Appliance Reviews

I am glad that Amazon stopped selling this rice cooker. And I wish they had done so before I purchaed this rice cooker.
This rice cooker will give you scorched rice (What we call "okoge" in Japanese) at the bottom everytime I cook rice with it.
I e-mailed Sanyo about this and received no reply.
I will buy Zojirushi next time.

I must have looked at over 50 different rice cookers prior to selecting this model. The retractable cord is a definite plus, as is the fuzzy-logic feature.

I've used it for several differents types of rice, from white to brown, and it works with basmati rice as well. I've even made some terrific rice balls and sushi using sushi rice.

For 2 or 3 people, or if your family aren't big rice eaters, the small size is great. I've made two batches using different types of rice one right after the other and have had no problems. I haven't tried the porridge feature.....yet....but I will! ;-)

I'm definitely pleased with this purchase.

I could not believe the sheer ignorance of the reviewer from Grosse Pointe Farms (gross point-my point exactly) who rated everything except the product itself!

Criticized the manual of all things, and proved that he/she is either very young, terribly naive, or both. Hello, person! These cookers are sold worldwide. Yes, in Britian as well as other countries, you can buy Porridge. In Asia and all over the world, including America, you can purchase Glutinous Rice including in my very diverse neighborhood in Northern California. Sheltered perhaps??

Common sense tells one that it would take more time to cook more rice and less time for less rice. That cooking times vary due to climate and/or altitude. That different varieties require different cooking time. And guess what? Voltages do fluctuate. Thus the "ranges".

Just because you are not terribly "worldly" (which one need not be to be familiar with these products), does not give you carte blanche to degrade a product,which, by the way, appears to be more sophisticated than its purchaser.
"(...).

I will happily translate the manual into Anglo if that was the only reason you could come up with to rate a great product with only 1 star.

This is a fantastic product, and I am very pleased to have this as an addition to my kitchen. Potential buyers will not be disappointed.

This is my first juicer so I'm no expert. I've also only just started using it, so maybe I'll come up with problems and downgrade later, but as yet, I'm completely satisfied, and even better, delighted. The juicer has capably and smoothly (hehehe) handled every fruit or vegetable I've had the inclination to throw at it.

the only (very small) complaint is that if you add more fruit or vegetable while the juicer is running, it tends to spit a bit. Basically, you have to wait until it's completely finished juicing what you gave it and be prepared to fit the pusher in very quickly when you add more. It's not a big problem.

Aside from that, the juice was foamy (which I like) and not too pulpy (which I also like).

It's also relatively easy to clean. I was a bit nervous since almost every set of reviews for every juicer has at least one whining about how difficult they are to clean, but this was no harder to clean than a food processor (and easier in at least one way - no huge, slashy, curvey, very sharp, knife-like gizmo to wash).

When I was young and before I moved to the United States, I owned an National juicer (known as Panasonic here). When I purchased it, it cost us about $300 US dollars (and that was 20 years ago)! But it was able to juice anything we threw at it. Back in my time, everyone wanted (and still) go to America. Since I had heard so many good things about this country, I moved when I had to chance and left my great juicer, thinking this country probably had something better. Now that another 15 years have passed, I have purchased an Oster (don't try it, it isn't worth your time), Braun (hard to clean and open) and the Waring PJE401 (shakes alot when pressed too hard), but none was able to juice like my old National juicer. So one day, I went to my mother's house and dug through her attic and found my beloved juicer. When I plugged it in and turned it on, a lot of dust flew off the machine. It still worked after 35 years! But since it was so old and dirty, I decided to check if I could buy a similar machine. And low and behold, the Panasonic MJ-66PR! I knew I had to have it. And it extracts more juice from the fruit than any other machine I have tried or owned, and it is cheaper too. It spins at 13,000 RPMs rather than the 3,000 RPMs of my Waring. No wonder it extracts things so clean. This is a must for any kitchen. The only reason that I took one star off was because it is not very visually appealing... so I still keep my Waring in the kitchen, I just don't use it.

I had this juicer for about month now, so far I liked it. I only use it to juice carrot, apple and celery. I will expand my choices on the way. But I know it will not be good for oranges and grapefuites because of the working mechanism. A fun machine to work with. Give four star because I have no idea how long will this machine lasts.

I purchased this because it was multifunctional but have found the base really does not work well as a griddle. The center gets hot enough but the edges remain too cool and therefore it cooks unevenly. It would work for one item at a time but you really can't cook 2 eggs, 2 pancakes, etc. as illustrated on the box. The non stick surface also scratches very easily and you really have to be careful with it. I do think it has many good features but the griddle isn't one of them.

Just bought this a month ago, and absolutely love it! It is easy to store, easy to clean, and works perfectly. It looks small at first, but all of my usual crock pot meals have fit fine. This is a wonderful slow cooker, it is worth the money.

I own a slightly older version of this slow cooker and it's been a faithful little workhorse in my kitchen for almost six years now. I bought it when I lived in an OLD apartment with an ancient oven I didn't trust. All my cooking was done in the little slow cooker and toaster oven. I still have it and use it and assure you it will serve you well. I'm married now and got a big ceramic slow cooker for a wedding gift, and guess which one I use more? Yep, the little West Bend!
The little West Bend does stews and pot roasts beautifully and even larger quantities of can soup.
Feel confident buying it!

Not much more to add. I've used it about a dozen times and the middle element has already burned out.

I have been buying toasters for years. I've had absolutely no luck with the 4 slice toasters. They always work their way down to a 2 slice toaster in no time. Well, I needed to buy another one and checked what the users had to say about the ones at Target, and WOW! Did this one get some great reviews! I bought it and now I have to add my name to the cheers!

OK... I returned my first Oster toaster that was under and over-toasting. I took a chance and purchased a second one because I just wondered if perhaps something mechanical was wrong with the first toaster. I was right. The new toaster now toasts the bread perfectly on each desired level. I am quite pleased with it and all its extra little features. And again, it's a good-looking little toaster!

After burning up our last blender while making a strawberry smoothie, I decided I'd had enough with low powered el cheapo blenders and so got this one.

Most blenders just don't have the horsepower to grind up a jar full of frozen fruit - using our last blender required adding water and continuously shaking and stirring the fruit and slowly working up the blender in speed. Otherwise the clutch mechanism in the blender would disengage and the rotor wouldn't turn at all. It took a lot of work to make a thick smoothie.

Not so with this blender. It grinds through everything rapidly. You still have to add a small amount of water, and stir a little bit from the top of the jar in the beginning, otherwise the chopped up frozen fruit will congeal and form an ice cave around the rotor blades so that they end up just grinding air. But, with a bit of water and stirring, once the whole mix gets going, you can get continuous blending action inside the jar even with some very thick smoothies

The smoothies come out super smooth, even with the lower speed setting. The high speed setting will churn out a very smooth puree-like smoothie.

The only problem is the loud noise of this blender especially at the beginning of the blending process. I attribute this noise to chunks of frozen fruit banging against the polycarbonate jar. The motor and rotor mechanisms are fairly quiet. The polycarbonate jar is a good idea for durability but it is thinner and less dense than glass, and I think this contributes to the noise of the blending. If they made the polycarbonate thicker, this would decrease the noise.

The word which best describes this beast is Power. The noise is annoying but, happily it doesn't last long. My unit hasn't yet developed the leaks others complain about, but then mine is quite new.

Madeleine Miller in the Editorial Review states that the blender comes with a "replacement drive coupling and instructions.."
Mine arrived with neither. When I complained in an email, the vendor phoned me and informed me that I had bought a "refurbished" unit, something I never saw in the item description, and that no spare drive coupling was included.
He did, however, offer to send me the instructions.

What an great machine! This is definately a commercial product. The polycarbonite jar is large, and does not have any means to secure to the base. But any blender that comes with laboratory and industrial cleaning instructions rates as cool in my book!

It is a bit loud, and does require liquid to prevent the 'ice cave' described by gp, but it will pulverize 2 pounds of ice in about ten seconds. Believe it or not there are more expensive blenders out there (for juicers: Ktec, Vitamix, etc) but for most of this is more than enough!

This is a solid peice of hardware and I would recommend it to anyone who is hooked on smoothies or frozen drinks.

I mostly like this steamer; its shape allow steaming of larger items than round steamers of similar capacity, and it heats up and starts steaming quickly. The two tiers work nicely. It's great being able to fill it with water while it's still steaming.

However, I have two complaints:

First, the water-input lid is hard to use, with a tiny plastic nubbin intended as a handle but it can't be gripped at all. When refilling this steamer expect to include the step of dropping the lid, because it's not attached to the steamer.

Second, the timer can't be turned backwards. If you put in your broccoli and set it for 40 minutes, and then realize you only wanted to cook it for 10 minutes, you're out of luck. You'll have to either set a separate timer to know when to unplug the steamer, or wait 30 minutes before putting the broccoli in. This is just bad design. I've had other, cheaper steamers that didn't have this annoying lack-of-feature.

I'm not a raw veggie lover, but since I found this steamer VERY easy to use, I now eat ALL veggies. I did guess work with the timer at first....and when it was done, if I wanted softer veggies, I just turned the timer on again for a few more minutes. It does not take long to learn what to set the timer to after that. Every person I've had over for dinner raves about how good the veggies are! HEY, what about my other foods? I have not cooked rice in it yet. I am actually buying this for a gift today. Yes, for one of my dinner guests who never steamed veggies! It is that easy to use.

We've had two of these over the course of 4 years, which might not sound good, but we use it literally every single night, so that's over 700 uses at the max 1 hour setting for each unit. And the steamer itself still works after that time, but the plastic in the bottom-tier tub starts to break down and come apart, and it's as inexpensive to buy a new steamer as a new tub...

I agree with another user's comment that the timer can't be turned backward and this is annoying. We only use it for rice however, and so we always turn the dial all the way around. We chose this steamer over conventional rice steamers because we *didn't* want it to keep the rice warm - it just shuts off. (We make rice every night before going to bed for our dogs' food - don't ask!) We haven't used it for veggies, so can't comment on the performance there, but it does a fine job on rice. Though it does take an hour, much longer than stove-top or dedicated rice-steamers. But for us it's a set-it and forget-it type of thing.

...so I don't have a true basis of comparison against other machines. However, I did my homework and bought a machine with the features I wanted in the price range I could afford. I've had the machine about 3 weeks, and have made about 15 loaves of bread. So far I have had fairly good outcomes, however, most loaves collapse. I have tried adjusting the ingredients as I have read in the book that came with the machine and on several websites, but there seems no rhyme or reason as to why the tops to cave in. Raisin bread came out great twice, and I made a loaf of Country White that didn't collapse. Other than that, every loaf sank, but I must say that even though they weren't exactly attractive, they tasted good. They weren't "bricks," they were just flat on top. I am not going to give up; I enjoy using the machine, I am an experienced breadmaker, and I know how to find and use resources. I believe I will be successful.

As for the machine itself, I find it easy to use and to clean. So far I have had no problems with the machine itself, only the recipes. (That's what I believe, anyway... I don't think it's the machine causing the tops to cave in, but the ratio of ingredients.) I could recommend it for anyone who has the time to stay with the machine and adjust the ingredients while the dough kneads. I haven't tried the delay timer or the ExpressBake features, as I thought it best to keep an eye on things while I'm still a breadmachine beginner.

By the way, this model appears to be exactly the same as the Oster 5838, but they call it Inspire and only sell it through Target stores.

We have been using this gem for many, many loaves of bread. It far surpasses our first "Welbilt" brand breadmaker we used to its 'bitter end'.

I have this machine for one month and have used it four times and it works well. English is not my primary language so I am very careful when measuring the ingredients and I am also using a digital scale... so far no problems, the bread tastes good and I am happy with it.

I have owned a panasonic bread machine in the past which just quit working. I thought I would try this machine because of the high recommendations of the earlier model. Boy, is this a dud. I made 3 different loves of bread. I followed the instructions as printed but each one came out terrible. Even with the crust color selection mode, the top of the bread barely bakes and the sides get hard. The so called non stick pan is certainly not.I do not recommed this machine to anyone. If I could rate it as a zero, I would!!!!

I have owned many different bread machines, and still do. The Zojirushi, the Panasonic and the Breadman Ultimate.
This Zojirushi is becoming my favorite!
It turns out great tasting, great looking loaves of bread every time.
And the sourdough starter cycle does wonders.
My only complaint is that the pan is not very nonstick. You have to shake it pretty hard to get the bread out. But big deal - as long as it comes out I'm happy!
As far as Zo's customer service, I've never had any trouble. I have called them to order spare parts for my rice cookers, and to order a spare pan for this bread machine in case I ever need it. By spare parts I mean just that - spare. I have not had any defects. I just like having a spare pan etc on hand in case one gets scratched. No trouble getting them on the phone, no trouble with my order.
I have absolutely no complaints. Zojirushi makes great, innovative products and you should not hesitate to get this machine.

This is the third bread machine I've owned. The first one was one of those old ones that looked like R2D2 with the glass dome. It walked off the counter one too many times. The next was a Breadman. The motor burned out after only a couple of years. I'd always heard that the Zojirushi's were the best, and the reviews were good on this one, so I bought it. It makes beautiful bread with great ease, and I like the more conventional shape of the loaf. However, it's made for a 2-pound loaf, and if you make a smaller one it's going to come out lopsided. Evidently with the two blades, one gets greedy and gets more dough on it than the other one. I don't mind the lopsided loaves for my personal use, but if you really want a beautiful loaf, make sure it's a 2-pounder.

I bought this toaster to replace a $10 supermarket special. I wasted $39.99.

Bought one of these recently for a young lady friend who likes to toast bagels. It toasts the cut side more than the outside if you like them that way, and it makes pretty good toast that's only slightly uneven. It will hold large slices, and does not launch the toast. It's good enough, but not nearly as nifty as the Sanyo Hello Kitty toaster.

If you like your bagels toasted on the cut side and warmed on the outside, this is the toaster for you. I've had another brand which claimed to have a bagel setting but didn't work like the Kitchen Aid. It also does thick sliced bread perfectly. I'm more than pleased. Now if we could only start making things in the USA again I'd be even happier.

These just aren't as good since they started making them in China. But, they wouldn't sell many U.S. made for $50 if you can buy other brands made in China for $25. It is too bad because my old American made is still a better product although it is probably 50 years old or more. "Stunk up the house" should have read the directions. I think all the Nesco roasters come with instructions for pre-heating in a well-ventilated area. Buy new if you want, but don't pass up a chance to buy an old one at an estate sale or auction. You can always put a nonstick cookwell in an old one. My old one will be a 5-star model until the day it dies.

I have a kitchen with very little counter space so I have to be selective about the appliances I use. I purchased the Nesco 6-quart roaster to serve as a slow cooker and roaster. Since my purchase, I've used my roaster almost daily and I love the nonstick liner for ease of clean-up. Some of things I have cooked in the roaster include soups, stews, roast chicken, steamed brown bread and have made baked potatoes. All have turned out well.

Our Nesco roaster oven clearly advises the user to
"smoke-out" the roaster before use. The smoke-out
is to be done outdoors so that the bad odors from
initial use will not be bothersome.