Appliance Reviews

In need of a humidifier and having read some of the reviews, I decided to purchase the Hamilton Beach Humidifer.
The pros: 1. On the "quiet" setting the water usually lasts 24+ hours before needing a refill.
The cons: 1. The machine is far from quiet on any setting.
2.It humidifies far less square footage than specified, even on the highest setting.
3.It eats filters, which are difficult to find by the way. If you decide to purchase this item, buy several replacement filters.
4.The tank cap is difficult to remove and appears to have been designed for the hands of a small child, but a child with the strength of an adult.
5. It is relatively expensive. I have a warm mist model that works just as well and requires only a bit more attention to maintain.

I have had this humidifier for about two months now and have found the following:

PROS:
1.This humidifier works well for me. I keep it in my bedroom and only use it at night and I like the white noise that the quiet setting gives off.
2. It does a fair job.
3. It has a digital readout (very nice feature).
4. It has a large water tank.
5. It is easy to use.
6. I have not had any mechanical problems with it.

CONS:
1. The filters have to be replaced about once a week, otherwise they get moldy and start to smell (and who wants to breathe in mold?)
2. The filters are WAY too expensive. Amazon sells them for seven bucks and this is the cheapest I have found. This is a lot of money to shell out every week.
3. Filters are hard to find. Not many places carry them.
4. The cap on the water tank is VERY hard to open. It takes forever to get it off.

Bottom line, I would not purchase this humidifier again simply because I hate shelling out 28 bucks every month for filters. Even though the cap is hard to get off, it isn't impossible and its something I can live with. Maybe HB will come out with a filter that can be reused by putting it through the dishwasher or something, but until then I would not recommend purchasing this humidifier unless you have a lot of money to put into buying filters. Even though it works well, it just isn't worth it.

I bought this humidifier a month ago after much research. So far, it hasn't shown any mechanical trouble. The filter is holding up just fine after 4 weeks, despite daily use. Surely the quality of water in your area dictates how frequently you will need to change the filter. Nevertheless, it is recommended that you flip the filter over (to prolong it's life)when you refill the water. In my case, filter change maybe warranted no sooner than 2-3 months.

The large capacity of the water tank is good enough for 24 hour operation (on quiet setting). I use it all day night long on the low setting and it uses up about half the amount of water in the tank. At first the low setting may seem noisy especially if there is very little ambient noise around you (like when you can hear the wall clocks in your house ticking). But after a few minutes it sounds just like a dull whirring sound that is hardly objectionable. I use it in my bedroom at night and it doesn't disturb my sleep.

It is easy to see the level of water through the tinted tank. The water tank is easily removable when handled vertically. There is no leakage/spilling when you do so. There is a wide fill hole at the bottom of tank for refilling water. There are two problems though with refilling ...firstly the tank is too large to fit under the faucet in the kitchen sink, so you need a jug or hose to fill it up or use the faucet in the bathtub...secondly, the cap on the fill hole is pretty tight (the upside is that it is spill-proof) so I wouldn't recommend the unit for feeble people.

The other part of the unit, housing the motor and fan, comes off easily too. I do wish it had a latch, because you need to be careful not to knock it off when removing the water tank. When the water tank is replaced on the base tray, some water from the container fills up the tray, making a gurgling sound. It makes the same tiny gurgling sound periodically during operation too. This water in the tray is taken up gradually by the filter (which sits under the motorized fan), to generate the humidity when the fan is on.

The digital panel is easy to read. I do not however agree with the humidistat's reading. I have another humidistat in the room that I compare the reading to. The humidifier's reading is always lower, usually by 8 to 10 percent. Setting the desired level of humidity is simple although it can be done only in 5 percent increments. The unit shuts of automatically when the desired hunidity level is reached.

The base is easy to lift if the unit needs to be moved. Of course it is much more convenient to do so after removing the heavy water tank. As long as care is taken not to slant the base tray, there is no leakage or spill.

One point to consider if you are paying heating bills in the winter is that, since this IS a cool-mist himidifier, it will make the room cooler. So you may need to turn up the heat in the room a notch.

Overall, I am very satisfied with the unit's performance and recommend it to any able-bodied adult considering a cool-mist humidifier. To sum up, here are the PROS and CONS:

CONS:
1. Water tank is too large to fit under kitchen faucet
2. Cap on fill hole is tight. Some strength required to turn it
3. Humidistat not accurate
4. Motor unit is not securely latched to base tray to prevent accidentally knocking it off when removing water tank.

PROS:
1. Very good performance
2. Low operating sound on quiet setting
3. No leakage or spilling when handled correctly
4. Portable
5. Dishwasher safe; Easy to clean
6. Desired humidity level can be set manually
7. Automatic shut-off when desired humidity reached

PRO/CON depending on whether you live in hot or cold climate: Makes the room cooler.

I love this bread machine. It's great having fresh made bread, and the Breadman Plus TR-810 makes it easier than you can imagine. Just put the stuff in the pan, hit the button, and a few hours later you have a fresh loaf of bread. The thing I liked about this model is that the loaf is baked in a horizotal pan, I like the "classic" loaf shape rather than the weird cylindrical loaves that come from vertical machines.

Something I noticed about my machine, maybe this isn't common amongst other TR-810s, but mine runs a little hot. I found that moving it away from walls and cabinets helps, but I would still scorch loaves enough to make the crust really hard, even if they were set properly for a 2-lb whole grain loaf, for example. My solution: Everything is set to 1-lb, white, light crust, and since then any type of bread I've baked has turned out great.

I haven't used it to make jam or pizza dough, because frankly .... I'm sure it would work fine for this, but at this point the only thing I don't have the patience for is kneading bread dough and remembering to punch it down once it's had time to rise. Thankfully the Breadman takes care of this for me. The best thing is my family can enjoy fresh, healthy bread made in my kitchen and I can spend the time doing other things.

The reason I rated it 4 stars, however, is because the mixing paddles seemed to wear out pretty quickly. After about two months of use I started to see some wear in the hole that fits over the rotating pegs in the pan that hold them in place. They held out for about a year, and recently I've started noticing that my bread comes out uneven, or flat and hard. ...

The bread pan is pretty decent. I had a couple of loaves stick pretty badly, but this was related to the scorching problem. When my mixing paddles were young, all loaves slid out with only a little shaking on my part. I found that if I let the bread cool, it would come out easier. As a previous review stated, I use a chopstick to pull out the paddles should they get stuck in the bread. I found that the paddles get stuck in the loaf about half the time, but they're easy to remove and don't affect the quality whatsoever.

There are also other features which I find marginally useful, like the alarm for adding ingredients and the power interrupt feature so it doesn't forget where it was should you have a power failure in your home. The alarm I've needed only a handful of times but was glad to have it, and the interrupt feature proved useful when I accidentally unplugged the machine in the middle of a loaf.

If you're on the fence about which bread machine to buy, know that you can buy this one with confidence. It has a lot of fancy bells and whistles which you probably won't use, but most importantly it makes a great loaf of bread. I'm a real cheap-o and never get an appliance like this without doing a lot of research beforehand. The Breadman Plus has exceeded my expectations.

This machine consistently produces evenly-baked, nicely risen bread with a good texture. The crust control is a great feature. The horizontal loaves look like loaves baked in a traditional oven in a regular loaf pan.

There are two mixing paddles in the bottom of the pan, which insures even mixing of the dough. Sometimes they get stuck in the loaf when you remove it from the pan, but they are easy to remove from the baked loaf.

The bread machine comes with a recipe book which includes some new twists on older bread machine recipes, including one for Brioche bread which is out of this world!

I like the 2 1/2 pound size because these loaves disappear so fast in my family.

Bread machine or hand-made?? It's my secret!

I saw several comments on parts. I have a Breadman Ultimate and needed a new pan. Took about 5 mins calling the 800 number and the new pan was on it's way for about half what the Zo machine's pan was priced at.

I'm debating getting another machine and it's the 810 or the Zojirushi V-20. Our Breadman ultimate is 3 years old and chugging along so I thought I might get another Breadman. We have had some inexplicable failed loaves(cold yeast?) but for Raisin Bread at four bucks a loaf the machine has paid for itself ten times over easily(we eat it 2-3 times a week, kids). We have made every bread under the sun and our Kitchenaid mixer longs for attention :) I can truly say that after 500+ loaves it's worth the money.

The deal was if I spend the money we better never buy another loaf of bread. Except for some french bread we needed in a hurry we haven't.

Why 2 machines? We need white for school sandwiches and raisin for breakfast!! The Ultimate's loaves are too big or too small for sandwich bread.

:)

Don't buy this toaster for its looks. Mine died young, approx. 1 year old it wouldn't work anymore. Worked ok for a while, but now, I have to buy a different one. I will not buy Cuisinart brand.

I hate it when I spend more to get more, only to be disappointed. This toaster looks great, but the timer is totally off. Sometimes a setting of 3 will take 15 seconds, sometimes 22. The browning is uneven. It looks nice next to my other chrome Cuisinart products, but I can't say anything nice about its performance.

When I purchased this toaster I expected just another utinsel with the name extention "Electronic" stuck on it. To my surprise it's like no other toaster I've had or had heard of. You are able to set the darkness control not by predetermined degrees but to any degree from light to dark that you desire. Normally when you toast a slice of bread, when finished, it has a hard texture. To my surprise with this Cuisinart Toaster the bread remains soft after toasting. The controls are simple and easy to set. The model I have is Polished Chrome. The over all appearance is one of beauty to behold and an asset to any kitchen.

This product is by far the worst purchase in my life. I'll admit, I didn't do any research on waffle irons but how can you not trust a name as widespread as Cuisinart?

Easy...as a very competent chef, with years of experience in professional and personal capacity, I consider myself capable of making waffles. In fact, I've MacGyver'd waffles in a bind on a camping trip with tent rods! No Joke! But this product makes everything about waffle making awful. Most notably:
1. Non-stick my foot. If you've ever wanted all your waffles sliced down the middle across their plane, this is the one for you.
2. Easy cleanup my other foot. Break out your chisel and toothbrush, because you'll need them.
3. Thrown down 20 stories of garbage chute, this produces the most wonderful acoustical symphony $30 can buy. The brushed stainless surface perfectly matched and resonated with the rusty, raw clanginess of sheet metal. Musical indeed.

Do yourself a favor and just ignite $30 on your own. Don't go through the hassle of purchasing this product.

I am so surprised by the negative reviews of this product. We've had this waffler for a year now and have used it A LOT. I'd estimate 75 times- usually once or twice a week. We've never had a problem with sticking and the waffler is going strong. The waffles turn out great, every time.

One thing to consider, waffles require you to use oil in the batter. It's what gives them the nice crispy golden brown outside, and I imagine it helps with the sticking too. Now, I've never encountered a waffle recipe that doesn't call for oil, but it makes me wonder if those who have problem with sticking are simply using pancake batter???

We tried other wafflers with our regular batter recipe and the results were awful- heavy and dense. This waffler makes a nice light waffle. The selector really works to get the desired done-ness, it's a great feature and we've found the results to be very reliable.

In short, we think this is a great product. Our experience with other wafflers indicates they're not all created equal, and this one is quite a good model. We like ours so much we've completely stopped making pancakes!

I just can't believe why some people actualy rated this product with one star. It works very well, it doesn't stick AT ALL. Believe me, this is the good waffle maker. I will use this product forever.

when i first opened this i was very excited. my old vacuum just broke down, and many people recommended this cause it also has a feature to make ice cubes. well, thats what it says, but it doesnt live up to the hype. first off i was dissapointed eith the size. how could it hold dirt, with no canister? and i couldnt find the ice cube trays. i plugged it in, and wow, no sound. this is the quietest vacuum i've ever used. i got on my knees and started to try to pick up dirt, but there was no suction. i held it to my face, and i suffered a small burn on my nose. then it popped up. i dont know what that feature is for. some kinda dirt ejector i guess. i was a little frustrated so i stopped vaccumming and tested out the ice feature. i poured 2 ounces of fresh tap water like the directions said into its dirt holder. well it started to spark, and smoke up and all my lights went off in the house. i went to go downstairs to replace the fuse and i fell down th stairs and broke some bones in my wrist on the way down. i still have a cast on my arm, which doesnt pick up any dirt either. so basically this item stinks. i wouldnt recommend it unless u want a power failure and some broken bones.

With one exception, this is a great toaster. Some of the better features are its easy portability (the back handle makes it easy to take out and put away, and the cord holder underneath keeps the cord from going everywhere).
I especially like the bagel feature, which turns off the outside heaters, allowing the inside of the bagel to get toaster.
The one problem is that the slots are a little shallow, and you can't toast a whole piece of rye bread without about an inch of the bread sticking out and not getting toasted.

I love this toaster! This is my second T-Fal toaster and it's a big improvement over the last one. I really like the way it grabs toast and centers it. The shape is fun, creative and looks great in my kitchen (even the lettering matches my red and white decor). While it is true that one side tends to brown more than the other, it is not a substantial difference. You have to be pretty picky about your toast in order to have an issue with this. The stop, reheat, and "frozen" buttons are ingenious. The reheat button is especially handly. The price is very reasonable. I don't like the regular plastic toasters and would lean more towards something with more style, like chrome, and end up paying more than double what this one cost. All in all, I thought it was a smart buy.

This product seemed to fall apart the very first day of use. Soon after purchasing, two knobs broke off and the convection fan started to whine. Avoid at all costs.

I've owned one of these for a while now and in general, I'm impressed. Foods cook more quickly with the convection fan turned on.

Cooking toast is pretty disappointing. You can cook up to 6 slices, but it takes FOREVER and the bread is badly dried out. I suppose if you're a glass-is-half-full type, it's REALLY good at producing large croutons.

My biggest complaint is the design of the bottom mode switch. The shaft is made out of plastic (the other two have steel shafts) and the silly thing just broke off and you can't find spare parts. My unit is out of warranty and at this point, I'm going to toss my oven in the trash and find something better made with better support.

I'm also going to buy a real toaster and stop wasting energy and time producing sub-quality toast.

I've had my airstream oven for 4 1/2 years.
I love the convection feature...it makes the meat turn out moist
almost like a rotisserie. It's a great oven for just plain baking too.
BUT it is difficult to clean if you don't do it regularly. My husband likes to have hot toast and this oven toasts, but at the end of the toast cycle the toast is barely warm, not warm enough to melt butter. You cannot stop the toast cycle. We bought a cheap $1.00 toaster at a garage sale for toasting bread. ALSO: the elements in my oven have arched up, looking bent so that I can no longer get the lower rack in one of the positions. I had replaced on lower element year ago and it cost $20.00 plus service charge because you cannot replace it yourself without breaking it. Now my oven door gets stuck slightly open and we can't figure out why. I Love this oven's convection feature,but it is high maintenence !

I've gotta say, I really think this thing is more trouble than its worth. My mom bought this for me, and it rarely got used. Somewhere along the line, she forgot she gave me the first one, and bought me another one. So the older one sits in the cupboard looking very lonely keeping the second one company - still in its box. Here's why: first off, the shield comes in two sections, and they aren't all that easy to attach to one another. Now you would think that if they don't go together easily, at least they'd STAY together, right? Nope. Mine keep coming apart. Now, if you get the bowl pretty full, say with a double batch of chocolate chip cookie dough, forget it - the thing is utterly useless. Once the dough rides up in the bowl, the shield becomes dislodged, making you want to chuck it out the nearest window. I like that it keeps the flour out of the entire kitchen if you add it while the mixer is going - but it gets stuck in the little "ramp" anyway, making you shove it all down with a rubber scraper. It would also be nice for something liquid and particularly sloppy. But all in all, I find it a waste of time and money. Fortunately it was my mom's money, not mine. (By the way, she has one and loves it. Can't figure out WHY exactly, because she has the same complaints I do. She just must like washing a couple more dishes...) If you want to spend money on a USEFUL Kitchenaid accesory, buy an extra bowl - one with a handle, and a set of lids.

I can't actually say how well this product works, because I didn't get to use it. The information above states that it fits all 4 1/2 and 5 quart KitchenAid stand mixers, but in fact it does not, and this is Amazon's mistake, not KitchenAid's When I recieved it, I found that it is much too small for my KV25GOX model mixer. When I looked at the box to see if I had made a mistake, I found that it clearly states that this accessory fits all 4 1/2 and 5 quart stand mixers *except* model KV. So if you're still interested in this product, make sure it's compatible before you spend your money.

This is a cool feature for this mixer.

I use it with mashed potatoes and chocolate chip cookies. It is essential, if you want to whip mashed potatoes and keep them in the bowl. With chocolate chip cookies the batter is so thick if you didn't have this on when you were adding the chips, they would wind up in orbit.

I find this guard easy to put on and easy to use.

The ramp for ingredients makes it handy to add stuff on the fly. It would be nicer if this feature had a wider opening and was steeper angled. I find I often had to push stuff down it. Also, when adding flour from another bowl, it was tricky to narrow the flow down enough to meet the width of this chute opening.

My pouring shield did not come with the mixer, I bought it separate, at that time for $14.00, which I thought was pretty pricey for a piece of plastic. However, when you use a mixer of this capability, you really need it.

Occassionally, if you over fill the bowl, it will lift this guard right off. It is held on by gravity alone, which generally is enough. It is a guard, not something that makes the mixer idiot proof and sometimes I'm that idiot that pushes the limit.

I'm sending my 2nd one back, both quit working the first month I used them.

The list of features and some of the customer reviews sounded great so I picked one of these blenders up. What wasn't mentioned in any review that I read is that it may be the loudest appliance on earth. The first thing I noticed, is that gunk gets caught under the rubber seal on the lid when you're blending - making the clean-up process a pain. That problem went away though, when the rubber seal split and broke off the lid. Then the little center lid in the middle of the main lid started to crack and soon it had dropped off the little notches that hold it in place. Customer service at Salton sent me replacements for the seal and center lid and they both lasted about another week once they arrived. The biggest problem, though, was that the blender top itself started shedding its graphite lube and shooting little black chunks into the rotary area. Again, Salton sent me a new one, and again the problem repeated itself within weeks. Just last night, probably due to the graphite storm in the blade assembly, the motor siezed up and seems to have blown out the computer. The shower of sparks from beneath the motor was exciting, but not worth the pain this blender has wrought upon my kitchen. Oh, and I just passed my one-year warranty, so I'm out to shop for a new, non-Salton blender tonight. SAVE YOUR MONEY - DO NOT BUY THIS BLENDER. IT IS POORLY MADE ON EVERY LEVEL.

This blender has great features and when you first buy it you'll think it's a super product. Unfortunately it doesn't hold up and getting replacement parts is a nightmare. In less than a year I've had to replace the blender container twice because the bearing wears out. This time I've been waiting for over 1 month for the backordered replacement to arrive and the factory says it could still be 4-5 more weeks! What good is the blender when it's grinding it's bearing parts into my smoothie???

This juicer is good for someone who isn't sure if juicing is for them. It gives you the opportunity to try various juice recipes without investing a lot of money in the more expensive juicers. I would recommend you get a juicing book as a companion to the juicer, as some parts of fruits shouldn't be juiced. (apple core/seeds)

It is a chore to clean, however we found that using a toothbrush to clean the strainer was a big help.

When juicing apples in your mixture, it's best to use them as the last ingredient, they tend to clog up the strainer more than other fruits/vegetables. Don't put pineapple rinds through the juicer, they will dull the blades.

We've used this juicer for about 2 years, then bought the juiceman II. It has a more powerful motor, and is a bit larger.

I have been using my Juiceman Jr. successfully for nearly two years now, and I am pretty happy. It's not the best juicer out there, but it's the best for the money. If you juice occasionally and don't mind a little extra prep time or clean-up time, there's nothing wrong with this product (in my experience). Just remember to core the apples and cut everything into sizes that will fit in the chute and you'll be fine. The mesh is hard to clean, but other reviewers have suggested a toothbrush, so I'll be giving that a try.

Also, you must clear out the pulp after every few glasses of juice have been made. When I would juice for three people, I found myself having to clean the machine out after the first two servings.

If you have more money to spend, there are more expensive models that are well-worth the money and will save you a lot of time. If you're on a budget, this is the best buy you'll find for the money. Like I said, I've had this thing for nearly two years and have yet to have any serious problems at all.

I have owned my juiceman junior for about 10 years and have been very happy with it. Mine hasn't received much use in the last two years because another newer juiceman junior was available to me. At this point, the blades on mine are quite dull and I will probably upgrade to a larger more powerful juicer. This juicer is the first and only juicer I have owned, and thus it's possible that I'm simply not aware of how much better a juicer can be. That aside, the juiceman has served me well for making single servings of juice; multiple servings of juice would likely require pauses to empty the basket. Carrots juice very quickly; greens seem to juice a little slower; oranges and grapefruits (with the pith) also seem to take a little more time.

I have recommended the juiceman to others, and there has seemed to be some variance in quality between them. Two people I have recommended the juicer to have gotten the version with the white cover (as opposed to the clear one), and for some reason, they are much much louder. I can't definitively say that the cover is the reason, but the two clear-covered ones that I have used do not have this problem.

This is one of the worst products I have ever come across. It is poorly made, and began to come loose after two uses. I am afraid it is going to just fall apart one day. Also, it will not let you crank the handle after the corn gets popped a third of the way up. You have to shake the popper to keep the popcorn from burning on the bottom. The whole reason I bought this machine is so I didn't have to cook popcorn like this. I may as well get out my dutch oven and use it to cook my popcorn on the stove top- at least it is constucted well so I know it won't fall apart on me.

The butter drip cup handle/hook broke on the second use. I am having trouble getting to the manufactures site. The rest of the popper is wonderful - a little too easy to burn the popcorn though.

I have to agree with the best and worst reviews here. I accidently left the junk in the pan for a couple of days (everyone thought everyone else cleaned it)...After cleaning it throughly, I'm left with mold colored stains in the lid and bottom of the pan (and no there was no mold in the pan. It's a chemical reaction from the oils and salts). You MUST remove the lid to clean because there are parts that you are NOT going to get clean without doing that. For obvious reasons of securing the lid, removing it can be tricky. You have to play with temperature and timing. You can't leave the popper on the stove and try to pop ALL the corn..It doesn't happen in the microwave and it won't happen here either. I have learned on my stove to take it off when cranking the handle becomes too hard to do. I keep cranking it, even when it's off the stove no matter how hard it is, wait until it's stopped popping and IMMEDIATELY remove the corn. Anyone who's done Jiffy Pop knows you have to get it out of the hot pan or it's going to scortch! As far as any popcorn goes? I would not recommend any other popcorn then the ones available for the popper. I have tried 3 different kinds and they all burned or tasted bad. I don't know if it's the machine or the corn or what. But the popcorn that comes with the oil packets in a box of 5 was PERFECT. I am now stuck with 55 lbs of popping corn and all the fixings from Sam's Club (my husband thought it would be a nice gesture) Anyone need Popcorn?