Most Liked Positive Review

Such a nice thing to have!

I am writing this review as a mom of two who had only used sterilizer bags prior to using this device. I have never had a baby brezza brand device before but am familiar with the brand. I was provided with this unit by the stellar review panel in exchange for my honest review. I wasn't familiar wi...th the concept of a counter-top sterilizer before about a year ago when my sister in law asked what I would do when we were traveling to sterilize bottle parts and I told her I'd only ever used microwave bags. I have tried the dishwasher basket at home as well, but those are really small and never worked out in our lifestyle, so even though we have one we never use it. I was really excited to try this, but I do admit it falls into the luxury item category, like other things that baby brezza makes. Noise: it does make some white noise as you would expect, but I wasn't bothered by it. I have a countertop distiller and I hate that I can't hear what's happening when that is being run. This is better than that, but still not very quiet, and there are some fairly prominent beeps between cycles. Drier: It takes awhile to dry, and the 30 min sterilize and dry dual setting did not fully dry what was in there - but it was full so this is pretty understandable. You might think you don't need the drier feature but I'm telling you... the drying feature is the best thing about this. it's so helpful if you have a wearable pump - the ones that rest in your bra require pump parts to be 100% dry and this is really hard to do between uses so this is an amazing time saver. Plus if you are handwashing bottles you could skip the drying rack and just pop them in here instead. It really doesn't need much water (I think a little shy of 1/2 cup) and it is very convenient especially if you have a lot of things you need to go in there. with the size bags we use, it would have taken 3+ cycles in sterilizer bags to get through everything without them being dried. They do make bigger bags than we have, and I think that it would have probably taken 2 cycles at least and that's more hands on. They recommend you use distilled water - we're weird about water taste and happen to have a distiller, but I might find this frustrating if I didn't have distilled on hand; I think you could use filtered tap water (against the instructions) but would have to be sure to wipe down/soak the bottom with vinegar more often, especially if you have hard water. This is pretty easy to do so I wouldn't expect it to be very problematic, but I also didn't try it and it could void the warranty so look into that before you do it! I took this unit to work for my pump parts where it has been a lifesaver so I don't have to use the shared microwave. Since it uses distilled water, I just use the water from the cooler, or from a bottle instead of the tap. I love being able to handle it in the office and it adds some much needed humidity to the air now that it's fall and the heaters are on! It's also so great not to have to hand dry the items for my wearable pump. It's very spacious and can sterilize a lot, a little, or medium amount. It does have steam come out so you won't want to run under a cabinet. It takes up a lot of space so if you are a minimalist and don't have cabinet space that might really bug you. The tongs are a nice feature - I can't totally figure out the best way to snap them in but that's not a big deal- super nice to have. Also, the hepa filter would seem unnecessary.... prior to this pandemic era. Now I really appreciate it and have thought about steaming masks and keys ...! I don't know how pricey it would be to replace the filter. I showed pictures of everything included, packed to the gills, steamy mid cycle and you can see some condensation on the vents at the top but it didn't put off as much steam as I was expecting. I prefer glass and it's nice for glass items; I get nervous about plastic in high heat but you have to sterilize baby stuff no matter the material so that's no different if you use the dishwasher, use the microwave bags or use this. This housing and parts are all plastic and could leach with time; it seems to be not quit the kind of plastic I'd hoped (I would have liked the kind of plastic in our aero press, which is very durable) - this is a little thinner and I do worry about leaching over time. I'm not more worried about that than I am about plastic bag leaching or plastic dishwasher basket leaching. Thanks to stellar review panel and baby brezza— I love this! I do know that I couldn't justify buying one for me... but I will use it for so many things that I need either dry or sterile not just baby items (menstrual cups, masks, etc - as an occasional extra clean for my utensils at work where there is no dishwasher— limitless possibilities in the pandemic). It's so much easier to have this!!