Appliance Reviews

I spent months researching juicers and surfing veggie themed threads. That research paid off because after owning this juicer for a year, we're still as thrilled as the first day it arrived. I bought it from cooking.com because Amazon wasn't selling it at the time. The price seems to be about the same still.

My wife and I juice everyday and the juicer is sooo easy to clean. Just put a plastic bag in the pulp receptacle and you're good to go. One less item to wash. We use a toothbrush on the blade basket and a regular sponge on the bowl. The blade/basket and bowl are stainless steel. Those infomercial juicers use cheap plastic wherever possible. Trust me, you're only paying for advertising with those TV juicers. This is the real deal. It's quieter than our blender and one large apple, 3 carrots and two oranges yields us two massive glasses of juice. It also has a small foot print. I bought one for my mother and my wife is getting one for her sister.

If you have a large family you might want to skip the mini and go for the regular sized L'Equip but many online reviews say that the mini is actually better for some reason. All I can say is that it is more than enough for a family of four. After a year, the blades are still sharp although not as sharp as new but still going strong. If you're looking for THE BEST JUICER for less than 100 bucks this is it!!

I'ts been a month since we purchased this. Being new to Juicing can't write a comparitive review. It does the Job of juicing extremely well. Makes least noise among all my other electrical gadgets. Easy to clean. Only disadvantage I've observed so far is the feeder is very small so you will have to slice or cut the fruits before feeding it in the Juicer.
Pulp ejector works perfectly & the pulp that comes out is almost dry. I guess it's a pretty good Juicer for starters 7 for the Price.

OK, be prepared for a complicated story.

Three years ago, I was living in Washington DC. I bought this blender at a kitchen supply store there. A year later, I moved to Paris. Before moving, we sold the blender at a yard sale. Today, I have another blender, but I still miss this one. (I can't believe I am saying that about a kitchen appliance) Anyway, when I had the blender, it worked very well. I made smoothies with it, and because of the different speeds I was able to chose between a "chunky" and a "smooth" beverage (Please Elie, get a life!)
To make it quick, get this if you want. I really don't care. All I can tell you is I was able to blend happily with it.

I decided to let others know what a great microwave this is -- I own the previous model (NN-S562) which is nearly identical to this model. The NN-S563 has the following updates over the previous model:
-- Additional 50 Watts power for total of 1350W
-- New Beverage and Keep Warm buttons
-- Bacon button has been removed

I have been using the NN-S562 for over a year now and I am continually impressed with its performance with each new item that I nuke. I bought this unit to replace a 17 year old Panasonic that was still going strong, but had an interior that was rusting out. My old microwave had a manual, rotary timer dial and only 500 Watts of power -- however, it was very easy to use. I bought this Panasonic after learning that the Sensor Reheat function was as simple as pushing 2 buttons (Reheat & Start), which greatly appealed to me. I thought the inverter technology was a lot of hype, until I reheated some mac & cheese -- evenly heated, no major cold spots and no overdone crusty edges! Same with reheating pizza and numerous other items. And the 1300 Watts of power gets the job done in less than half the time my old oven took. Popcorn is a breeze with the Popcorn button -- and no misguessing the time and having charred popcorn. The only item to caution users about is that there are exhaust vents on the left side of the cabinet which necessitate leaving at least an inch of room between the oven and the wall on that side -- otherwise, the unit will run very hot (you can feel this on the top of the cabinet near the magnetron tube). Also, it would be nice if the oven light came on when the door was opened to facilitate cleaning (it only comes on when running). Other than those minor drawbacks, I have only praise for this microwave -- I am looking forward to many more years of dependable service from a Panasonic appliance.

I just recieved this microwave and haven't used all of the features, but so far I love it. My 11 year old 1.2cu unit was on it's way out, so I was looking to replace it. I did some researche and discovered this panasonic. I am impressed with the size, speed of heating and most of all how quiet the microwave is compared to my old one. It has reheat settings for all kinds of little things like soup, cups of coffee, just to name a few that i've tried. It also reads "enjoy your meal" when it's done.

I went out and compared this rice cooker with many "newer" models of Zojirushi. This rice cooker is easier to clean than any Zojirushi I have seen. I also own a zojirushi rice cooker from Japan and comparing the two.. this National model blows the socks off of it.
I use my National everyday and it makes rice very well. The fact that it algorithmically figures out how long to cook the rice based on rice and water differential is excellent. You end up with tasty rice everytime. I have also left mine running with rice in it for 13 hours and the rice still tasted great and did not harden. If you eat a lot of rice this is an excellent machine and well worth the money.

I bought this for my Grandmother who cooks for two. It is small and compact enough to put in your cabinets and doesn't take a lot of counter space while you are using it. Its the perfect size to make pancakes, eggs and bacon! We used it to make grilled cheese, and they came out perfect! This would be great for singles, college students, and anyone who likes great things in small packages!

At different times I've steamed fresh spinach, broccoli, and four corn cobs. They have all turned out perfect. I like how it keeps the food warm easily for 15 minutes while safely turned off.

This appliance appears to be the functional twin of the Sanyo ECJ B35M, which I have and use frequently.

OVERALL, in balancing its features and price, this small capacity rice cooker is an excellent value. It has a number of excellent features, few of which are mentioned in the brief editorial review. They really should have been, to do this appliance justice:
* fuzzy logic microprocessor control produces EXCELLENT rice: Without reservation I can say that this rice cooker makes the best rice I've ever cooked. Grains are fluffy and don't stick to one another. There's no goo on the bottom, no browning of the rice, and absolutely no burning.
* THICK cookpot (5 mm) makes for even cooking
* titanium non-stick finish makes for easy clean up
* retractable cord of reasonable length
* multiple settings (white rice/mixed, brown, porridge)
* clock with timer for autocook at later time. The default cook time (the one last entered) remains the same until changed, making it easy to set up the next time.
* easy to set digital clock and timer
* no need to unplug/plug to start
* 'countdown' feature tells you when the rice is almost done, beginning at 13 minutes.

Thus far I've successfully cooked white, brown, basmati, and wild rice in this appliance. FYI, the porridge setting can also be used to make risotto.

The only 'down' sides to this appliance are minor:
1. The front to back measurement is longer than side to side, making it most easily placed towards the back of the counter. However, the steam vent is placed at the rear. Unfortunately, if you have cabinets above, this combination of features will result in steam condensing on the bottom of the cabinet--which will NOT result in a good outcome for your cabinets in the long run! This can be dealt with entering the settings you want, then bringing the cooker forward, letting out the cord a bit, and turning the appliance 90 degrees.

2. The manual notes that placement should not be where the appliance will be in the sun, since the appearance of the plastic may change over time. (I think the sun could also heat the rice cooker--something that mainly affects you if you set the timer to start later, or keep rice warm for an extended period.) I mention this because it doesn't appear on the box, and did require that I find another place to put this, where it would always be out of the sun, rather than where I had originally planned.

3. The manual is not the greatest. The cooker is shipped with the inner lid in place. However, there is no mention of how to remove the inner lid; FYI, it's a press-fit, meaning that it should be pulled off gently, using both hands and gentle pressure. After use, the lid needs to be washed, of course. The lid is then replaced in the same way. The instructions for using the pot to prewash the rice are a bit confusing, and there are LOTS of marks in the pot's interior.

4. Its capacity is small. If you are cooking for yourself, for a couple or for a small family/group, for one meal a day, it will meet your needs nicely. If you eat rice twice a day, and don't mind resetting to cook it for the second meal, this will still meet your needs. Otherwise, consider a fuzzy logic rice cooker with larger capacity.

5. When cooking anything other than white rice, mild overflowing can occur. I have found it makes sense to start with no more than 1.5 cups (using their cup, which is about 6 oz.) of raw rice the first time around. Likewise for the porridge feature. FYI, a little olive oil (> 1 tsp) reduces foaming and overflow, if you aren't a purist. It works when you're cooking pasta, too, which is why I tried it.

6. An old toothbrush is handy to clean the underside of the press-fit lid near the vent, and also along the top of the lid near the hinge. Don't put clean-up off, either. It doesn't get easier when it dries.

7. If you've pushed this appliance and are dealing with an overflow extending to the cooking surface, unplug this appliance. Use a wet cotton (NOT microfiber or polyester!)cloth to clean the heating element area.

Bon appetit!

I'm not one to write reviews of appliances, but I have been very pleased with this microwave. When it's time to upgrade from a $39 dorm microwave, this is the one for you. Lots of bang for your buck.

I am particularly impressed with the sensor feature of the Sharp. When making popcorn, for example, you touch the "popcorn" button once and the overn turns on automatically. When the inside of the microwave reaches a certain temperature the sensor shuts off the oven automatically for ZERO unpopped and ZERO burned kernels. I'm considering calling the Guiness Book of World Records on that one.

Frozen meals cook evenly. I also like that the turntable is flush with the bottom of the oven.

Best Buy was recently selling it for $99 (I purchased it for $89), so $79 is an excellent price. Buy it and be happy.