Baking Tool Reviews

Like so many other would-be pizza makers with the Sassafras, my pizza making dreams are now broken--into two duplicate pieces. The stone is beautiful when you get it, gets even nicer after a dozen or so uses as it slowly tans and seasons. . .until you hear it break right down the middle with a hot, half-baked pizza sitting on top of it. The next cracking sound is your poor little heart, because you ain't got no more pizza stone, Brother! And, might I add, the pizza cutter included with the package is so cheap it borders on dangerous, wobbling through the crust like a broken wagon wheel. Pizza stones are inherently wonderful things; they make a lovely golden crust. But if you're lookin' for a stone that lasts, don't you be gettin' no Sassafras!

This makes the best pizza on earth. I had my first stone for 5 years before it broke - and it only broke after I put a frozen pizza on the preheated stone - Don't use the stone with frozen foods. My second one broke after 2 years for the exact same reason, I just forgot. Sometimes I will just cook a frozen pizza for 5 minutes on an aluminum pan and then switch it to the preheated stone (that I preheated before I started the frozen pizza). That prevents the stone from breaking and gives the best crispiest crust.

I also reduce the heat on the oven by 25 degrees when cooking with the stone and cook it a little longer than my recipes call for - the crust turns out delicious every time! Also, the lip catches any spills of food or grease off the pizza - the only way to go. This is Sassafras stone #3 - I'll never give up on it!

This pizza stone is wonderfull. Cookies come out perfect with a nicely browned bottom and chewy. Nothing seems to overcook on here.my foods also do not stick. It changes colors after time and developes it own look. The rack is a great bonus. I had a pizza stone before that did not come with a rack and its a pain. You can either put the stone AND rack into the oven for easy retreaval or keep the rack out and put the hot stone onto it so you can carry and handle it. I also cook everything on this pizza, fishsticks, fries, cookies and so on. This a MUST HAVE for every kitchen

The FIRST LINE of the product description stated that this pastry brush has NATURAL BRISTLES. That is NOT the case. They are a translucent plastic or nylon type synthetic fiber - Not at all natural, which is what I was looking for and thought that I was ordering. Other than that it looks like it would be a nice brush. It just does not suit my needs. I'm quite disappointed and will be returning/exchanging it when I'm done with this entry.

The maker of this pastry mat claims that one can now roll out pie crust on this may without using flour. Well, I tried that and it doesn't work - the crust sticks, so I have to use flour with it. However, the mat "sticks" to the counter which is very nice. When I have used a pastry cloth it always slides around so it's difficult to roll out the dough. Overall, I don't think it's worth the money.

I have several of the Comfort grip cookie cutters. Their intended purpose is to cut dough, and they do that well. However, after several uses and washings, the comfort grip gets, well, gunky. Sometimes it's better to forego all the latest and greatest products and stick with plain old-fashion basics. This is one of those times.

This set is for the birds! I have done away with using the pots and pans within the first 2 months of buying this! This sounded like a good deal, but the saying is true - 'if it sounds too good to be true, it probably is'

DO NOT BUY. The pots in this set are extremely inferior. I've only had the set for a couple of months and I've already thrown the pots out. The non stick surface started to bubble and stripped off. It even came off in my food, I had to throw it out. I'm so sorry i bought this. The knives are pretty sturdy, the cooking utensils don't really stand up to heat well. Not a very good choice.

If you want something that lasts, look elsewhere, you won't find it here -- the non-stick coating doesn't last long, the paint chips off, bottoms of the pots turn black, and so on. In other words, if you're looking for quality products, you have to be prepared to spend more than this and spend more time finding what you want.

However, this is a good set to get if you're on a tight budget, and an absolutely ideal set for first apartments. My husband and I bought this for our first apartment and it's gotten us through the past two years. Now we're moving and most of what's left of the set isn't worth taking with us, so we'll be tossing it. Which is okay by us - less to pack!

This time, though, we will buy things that are more likely to last. Again - not a bad deal for those just starting out and/or those on a tight budget. But you do get what you pay for.

Used my new brush to apply butter on French bread for making garlic bread. It fell apart on the first use. I should have taken my eight dollars and put it down the drain myself, I would have saved on shipping.

Pastry brushes never seem to last long. I thought that by spending a bit more I would get more use out of this one. At first the bristles fell out one by one, and the second or third time I washed it, the entire head of bristles popped out. If you are looking for a brush that does not lose bristles, I have never found a traditional one that keeps its bristles, but IKEA makes a strange looking pastry brush which has no bristles and therefore cannot lose them, and that's what I have now.

If the bristles didn't fall out during the first few uses, this MIGHT be a good pastry brush! Save your money and go for something more durable.

After using this a few times for pizza--it soaked some of the oils from the pizza into it. There was such a rancid--horrible-- smell everytime I went to use it. I tried baking soda, etc--to get the smell out--but to no avail--I through my out--would not buy another. It did get the bottom of the crust crispy. Too bad--nice product--but needs to be improved.

This product is a great concept, but there is something seriously wrong with the materials used to manufacture it. Mine broke in half within a week of purchase, despite the fact that I did none of the things that are known to break it (e.g., submerge it in water, or temperature change, etc.)

Until the company can improve the firing of the materials, or find some other way to make it less fragile, I recommend avoiding this product.

I have had my set for about a month and a half. I bake bread several times a week and have been using this product consistantly for all of the time that I have owned it to bake bread on. Unlike some others, I have not had any issue with splitting even after a minor drop. The product so far seems sound. I haven't tried using the pizza cutter (don't usually make pizza) but the heat transfer qualities of this product do help give a little extra lift to my breads. My biggest issue with this set was the rough qualities of the baker's peel that came as part of it. The peel is made of a seemingly softer wood and isn't sanded to a nice smooth finish. To get the smooth surface that I required, I had to hit it with a sander or it would be VERY difficult to get proofed dough onto the stone without deflating it.

I was very disappointed when I opened my package. The picture of this item is for 5 cutters with a heart, star, clover, flower and fleur de lis shape. This is NOT what you get. What you get is hidden in the description. "Includes a pretzel, flower, clover, star, and rectangle" I suppose this is my fault for not reading through, however, [Amazon.com] could be a bit more responsible with their photos. I'm honestly quite disgusted and contemplating sending them back.

I have many Kaiser products and have been happy with all of them until I ordered the Linzer Cookie Cutter. It was nothing but tin and neither my husband nor me could get the pieces back together on the star one once we took it apart. The others eventually went back together however, can't imagine baking the cookies and having to spend such an exorbitant amount of time working on the cutters. Seems to me Kaiser could have produced a better product that would be user/baker friendly.

I don't like to bake, but a few times a year, when I feel the romance meter in my marriage is dropping, I pull out all the stops and open a cake mix from the grocery store. I simply add the proper ingredients and bake up a "love cake". My wife is a very romantic person, so the shape or taste of the cake doesn't matter, so she says. "It's just the thought!", she squeals. (Lucky for Me). But, when I saw these cake stencils, I thought my troubles were over. Now, I could jazz up my pathetic gift by sprinkling sugar or cocoa over the cake through the stencil. That is,if I could get them out of the box without shredding! Popping the stencils out by hand was a total failure and after 4 hours in my garage "shop", using any specialized tools I could get my hands on, the project, as well as the designs were scrapped. The plastic is cheap and the stencils are immpossible to open without tearing. As far as reuse, not with the blood drops still remaining from the paper cuts I received during the "easy preparation". The designs are amateurish and this is one time my wife's love of childish crafts would lose out to her question of, "You didn't pay for these did you"? I'll still give her my silly little gifts of love, but at least I won't have to apologize for someone else's artwork, artwork I paid [money] for! Besides, I think she likes my little scribbles and thinks they are kind of cute. Bruce Hand

When I saw this item, I was thinking it would be great for my baking. Except, the top doesn't fit tight enough and the cover, on the other hand, fits too tight. So, when you open the sprinkler to use it the top comes off with the cover which could leave you with a lot of mess.