Product Review: Beaba Babycook Baby Food Maker

This is a compact countertop baby food appliance that allows you to steam, blend, warm and even defrost meals for the baby. You can cook most baby foods (there is even a pasta/rice insert that you can buy separately) and it cooks the meals in a relatively short timeframe - about 15 minutes. I really do like this product and I give it a 4.5 out of 5.  Here are my Pros and Cons.

PROS

• It is compact (8.5 x 5 x 7.5 inches), lightweight (3.5 pounds/1.58 kg) and easy to store
• Washing is easy. You can either handwash or place the bowl and basket insert on the top rack of the dishwasher.
• It has few attachments and it takes just one blade - no more multiple blades and pieces to lose in the kitchen drawer!
• The blade is great and purees to a super smooth consistency that I have not found in my other similar appliances. I rarely find larger chunks, which can potentially be hazardous to a small child or baby.
• You can use the appliance to also re-heat or defrost food using a very reliable steam method.
• The appliance allows you to reserve the condensed water after steaming so you can add the valuable nutrients that have been lost in the steaming process back in the baby food when you puree.
• It is turns homemade baby food into a quick, stress-free process. I literally make Buttercup's baby food in the Babycook while I am either preparing Mini-V's food or our own dinner.  All I have to spend time on is peeling and chopping the fruits and vegies. So fast! Then the machine steams it, the light goes off and in less than a minute I can puree to a super smooth paste with the nutrient-rich condensed water
• There are plenty of product accessories you can buy 
• The bowl is made from unbreakable Bisphenol-A (BPA) free copolyester.
• The appliance comes with a recipe book 

CONS

• The bowl only has a 2.5 cup capacity.  At the moment, I don't mind really because Buttercup is only 7 months so she doesn't really eat that much and I do actually prefer to make her food more often so it is continuously fresh and varied. However, I recall that around 8 months of age, I stopped using the Babycook with Mini-V. She was doing more finger food and eating more and it just wasn't practical, in spite of the short preparation and clean-up times.
• Clean-up is still clean up! Washing a knife, chopping board, Babycook bowl, lid, basket, blade and spatula is still more work than opening a jar. Sometimes, it just isn't practical to be sitting and making baby food every two or three days when you have so many other things going on with more than one child.
• The product is expensive. Ours was $149.95 back in 2010. I have seen it for slightly cheaper on Amazon but it is still not inexpensive for a product you may potentially only use for a few months (I say potentially because you really could continue using the product later on to steam food for children and adults and although I have never done this, I always think about doing it!).  Many times I have contemplated going back to the old ways of steaming and pressing the food through a sieve with a wooden spoon. It's the same thing after all, isn't it?? And that will probably only cost you about $10 - if that.

Overall, I really do like the product.  I am glad I own it and I am always satisfied at the quality of the food I am making for my children using the Beaba Babycook Baby Food Maker. While it is expensive, it is reliable, easy to use and easy to clean. It also is much more economical to make your own baby food so the overall expense of the appliance is probably offset by the savings you do make by avoiding expensive manufactured baby food - especially those food pouches that can run up to $1.50 per pouch.

Other information:

User's Manual