Magimix Le Cuiseur Vapeur automatic, approx £99.95, stockists 01483 427411
***
Attractive but metal, so watch your fingers. Only two tiers, but they are pretty so you can use them to serve your food in (just pop the lid underneath). Quite roomy, with a handy 'keep warm' function.

Tefal 3 Tier Easy Store in chrome, £39.99, stockists 0845 602 1454
****
An attractive, neatly storable, tower. Tall but slender. This was very quiet and you can top up the water when the indicator tells you it's running out.

Meyer Multisteamer 18cm, £30, stockists 0151 482 8282
****
Now this is a reasonable price, looks smart, steams perfectly and doesn't take up half the work surface. Downsides? It can't compete with electric ones on capacity and there's no timer .

Morphy Richards two-in-one, £34.99, stockists 0870 060 2614
***
'Two in one' because its funnel distributes steam evenly to each of the three layers, or, if you take the funnel out, you will have the usual; more steam on the bottom layer. The timer's annoyingly noisy.

Hancock bamboo steamer, approx £3, from Chinese supermarkets
**
Cheap and efficient - but they have been known to catch fire.