Appliance Reviews

This cotton candy maker is poorly made. the first time we used this product it did make cotton candy, but it was not enough to fill the cone.The second batch the sugar burned and made even less cotton candy. I can't immagine how anyone could write a good review on a product unless they worked for the company. thThe unit not only doesn't do what it suppose to do but the pictures and description the company supplies to show how the product works is definately false.

I always wanted a cotton candy machine, and so when I saw this one I bought it. It's very simple to use. The first time I used it though, the cotton candy puff came out very small. It takes practice to get the puff big, and on the cone correctly. Instead of swirling it around the bowl, its better if you twist the cone as its coming out. I gave it 4 stars because it only makes one lump at a time, and it takes a while for the sugar to get heated up about five minutes, than you have to let it cool off, but other than that its great. I don't have kids, I use it for myself, and I still find it cool to watch the sugar come out like cotton.

This cotton candy maker is the perfect thing for home use! We love it.. I would recomend it to any one that is going to buy one for home use.. It is not for really heavy usage such as you would with a fair machine. You can buy the flavored sugar anywere that rents party supplies! Regular sugar will work just fine also!The slower you wind the cotton candy the puffier it will be! This machine is so good my 4 year old son can make his own! We love it! I did only give it 4 stars becasue after about the 6th scoop you will probally should take a rubber spatula and scoop out the harden sugar, which is normal for these machines..

Bought this as a first citrus juicer and have been quite happy with it. Extracts pretty much all juice, is powerful and very easy to use - also light and easy to store. Problems I found? Not enough pulp makes it into the juice and strainer is hard to clean unless you do so RIGHT after juicing. And sadly, because it is just plastic, ours is now cracked and handle is broken. We're looking for a heavy duty replacement. Still, a great buy, especially for the price!

This juicer is awesome. It is light and small in size which makes it not only easy to store but makes me willing use it all the time - no dread of lugging out some huge, heavy contraption. I live in South Florida and have a yard full of grapefruit, orange and key lime trees - this juicer does them all like a champ. With the two sizes of the juicing cone, one juicer takes care of all of my citrus. The strainer pops apart very easily and is a snap to clean with running water alone! You do not need to apply much pressure when using the juicer which allows you to juice many fruit in a row since your arm doesn't get tired. I love the adjustable pulp strainer - my husband likes lots of pulp, I like a little, and some friends just like the juice alone - no problem with this little workhorse. I also love that it gets all the juice out of the fruit - the fruit is dry after going on top of this machine! The juice flows right into the pitcher which makes it perfect for pouring right into your glass or into any other container - pitchers, plastic zip top bags, etc. I had looked and looked for a good juicer and most were expensive, bulky, hard to clean, etc. but not this great machine. I was skeptical since it is so cheap, but thought, "Well, what do I have to lose since I'm not spending much on it?" - now I'm in love with it. I'm such a fan that I just bought a second one to take to our vacation house!

This little item works very well, and exactly as described. I have an orange tree, two lemon trees, and a lime tree, and it handles my juicing needs just fine.

I know you all think the Kenwood is the panacea of mixers, but maybe because you don't know about anything else besides Kitchen Aid, which seems to flake out under repeated dough kneading. Well, I would'nt be too quick to own a Kenwood, again. I owned one with all the whiz bang attachments. Be sure you feel like cleaning out a 7 quart stainless steel mixing bowl by hand, cause they won't fit in the dishwasher too easily. the potatoe peeler is nifty, but be sure you don't mind scraping your knuckles a few times while trying to clean it out. Also, I had the juicer attachment, which was impossible to clean out. What made me get rid of the thing was that it too would shut down under a 'load' like it couldn't extrude pasta dough at all. It would shut down if there was too much bread dough for kneading too. I sold it to some suspecting cook, and they didn't seem to mind its limitations. In all the model seemed to make mashed potatoes mostly for me, since it was not successful with dough, and it was too big for the normal cake batters, cookies, etc. I guess I didn't bother getting a smaller bowl, oops. Trust me, unless your in a commercial kitchen, its huge, and its very apparent on the counter. I'd shop around for other brands out there first, if your going to put out that much cash, cause there are more out there..

My wife and I have been using the Kenwood Model KM 800 electric kitchen mixer for two years now. During the preceding eight year period,we owned and used the Kenwood 500. We have the three standard accessories (whisk, dough hook and K mixer)and we purchased additional accessories which have worked on both models. The latter include the juicer, blender, grain mill, and coffee grinder. This fantastic machine is the ever-dependable, sturdy workhorse in our kitchen and we have used it successfully without ever having a single problem with it. We grind our wheat and our corn to make flour using the grain mill; we make beautiful meringues and souffles using our whisk for the egg whites; we create the most tantalizing fruit smoothies during the hot summer months using our blender; we grind our fresh coffee beans and make our own flavor blend with the texture we desire using our coffee grinder; most of all we use it as a mixer for all of our baking. We bake fresh bread and breakfast cakes every single day. This is the best mixer that exists today on the market. We have compared it to the Kitchen Aid mixers and found the Kitchen Aid mixer to be of "toy" quality with a mixing bowl that is not nearly as strong and a motor that is not nearly as powerful. If one does not use a kitchen mixer very often or if one wishes to use such a machine for very simple tasks, perhaps the Kenwood investment is not warranted. But for people who love to cook and bake, and for those desirous of quality in their culinary creations, there is absolutely no comparison ... the Kenwood is superb. By the way, according to our friends who are the owners of our old Kenwood 500, the machine is still working great! We can't recommend it highly enough!

I use my Kenwood mixer primarily for kneading yeast bread dough. My wife uses it for cookie dough and for mixing quick bread batter. It performs very well and can produce a great deal with its 7 quart bowl. The kneading is thorough with the dough hook and I have had great success with the end products. The cookie dough, even with large batches, seems to mix effortlessly with the 'K' beater.
This mixer perfms well in small batches as well as large ones. I also own a 'Magic Mill DLX2000 Assistent' which has an 8 qt bowl. Though it obviosly can overproduce the quantiy of the Kenwood, I'm sad to say that it is rather inneficient in small batch production.
As an avid home baker I would put the Kenwood mixer at the top of the list. It is an all purpose piece of equipment any home baker would be happy with. The price is high in general, but if someone has the opportunity to purchase it for as little as [price], as I did, it would be an excellent household investment that I expect would last a long time.

I was partially convinced to buy this unit on the basis of its multiple five-star reviews. After using it a few times, it's pretty clear to me that while an egg cooker is a five star appliance, this is far from a five star egg cooker. It suffers from a number of fairly serious design flaws, one of which thankfully promises to render it useless in a few months.
To begin with, it doesn't have an on/off switch- you turn it on by plugging it in, and turn it off by unplugging it. As long as it's plugged in, the heating element is on. This is awkward, irritating, and potentially dangerous. Its construction is primarily plastic. The instructions say that it should be washed by hand or on the top shelf of the dishwasher. This is because this type of construction is strongly prone to warping. If I liked the unit, this would be a drawback. Fortunately, I don't, and sooner or later this will give me the excuse I need to buy a superior machine. I purchased the machine specifically for making "poached" (actually steamed) eggs, and the heavy plastic of the poaching tray guarantees uneven cooking- if you let the eggs cook until the whites set, the yolks are hard all the way through. If you wait until only the top half of the yolk is cooked, there is still a reservoir of runny white at the bottom. Phooey! When you're shopping for an egg cooker, make sure the poaching tray is thin metal with a non-stick coating. That's what I'm gonna do next time... The method used for measuring cooking time is highly inaccurate, and requires a great deal of experimentation. When I first used the gadget, I had to add additional water three times, and finally ate the eggs in a disgusting semi-liquid state out of impatience. And finally, the chirping noise that is emitted when the eggs are supposedly done is really irritating.
(...) Stay away!

I am a devotee of soft boiled eggs for breakfast. I've used electric timers and color changing egg in water monitors. Both have been usefull but the Hennerietta Cooked is by far the best I've used. I understand some of the other rater's comments such as lack of a switch and plastic construction. However, I find the unit to be marvelous as is. I am purchasing 2 additional units as gifts.

I absolutely love her. She is the best egg cooker in the house. Please do not let the few negative reviews deter you from buying her. I hate to make poached eggs but with henrietta its a whiz. If you use her right and treat her right she will last forever. I have had mine for almost 10 years and she has never failed me. We use her at least once a week.

My mini-prep finally gave out on me after about 10 years of loyal service. My kitchen is tiny, with very little counter space and even less storage, so a full-size food processor was out of the question. But this little guy was wonderful--I really miss it now that it's gone. My only complaint is that if you're blending a liquid you have to be careful not to fill the container too much or else it will leak out of the top. If I don't get a replacement for Christmas I'm definitely going to go out and buy one!

I highly recommend the Cuisinart Mini-Prep. I've had one for 6 years and it is still running beautifully. For such a small unit it has a surprisingly powerful motor. It can chop or puree vegies, fruits, - even cooked beef, chicken, and fish. When I first bought it I used it mainly for chopping onions, garlic, herbs, etc., but then I began to discover the possibilities. Ofcourse, the portions you are able to prepare are small, but if you're alone or have a very small family, it's a great little machine. Also a breeze to clean (not like the large Cuisinart units). Only negative is that it is rather noisy, however, for this price it is a terrific value. I must add that I bought two other mini processors prior to this one (both by Black & Decker) and was thoroughly dissatisfied with them. The motors were not powerful at all and the blades were in a different position than Cuisinart Mini-Prep. They could not chop more than 1/4 to 1/2 cup of food at a time or it would not run. Neither unit would puree anything, only coarse chopping was possible. If you're looking for a good mini processor the Cuisinart Mini-Prep is it!

An excellent little workhorse. I am cooking for two, and it handles all my small needs quickly and efficiently: garlic mincing, parmesan grating, herb chopping, pesto making, and more. It speeds up my prep time considerably and takes a lot of the hassle out of using small amounts of various items. I couldn't be happier with it.

For the first six months after I purchased this machine, I thought I had made an excellent purchase. However, the machine began to leak from the steam tube during and after making an espresso or cappuccino. I finally decided to send it in for service to the local Northern Virginia service center to which I was directed by the Delonghi web site. The local service center informed me that they then send it to Delonghi for onward processing; a two step process that, unbeknowst to me, added weeks to the ultimate servicing of the machine. I experienced awful service from the local service center and a rather hands-off approach from Delonghi. After 8 weeks, I still could not even locate where the machine was, nor when I would be getting it back. If you want a machine that takes a long time to heat up, that may well begin leaking after purchase and then will takes months to get serviced, then this is your machine. Frankly, I would strongly recommend against buying this machine. There must be better and less expensive machines on the market.

I have had my machine for about 15 months. It has been well worth the money, saving our family hundreds of dollars we would otherwise spend at local cafes.

The pros:
- It's easy to use and quick to heat up for espresso and for steaming. I rinse the basket and the espresso cup with hot water from the tap just before I run it, and the coffee seems hot enough to me.
- I find that the steamer makes perfect foam every time (I submerge the end of the wand just below the milk surface as described in some of the other reviews).
- I like the large-capacity water tank.

Cons:
- The steamer wand does drip, so I just keep a small glass under it at all times. I find that I can reduce the dripping by cranking the steamer knob shut tighter, but I can never completely eliminate the dripping.
- It's a big machine! It takes a fair amount of counter space.
- As with every other espresso machine I have owned, I still have to preheat my milk in the microwave before steaming it; I like a lot of milk in my lattes.
- With our grinder, it's easy to end up with coffee that's a little too fine (results in a burnt taste) or a little too coarse (results in weak espresso). But I couldn't get the coffee fine enough when we had a burr grinder.

Ok, I ordered this machine from Amazon excited because of all the good things I had heard and what the features of the machine. However, in the time it took to get to my house, I began seeing more poor reviews and what was when I ordered it a 4 and 1/2 star machine dropped to a 3 star machine. All these bad reviews about leaking and things made me wonder if I had a quality Item.
First things first, I got the machine, cleaned it up and made espresso. The initial try was average and needed some work, especially since I still hadn't gotten my burr grinder that I ordered. After a few practices, I had excellent espresso with perfect crema. Also, the milk frother works perfect! Foamy milk everytime! This is an awesome machine and I highly reccomend it.

Now as far as the leaking goes. Some said that it leaked on them after 6 weeks or so. Well mine leaked on me the second day. However, I think the leaking was normal and not something that could be fixed. What it is, is the left over water in the system gets pushed out from the pressure when you are using the machine (making more espresso, pre-heating, or frothing). I have found that if you run the frother and espresso without the water tank attached for a few seconds and get all of the water out, the leaking stops. Also, you could just put a small dish underneath which does the trick. Either way, I didn't find this to be a major problem.

Secondly, when I first got the machine, I used my tap water which gave the water a burnt like taste. If this happens to you, use distilled water! With distilled water, I don't get the taste anymore--apparently, my water has too much chemicals and calcium.

All in all, this is a great machine and I am very satisfied. If you use the machine correctly, you can get quality results!

I gave the item four stars because there are a few things that could be improved upon.

I bought this slow cooker about two years ago. After reading the reviews, I'm glad that I'm not the only one that thinks this machine gets too hot! I guess other slow cooker don't get that hot? I'm not sure since this is the only one I've owned.

Also, I found that even though I follow the recommended cooking time with all the recipes I've tried, most of the meats finish quick. I've talked to my mom about it, and I honestly think that the low 200-degree setting is higher than 200 degrees. I've never cooked anything on high, but I really think the low setting is messed up.

Over all, I've never had disastrous results with this machine. However, since there are other cookers on the market, I won't buy this Farberware one again.

I received slow cooker for Christmas. It cooks very quickly. It blew my old crock pot away. The food was done in half the time of the crock pot. It's very attractive too. I love it!

I ordered this because I need a larger slow cooker for the Holidays. I thought I wanted the smart pot but I wasn't happy with the reviews. I was worried that the Farberware would be to basic but decided on it anyway. I am thilled with it. The crock is heavy and durable. My lid fits great. It looks very modern. My first meal (beef stew) came out great. I'm going to invest in a slow cooker cook book because I want to cook in it all the time. It only came with a few recipes and I only have a few of my own.

This is a good idea for an electric skillet. Stainless steel instead of non-stick coating, should last forever. Large size for family size meals. It can cook 4+ pancakes at once, two large pieces of fish, fry a whole chicken. All except the removable temperature control are completely immersable for easier clean up.

So what is the down side? First, terrible finish to the bottom of the skillet. When they milled the bottom of the pan they left deep grooves. Kind of like an old phonograph record, only deeper. Gives food a great surface to stick too. Food gets in those grooves, and is horribly difficult to get out. Next, the bottom of the pan is thin. I have only used it twice so far, and the bottom is aready dimpled. Also, thin bottom = uneven temperature.

Finally, I found out after I already had this skillet, you buy Rival at your own risk. I was stunned to read in the other reviews that Rival knowingly shipped units without the temperature controller. That is like shipping a computer without the processor, because none were available at the time the computer was built. What were they thinking? Obviously it wasn't "let's take good care of our customers." I suggest also reading the reviews of slow cookers. Reviewer after reviewer had problems with Rival items. Not just one model, but many different models. Even reviews of other slow cooker brands often start out "after my Rival fell apart, I bought..." And to make it worse, Rival has an unfriendly return policy. Just keep it in mind if you choose to buy any Rival product.

The reason for 2 stars is flawed construction, coupled with Rival's obvious disregard for those who buy thier products. I wish now I had not bought this unit, and will not buy Rival again until they get thier act together. There is no excuse for the kind of disregard for customers that Amazon reviewers have described.

I havent had any problems with mine and i've had it for about 6 months now. I use it all the time. I have a family of 5 and this was the best cookwear ever invented. It cleans sooo beautifully also. Anyone who doesnt agree with me must have gotten a dud. Mine is perfect!!!!

I have owned this skillet for about a year. It has been wonderful. It is very wide, but not tall. It is perfect for paella. The skillet controls the temperature perfectly, and looks great on a buffet table or on the dinner table. It has a stainless steel finish and looks like a nice chafing dish.

It is easy to clean. I am glad the skillet does not have a non-stick coating, since that finish seems to eventually come off of every pan I have owned. I season the pan as described in the brochure, and things never stick to it.

I am very happy with this skillet.

As I was taking this out of its protective foam packing, one of the handles busted off, or was already broken. It fell to the bottom of the bag the minute I had the Maker out of its packing. It had broken off at the one screw holding it in place.

Since I had wanted a tortilla maker for a while, I tested it without the one broken handle and one good handle, to see if I would like a replacement. I make tortillas and roll them out myself, but am suffering from some joint pain, so ....
I first tried it for flattenning the dough without the unit turned on. It was ok, but I could have done it with a rolling pin quicker and better, it really is not the best tortilla press I have use, although it is one of the largest.
So I turned it on to see how it worked, and I was surprised. It really does flatten the dough as you cook it, and it is easier to control than learning to roll them out. But it is slower than using a rolling pin and griddle. The tortilla's explode if you press too much and you end up with maybe 7 inch tortillas if you are quick and persistent (press too long--and they explode).

I wanted to make larger tortillas though. And I like to make them thinner. I was also hoping to use this as a press for buenuelos, which are sweet, super thin tortillas fried up for Christmas and special events--sprinkled with sugar and cinammon or to your liking. This press could never press the tortilla out like that. It is not very versatile for what you are paying.

The big handle on the top seems to be more for show than use. The 2 times that I tried using it did not seem to help press the dough much and it marked the finish on the Maker.
This would be great for those who like medium to thick tortillas about 6-7 inches in diameter. But if you already know how to make tortillas and want a press, look elsewhere.
Also, I don't think this was of very good quality, since the handle you are suppose to use continously, broke off before it ever was used. I bet it probably would have worked better with both handles, but I never had the chance to test out that theory.

I've used this tortilla press for years and it works exactly the way it's supposed to. Sure the manufacturer's recipes are not the best...but let's be honest, most recipes from the owner's manual usually aren't. Secondly, the other people who wrote reviews clearly do know know how to make authentic tortillas. (I cannot comment on flatbread use). First, everyone knows that corn tortillas must be pressed cold if not made by hand. Secondly, you press the dough twice,gently. Press so that tortilla is at the desired width...and then toss on a griddle and continue cooking (flip once) until the tortilla is puffs up and cooks through. Dont' write bad reviews for a good product b/c you dont know how to cook.

I have used this villaware for about two years and don't know what I would do without it. I make a lot of tortillas (authentic ones as I have had the best teacher, my mother-in-law) and this makes it easier so I don't have to roll them out. I would not make tortillas without this villaware. After I press them I do have to put them on a cast iron grill to finish cooking them. The owners manual says it will cook them but I think it is best to put the pressed tortillas on a grill. I haven't tried any other flat breads, just tortillas. I have made wheat tortillas and it works out just the same way as flour ones.