Accessories Reviews

I have asthma and the Hamilton Beach 04162 has both my votes. I did a lot of research and intially bought the Blue Air (which I returned the next day). The reviews indicated it was the quitest air purifier. It isn't and it cost 2 and 1/2 times the price of the Hamilton Beach. Although it supposedly has the lowest decibel level (which I do not believe), the BlueAir has an extremely irritating high whine that oscillates irregularly, not to mention an annoying bright blue light. This might be good for torturing someone, but the BlueAir is NOT quiet. The only reason I didn't buy the Hamilton Beach to begin with was because a reviewer said he could not sleep to it. ... The Hamilton Beach on low setting has a white noise effect and I actually prefer to have it on when I sleep. It's sound is soporific. The light from the Infrared can be turned off, but it is not annoying like the light from the BlueAir, so I leave it on. The infrared has elimated the mold problem we were having in our bathroom. It is very attractive, well designed, well built, doesn't way a ton, monitors the air, does not incorporated ozone (thank God), and has enabled me to sleep much better. The air is noticibly cleaner and fresher now. The bottom line is I use to get up frequently at night wiith my asthma and now I don't!

I don't think I would have bought this product without the helpful picture.

I found the replacement filters are equal to the original..No
change in thickness!!

I have used Vacu Vin products of all sorts for some time now and am very pleased with the results. Yes, you have to apply elbow grease to pump sufficient air out to ensure freshness but, for me, it is well worth the effort. It is only the effort factor that keeps me from giving Vacu Vin 5 stars.

Please tell me whether or not the canister-container
can be activated-vacuumed by a Vacu Vin WINE handle?
By that I mean may I successfully apply a WINE thing
as a vacuum-forming tool to the COFFEE canister. The
reason that I ask is that perhaps I could get coffee
canister REPLACEMENT unit (ASIN B00005AS53), costing
less than the whole set, and "make do" (get results)
by applying depressurization/vacuum with B00004SAF4.
I know this sounds desperate (rrreally cheap), but I
have better things to do with my money than waste it
on TWO hand-tools (assuming that one handle can work
with both the COFFEE canister and also the bottle of
WINE). I don't know a Customer Service # of Vacu Vin
(otherwise I'd pester them directly). Awaiting RSVP.

Does it take elbow grease? Sure it does. I figure it takes about 25 pumps to get a good seal. You can tell when a vacuum is forming because it gets harder to pump. It is NOT hard to do. It can't be any harder to hook it up to a machine and fiddle with the seal and controls. I mean, it's a manual system but it's much simpler and more convenient.

To open the canister is incrediably easy. The rubber stopper has a lip seal. Just pinch the stopper in a perpendicular direction to the lip and voila, the seal is broken and you can hear a hiss of air.

I got this cover for my new Kitchen Aid and was pleased with it the first few weeks. Until, that is, I got it a little dirty and needed to run some cold water on a small portion of it to remove a tomatoe sauce splatter. The dark dye started running *immediately* onto the white and I was madly trying to stop it before it got too bad. I fixed it as best as I could but about an inch all around one side on the trim is a light blue from the dye. I now have to remove it whenever I cook anything that may get on it and it's very impractical. Being in a kitchen, this cover is extremely likely to need washing from time to time and I found it just ridiculous that this is basically impossible to do without ruining it.

Being a bachelor, I know I needed a little look of the home comfort, and this quilted cover gives the kitchen a warm cozy feel. I like the idea of preventing splashes of food not being able to get on the mixer. I like to give the mixing bowl and utensils a quick rinse before I use them. What the cover prevents is the need to do a prolonged soak and scrub to get dried food off of it. The cover fits well. I haven't really bothered to put a cookbook in the pocket. I like the look with the pocket the way it comes.
I like the fact that I know my stand mixer will remain scratch free, and keep that new look for a lot of years because of the cover.

This is no cover up , it is a lovely addition to ones counter. It keeps your mixer clean, has a nice pocket on one side to store your mixer book and is made of a nice quilted fabric.
At first I thought it was a bit pricey but it is well made and will last forever!!

i certainly prefer this brush to a pastry or other brush you may have in the kitchen drawer, but the bristles need to be upgraded to something that won't fray after only a few uses. the grip, size, and ergonomics of the brush are great, i'm simply fearful that if they bristles become too frayed they'll scatter grinds everywhere as i'll lose directional control of where i "sweep" the grinds. its difficult to pin point the area i'm trying to brush if the bristles become too frayed.

This brush has held up very well! I still like the design. It looks better than what I've seen available in stores. It's also weighted nicely. Doesn't feel or look cheap like those plastic or wood ones do.

I've used this brush for a couple of months now and it works just fine--much better than the pastry bruch I'd been using for the 8 years before that. All the coffee grinds slide nicely out of my coffee grinder and into my coffee filter. In response to the reviewers below, I haven't noticed any problems with the quality of the brush's bristles.

I've taken this heater camping about 4 times and it works great. I try not to use it all night, so I turn it on while we are getting ready to go to sleep and keep it on for an hour. I then turn it off and turn it back on in the morning for about 30 minutes before getting up. The push-button starter is very useful and allows me to turn it on fairly quick without having to look for a match or lighter. This unit stands on the floor and blows the heat at an angle. This is great since it can heat the tent across the sleeping bads. Other units heat up and you don't get the heat across the tent and it goes straight up to the ceiling of the tent. However, the threads on the unit where the propane bottle attaches are wearing off. I'm having problems attaching the propane cans as they fit in an angle and are hard to align.

This heater is great. It puts out a good amount of heat, and the fan does a good job of projecting that heat. My only gripe is the advertised life of a can of propane. It's supposed to last up to eight hours in this heater, but it hasn't come close yet. If you're lucky, you'll get six hours. It sucks when it goes out in the middle of the night and the fan continues to blow cold air. This thing is great as long as you plan on getting up once in the middle of the night to change the propane can.

Just back from a cold and rainy columbus day weekend camping trip in the White Mountains, and this heater was the item that saved the weekend! on a cool night(45deg.) this easily brought the temp inside my large coleman tent above 70(it was downright hot!). On a raw rainy afternoon my daughter and I could tough-it-out in great comfort in the tent. and the following 35degree morning was nice and toasty inside! This will definitely increase the enjoyment and comfort of your "shoulder season" camping. In an emergency I've little doubt that this could easily heat a 9x12 room.
Lights quickly with no matches, wide base is very stable, fan is quiet and really makes a difference in heating a larger area, no odor/fumes. unit is larger than it looks, standing about 15" tall...but it fits in an old bookbag size backpack for easy transport.

oh and this price on target is surprisingly low, I paid more!

do not like the design of this pot...steam escapes from the lid while pouring and burns flesh if not careful

The person who gave the "No Stars" review obviously misunderstood the funadamental nature of this product (i.e., was clueless.) It would burn, of course, if you put it on the stove. Most other teapots would likewise burn, crack, or otherwise be severely damaged if you placed them on the stove to heat water. TEAPOTS DO NO GO ON THE STOVE! Tea kettles go on the stove. A sane person pours water from a kettle into a teapot to make one's tea. (Hello...?)

I loved this teapot. My husband bought it for me and it broke before our move. I thought that I'd never find it again. However he found it for me here on Amazon.com as a surprise for Christmas! I like it because I can use loose tea and tea bags in the tea caddy. My tea comes out perfect everytime too. I can also get several servings out of each pot. It's very easy to use and clean up is rather quick. I'd recommend this for yourself or as a gift!

It makes tea and will certainly produce a crop of questions along the lines of "What on earth is that" It has, however, a number of drawbacks. First and most serious, the tea becomes cold very quickly since the teabowl has no insulation. Secondly, the strainer must be physically removed from the pot to stop the infusion. Since the strainer is then full of wet tea leaves these tend to drip causing a mess. In addition, the tea strainer cannot be removed by hand if the tea is hot. This means that either a spoon or some other utensil must be used to remove the strainer, not as easy as it seems.
I can't recommend this item.

This is a beautiful example of Scandinavian design, Danish, specifically. It's funky but functional--I keep mine out on the dining room table so guests see it, and no one fails to comment. It has a "double hull" to keep water warm in it for about 20 minutes to half an hour. I have no idea why another reviewer felt like it didn't keep tea warm long enough; that has not been my experience whatsoever. It *is* true that the metal tab on the wire mesh insert that holds the tea leaves (which tab you use to pull the mesh out) can get very hot if you need to remove it right away after pouring hot water for some reason, but this hasn't been an issue since I steep my tea a good three minutes and it's cool enough to touch at that point.

I recommend it for looks alone--it's a great piece. But it's also highly functional. This is what's characteristic about so much Scandinavian design, really: practical function and innovative form go hand in hand. If you're not an innovative-design person, get a boring old traditional teapot. But if you are a design person, this is the teapot for you.

The Bodum Tea Bowl is wonderfully designed for making and enjoying tea. The handle is comfortable to use. The infuser is large enough to allow the tea leaves to be surrounded by the hot water. Also, the infuser may be easily lifted out of the pot with a spoon, thus avoiding scalded fingers after the tea has brewed.

The grinder works great. The slicer/shredder is worthless. If you want a grinder, order it seperately. If you want a slice/shredder, order a food processor. The slicer/shredder did an awful job on onions, mushing them up, and dropping large chunks into the bowl. Celery had the celery strings all wrapped around the drum. It did do a good job on potatoes, shredding them nicely. You also need two pairs of pliers to take the drum off the shaft when you're done. And, a plastic spatula from my Braun food processor was great to scrape the potato remains from the drum.

The shredder works great on potatoes for hash browns and bricks of cheese grated for pizza or nachos. The meat grinder is fast and efficient. Pouring shield is awkward..........be sure to turn the mixer OFF before placing the shield on the bowl!

I have one of those big Kitchenaid mixers (mainly for making bread. One of us needs non-wheat bread and the other won't eat American-style bread. Nothing to do but bake our own.)

Well, I decided to put that big mixer to work overtime doing sausage (we got spoiled in Europe on homemade, unadulterated Italian sausage made by the neighborhood grocer.) And we like salad and slaw. This gadget goes together easily. You pop the unit onto the front connector on the mixer and feed the vegetables or meat into the hopper. You can shred, slice and grate.

The only thing this set doesn't do is fine chopping, but you know, you could probably add a tiny mini-processor and still have your counter relatively uncluttered.

I love the idea that this cooler will fit almost anywhere. It's especially nice that the Wagan cooler fits snugly, and relatively securely on the center console between the front seats in my Jeep Grand Cherokee (although I can't lift the door to the console, but you can't have everything).

The Wagan unit keeps things cool (as the name implies), but let's face it, this is no refridgerator, and for an electrically powered unit, I expect that it would keep drinks colder than using ice with a regular cooler, but it doesn't. Unless the Wagan cooler is left out in the snow in the middle of wintertime, it barely keeps things as cool as 40-42 degrees Farenheit when its about 72 degrees outside. WIth ice in a traditional cooler, you can expect to get things down to around 34-36 degrees, and in the summertime. And believe me this 4-8 degrees matters. In fact, the cooler performs much worse in hotter weather.

Also (and this is my biggest peeve), the cooler's AC power adapter died after less than one week of use---it's cheesy and probably not the stuff of power appliances like this Wagan cooler. Therefore, I would not suggest using the cooler as a full-time refridgerator/cooler in your office or den. The Wagan Cooler appliance package just isn't built tough enough for my relatively benign demands. Needs to keep the drinkies cool (I give it a "C-"), and needs to endure through typical (and specified I might add, by the manufacturer) use ("D-").

It does cool to 40-41 degrees as advertised. There are two problems:

1. The AC adapter gets hot during use, almost too hot to hold. This is not good, and was alarming enough for me to send it back.
The adapter does not look like the pictures on the web, and is labeled 'Caution: For Use with Technology Equipment'. What? I don't think this is techology equipment! It *is* rated 12v 5 amps, however.

2. The fan operates continuously and emits a distinctive pitched tone (469 Hz), rather than whir. It is loud and can be easily heard indoors from a distance of 20-25 feet. I found it disturbing. No doubt it would be fine in a car, but I intended to use this mostly indoors.

Studying for the CA bar exam I had to be at the law library for 10-12 hours everyday for two and a half weeks straight. Using the "hot" version, I was able to have my hot meals every day, without having to take off too much time from my studies. The food stayed nice and hot (great home-y feel) after approximately 5 hours from the time I heated it up in the morning. It probably would stay hot even longer than that, but I had to worry about draining my power system.

When it was time for the exam, which is 3 days in CA, the hotel that I was staying at had ran out of their refrigerators. So, I took this little cooler and set it in the "cold" version. My food stayed COLD the whole time, not cool, COLD. I had cold cuts, cheeses, and soup that never went bad during the period of time.

When I checked the temperature, when set as cold, it stayed consistently at 32 degrees (colder than my refrigerator), and when set as hot, it was 120 degrees. It really works well.

The whirling noice that the other reviewer mentioned is correct, but it is not annoying at all. Since it doesn't have a high pitch sound, it was just fine. Even when I had it in the hotel room right next to the bed. And when you take the bar exam, every little noise would annoy you - trust me on that.

Hopefully I passed the exam. I would then give credit to this little cooler for having kept me fed during the ordeal with little hassle.

I'm extremely happy with this product. Assembly was quick and easy, I had it done in under 1/2 hour. The drawer shelves were a little bit balky at first, but have started to slide a lot easier. The dark finish of the wood looks great. I am having a little bit of trouble with taller, slim Italian bottles as they fill slip through a few of the storage slats.

This wine cabinet looks very expensive, but is an excellent price. It's relatively easy to put together, and is well-made so it will most likely last for quite a while.

I'm not a juvenile..just don't need my ID out there! Bought this wine cabinet for my husband as a gift. My 13 and 15 year old sons assembled this alone in about an hour. Instructions were clear and simple to follow. The drawers are a bit balky as Chris mentioned but I think they should smooth out over time. One very nice feature is that the drawers tip down a bit as they pull out enabling me to clearly see the wines on the drawer. The doors close evenly and stay securely closed with the tight magnet. Nice finish on the cabinetry. A great buy and a nice look, especially for the price. I am very pleased.