Electric Cookware Reviews

Great grill...works fine. It is a bit hard to clean, but just let it soak and no problem.

Easy to access temp. control. Burner slightly lifts for cleaning. Isn't as quick to heat as a stove burner, but is good for when you don't have the space or money for a more expensive unit.

This sleek thing (for lack of a better word) seems somewhat ostentatious at first, especially for my somewhat wooden feeling home. But after a while it fits right in, not that you don't notice it though. It sits on the table as if it were saying, hey look how great I am. But you say, okay, you don't seem so great, sure you look great and all, and you can do the things you do, jeez man, you are great. And my guests love it too, some even call it sexy.

One of the things that I do with the hot tray, is that I sometimes place it in my office or bedroom. I do this because I like to drink several hot drinks at once and I do drink slowly. I have my latte usually on the left. Some vegetable soup is usually beside it. A tea, and of course my necessary black coffee. That's four great drinks on one heater. And what a heater!

You can remove the cord, which is great because I sometimes want to grab my drinks with my other hand, for those times I'm doing something awkward. And it stays hot! For a long time, even when unplugged.

One of the downsides of this heater is the fact that it can only be placed on flat surfaces quite large, and sometimes I run out of space. I know that a heater with adjustible feet is not an easy add-on, but it would make this great hot tray even greater.

I rate this the same as I did the 88503, in reddish orange. Still had the issue of the cord becoming detached from the Pot causing the Fondue to become unheated. This Pot is also easily cleaned, pop in the dishwasher.

I like this Pot better than the 88503 better because of the lid, I don't like to leave htings sitting out uncovered, if even for only a few minutes.

Highly recommend

I looked forward to using my brand new Maxim Wok however, I found that the food sticks to the bottom, even though I used cooking spray, water and sometimes a little oil. I have used it 3 times and each time more of the coating comes off. It is not usuable at this time. I use the proper utensils and use only a sponge to wipe the surface. I have owned only one other wok (non electric) and never had this problem but I wanted a new electric one so I bought this one. I am very disappointed and will have to contact the manufacturer. I think the unit is defective.

This wok is terrific for those who, like me, have a smooth-top stove and cannot use the standard wok. I found that the performance of this wok is almost as good as my heavy steal wok which I previously used. While nothing performs as well as a heavy steal wok over gas, this wok performs adequately for the seasoned Chinese cook. It's so much better than any electric wok I have seen! The heat distribution is the best I've seen on any electric cooking appliance.

I recently moved to a home without gas. While coping, the one thing I miss is a wok over gas. This is as close as one can get -- it is a fantastic electric wok with none of the shortcoming of other electrical appliances. Works great with my bamboo steamer as well. The folks at cooks illustrated were right when they recommended this wok.

If you are serious about making tortillas and flatbread at home, pass right on by the Santa Fe Wrap Master Tortilla Maker.

I purchased one none months ago and it is now trashed - the plastic handle used to raise the top heating surface cracked in half. The leverage-force placed on this heat-resistant plastic handle could not not withstand repeated use. I don't think this was considered in it's design. I used it about a dozen times in nine months to make between 16 & 32 tortillas per batch.

The press does not evenly cook the tortilla. The hinged side of the iron was always underdone while the handle side got hard and crisp.

The quality of the press was poor - producing an uneven thickness in the tortilla. Typically, the hinged side produced a thinner bread than the handle side.

I ended up using the maker as a press/steamer, finishing each tortilla off in a hot cast iron skillet.

The warranty was only 90 days, so dealing with the manufacturer was not worth the effort - and at the price, having it repaired wasn't worth it either.

I like everything about this except that the hinge does not allow for much thickness and the quesadilla will be thicker and more cooked at the back than at the front. I does brown the tortilla to a nice crispness and cooks in 4 minutes as advertised. We have used it a lot as a great way to use leftovers.

Help! I just love my Tortilla Maker by Santa Fe, however, I don't seem to have any instructions or booklet that may have been with the Tortilla Maker. Could you possibly send me what came with the Tortilla Maker. I purchased it at a Base Exchange and they don't h ave anymore and someone must have removed the instructions. It's useless without instructions. I'm anxious to use it. I need a receipe to make the Tortillas. Thank You, Tricia

I received this gift as a shower present and a month later, it no longer works properly. The teflon is completely gone and it no longer heats up at all! I would suggest buying a higher quality griddle. I plan to return my to Target and upgrade it.

I am a college student and everything has to have more than one use. I really like this item because you can use it to cook an entire breakfast (eggs, pancakes, ham, bacon, etc.) and you can also use it for lunch and dinner, too. I use mine for grilled sandwiches (cheese toasties, hot ham and cheese).

It is possible to make an entire dinner on this thing. I like sliced squash and spirally sliced honey ham. The only drawback is that you have to have everything sliced.

If you are just starting out or really don't have the money for the Rival one, this is the way to go. I don't regret buying mine.

This is great for cooking pancakes and bacon and eggs. I just love how it cleans up quickly and has enough space for cooking safely and neatly. i recommend this product.

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This skillet is heavy and looks well-made, but it has many faults. After 2 years of use, I'm glad the stupid thing burned up because now I can throw it away!

1. The large handle is inconvenient and unnecessary. It gets in the way when cooking, and especially when you're trying to wash the skillet in the kitchen sink. I've been tempted to wash the skillet in the bathtub because it simply won't fit in my kitchen sink because of the stupid long handle. The handle isn't even practical, because the pan is too heavy to pick up by the long handle alone, even when the pan is empty. They should have put one small handle on each side rather than only one small handle and the one ridiculously large and cumbersome handle they used.

2. The legs get loose and won't stay in place. I tigntened the legs with a screwdriver every time I used this pan. It's enough to drive you crazy. They spin around and make the pan wobbly, which isn't very safe when you're cooking hot foods. DUH! Really bad design on the legs.

2. The knob on the lid is designed so that if you tighten it even the littlest bit too much, it POPS and falls off. The knob can't be replaced due to the way the lid is designed, so you have to buy a whole new lid. What a bad design idea! DUH again!

4. After approximately 2 years of use, I'm not happy with the way the non-stick cooking surface is wearing. It seems to be wearing off even though I clean it gently by hand and only use non-metal utensils.

5. The worst thing of all is what happened last night when I was cooking dinner in this pan. I was browning ground beef, which only takes about 5 minutes or so. Halfway through the cooking, I noticed a strong smell of burning plastic. I didn't see anything melting, but when I unplugged the thermostatic electric cord, it had a very strong smell of burning plastic and burnt wiring. I've spent the entire day on the internet searching for Circulon to see if I can order another cord, but I can't find a website for them, nor can I find any listing in the Yellow Pages here in Chicago, so I guess I'm stuck with a very expensive broken Circulon electric skillet.

I would NOT recommend this skillet due to the many reasons listed above.

I think I'm actually a bit relieved that the thing burned up and that I can't buy a replacement cord for it, because now I can justify throwing the stupid thing away and getting a more practical one that doesn't have spinning legs and a ridiculously long handle that gets in the way!

I had a Presto 'dutch oven' for the past two years;it is essentially their electric skillet with higher sides. I loved this skillet and used it several times a week for everything from frying chicken to making spaghetti sauce to cooking pot roasts and briskets. I'd still be using it, and happy with it, except that the nonstack finish started coming off after a few months. I kept using it until I couldn't tolerate little black flecks in the food. There's no doubt that a nonstick finish can be a godsend for sticky things, but half a nonstick finish is much worse than none! They always say these finishes are nontoxic, but who can be sure?

I went to the store to buy a Farberware, only to learn that they'd been discontinued. I came across the Circulon skillet at a factory outlet kitchen store and decided to give it a try. I have a large flat round griddle/skillet in Circulon that I've had for years, and also the large and small woks.

I've been using this appliance for roughly six months for essentially the same things I used to do in my Presto. However, since the sides are much lower, I can't really do the soups I did in the Presto. For me, the greatest drawback right now is its inability to neatly fry chicken--sides are too low for the grease level without making a mess! And, no, I'm not talking about deep-frying, but instead Southern pan fry style with roughly an inch. However, it does great steaks, croquettes, etc. I haven't seen any wear on the finish so far, and always use the appropriate utensils. It's certainly the prettiest of the available choices.

With the excellent luck I've had with Circulon pans and woks, I'm looking forward to a long history with this pan.

The Circulon Saute Pan cooks evenly, heats quickly, and the ridged bottom doesn't crack, warp or shed its protective layer. One wipe of the sink sponge gets out material cooked into the ridged bottom. We love it as a primary cooking appliance. One minor beef: some of the legs haven't stayed tight and as a consequence keep rotating out of position; even retightening the screws doesn't solve this. But other than that, this is a slam dunk purchase for your skillet needs.

...Aestherically, the skillet is beautiful and certainly looks and feels sturdy; the problem is, it OVERheats! At 200-250 degrees (which is just one notch above the "keep warm" control, a full boil occurs--essentially overheating. For instance, when doing a pot roast which requires about 2" of water, at 200 degrees, the water boils away within twenty minutes. To add to this, when the "beautiful" glass lid is in place, too much steam not only escapes from the built-in vent hole, but the lid actually bounces enough to allow liquids to spurt and bubble out--all this at just 200 degrees. One month ago I contacted the manufacturer, asking them how I could correct the problem willing to take whatever measures necessary myself--they have not responded to my letter which gives me cause for concern about the company.

My wife uses this Skillet everyday. We like the quality, size and the clear glass cover. I have only two small issues, one the temperature control is not easy to read as it is positioned under one of the handles, and as the skillet is going through its heat up and down cycles, it makes a sort of a clicking sound. This is cause by the expansion of the skillet to the base.
Although it's a bit pricey, it is a nice skillet.

I have used this skillet almost every day since I received it. I find that it cooks more evenly than any other I have had. I certainly would recomend it.

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.