Appliance Reviews

Have owned this for the past three months and love it--it does exactly what it's meant to do, very well, it's easy to clean, and has yet to lose its no-stick finish. The only problem is the drip tray--one of the prongs that holds it in place broke within a day or two of purchase and it falls out as it's being transported. It's still working, though, so it hasn't affected our use of this [inexpensive], useful appliance.

I was very pleased with the performance of this griddle. The surface is nice and slick, and there's plenty of room to maneuver and flip. And since I'm not tied to the cooktop, I can set it up on any convenient counter in the kitchen.

Ignore the temperature suggestions on the driptray, though. 375 degrees is way too hot for pancakes (which is what I use it the most for) - 350 is perfect for most things.

I really do recommend this griddle highly!

I purchased my griddle in time for the holidays and was
very pleased with the x-large surface cooking area and how well
it keeps an even heat througth out the surface. Although I was
a bit skeptical about the teflon coating I have been very impreased with its performance. The large drip tray is also very easy to clean. So if your like me and love pancakes,frenchtoast,
bacon and eggs or just some great hashbrowns, or maybe just
some good toasted cheese sandwiches! I know you'll be very happy with your purchase!

I made my first waffles ever on this machine and it hasn't turned out a bad batch yet. The waffles cook evenly, and quickly, the machine is easy to use, and has a nice look to it. The only complaint, really no big deal, is that you cannot remove the plates for cleaning. In truth it is still very easy to clean without this feature.

We did online research and read reviews for many waffle irons before we purchased the Hoffritz Belgian Waffle Maker. It makes wonderful huge waffles and perfect every time. We are looking forward to trying different recipes.

My wife likes Belgian waffles and I like the ordinary kind. We had been using a sunbeam waffle maker that we got for a wedding present and a Black and Decker Belgian waffle maker that we'd picked up in the Eighties. Both of these were getting pretty ratty. I replaced them for our 30th anniversary with a Hoffritz HZBW4 4-Slice Belgian waffler and a Villaware 2001C classic waffler. I liked the looks of the Hoffritz, but couldn't find it in a regular waffle. Anyway, we've been using them for a couple of months now, and here's the take on them:
They're both great, but I like the Hoffritz better. I like the digital controls. It takes a little longer to cook a waffle than the Villaware, but just long enough to take care of the waffle from the Villaware before the Hoffritz signals it's done. They both have audible "ready" signals and lights. The Hoffritz is quite a bit larger than the Villaware. They both look good. They both cook great waffles. The Villaware has kind of a tacky mechanical lever for setting how "done" you want your waffle; this lever does not ratchet, so it is easy to accidentally change the setting. The Hoffritz has a button for a "crispy" waffle; I haven't noticed that it does anything different when set; set at "3" it makes the waffles crispy like my wife prefers. I like my waffles less crispy; I've been using the Villaware set at "5," but I think I'm going to try jacking it up a little. The outside of the Villaware seems to get hotter than the Hoffritz; and stays hot a lot longer; maybe because it's made of cast aluminum rather than the Hoffritz's stainless steel. I read a review of a waffler where the person was complaining about the outside getting dangerously hot. As far as I know that's true of all wafflers, and neither of these are an exception. Bottom line, they're both imminently satisfying, if I had to choose between the two, I'd want them to make a Hoffritz that cooks "regular" waffles.

Having read upwards of 40 glowing reviews of this food processor, including how all parts except the base are "dishwasher-safe," I was shocked to find rust spots on the shredding discs after their first trip through the Whirlpool. The rust formed on the spots where the slicing blade is welded to the disc. This is not unreasonable -- not EVERYTHING can be made of stainless steel -- but I can't believe nobody mentioned it in all those reviews, and neither did the owner's manual. I'm exchanging this unit for another one, whose discs I will NOT put in the dishwasher.

Otherwise, I'm sure the replacement will prove to be a fine unit. Guess I just have very high expectations after reading so many five-star reviews.

I just received my Kitchenaid processor and am still laughing over the ease at which it worked for me! I've used similar appliances at work, but figured for the amount of cooking I do at home, I didn't need one. Wrong! I broke down and purchased one, along with the food processor bible. Tonight I made some beautiful yeast bread, stuffed with shredded veggies. Last night I whipped up a sweet potato and apple casserole. This machine is beautiful, yes, but an animal when it comes to processing food. It didn't budge an inch when I made bread dough in it. I look forward to many happy evenings, making marvelous meals with it! A word of warning, which I'm sure you've read in previous posts: Those blades are darn sharp!!! I'm a food service professional and poo poo'd the previous warnings. When washing the blades, I knicked my finger and am on my third bandaid, so beware! Overall, I'm extremely pleased with this unit. The only thing Cuisenart offers that Kitchenaid doesn't is a video. Who needs that? If you're unsure, buy some veggies and experiment!

Kitchen Aid is the best. Best food processor, machine in my life. A definite buy!!!!!!

And for the money, buy it only through Amazon I saved so much money about $[money] less than at Williams Sonoma, or Macys, etc.

Also 5 stars for Amazons service!!!!!

A nesco is a very good second oven. It is also very good for cooking your dinner outside (if you have an outlet) on a patio on a hot summer day. I did find mine easy to clean on the non-stick interior...a bit less so on the outside but still very cleanable. The issue I have is that is isnt really an excellent unit for crockpot cooking which is what i primarily wanted it for. It cooks a bit different, the timing is a bit different and the crockpot recipes dont exactly transfer. It took me a while to figure that out. You *can* use it as a crockpot but if you are buying it to use it primarily for that I would choose a crockpot instead. That said, it bakes, roasts very well. and keeps things warm (like pots of chile or soup etc) for a party excellently.

I bought a turkey thanksging 2003 and used my new 18 quart Nesco . My husband and I are not turkey lovers. My nesco roaster made my 17cents a pound turkey tender, moist, and flavorful with just paprika, salt, pepper, 1 cup oil and butter, and chopped onion, carrots, celery. Yum-Yum-yum. Iused the nesco 6 quart roaster to make soup, cooking slowly all night the bones and previously cooked chopped vegetables adding rest next day etc. I am a caretaker of 95 year old alzheimer patient with no teeth. She ate turkey without chopping it, because it was so tender and moist.
Sincerely, 65 year old fan of Nesco roasters.

I have two Nesco Roasters, a 6-qt and a 12 qt. They can be used to roast a turkey or pork loin (or any other type of roast), as a great slow cooker for soups and stews, as well as chili, etc. I use these for all my picnics and holiday events. They are a great "second" oven when you are planning a holiday meal or party.

I've only used my roaster once, but the chicken I made in it came out excellent! When I think roasted chicken I think of it dry but this was SO juicy and good. I have yet to try other recipes in it, but so far it's great just for roasting.

The only issue I had with it was "seasoning" it. You have to plug it in and let it heat up for about an hour. Try 3... and in a VERY ventilated garage because the smell that came from this device was horrible! I was told that's normal and that it goes away, which it did. It's just not something you want to do in a smaller, non ventilated area.

I gave it 4 stars simply because of the "seasoning" process. But otherwise, it's a great product and I look forward to using it a lot more.

NESCO products have been heavily marketed on the shopping channel, QVC. I bought my first NESCO roaster, a 4-quart model, over 10 years ago. I have since given that one away but now own a 5, 6, 12, and 18-quart roaster oven. I have given them as gifts and every person receiving a roaster has absolutely loved it.

The 6-quart model is NESCO's most popular sized roaster oven. You can easily prepare a meal for a family of four. But what sets it apart is its versatility. You can cook from 150 to 400 degrees which separates it from a traditional slow cooker. You can bake, steam, poach, roast and slow cook. The heating element, known as the 'Circle of Heat' extends around the sides of the unit so there will be no burnt food at the bottom of the roaster.

What can you cook in it? The real answer is: What can't you cook in it? You are only limited by the size of the unit. For meats such as pork, poultry and beef, you will be rewarded with the most moist servings that you have ever experienced. Soups, stews and casseroles turn out wonderfully in the NESCO. One of my favorite dishes is Swiss steak as the NESCO tenderizes lean cuts of beef such as round steak and the 'circle of heat' blends the flavors perfectly.

NESCO also offers several accessories on their nesco.com website. I purchased a lid with a fan and that converts your unit into a convection cooker. There is also an expanded cookbook for the unit and a cookbook that discusses how to use the 6-quart as a convection oven (you'll need the Roast-Aire lid).

In summary, this is one of those appliances that I consider to be a 'Must Buy'. It is a mini oven and for busy families or just busy people. You will wonder how you ever got along without it!!!

This is a convenient,inexpensive, high quality, easy to clean up cooking unit with a great instruction and recipe book included. More recipes are on the NESCO website as well.

I do not know how to cook. If it weren't for my wife, I would have starved by now. When my son was small, and my wife was sick, he would beg her to get better so he wouldn't have to eat my cooking, which he likened to rubber chicken.

But a few years ago, my wife's aunt gave us a 6 Quart NESCO COOKWELL roaster and voila! I can cook meals that even my son would enjoy.

This is probably the gift for anyone living on their own for the first time, like a college student, since it is extremely easy to prepare and cook healthful, delicious meals EVERY TIME.

If you follow instructions in the enclosed recipe booklet, you can't make a bad meal! My favorite is the lemon pepper chicken with linguine.

The best part is that the COOKWELL roaster pan insert is removable, is used to serve the food and cleans up really easily. The electrical heating part never sees soap and water, since it only serves to surround the cookwell roasting pan insert with a "circle of heat".

This is not a crock pot, although you can set it up as such. Cooking times are usually 45 minutes to an hour and around 350 degrees.

EVERY student going away to college should have one of these. They are easily stored, cleaned and provide inexpensive and healthy meals. And even a lousy cook like myself becomes a gormet chef. You can use the recipes and instructions provided in the booklet that comes with the cookwell or if you are more experienced, like my wife, anything is possible. THIS IS A WINNER!

It works fine except that the juices from the tomatoes leak out. Good for dry things but not for juicy items.

This tray makes big jobs easier. You can get by with the smaller one that comes with the grinder, but if you're gonna be making large quantities, save yourself some stress and buy this tray, it helps a lot.

Since there isn't a photo of this food tray, I'll first describe it to you. It's made from the same white plastic that the rest of the kitchenaid attachements are made from. It's about 10 inches long, The same width as the food grinder tray. The lip is about an inch deep. It slides over the top of the food grinder tray providing a pretty good fit. It's not a water tight fit however.

The tray is nice when you are laddling in things to be ground up. It helps keep the items from falling into the bowl of already ground up stuff. If you are into large batches of apple sauce or meat, its worth getting.

If you are grinding a soup up it keeps the splatter out but the seal with the food grinder is not water tight, so you can't really overload it.

I like it, its well made, if you are a careful cook you can live without it. If you are looking for a gift for a cook who has it all, it would be a good present.

We have had our mixer for 2 years... the first of which it sat lonely and neglected on our kitchen counter while I adjusted to life with a new baby. This past year, I have been using it occasionally to mix small batches of dough for a dozen buns and to make the odd loaf or cookie batter. It has been making an increasingly annoying noise so we took it into the shop to get an estimate to repair it... The repair cost is almost half the cost of the machine...

Why did this happen? Well, once the repair shop took the machine apart, the fixer guy told me that
1/ the lubricant for the gears had liquified and the gears for the front attachments were wearing (we never have used attachments).
2/ the reason the lubricant had deteriorated was because... the machine sat for some time without use. Mr. Fix-it said that we needed to use the machine at least once a month to keep the lubricant in shape.

There was no wear to the gears that drive the bowl attachments. Phew. I was worried that I had done something wrong and that I wouldn't be able to use the mixer for bun dough anymore.

So, after this repair, the machine should last us for 20 years. So says the repair man. We're crossing our fingers.

Until I bought the Almond Cream Kitchen Aid KSM90PS Stand mixer for her, I was clearly in the dog house. This did it ! She absolutely loves the darn thing. I now get mashed potatoes, and baked cakes, and the cooking is dramatically better.

Thanks Kitchen Aid !

Wereceived a Kitchen Aid mixer for a wedding gift. We celebrated our 50th wedding anniversary this year.I am still using this mixer and I bake a lot.It has begun to get hot recently when I beat something for along time.I fear that is going to quit. I could not cook without my Kitchen Aid mixer.I am retired so my income is limited.I certainly would like to win this mixer so that I could use it for the 50 years.

I got my 4 1/2 quart mixer about 3 years ago. The first year, it hardly got used, except at Christmas. This year, I've used it a lot more. It does shorten the mixing time on most things over a hand-held mixer. I haven't made bread in it, because I love my bread machine. (Note: I use the bread machine on the dough cycle, then take out the dough, knead a few minutes, divide in 2, put in pans, let rise, then bake 20 min. Actually shorter than the full bread machine cyle, and SO MUCH BETTER! and to the person whose bread machine 'knocks'. Usually this is due to the dough being too dry (too much flour). Add a few TBs of water, until knocking stops)(Mine never bounces around, I own a Regal KitchenPro)
Back to the mixer...The only problem I've had is once the dough hook seemed to get off kilter - scraping on one side of the bowl about every 5th whirl or so. I read the manual - there is a screw you can adjust to raise or lower the hook as needed, so the hook just clears the bowl. Read your manual on this, as this affects the locking machanism as well (won't lock properly if over-adjusted). After several minor adjustments, this kink seemed to get worked out. I also found that after washing the porcelain dough hook in the dishwasher a few times, it seems the finish is beginning to dull a bit. So I think I'll handwash from now on. One more tip: when adding flour, turn down the mixer to slow, and add about 1/4 cup at a time, because the flour may fly out of the bowl. Other than that, I really love my mixer, and waited a very long time since trying out my mothers' years ago. (she loves hers too!)I would recommend buying this mixer. Do try it right away, on several things, because if it doesn't work right, take it back right away while under warranty. I find no matter what the brand name or whether it's TV's or mixers, there can be a lemon in the batch. Kitchenaid is still a great name, and can last for many years.

I purchased a KitchenAid Ultra Power 4.5-quart mixer a couple months ago. Its a heavy-duty machine that has performed admirably each time I've used it. But I did have a couple concerns that I forwarded to KitchenAid for resolution. This information may be useful to new owners....

The mechanism that locks the mixer in the down position does not move all the way in its track and doesn't ever reach the label that says "locked". This, according to KitchenAid, is normal.

Also, my mixer is quite noisy... and the noise is almost a shrill that's hard to put up with. KitchenAid informed me that all their mixers have a 10-hour use break in period. I guess I'll have to put up with the noise for a while!

Hope this information helps!

This model is good. The larger motor is worth the small amount extra (as compared to the model just below this one...see the KitchenAid website). You can always buy the top of the line model but it will cost you a lot more. This thing is built like a tank.

It's a neat machine, that does the job pretty well. If you choose the hard setting plan on butting the finished product into your regular freezer to finish it up. Put a fun machine all the same and a great thing to do with the kids.

We have owned a Maverick Ice Cream maker for about two years,
and have been very satisfied with it. However on our last attempt to make ice cream, the plastic paddle inside the bowl
broke. Would it be possible to buy just this one part - ...

This machine exceeded my expectations! Turns out delicious soft serve in LESS than 30 minutes (on a hot day in Hawaii!). Easy to set up, quiet operation, nice collection of recipes to get you started. Very pleased with product and price.

Tried to use my Nesco Amer harvest without it, what a mess. The strawberries stuck to the tray, which resulted in needing to place them in the dishwasher. Ordered extra screens within days - what a difference - the food pops off very easily and the screens may go in the diswasher top rack if necessary! Only thing that could make the screens better is a smoother surface. The Nesco unit came with 1 and I am glad that I ordered four more.

This is a pack of two screens that are supposed to be identical to the one that came with the dehydrator.

It seemed to me they were a little bit heavier weight than the orginal but thats a good thing.

The main reason I got them was for easier cleanup. I like to dehydrate jerky made from a jerky gun. When I would squirt the jerky straight onto the trays it would tend to swell into the grills of the tray. This made it harder to remove and made cleanup a real mess. So I ended up squriting onto wax paper and moving them to the trays.

With these screens in place I can squirt right onto the screen/tray and it doesn't stick hard or create a mess. What little mess it creates is much easier to cleanup since it is on the surface and not in between the grids. For cleanup I leave the screen on the tray and use a nylong scrub brush. Works better than sponge or pad.

Of course you can also use these to dry smaller items that might fall through. But thats not my big concern right now. I'm happy to have less mess.

The only drawback I see is that they are overpriced. [money amount]for [money amount] worth of plastic. Also to make sure you cover all of your trays you have to buy 2 packs.

This was a great addition to the dehydrator! I have been making jerky and using these the marinade doesn't mess up the dehydrator as much. Clean up is much easier and I don't have to worry about the smaller pieces of meat. It is also nice to just throw into the dishwasher to clean. Worth getting extra to use for all applications of the dehydrator!