Appliance Reviews

I was looking for a rice cooker and read good things about this one, Zojirushi has a very good reputation. I unpacked it and washed the spoon, non stick pan and measuring cup and started my first batch of rice. It is a 5 cup and it says 1 to 5 cups of uncooked rice so I tried 1 cup. I opened the cover 10 minutes after the cook cycle ended and stirred it and quite a bit of the rice was very brown on the bottom. Also there were little what looked like plastic sheets very lightly stuck to the side of the pan and you could peel them off it was definitely from the rice. I tried another batch with the same results. I contacted Zojirushi directly. I was using Nishiki rice the tech said they used the same. He told me that it can be hard to cook 1 cup of rice. He said ignore the markings in the pan and mix equal amounts of water and rice. He also told me to fill the pan with just enough water to cover the bottom and no rice and run it through the cook cycle and if it looked like raindrops inside when finished it was working properly but if there was a puddle of water left in the pan then the pan was bad. I ended up with a puddle of water and called Zujiroshi back and got a different tech and explained step by step what I did and he said I must have a warped pan, but that should not cause the rice to brown. He told me I should be able to cook 1 cup of rice and to make sure I rinsed the rice until the water was clear. This person told me I should use the markings on the pan. I made sure I rinsed it very good and tried again. With a lot of effort and trying all different things you can get it to be less brown but it also seems like the rice is hard when the cook cycle ends and even after 15 minutes or so after that it seems harder than it should. I have had rice at different peoples houses from basic rice cookers and you just add the water and rice and it comes out great with very little effort and there is no reason why it should take so much efort with this to get just ok rice. I ordered it online and am sending it back(30 day money back refund) and it sounds like the company I ordered it from is saying if they plug it in and the light comes on they will not consider it defective and they will not try to make rice with it. I like the design, it comes apart for easy clean up and I would have to believe something is not right with this but because of the way the company that I bought it from is willing to handle this I am just going to get my 30 day refund back which I am entitled to. My next purchase will be at a local store. So I am left to wonder what was wrong? Would another one do the same? There are not a lot of 5 cup rice cookers around here. My next choice will probably be either the Panasonic SR-SH15PS Which is an 8 cup, a little bigger than I need or a basic National with a glass cover which I would probably go for but I can get the Panasonic for just about the same price maybe a little cheaper.

If you are looking for an easy way to cook rice without the mess, this is it! Add your washed rice, add your water, close the lid..and its done! Cleanup is a snap! And the rice turns out perfect every time....

Hassle free, easy-to-clean, and makes the perfect rice. I have no complaints and would not trade it in for anything else.

I bought the Bosch compact mixer about a year ago. The salesman promised me it would perform just as well as the larger mixer, simply do smaller quantities. Well, I have now used it on almost every possible type of recipe and the only thing it mixes well is a packaged cake mix. Cookie dough takes forever to mix. Cheesecake never gets smooth. Likewise with mashed potatoes. My bread dough doesn't get kneaded properly and turns out heavy and coarse. When I called Bosch's customer service to complain, they told me they couldn't compensate me just because I don't "like" the machine. Do yourself a favor. Buy a KitchenAid or a Sunbeam instead. That's what I'm going to have to do.

I have gone bought 3 different stand mixers and I liked "none of them" they were either too bulky, heavy, noisy, and pricey. This one is nice and compact, lightweight, and mixes great! I really think that this is ideal for a family that bakes alot, I do not however make bread, so I cannot rate this item on that.

Throughout my life, I learned to cook with my mother's larger Bosch. When I married and left home I would whine that I wanted one too. Last Christmas she bought me the Bosch 450 Watt mixer (then distributed by Toastmaster by special agreement with Bosch).

I cannot stress how much I love this machine. It is quiet, compact and is able to mix cookie dough excellently. I have the blender attachment, which grinds 4 -6 cups oatmeal to flour-like consistency (required in my cookie recipe) in seconds. My old blender used to get jammed if I tried to put more than 1 cup of oatmeal at a time in it. The machine whips egg whites, makes great frosting, bread dough is no problem, but most importantly -it is incredibly compact. The motor arm snaps down and the machine can be easily stored in a cupboard or exist on your countertop without taking up much space.

I bought the continuous choppper attachment for grating cheese, chopping vegetables, & making french fries. It was cheaper than the food processor attachment and seems to essentially do the same stuff (you just have to keep your own bowl under the "spout" for lack of a better word, which is actually a benefit, because you are not having to take the machine apart to empty out the bowl).

But by far, the most valuable and best attachment for this machine (which drives my mom nuts because Bosch doesn't seem to offer a similar atttachment for her size machine) is the ICE CREAM MAKER! You keep the 1 quart, liquid-filled bowl in the freezer and, whenever the mood strikes, you pop that sucker out, mix up a recipe, and bam! 30 minutes later - homemade ice cream without the hand cranking or the loud & rock salt-requiring machines.

The ice cream maker comes with a recipe book of delicious ice creams. My favorite is a variation of their chocolate ice cream recipe. The book suggests substituting any flavor of instant pudding instead of using the chocolate pudding it calls for. I encourage all who buy it to try pitaschio or white chocolate! Why waste money on Ben & Jerry's when you have you have your Bosch?

This model does not feature UV protection on the glass door so it's useless for storing wine long term except in a garage or basement. If you plan on installing in your kitchen, get something else with UV protection. Haier has a higher end model that does feature UV glass. Too bad because I think it's very stylish and understated and actually nicer looking than the higher end model.

The main thing to remember here is that you need to either situate this in a dark place (a basement would be better than a garage since your electric bill will be less) or you need to plan on using it only for short-term wine storage -- very important fact to remember in deciding on models to purchase.

I received the Haier BC112G a couple of weeks ago, perfectly delivered by the freight compagny Amazon uses. I am so far very satisfied by this product: the price is right, its sleek look is a nice addition to my living room, it is pretty quiet (not disturbing at all, although you can hear it of course), it easily accomodates 30 bottles, it has a good height allowing variations of temperature between top to bottom, digital temperature, a basic lock - useful if you have kids, and finally a good warranty. I had made extensive research, this product along with free shipping ranks among the top options for any wine fan. Only potential negative point I could raise is that I am not certain if the smoke glass door protects against UVs - it does according to Haier customer service, but doesn't according to some internet reviewers.

I hate having wines sitting out and waiting to be chilled. This is an awsome product and the price is great. Amazon has the best price on this that I have seen, over $90 more on another website. The racks are perfect for those liquors you need to keep chilled upon opening. I know someone who uses the racks to hold cases of overly expensive cigars.

Customize the temperature settings to how what you prefer wines. For added security, you can lock the cabinet, which is nice. The top of the cellar is skid proof so you can open and serve your wines up top without the worry of it slipping off. Last, but not least, the legs are adjustable and can be used on any flooring surface.

The cabinet is a greatsize, but not to big to go in a small apartment, office or fit in a tight space in a kitchen.

I purchased this set about 2 years ago. The shredders work OK, but it is easier and less mess to chop them by hand. Much of the produce gets caught between the housing and the shredder. It's difficult getting uniform cuts. The piece that is poorly designed is the meat grinder. I'm on my second grinder. Both the feeder shaft and the housing are constructed of a plastic molding on metal. Over a relatively short amount of use, they both began to crack apart at the unions. This of course is not good, being they are used on meat and it makes it almost impossible to clean. I would recommend going for a good sharp knife and a seperate all metal meat grinder (which I am now looking for).

I bought this attachment pack just after buying my KitchenAid, in the early 80's. I've used it for all manner of things, but mostly for grinding meat for hamburger, which it does easily and well, and for putting up sauces from garden produce. That it does well but it's a little tricky to make sure the refuse from the end of the strainer attachment does not fall into the bowl of sauce. I've set up a measuring cup on top of another item to put it at the right height, and that worked, but it is a bit clunky. The other thing I've had to work out is that I'm only 5'4" and the mixer is tall. It needs to stand on my sturdy counter to do grinding, and I need to stand on one of the dining chairs to feed things into it at the appropriate rate. These user issues are why I've given the attachments 4 stars, not 5. Otherwise, they are good, and have seen a lot of use over the years, especially in canning season.

I recently purchased these attachments, but this week I really put them to the test. Fresh fruits and vegetables are in season and in the past 2 days I made cherry jam with the fruit & vegetable strainer the next day I made 4 qts of zucchini & cucumber relish. What used to take me hours with a food processor, now took no time at all. Now I need to get rid of that food processor!

I bought one of these several years ago and have used it quite a bit. It is very handy for straining, if a bit slow and messy. The big gripe I have with the product is -- one of the first times I used it (straining blackberries) the seam down the side of the strainer cone split. I continued to use it for a couple of years, but it finally split completely and became unusable. I called about a replacement and the customer service representative told me that they do not reccommend straining blackberries in it, for just that reason. I looked in my manual. I couldn't find a warning to that effect, although in all fairness the straining instructions contain a list of fruit and blackberries are not listed. At any rate I think it is really sorry that this fruit strainer self destructs over blackberries. The real clincher to my poor review is that the strainer cone, just that one dinky peice, costs $$$$$ to replace. I was in too much shock to even ask about shipping costs....

Makes much easier work of processing tomatoes (home grown or farmer's market) for tomato sauce, and I am looking forward to processing fall apples for apple sauce for canning. I wish the instructions were more helpful. Tells you how to assemble and clean it, but no instructions and just a few recipes. I had to find out for myself that I need to put the tomato waste through three times to get the most juice and pulp. You have to experiment with it. We are going to try it with grapes this fall, for juice and wine.

The attachments that are available for KitchenAid mixers are worth their weight in gold. This is the most recent attachment I've purchased for my mixer. I can't tell you how much time was saved when making apple butter and apple relish for the holiday season. This time of year, saving time is a good thing when there doesn't seem to be enough time for everything on your LISTS!!! Happy Holidays!

I see some people complaining about the paint chipping on this beater. I have had mine for almost 7 years with no problems, but I was told by a professional pastry chef to never put the beater in the dishwasher, or even let it soak for a long period of time. I haven't and it's been fine. I am finally getting around to getting a second beater to go with my second bowl.

When this beater was offered in my gold box shortly before Christmas I snapped it up. This is the third beater I own for my beloved Kitchen Aid stand mixer. When you do as much baking as I during the holidays it's lovely to not have to wash up between each batch of cookie dough. One is never enough.

I have had my Kitchen aid for about 12 years, I love it! THe problem, as stated before, is the fact that the "metal" turns "bubbly" under the paint and the paint then starts to crack. This is not a favorable aging process. It does take several years to "turn", but when it does make you feel a little cheated, the price you pay for these machines shouldn't warrant this low-end occurance. While the beater lives it is SUPER! I make bread a lot in combo with the dough hook and it works great! Cookies, cakes , anything from scratch, you KNOW you'll be able to mix! Even something heavy or with nuts.. no problem! Kitchen-aid.. if you are reading this... Why ?! Why does this happen! The dough hook is still in prefect condition. I have other attachments and they are all heavy duty and GREAT!

No directions for use, and of course, you can purchase a book for recipes.

Got the FD35 for Christmas last year and am very happy with it. It consistantly dries things in about half of the time listed in "The Dehydrator Cookbook". Clean up is great; usually I just wipe the trays off, but when they need it everything except the heater/fan unit itself goes in the dishwasher.

My recommendations:
- Get the FD35, put it a few rooms away from the main living area as it is a little bit noisy.
- Get extra trays from Nesco's web site. The trays Amazon carries (at this time) are for the FD50 and _DO NOT_ work on the 35.
- Get the fruit leather trays and the clean screens
- Skip the cook books. Ive found online info and recipes much more useful than what is in the cookbooks.
- Experiment. Ive found that tiny marshmellows are great, but Ive never seen it in the cookbooks or online stuff.

I do have one problem that will not be an issue for most people.
The unit generates a lot of electomagnetic interference which causes a problem for my remote control extender. The remote control extender is a pyrimid-shaped device that allows me to use a remote in one room to control a device in another room. The dehydrator causes so much interference that it essentially "jams" the extender making it unusable. Ive moved the dehydrator several rooms away without any improvement. Now I dont get to watch satellite from the bedroom when the dehydrator is running....Oh Well.

I needed an easier way to make beef jerky, got this due to the fact that it has the heater/fan on top and is cheap. It works great, DOES NOT have variable temps. but cooks jerky perfectly. GREAT VALUE and I HIGHLY suggest. One more thing, if you want to make jerky from ground meat dont even waste the 15$ for a jerky gun, I just use meat, season it, and press between wax paper and cut it

I'm giving this 2 stars because it works great for small and quick meals. However, after my third use, the lever to the warming lid broke off. Now it is secured with duct tape. Yucky. After the sixth use, the back of the unit, the white coated metal is now a burnt brown color. Makes me nervous that it gets hot enough to color the body so quickly! As with any appliance, do not leave unattended!

There are too many great things to say about this little device: It's affordable to anybody, even if you are a student stuck living at school. It's compact, you can store it anywhere--a closet, your car, your office, the kitchen cabinet. It's powerful--I have plugged it in and in just minutes began working on an entire three course meal for six people with only this unit to work with. It's easy to clean--this is one of the few products out there that is every bit as easy to clean as the commercials show it to be on TV. It's is economical, using very little electricity to do a just that would waste electricity in a conventional oven or even an older model microwave oven. It's versatile--I have cooked everything from thin pieces of tempeh strips to thick steaks and it cooks both to perfection. You never would have been able to convince me to buy anything on TV before (and most certainly not from a former boxing champion...) but since a friend both this grill for me I have thanked them time and again (and in turn bought the same gift for many a friend of my own).

We've had it for a couple of weeks and it has cut our meal preparation time in half (at least). We had the best chicken ever tonight, juicy but well cooked. Despite what other reviewers claim, this unit is easy to clean, requiring no more than a few minutes with a damp sponge and a paper towel. Watch your fingers on the metal edges, thought, it gets hot!

This thermometer/hygrometer is highly usable, with great base/remote reception, easy setup, and nice ergonomics. Unfortunately, the important bit, i.e.- the actual MEASUREMENT of temperature and humidity, is complete nonsense. I sat the base station and remote monitor right next to each other for a couple of hours, changed the RF channels, changed the monitor position/orientations, and they never even vaguely reflected the same temp/humidity - there was always at least a 5 degrees (F) and 5 percentage points of humidity differential, although they should be pretty much identical! I followed the owner's manual recommendations for synching them more frequently, and it made zero difference. Even worse, when you put the monitors outside and let them sit out there for an hour or so, they are still WAY off in their measurements of temp and humidity versus Accuweather, NWS, and Weather.com. In my measurements at home on my 12th-floor balcony, a mile from midtown Manhattan, both the base monitor and remote were always at least 8 degrees (too high) and ten percentage points of humidity (too low) off from the consensus reading from the presumable "reference" data compiled by numerous high-end, science-grade weather stations. Ironically, my $10 oven thermometer I just bought for Thanksgiving is pretty much dead-on with the reference temperature measurements, while this so-called "weather station" averages almost 10 degrees off and 15 humidity points off!! If Amazon wants to be a responsible retailer, it should stop selling this thing until Oregon Scientific works out the bugs. I'm not some weather nutjob - I just wanted this gizmo to measure humidity in my baby's nursery during the dry winter months, but I was very disappointed. I think I'll stick with the old school, analog "piles of dials" approach.

Have had this weather station and the anemometer for about 10 months, bought in Feb 03. It has performed exceptionally well. One of the sensors was transmitting but not reading directly. I returned it and a new unit was promptly sent. A nice feature is the memory unit that stores data, allowing you to see highs and lows for a preceding period. When used with the anemometer, it tracks the highest wind gust recorded to date. A nice unit at a reasonable price. I have experiance with using professional weather instruments, and this unit provides excellent data at a reasonable price. The wireless feature is great, no cable to string.

Have been pleased as punch with this instrument. The baramometer is accurate once adjusted to elevation in meters. The remote guage works well outside in the weather. You can measure four seperate temps with the addition of three more remotes. The clock will sync after a few days. I love this thing.......

First off, it does not keep the rice warm, according to the owner's manual. Second, I defy anyone over 35 to read -- or find -- the measurement markers on the rice tin. I purchased it for my mother who lives alone. Very disappointing. You can find the same qualities in a 14.99 rice cooker/steamer.

This was my first rice cooker after failing in the kitchen making it by the directions on the bag. This cooker is a good starter product for the occasional user. I was hoping it had a warmer but I really dont eat rice all day so It worked out good for me.

Specs say it keeps rice warm for 5 hours. True of higher priced models, not true of this one. Instruction book clearly states the it shuts off when cooking is complete.

Specs and instruction book say a cookbook comes with it. It does not.