Appliance Reviews

While I usually chop on a plastic cutting board with a big chef's knife, the Cuisinart makes several tasks a lot easier. Chopping cooked or raw meat is one. If you are making hash from leftover corned beef, a short burst in this food processor is the easiest way to go. For mixing certain pastry doughs (pie or pate brisee) this is also a very good item to have, although you have to be careful to go slowly and not overprocess. The one thing the Cuisinart does is heat up the dough if you whirl it around too much, so you have to be careful. And if you put too heavy a bread dough in, using the plastic bread blade, you can heat the shaft up enough to jam the blade onto the central post and that's a big nuisance. However, with these cautions, the Cuisinart is hands-down my favorite food processor and for shredding, slicing thinly or chopping, pretty much the best kitchen appliance for the job.

I got a similar model, (must have been prior to this one)...It doesn't have a couple of the attachments and it has a smaller feed tube, but I can't imagine these things being worth the extra ... I really like how it works though, it is plenty powerful and can be controlled so that you can actually roughly chop things for salsa.

I bought the Cuisinart food processor last Christmas...as a gift to myself. My husband rolled his eyes when I told him I had bought this..he thought this was another gadget that would get used once and then disappear forever in a kitchen cabinet. I absolutely love this machine...I use it almost everyday from chopping vegetables to making cookie/cake dough. It is easy to use...easy to put together and best off all..easy to clean. I would highly recommend this for anybody who wants something that really works.

This rice cooker has really impressed me. I became very frustrated with my inexpensive one that spewed starchy water on my kitchen counter and resulted in rice being consistently stuck to the bottom. This rice cooker did not do either one of the things I just mentioned. The rice is perfect every time. This rice cooker delivered on every promise it makes. Being Asian, rice is an extremely important part of my life. Rice is a blessing and represents all the blessings in life. This rice cooker's non-stick pan allows me not to waste one grain.

I have used other rice cookers, but this one has spoiled me.
Stop using instant rice! Just start the rice in the morning and
when you are ready for dinner, the rice is warm, moist and ready
for that quick stir fry or mexican burrito recipe. You have never had such fresh tasting rice ready to use when you get home
tired and face cooking dinner. I use basmati, jasmine, brown, or pearl. All come out just great. And I use my Zojirushi as a roll warmer when needed. Works great. This is not a vegetable
steamer, not reccommended for that, but the best rice cooker.

I'm not Asian but my husband is. Because of the inlaws my children love rice and seaweed. I was given this rice cooker by my inlaw to make rice for her son, well it's still going strong and I have not had any problems. The unit is beyond easy to use and I make 4 cups of rice as a standard for our family and keep it plugged in for 3 days and the rice stays warm and ready to eat. That's the way my Mother in Law did it, and I have done the same without any problems.
Oh and never, ever use any metal items in the rice cooker or you will ruin it. The plastic spoon is really all you need for fluffing your rice once it's finished cooking.

I was so excited about the arrival of my new Kitchenaid Mixer.
The photos on the web page showed a mixer that clearly says Commercial and comes with the Burnished dough hook and beater. That is not what arrived today in the mail. It is not the Commercial model. It has a white painted dough hook and beater. I used it to make a loaf of bread since this was my whole purpose in buying it. I only made a 5 cup of flour loaf and this thing is supposed to handle at least 7 cups. The gears were slipping and grinding (they sound like plastic) and the mixer came to a stop several times. I am extremely disappointed and upset that I wasted my money on this mixer and that it was misrepresented as a different model.

I am still so impressed with this machine! After years of using a hand mixer, I doubted a stand mixer would be useful for anything but freeing up my hands to start tidying up while it went through timed mixing (you know - when a recipe says beat on medium until your arm goes numb haha), but this whips up meringue a LOT faster than my hand mixer did and seems to put out a better product too. It's easy to clean and I think mine looks so impressive I leave it out on the counter to give my kitchen a more professional look. I am looking forward to getting the other attachments and trying them out!

I got this mixer this past christmas as a gift and it's been working great! very reliable, very efficient, and quickly mixes ingredients very well. easy to clean, this mixer is very sturdy and will do it's job. if you're looking to get a mixer, look no further. this is it!!

This roaster oven is a legend in performance. For decades, the Nesco has defined the category. I have never heard a bad word about the cooking capabilities of a Nesco roaster oven. However, newer scientific findings might point to a "canary in the coal mine" with regard to home use of Teflon pans.

I am very happy with the Nesco slow cooker, which has a crock pot. It cooks wonderfully and is easy to clean. I wish they made a similar pan for this roaster oven.

It is unhappy news but I'd recommend that before buying this unit with the Teflon lined pan, please do Google something about newer findings: Teflon cooking appears to put molecules of some odd chemicals into the blood of those who eat the food - and it sticks for a good four years at least.

I felt so uncomfortable with this news, I bought a roaster oven that does not have a teflon pan. Porcelainized steel or stainless is going to have to do until I get WAY more assurances with regard to the health consequences of having strange chemicals in the blood for years and years. I am dumping all cookware with Teflon linings.

Our oven broke, so I bought this for a temporary help until my family could afford a new stove. I love it!! I tend to use it to make chicken. I also take it on the road to help family for smaller dishes during the holidays when the oven is filled.
The only thing I haven't mastered with it is baking. Still, got more than what I payed for!!

BOUGHT THIS PRODUCT FOR LAST YEAR'S THANKSGIVING DINNER. TURKEY COOKED IN LESS TIME THAN ALLOTTED IN COOKING DIRECTIONS. TASTY, JUICY, SKIN BROWNED NICELY. WHENEVER I NEED A LARGE AMOUNT OF FOOD I COOK IT IN THIS OVEN. EASY TO CLEAN, NO BURNING OF FOOD. I ALSO HAVE THE 4 AND 6 QUART ROASTERS. KEEPS THE KITCHEN COOL. RECENTLY PURCHASED 4,6,18 QUART ROASTERS AS ENGAGEMENT GIFT.

Using this waffler has become a Saturday morning tradition at our house. Cooks evenly, produces nice waffles. The only drawback is that it takes awhile to cook a family batch of waffles, so we use an additional (regular) waffler as well, to speed things up.

This product is a lot of fun.

A bell would be nice to tell you when it's done but no big deal. Shouldn't be walking out of the kitchen with something like this on anyway. You do hear a click when the light turns on.

We use a large water bottle to dispense the batter. That way you can squeeze it out of a small opening and distribute it evenly.

This has made me an instant celebrity in the eyes of my granddaughters!

I tried one of the recipes in the enclosed cookbook, as well as muffin mix from the supermarket. I used self-rising flour as instructed. In both cases, the muffins would not rise.
I was very disappointed.

Being diabetic, I'm unable to eat most muffins because of the sugar. The ones made with aspartame taste awful, so the only way I could enjoy this luxury in the morning was to make my own. With weather in the 80's and 90's, lighting an oven is out of the question. This little muffin maker is just right. I can use whole grains, fruit, Splenda, and substitute applesauce for butter and voila! I've been enjoying healthy, tasty, fresh muffins on a daily basis!!! I use natural (unbleached) muffin liners which means no clean up at all!

I love the Muffin Magic (MM)--muffins turn out great every time, even using whole wheat flour and bran. When I cook muffins like that in the oven, they tend to rise into a nice shape, but fall as they cool. Not so with the MM! I make up muffin mix ahead of time (you can use boxed muffin mix, your favorite muffin recipe, or recipes from the owner's manual), and in the process found out something really great--muffins made in the MM from refrigerated batter are lighter and rounder than those made with fresh batter! When making muffins, it takes about 6 minutes for the MM to heat and 11 minutes to cook the muffins. The MM wipes clean with a damp paper towel. It is small enough to store easily in a kitchen cabinet. It saves energy and prevents the kitchen from overheating in the summer from the oven. It makes a great gift.

I did have one problem with my purchase: The box containing my MM did not include an owner's manual. Amazon did not have one to spare and suggested contacting the manufacturer, Breville. Unfortunately, the e-mail for them Amazon had did not work, there was no contact information on the MM box, and I had to track their website using Google. After all that, Breville never answered my e-mails. Ultimately, Amazon sent me another MM, I extracted the manual and sent the excess MM back. To prevent that happening to anyone else, here is all you need to know to use the MM:
--Wipe it out with a damp paper towel before using it the first time.
--Put something under it (I use a wooden cutting board) to protect kitchen surfaces.
--There is no on/off switch, so *never* leave it plugged in unless you are using it.
--When you are ready to use it, plug it in. When the green light comes on, it is hot enough to bake the muffins.
--Fill the three muffin cups to the top with muffin batter. This is about 1/4 cup, and a standard ice-cream dipper works well for putting the right amount of batter in. Be careful because the MM's surfaces are hot!
--Set a kitchen timer for 11 minutes. When it goes off, open up the MM and insert a toothpick into one of the muffins to make sure they are done enough to suit you. (You will know after the first usage exactly how long it takes to cook the muffins to suit you.)
--Unplug the MM and wait a few minutes before taking the muffins out to lessen the chance of burning yourself. If you are cooking more than one batch at a time, removing the muffins is a bit tricky because they are very, very hot--I recommend for extra safety doing one batch at a time. When you are removing the muffins, if you have let them cool completely, you can just turn the machine over and dump them out. Otherwise, if you want to eat them while still pretty hot, take a butter knife and gently ease it between the muffin and the side of the MM cup to raise up the muffin so you can get hold of it to lift it out--be very careful to not scratch the Teflon surface.
--Let the unplugged MM cool completely before wiping it out with a damp paper towel.

I have owned my foodsaver for 3 years now and it works great. I bought mine at costco which came with 2 canisters that worked so well i bought these to. I have brown sugar in mine for almost a year with no troubles, it doesn't get hard like when left in the bag. Mine even went on a move form ny to Fl and did not loose their seal. You need to make sure the tops of the canisters are clean and the lids before sealing cause if food is there they will drop the seal. I bought 5 3-1/4 canisters at wal-mart to hold large boxes of cereal, instant potatoes and fresh bagles & french bread just remember to put them in the fridge for bread.

I have had my Tilia Food Saver since they first came out. I have the very large canisters and would like to buy smaller ones. I am interested in the set you show here, but, there is no product description. I want to know exactly how much each canister holds.
I would also like to know about the bags; do I need a special attachment to use them?

I received my FS Vac 820 for Xmas. I have used it quite a few things in the bags and I am so pleased with the results. I am looking forward to seeing the long term out come of this product.

I just had a birthday yesterday, and received all kinds of new goodies for it!! I can't wait to vac pack my kitchen...

I LOVED my Kenwood mixer, but after 5 years of very light use it appeared to simply "die" in the middle of a batch of cookies. The reset button didn't restore anything. When I inquired with a local servicer, I was told that NO PARTS can be obtained in the states, and that this difficulty worsened after DeLonghi's purchase of the manufacturer. I had terrible difficulty myself trying to get through to DeLonghi for servicing information. Fortunately, wiggling a loose wire resurrected the machine and made my husband a hero... until the mixer truly dies. This is a WONDERFUL machine, but FAR, FAR too expensive to market without the prospect of feasible servicing... or without a much longer warranty period! I will greatly hesitate to replace it with another.

I love this mixer, so much better than a Kitchenaid. The motor is much more powerful and more versatile because of it's many speeds and pulse mechanism. ... It's a great choice!

It is own by my family and it still is working great. And it has a huge amount of accessory and a strong motor which you can use to do what ever you want

Kitchen Aid make the best products, and this 3 quart bowl for the essential stand mixer is another great product. It makes a super addition to your mixer. I could not live without my Kitchen Aid stand mixer. It is my #1 favorite small appliance. I have given one to both my mother, and my mother in law. This Christmas I am adding on to my mom's collection with the 3 qt. bowl. She will love it as much as I do. I also have the meat grinder attachment and love it. Anyone who cooks at all needs the mixer, and anyone who cooks a lot would love this bowl.

If you do any baking requiring whipped egg whites, this bowl is the perfect companion to the 4.5 quart bowl that comes with the mixer. Beyond that, it's just nice to have if the big bows is tied up and there's something left to mix.

I'm so happy I bought this little bowl to have in addition to the 5 quart bowl, it's already gotten lots of use in just the few weeks I've had it. It's a tiny bit difficult to remove from the stand due to the lack of a handle, as other reviewers noted, but I don't mind because not having the handle allows me to store it inside the bigger bowl. Frequently, the smaller bowl is all that's needed and I find myself more inclined to use it for small jobs such as whipping a few egg whites or a small amount of cream or icing. For me, it's one of those "don't know how I got along without it" situations!

not only can you bake a pizza, you can make cookies, warm bread slices etc. very sturdy and a good buy. good for doing demos at expos and in-store demos. highly recommended for college students living in dorms.

This pizza maker is really an excellent product, a real essential for any pizza lovers out there. The best pizzas I have ever tasted were the result of this wonder-gadget.

The Crust:
The pizza crusts always come out thick and perfect: slightly cripsy on the outside and wonderfully soft on the inside and far surpasses the pizza stones in the quality of the crust.

The Quantity Made:
The pizza comes out about 1 1/2 inches thick and generally makes enough to feed 8 people. I have not tried to bake a frozen pizza in the oven, so am not aware of its capabilities in that area, but from a home-made pizza standpoint this is the best gadget you can get.

The Recipe Pamphlet:
The recipe pamphlet included with the pizza maker gives a choice of two dough recipes as well as for a multitude of different pizzas, all of which are excellent and give a good basis for experimentation.

Some tips for the buyer:
Put any veggies containing a lot of water (such as green peppers) on the pizza 5 minutes before the pizza is finished instead of at the beginning. The veggies will come out warm and crunchy and do not waterlog the crust. Remember that 20 minutes is the cooking time, not the making time. Leave about 1 1/2 hours for total preparation.

All I can say is that it comes out like N.Y pizza. I gave it to me daughter for christmas 2yrs. ago and I love the pizza you can get that great crust. I am about to
order another one for myself.
Pat
formerly from N.Y.
Where they make great pizza, I think this comes close