Cooking Tool Reviews

When I purchased these tongs at a price of less than $10, I expected to recieve something small I could use only in the kitchen. Instead, I recieved tongs large enough for any grilling occasion. Though I haven't used them with steak yet, I feel that they may be a bit too flimsy for heavy grilling, but they are suitable for chicken and hamburgers. A sleek design and low price make these a great buy.

I LOVE this product! I have been waiting all week for it to arrive, and it finally did today! I baked my pie (I've been anticipating this moment for days), and when it came out of the oven, there were no spills to clean up! And my crust, lets just say it was a perfect golden brown, light and flaky, mmmmmmm.......

This was an impulse buy and now I love using it. The scale easily fits on my counter top and is an easy clean up. It provides me with quick access to a scale without all the fuss - useful for those who want to control portion sizes. Plus, it's kid friendly!

I've had a set of stainless Spanek roasters for over ten years that I've used for chicken and cornish hens. The parabolic shape and solid build quality seem unique to Spanek roasters. This brand is the best out there for this kind of gadget.
I've used the smaller ones for hens much more often than the larger one for chicken. The chicken-size version makes for a high-standing bird that uses all your oven space. You will have to put the bird on the bottom rack and take out all the racks. That's why I rate the chicken version a 4 rather than 5.
The best part of using Spanek roasters is the even browning you get around the whole bird. There won't be a soggy white spot, and all the meat cooks evenly. The presentation is incredible.

Birds cook a little faster, so follow the instructions and pay particular attention to the temperature. Use an electronic probe thermometer for sure. The birds will cook inside and out and the meat will seal up due to the chimney effect. As a result, there is usually less juice in the pan left over than with conventional roasting. You will need to baste with additional water or stock to fill the pan with enough liquid for starting gravy.
Cleaning can be frustrating if you don't soak the roasters first. I use a brush to get all the particles off, and then I throw them in the dish washer. The non-stick coating for this new version ought to make cleaning easier.

If you find the small versions for cornish hens, buy them. They are great.

I myself keep a pretty cheap, standard corkscrew at home, but have given this model repeatedly for events from engagements and housewarmings to Christmas. Easy to use, impressive to look at - a good gift for wine lovers.

Coming from a woman who loves to throw dinner parties, isn't afraid to cook just about anything and yet never quite is able to open the darn wine bottle, this product is superb!!! I have often poked corks down into the wine out of sheer frustration and this little number opens the bottle with ease in less than 30 seconds. It is amazing and makes a great gift to others or to yourself.

I have very little strength in my hands, and I have always found it difficult to open wine bottles. I used the Ah-So corkscrew for years, but it wasn't working for me as well as it used to. The "rabbit" does it all in seconds - easily, quickly and without muss or fuss. It's a great wedding or shower gift, too. I can't imagine what life like would be without it.

This cookie press is just what I was looking for. Some of the discs are easier to use than othes, but it is fun and makes great cookies. It is pretty easy to clean and to learn. With the enclosed directions no one could go wrong with this.

I received this press as a Christmas present, and just used it for the first time last night. I have never used a cookie press before, so I can't compare it to any other, but as a first time user, I can say that this was very simple to use and very easy to clean. The cookies come out looking very professional and the extra barrel included in the box made it easy to get ready for the next batch--making the whole process very quick. I am very pleased with mine, and knowing it was this easy to use ensures I will be using it again and again.

I have only used this a few times, but both times it made making cookies easier and it was also very easy to clean. I didn't use chilled sheets, though I did not grease them - and I still didn't have any problems. Highly recommend!

OXO is a great company with a lot of great products. I love all of their kitchen stuff. If you don't cook much, this is a good set to get. If you're like me and do a lot of stuff in the kitchen, get the 19pc. set. It will have more things that you can use and you won't have to spend when buying items individually.

We got this set for our wedding and also received some individual OXO utensils. Just about anything from OXO is great. It's hard to see how basic kitchen utensil design can be improved upon, but OXO has done it. That being said, the plastic on this set is not the same as the individually purchased utensils. The plastic on these is more flexible, but they were cheaper if you do the math so it makes sense. Despite this, I still think they are just fine for using in applications where metal might scratch. I use everything in the set, but sometimes I reach first for the stronger OXO ones depending on the application. If strength for really thick stirring and such is your priority, I suggest buying your pieces individually from OXO, but if you want a pretty good deal for how many utensils you get, this set is a great way to go!

The cause of the spoon or spatula falling out of the pot when you leave it in the pot or on the pot is just that ... leaving it in or on the pot. Take the spoon or spatula out/off of the pot and place on a dish close by your pot, so that it can easily be used.

What is more digestible and appetizing than a plate of fresh pasta lightly dressed with a fresh sauce, or just olive oil and parmesan? If you want to make pasta, this is a good device. Just some helpful hints for using the Villaware.

1. The thin noodle (tagliatellini) attachment will produce spaghetti-like thin noodles. But you need to dry the pasta sheets somewhat before you cut them. Otherwise they stick together and you will be saying nasty words in your kitchen.

2. You don't wash this thing. Flour and water equals paste and cement. So resist this bad idea. Just brush the thing out with a stiff pastry brush.

3. The pasta dough is best left to rest for 20 minutes, at least, under a damp tea towel. This allows the gluten in the flour to relax enough for you to roll it out. If you are impatient and neglect this step, you may think the pasta maker is having a tough time rolling the dough, but it is not--you have to allow the dough time to relax.

4. You go through the thickness settings from widest to narrowest, rolling out the dough and folding it into thirds, then re-rolling. If the dough piece gets unwieldy and way too long, just cut it in half, then process the halves separately. It means shorter noodles, but a lot easier handling for you.

5. Unless you really insist, you don't have to use semolina flour. In fact, this flour is often grainy and produces a less smooth result at home. I use bread flour. It's fine. And if you don't want egg yolk, just add egg whites, or those imitation eggs that are mostly egg white. Works fine.

6. If you want spinach or carrot or beet pasta, you can buy powdered vegetables that have been freeze-dried and sprayed to a fine consistency. This is an easy way to add color and flavor, without having to squeeze out pots of spinach into a nasty mess. Commercial cooking catalogs from baking and gourmet supply companies often sell these powders.

7. The home-made pasta is brittle, so really, making extra and storing it is less successful than making it fresh. The Villageware machine is so easy to use, however, once you get the knack, that you may find, as I do, that it is easier just to whip up a fresh batch than to try to process extra and store it.

ONE more hint--and it's why this is four and not five stars: the clamp has about a 2 to 2.5 inch clearance to attach to your counter. Your counters may be quite a bit thicker. So it can be hard to figure out where to mount the machine. Sometimes a kitchen table will do instead of the kitchen counter. Or you can drill a cut out under the lip of the counter for the clamp. If you are clever, it won't be visible.

Looking for an easy way to impress friends a relatives? Homemade pasta fits the bill. Delicious, nutritious, and best of all easy, pasta is a staple of many cuisines around the world for good reason. I have personally found the manual pasta makers to work more consistantly than automatic one, plus they are a lot more fun! anyone who enjoyed Play-doh as a kid will love cranking out their own pasta with this easy to use appliance. A must for any gourmet.

I was a bit hesitant on this purchase, but I'm so glad that I made it.

I use the "00" pasta flour, although I've tried cutting it with 1/2 regular white flour. Nothing wrong with that at all, and I could tell no difference, but I still like to use the "00".
I always use 2 cups of flour, 2 eggs, and add warm water to adjust (usually 1/3 cup). The funny thing is that I had a great dough the first time I tried, and using this method has always worked for me (I was nervous after hearing horror stories).

One batch of the above dough creates 4 sheets of long flat pasta sheets for me. I let these dry out slightly, then run them through the cutters. I didn't have a drying rack at first, so I just let the cut shapes dry on a floured cutting board. The rack is much easier though!. I've made raviolis twice. Not with an attachment, but with a separate piece where the sheets are laid across the "mold" and cut off with a rolling pin.

No problems at all with cleaning (pastry brush only) or with chrome flaking off. The clamp isn't as wide as it could be, but fits on my kitchen table, and the hand crank likes to weasle it's way out of it's holder. Personally, any machine roller seems a waste, unless you have arthritis problems or the like. The effort required isn't that much at all.

There is time involved than breaking out a package of dryed pasta, but from what I've found, it's well worth it. The machine cleans up easily, it's the flour on the counter that makes the most mess.

I use this jigger at home, and it is definitely well made and high quality, having been dropped on the floor many times with no dent or crinkles.

However, as other reviewers rightly point out, this is not the usual size for a jigger, and it is an odd measurement amount of 1-1/4 and 3/4 oz, when most drinks are calling for multiples of the half-ounce in the ingredients.

Still, this is handy for some of those classic cocktails that require some odd measurements/rations of ingredients (such as the Aviation or Floridita), where you will need 1-1/4 ounce.

So get this one, because you will likely need it if you truly venture into the world of classic cocktails, but get yourself first the standard size jigger first. Or better yet, get both and a bottle of marschino liquer (if you can find it) at the same time, and go home and whip up yourself an Aviation, and wax nostalgic of days gone by when bartenders knew how to bartend, and the US hadn't yet invented the abomination of the blended Daquiri or blended Margartia.

Also get yourself a copy of Paul Harrington's "Cocktail: THe Drinks Bible for the 21st Century", the essential cocktail book that will explain and show you how to make a true cocktail, sometimes even how to enjoy it, and teach how not be a cultureless alcohol-obsessed buffoon who thinks sugary, alcohol-taste-covering drinks are "all that" so that you can go to a fine bar like the Rainbow Room and order drinks like Cary Grant or James Bond knew how to do, and not order them like you're a college Freshman or a newly-minted MBA on an expense account. Then get yourself a copy of the Waldorf-Astoria cocktail book.

Also you'll want a good shaker, martini glasses you left in the freezer, and some good friends for conversation as your lips become loosened and the words and ideas flow like water from your mouths.

If you're making drinks, you need one of these whether it's this one or another one. It's cool looking and solid, and it will last forever. It also goes perfectly with the Pedrini Stainless Steel Shaker

Sensible, yet affordable. The functionality of a double jigger and the bragging rights "Oh this, it's Italian."

Despite this being a wedding gift from my brother, I've given up on it. It has become nearly impossible to open! Several people have spilled drinks trying to pry it open. I like it, but it simply doesn't work, and it makes you look like a fool when guests are waiting for their drinks.

Ok...so this isnt a review,but a question I have on this product. Where is the instruction manual to this thing? What do the lines above the alcohol names mean. There are two, three, even four lines above some of the alcohol names. Does it mean the amount of alcohol that is supposed to be put into that particular drink. Please answer...for it has left many of us flustered. thank you very much

I hate to be the voice of disappointment, because I had high hopes for this critter. But I'm a little disappointed.

Out of the box, it was a little clumsy. The sheath with the holes cut in it fits pretty loosely, and is secured only near the base. That meant it wobbled a little in my hands when I was holding it, which was kinda annoying -- not criminally unpleasant, but irritating, and if I'd been using it all night, it might have led to spillage if you know what I mean.

But then I used this thing twice, maybe three times, before the metal sheath with the holes cut in it pulled free of the shaker body. That was irritating -- it looks kinda goofy like that, and it's difficult to make any use of the recipes at this point.

The capacity is great -- it's perfect for a bunch of guests. And the look is pretty good, even without the sheath, if you're not close enough to notice the writing. I continue to use it, but it doesn't sit on my countertop longer than it takes to get washed, and it's now a "behind the bar" toy.

At 4.5 stars, I expected much better.