatula to lift it out), and put the carrots directly into the bowl. Put the lid back on the bowl and turn the dial to puree. That’s really it!
I used to make baby food on the stove in the steamer basket and puree it in my food processor. While that’s pretty easy (and low cost), I just don’t have the time to do it and I don’t like to leave pots on the stove unattended. With the Beaba, I can basically set it up, turn it on the steam, come back when its done and puree it. Much easier and foolproof and I just have one thing to clean. Once you play with it, you can figure out how to make almost any kind of baby food in it. The only thing I didn’t like is that instead of being able to walk away while the food purees, you have to hold the dial to the puree setting (in order for it to work).
While the Beaba BabyCook isn’t cheap, think of all the money you can save with making your own baby food at home! And the biggest plus of all is that you will know EXACTLY what is going into your baby’s food and you can easily make 7 servings (of 1/4 cup each) at a time to freeze. I use the steamer function to defrost also. It take longer than microwaving it, but I don’t like to microwave food for any of my children if possible.
I recommend getting the silicone multi -portion tray ($20) and I can’t wait to try out the rice cooker insert and the seasoning ball. While my baby just started solids, I already have several portions of foods made — like chicken with apple puree, apple puree, carrot puree, blueberry puree and banana puree in my freezer. Just pop the portions out of the multi-portion tray and put them into a sealable plastic bag or container (remember to label what you made). I also use the mult-portion tray for freezing the steel cut oatmeal I make in batches. I plan to find more recipes to make for my baby, once he gets beyond simple purees.
The Beaba Babycook is on sale for $134 at the Right Start.
Thank you to Scandinavian Child for sending a sample of the Beaba Babycook for review purposes.
My “baby” just turned two, but I still want one of these Babycooks. It looks like a great gadget to have around for years to come – especially with the rice cooker attachment 🙂 Thanks for sharing your thoughts. I might just have to go and buy one.