Product Details

• Amazon Sales Rank: #530 in Baby Product
• Brand: Philips AVENT
• Released on: 2007-10-31

Manufacturer's Description
Based on the hospital principle, the Philips AVENT Express Electric Steam Steriliser uses the intensive heat of steam to eliminate harmful bacteria. It takes just six minutes to sterilise and uses intense heat to kill harmful bacteria without the strong smell or after taste of other sterilisation techniques. Makes contents sterile for up to six hours. The unit holds six bottles, teats and caps and the internal rack can be also form a dishwasher basket for small items. All Philips AVENT drinking equipment and feeding utensils comply with current European Standards BS EN 14350 and BS EN 14372.

Customer Reviews

Life saver
I have to disagree with the other two reviews. This machine is amazing and I love steam sterlising because hot water feels like the best way to sterlise bottles. The freshly sterlised bottles feels very warm and clean. The machine does not use a lot of energy if you use the correct amount of water. Besides, when you keep the cover on, the bottles stay sterlised for 24 hours. I trust avent and I am still using the machine after one year for my child's weaning dishes and spoons. The machine can be cleaned thoroughly using a descaler every couple of months. I cannot live without this machine even for one day!

Simple steaming
Following on from several other very good reviews and a few bizarre and inaccurate ones!

The sterilizer is stunningly easy to use. It's got a concealed element, so while limescale may build up, it's relatively easy to remove (Avent provide a good handful of cleaning power sachets) and even in a hard water area we only had to do it every four or five weeks.

It's quiet, no noisier than a boiling kettle and like a previous reviewer stated, if you read the instructions properly and pack it according to the design, you can fit a remarkable amount in! It takes up a relatively small footprint on a worktop (about that of a kettle), is self-contained, fairly easy to chuck in a bag to take with the baby to relatives and won't clog up your microwave when you're wanting to cook with it (and is an ideal solution for those of use who don't have microwaves).

If you also read the instructions, you'll see that it is very clear on exactly how much water you need to add to the unit for each cycle, and that you need to make sure there is no liquid remaining from the last cycle when you do so. Naturally, if you add much more water than recommended, it will take a lot longer to boil it - which could explain some people waiting 30 mins! We always added the recommended water and it always did the job in ten minutes or less.

There is also absolutely no need to fill the unit from the tap. The recommended amount of water is, usefully, just about exactly the same volume that fits in a Avent bottle cap. So, you take the cap to the tap, fill it to the brim, meander over to the sterilizer, tip it in and hey presto, you're ready to go. Why anyone would disconnect it and lug the whole unit over to the sink is beyond me!

As pointed out, the lid is made from thin plastic and does get very hot during the process, as do the bottles (obviously) inside so watch your fingers. And you need to watch where you place it in the kitchen as a plume of steam pours out the top during operation and if under a low shelf, you'll get condensation dripping everywhere.

In terms of how long it stays sterilized, someone has already answered the question very well in that nothing is every "sterile" in a medical sense. The minute you pick something up, or expose it to air it becomes non-sterile. Run the cycle and leave the lid on and Avent claim it will stay sterile for six hours - or at least more sterile than the surrounding kitchen.

The approach we took was to take the bottles out as soon as our fingers could bear the heat and filled them with measures of boiling water from the kettle, then put the teats, tops and lids on - then put them in the fridge. We figured we then had a more or less sterile measure of water inside a more or less sterile bottle, sealed from the elements by the cap. We then just added formula powder to a water filled bottle when needed. This way we only needed to do one or two sterilization cycles a day.

And no, this isn't a dishwasher - for the idiots who said it doesn't clean bottles, of course it doesn't! You have to clean the bottles like anything else and then sterilize them.

For the money, I don't think you'll find a simpler, more convenient solution to the problem - and frankly which doesn't involved endless bottles sitting soaking in cold solutions for hours on end, before having to be rinsed, has got to be a step forward.

Philips AVENT Express Electric Steam Steriliser
The Avent Express Steam Steriliser does exactly what it says on the box. Great value for money and they throw in a few free bottles aswell. Must de-scale every 4 weeks as they recommend, I would suggest every 3 weeks if you live in a hard water area. I have used mine through 2 babies now and it is still going strong and now being used by my friend, it has never let me down. The instructions are clear and concise and it couldn't be easier to use. Takes between 8-10 minutes depending on how fully loaded it is. I could get 6 bottles in and around 4 dummies aswell, make sure you check the instructions on how to load as if you don't get it just right you won't get much in! It's very simple