We scoured the Mumsnet forums for recommendations from real parents who’ve been through the weaning years and came out unscathed, making notes of their honest recommendations as well as products that they felt didn’t quite make the grade. Every parenting guide we write - covering everything from the best sterilisers for bottles to the top nappies and nappy rash cream - starts with research on the Mumsnet forums, as we know how useful an independent review can be.

Therefore, we think Baby Brezza does a great job in implementing and executing what it was designed and meant for. Baby Brezza also offer a food maker — the Baby Brezza Food Maker Deluxe — which is a 3-in-1 system for steaming and blending your chosen ingredients into a smooth baby food at the push of a button. If you’d like to see more of our innovative kitchenware, be sure to browse our feeding time range. This is typically a handheld device that mashes food into smaller bits for easy consumption. Like with a potato masher, you’ll use manual force to reduce a large item into a meal you can feed your little one with a baby spoon. 3. Steamer

What are the benefits of using a baby food maker?

There’s a reason this baby food maker includes “One Step” in its name. The Baby Brezza Glass One Step automatically steams and blends baby food in a single step without removing food or pushing buttons. We love the compact size of the machine and its included accessories, like food pouches with three funnels for a mess-free transfer. The unit feels high quality and sturdy, thanks to suction cups on the base that prevent the machine from sliding during use. The machine has a pre-set timer for steaming (you can't control the timing). When steaming room-temperature carrots, the timer went off at 26 minutes, and then at 27 minutes when we steamed frozen peas. While the carrots cooked well, we thought the peas could soften a little more. We recommend using the machine's defrost setting (the steam button) to gently heat frozen food before starting a full steaming cycle. For immediate steaming, room temperature may work best for the pre-set steaming time. Furthermore, the book includes nutritional tips, feeding guidelines, and cooking and storage instructions that are easy to follow. Transitioning to solid foods is an exciting milestone for babies (and parents) that typically happens from 4 to 6 months of age for children who show signs of readiness. A baby food maker can take the stress—and mess—out of the process for parents and caregivers who want to make their own pureed recipes. I can highly recommend the Philips Avent steamer blender – perfect for smooth purées initially and lumpier stuff later. It’s lasted me for four babies.” (Tried and tested by Mumsnet user Enigmasaurus) Our verdict

This model offers multiple functions, including defrosting, blending, steaming, and reheating. We think it’s great how smooth the final product is when using the blender feature. There are different ways of approaching weaning, from baby led weaning, to purées, or a mixture of both. If you go down the purée route, you may want to make these yourself at home, so you know exactly what’s going into them. Plus, if you want to make small quantities of baby food for your baby (which happens a lot in the early days of weaning when they're trying out new flavours), you’ll find an ordinary-sized blender won’t puree it consistently, which is where a dedicated baby food blender comes in handy. What to look for when buying a baby food blender We're impressed with the smooth texture of the foods after pureeing. The Nuby Mighty Blender did a great job blending ingredients, but we had to tinker with how much water was necessary for pureeing. For example, the carrots called for one-quarter cup of water, though we actually needed half a cup. Still, you can make up to 3.5 cups of food in the large blender bowl and enough food for one to two feedings in the smaller "bullet" cup. All other parts are hand washable. We recommend further cleaning for the steam tank to prevent the build up of mineral deposits. Do I need to peel fruits and vegetables before use?

It's better to buy on babybrezza.co.uk

Choose the right steam time for your recipe. Use the food recipe book that comes with the baby food maker, buy it separately or visit babybrezza.com for a detailed guide. Additional functions: Some models reheat or defrost already puréed baby food - useful if you don’t have a microwave. Not every baby food maker does the same thing. Here are a few factors to consider when making your choice.

For all types of food: fruit, vegetables, fish, meat, pasta, soup, boiled eggs. Preparation time can be set to 5-30 minute periods So, what do you do with all that great food you're steaming and pureeing? Definitely don't fill up those extra baby bottles, that will make a mess! Parents usually put the food into small freezer-safe containers (like these awesome ones by OXO) and take them out as needed. But there's also another way to do this that is gaining in popularity. Do you know those fun squeezable pouches of baby food? Like the popular ones by Plum Organics? You can use this electric baby food maker to automatically steam and blend baby food in one step without transferring any hot food from a steamer basket to a blender. This means fewer steps and less mess! A single button allows you to prepare up to 4 cups of homemade baby food The baby food makers and blenders we recommend come with all manner of gadgets and extras. Generally, the more you pay, the more you'll get, but here are a few features to look out for that you might find useful. Some parents will happily steam fruit and vegetables and mash them up with a baby fork – and to be fair, in the early days of weaning when your baby has very limited tastes, this is a perfectly sensible idea.Space: Most baby food makers are fairly compact so are ideal if you need to save space in your kitchen or want to take your baby food maker with you on days out or holidays. The more substantial models will take up more space on your kitchen worktop, but are also capable of producing large volumes of baby purées, making them ideal for batch cooking. It’s swings and roundabouts but do just measure up before you buy. I used a Beaba Babycook. It was great - it steams then blends food. It was good for preparing blended baby food before they are ready for more substantial food." (Tried and tested by Mumsnet user namestar) Our verdict Automatically steams, then blends homemade baby food in one easy step. No transfer after cooking required like other baby food makers Steaming and food processing capabilities. Some baby food makers will steam, blend and puree your ingredients, but they tend to cost more. Others will simply grind or blend your food. Figuring out in advance which will work best for your family — and your budget — is important. First, always use distilled water. It's easy to be lazy here, but you'll regret using tap water or bottled water after a couple of months when your system gets truly disgusting in the water reservoir and heating element.