Kitchen Reviews

This bowl is about as wonderful a mixing bowl as you can get. I own this and the 4 quart bowl. They are solidly constructed. You can put a hand mixer in it and the bowl doesn't move. I particularly like the depth of each bowl. They are not so wide that the contents spread out and become a chore to mix. They also clean up very well. You should definitely check them out.

I purchased both this 2 quart bowl and the 4 quart bowl. I really enjoy cooking with these bowls. They are an improvement over the standard glass or metal bowls that I use to have. The rubberized bottom is the best feature, you can actually run the mixer with one hand and not have the bowl move all over the counter top. The handle has a nice feel to it and the spout actually works without the dribble.

I really like these bowls, except the same size bowls do not stack very well. Not a big issue, I have enough storage space, but it would be nice to have a stacking feature. Also, another color other than white would be nice. Even with these two small issues, I will purchase more of these bowls for myself and as house warming presents.

I am an avid baker so a mixing bowl gets a workout in my kitchen. The OXO name is synonymous with quality and this bowl is the epitome of that quality. Finally, a mixing bowl that is DEEP enough to not fling batter all over my kitchen countertop. A mixing bowl with a very clever ergonomically designed HANDLE. A mixing bowl that's plastic and therefore MUCH quieter to mix in. And, as if all that wasn't enough, it's rubberized on the bottom so it stays where.

I could just KISS whomever is responsible for inventing this bowl. Buy as many as you can get your hands on in every size because it will be the bowl you reach for every time, for every task.

(as an addendum to my previous review)

As some other reviewers have noted, the pots will break if dropped. This is particualarly true if you have a tile or concrete floor in your kitchen. I've dropped pots onto linoleum and wood with no problems (except for a dent in the linoleum). Some pots are also more prone to breakage than others - the oval french ovens will crack through if dropped on the "long" side, rendering them unusable. The rounded soup pots, however, seem to be almost indestructable.

The enamel will scratch and chip, even by such seemingly innocuous things as a dishwasher prong that has the rubber coating worn off (I totally trashed the inside bottom of a small soup pot this way). Banging a metal spoon on the rim of the pot to clean it off is a no-no (though wood is fine). You also can't deep fry in the white-enamel-lined le Creuset, though you can in the black-lined pieces, and the older grey (glissimal) ones.

Nevertheless, as a proud owner of naked Wagner cast iron, All-Clad, Kitchenaid, and le Creuset, my choice for stews, soups, spaghetti sauce and rice is still le Creuset.

In the dictionary, next to "dutch oven," is a picture of a le Creuset pot.

This 5.5 quart version is sized to fit typical casserole, soup, and stew recipes, and big enough for a large chicken or pot roast. It will fit on an average-height refrigerator shelf (you may need to replace the lid with a dinner plate), and will heat evenly on a standard sized burner (though, given the heat distribution of the cast iron, it would heat evenly on a birthday candle). This is the size the cooking shows use - if you've ever watched over Emeril's shoulder as he arranged stuff in the pot, you know that this is just the right size and shape.

My only complaint is that le Creuset recently stopped smoothing and under-glazing the rims of their pots, and is now leaving them rough and "rust-proofing" them instead. For my older (heirloom) pots, I invert the lids for stacking and storage. I haven't been able to bring myself to do this with my newest pot, however, because if I do the rough unglazed rim will scratch up the lid. (ecoutez-vous le Creuset?!)

This pot has the character to get you into the kitchen and start cooking. It heats up great and really holds it. Slow simmers are fantastic and you don't have to worry about burning. I am convinced that this pot has made the difference in my tomato sauces. I also make roasts and a delicious pork shoulder in this pot. It cleans with a quick soak and an easy scrub. I highly recommend Le Creuset and this pot specifically.

I bought a pair of these as a Mother's day gift, they seem to be satisfactory. The price & style appealed to me, price didn't seem too bad either. I did a little searching around for tongs and had difficulty finding anything, Amazon has a great selection and these tongs looked as good as any here.
You should be aware that the 12 inch length is total length, not from your hand to the end. I was a little disappointed to see that they're made in China, so much is these days.

Great balance and tension make these tongs a pleasure to use. I bought them for the grill, but use them for a million other things in the kitchen. I got a small taste of what arthritis sufferers must endure when I whacked my hand on something a couple weeks ago & bruised it badly. My grip strength was greatly reduced & it hurt to try to squeeze anything... this was the only tool in my kitchen that I could still use easily. The locking mechanism is sturdy, simple to operate, & makes storage easy too. Get 'em and you'll find that they move to the top of the "always in the dishwasher" list, because you'll use them that much!

I had a smallish pair of tongs for turning eggplant and cutlets while sauteeing. Tired of burnt fingers, I invested in the locking OXO tongs. Good move. The lock allows you to put the tongs in a drawer, and you just pull the ring at the top to unlock and get the full spread of the tongs.

The longer handle, insulated with plastic, means your hands stay cool and more importantly, at a distance from spitting bacon, hot slices of eggplant or a frying chicken breast. They also work fine on the outdoor barbecue grill, though LONGER tongs would be good if your grill is larger than my puny one.

For those of us who love to cook much of our pleasure is experienced in the preparation - whipping egg whites to a perfect frothy peak, cutting cookies into imaginative shapes or slicing cleanly, quickly and neatly the ingredients for casserole or soup.

This Japanese inspired Santuko knife by Wusthof has certainly added to my joy in the kitchen. It's the perfect implement for slicing, dicing or chopping. Alternating indentations prevent food from sticking to the blade, while its heft and balance are perfection.

A razor sharp blade allows me to slice as thinly as I wish, whether it be for carpaccio or the prosciuto we so enjoy. It's ideal for the cheese and ham in panini, and makes quick work of onions and celery for a family recipe for vegetable soup.
Of course, an added bonus is the Wusthof name, which we have learned means quality.

I do recommend that you hand wash it, just as you would a fine piece of silver. Believe me, this knife is sterling in every way.

- Gail Cooke

Forgive the LOTR reference, but this knife really makes most others obsolete.

You've probably already read the great reviews from noted reviewers, but I think there's an important point to mention. Most people end up buying a large block of quality knives b/c they feel it offers the best value. In actuality, most of the set goes unused and they simply stick with a Chef's knife.

This particular knife offers a more convenient shape and style than traditional Chef's knives. It feels more "ergonomic" when slicing, chopping, etc. It is also sharp enough to easily slice meats. The hollow edge doesn't seem to prevent sticking with vegetables (zucchini), but I haven't directly compared this with a non-hollow edge. For those who are looking for a great, all-around knife I really don't see much competition for this product. Big blocks of knives are nice for show, but for the practical-minded this knife makes the most sense.

This knife is fantastic. Makes the boring job of chopping a whole lot easier. One thing to be careful of though, when things stick to the sides of the knife, it is best not to use your finger to slide them off, it will get ya. Otherwise, I highly recommend it. It is worth every penny!

This food processor will give you the best pie dough money can buy. It sturdy and not too loud and also very handy to pulverize, puree, shred or slice anything you want. (And it's red!!) You can even make your own grated parmesan in there by just dumping blocks of cheese in the bowl fitted with the blade -no more tasteless sawdust from the supermarket! Cleanup is easy too, although I recommend not to put the bowl and lid in the dishwasher as the insane heat in there tends to produce cracks in that type of plastic. The only drawback is the absence of a good storage system for the attachments -there is a box, but it's pretty bulky...

Having the Kitchen aid mixer, I without hesitation, when I needed a new food processor invested in the Kitchen aid food processor.

BASIC MECHANICS:

NOT MADE FOR MOVING AROUND:
When you get this machine, the first thing that strikes you is the sturdiness and weight. Ideally, you want to leave this machine on your counter, because if you have to move it around a lot, you are going to hate it.

SOLID AND STURDY:
The base is heavy, which is really handy when running. It is not going to slip away on you. I had an old mixer that destroyed itself once by rocketing off the counter when I let go for a minute.

The controls are simple. Three buttons under a mylar cover. This makes clean up a breeze. A quick wipe with a damp dish rag or sponge on any spills and you are good to go. No sharp edges or button holes to capture batter or food spills.

Most units come with the base, a large bowl bottom, and a small bowl bottom, the top, the plunger, two blades (one metal for cutting, one plastic dough one) and 3 discs. Also you are given a spacer for the discs, the attachment garage and a spatula.

Unlike one of the reviews that critiqued the way things fit together, the unit I received was well fit together and had a good quality feel to it. The parts slipped tightly together without trouble. Mind you I have not put any of these in the dishwasher yet.

DESIGN CONCERNS:
Two criticisms were immediate on my part.

SMALL BOWL USE NEEDS TO BE WITHIN LARGE BOWL:
This to me is not handy. What if you used the large bowl first and then planned on using the small bowl. You would have to either clean the large bowl or have it dirty and possibly effect the use of the small bowl. Also they have a common cover, so this would have to be cleaned between uses. This to me is not handy. I think they should be able to be used separately and should have different covers.

STORAGE CASE SHOULD BE SMALLER OR ABLE TO HOLD ADDITIONAL DISCS:
The storage container for the discs is huge. It seems about twice the size it should be. Ironically, it also has no room for additional discs or blades. This should be redesigned to be more efficient, either one way or another.

COMPARISON TO PREVIOUSLY OWNED FOOD PROCESSORS:
Though I have not extensively used this product, since I bought it, it has performed well for me in what it has done. My previous machines were a Norelco La Machine and a Sunbeam Oscar food processor, I felt the larger capacity and power of the Kitchen aide food processor was very welcome.

The Norelco La Machine had the large bottom bowl cracked when chopping hard cheese. The Kitchen aide was a replacement to this machine. It's bowl seems sturdier, but I'm not sure it would not suffer the same fate, if using the blade to chop hard cheese. I think the shredder attachment however, would keep me from attempting this.

The Oscar food processor is much smaller. When shredding lettuce, it shoots it out the side into a bowl. This is a more messy process than the nice neat way the larger Kitchen aide handles it using a disc and self containing it. It also did a finer and better job. However, given that the small quanities need the small bowl used within the large bowl in the Kitchen aid, I will keep my Oscar processor to do these.

USAGE TO DATE AS A REFERENCE:
I have used this machine to chop artichoke hearts for pasta salad, have shredded lettuce and chopped onions also. It worked exceptionally well for this. I was amazed at how fine it could shred the lettuce. Also the artichoke hearts with their uneven toughnesses did really well and did not slip past the blade as they have on my other machines.

I have only used the large bowl, as the small bowl in the comments above did not seem practical to use.

In general I have never made bread in a food processor (I have a bread machine), so can't speak to that.

Also there are some discs I haven't yet used.

This is very light use, that will change with time, now that the machine is on my counter. In the past I did not use my other machines as much because they had to be dragged out of the cupboard.

I hope this review helps you will your purchase decision. I'm very happy with my machine, so I wanted to take a moment to let you know its pluses and minuses.

I bought this food processor to replace an old-style Cuisinart from the early 1970s (whose motor still works but the plastic has become brittle). My hope was to find a product that will be equally long-lived and hardy. So far, so good. The KitchenAid is stylish, to be sure. It's attractive and looks great just sitting on the counter. It's also powerful: I've chopped and mixed all kinds of things in it, from hard cheese to pie crust dough, and have not yet encountered a problem. It comes with a large bowl and a small bowl for quick, small jobs like chopping garlic, etc., for which you wouldn't want to dirty the larger bowl. Great feature! The product is overall easy to clean, so long as you are mindful not to add any food until after inserting the blades or slicer wheels. Here are the negatives I've noticed so far: 1. The plastic bowl and presser seem somehow a bit too flexible especially compared to the aforementioned Cuisinart. Nothing has broken yet, but I'll be curious to see how long before something does. 2. While the product comes with a totally sufficient array of blades and slicers, they throw in the weirdest, most useless spatula I've ever seen. Not sure why they bother. 3. I also wish the blades and slicers came with a wall- or cupboard-suspensible storage unit; they come in a nice clear-plastic box--but it turns out that this is not the most efficient way to store the other blades and slicers for quick access. Overall, however, I am very pleased with this product and recommend it whole-heartedly to anyone. Although a bit steep in price compared to many other food processors, I feel that the price fairly well reflects the value of the product. Amazon's price is a bit lower than in my local department store, in any case. This is a suitable food processor for beginning and amateur chefs, but even pseudo-professional and professional chefs will find it adequate for almost all applications.

My father is the most discerning food gourmet. Not only did he attend culinary school, but he also is a phd in chemistry, so he knows his stuff. When we learned that he paid the six bills for this machine, we thought he was insane. Then we tasted the ice cream. Put simply, this machine will make the best ice cream you will ever eat in your life, period. It will humble store bought ice cream or the expensive kind in all those specialty boutiques, and make Ben and Jerry eat their shorts. Everyone in my family proceeded to gain twenty pounds soon after his purchase. Frankly, the ice cream is [wonderful]. The machine itself is top quality, everything stainless steel and bulletproof. If you are ready to step up to the ultimate in ice cream, this is it . . .

One word describes this machine -- WOW.

PROS
1. Fast. First thing I did with the Musso was pour in a can of warm soda, turn it on, and enjoy a slurpee like drink within 40 minutes! Probably could shave ten minutes off with a chilled can, but the UPS delivery-person had just dropped it off.
2. It is so easy to use, the first three batches of ice-cream I made with this machine was devoured at a party, despite everybody claiming to be "stuffed."
3. Clean-up? Bowl of warm water and a cloth. The blade comes off to be cleaned separately. (If you screw the nut on too tight, it's hard to get the blade off afterwards. I don't know if trapped moisture freezes it on, I just know that it can be tough to unscrew.)

CONS
1. Noise? For something that packs its own refrigeration unit and motor, I wouldn't complain.
2. Calories? Whipping cream, heavy whipping cream, sugar, and egg yolks are not good for the waistline or arteries.
3. Price? Yes it's expensive, though cheaper now than before. But I no longer have to go out and buy high quality ice-cream or Slurpees. That's money saved in the long run.

My only complaint is that the bowl seems relatively small for a 35 lb machine. However, since it "only" makes a quart in 30 minutes, I'll keep my mouth shut.

I have to admit that when we bought this ice cream maker, I was a bit skeptical and turned off by what I read here about the machine being big, heavy, and hard to clean. So I decided to wait and think it over. Then it came up on my GOLD BOX offers at about twenty percent off the current price. I couldn't ignore that savings so we bought it. Now it's been a couple weeks since we got it... and I am here to confirm the possitives and negatives about the Lussino Dessert Maker.
1) Yes, it's big! About 1.5 ft X 1 ft X 1 ft.
2) Yes, it's heavy. About 38 pounds.
3) Is it hard to clean? It is if you are extremely lazy and a big sponge and hot water is too low tech for you to use. Just remember that before you clean it, you should remove the metal stirring paddle (very easy), and use 1/2 cup of HOT water with a sponge (very easy) when cleaning... then dry with a dry towel or paper towel (it's a beautiful piece of stainless steel!).
4) Noise... as ice cream makers go, it is not that noisy, but if you are not use to it, it can be a nuisance. It is not as loud as a blender or mixer on high, but louder than a juicer.
5) Now... that we cleared those hurdles, the only real turn off is the price. Yes, it is pricy... but you get what you pay for. It's a solid machine. The built in compressor for the freezing unit is the main reason why it is heavy and more pricy. If you like to make ice cream on a whim, then this is the only way to go. But watch your waist line, it could be dangers to your diet... so stick with low fat recipes if you are health conscious (but treat yourself once in a while).

So far we've made just over 5 batches of ice cream since we got it. Overall, I am very pleased with our ice cream maker. It's made my girlfriend very happy to say the least. Experiment and play around with some of the recipes that they provide, or you may find on the web or in a recipe book... and one more piece of advice, limit the amount of ice cream your girlfriend makes with it to about 1 every week or two. ;)

We are looking forward to many more happy returns from our invenstment in our Lussino Dessert Maker.

The difference between these pots and pans versus the All-Clads is very basic.

The Cuisinart takes a regular thin gauged metal pan and sticks a heavy gauge base on to it. (All-Clad cookware is as thick at the walls as they are on the base) They also rivet high quality handles that actually stay cool while cooking.

You may get worried about the heavy gauged base "stuck" to the bottom of the pot/pan, but you shouldn't be. All of the less expensive sets are made this way. If you want a monolithic piece of steel as cookware, you'll have to pay more than twice the amount this set is costing you.

The best part about this particular set, unlike the set that replaced it, were the pieces. All of them useful! The set that replaces this one tosses in some less useful pieces, in my opinion.

The worst part about the set is that they use aluminum in the core instead of copper like in the set that replaces this one. I can live with that. The other item worth noting is that this is not a non-stick set. Cleaning will require SOS pads and the like when frying, but you should know that.

After comparing major cookware lines, All Clad, Emeril, Wolfgang Puck, Jamie Oliver online, as well as in major stores, Williams Sonoma, Macy's, Linen n Things, etc., I purchased Cuisinart's Chefs Classic set. Quality, features, and value could not be matched! The price (with free shipping), also included a kitchen tools set, a nice bonus.

Thanksgiving was my big "road test". The quality is outstanding! The mirror finish stainless kettles have a nice weight, well-fitting lids, classy sturdy riveted handles, flat bottoms that fit nicely on the burners, and stay-cool handles. They heat evenly. I do not like nonstick cookware, and by adding a little water to the pan after cooking, cleanup was a breeze. I put them all in the dishwasher and they come out sparkling.

I bought a chrome potrack and display them proudly. They indeed look and perform like very high-priced cookware. This was indeed a great purchase!

Any minor spotting or discloration from use, disappears like magic with the use of a small amount of Barkeeper's Friend powder.

I am so pleased with my set that I have already added to it; I purchased a 2qt. and 3qt. saucepan, and the 5 1/2 qt. saute pan. The saute pan is a work of art; especially good for those big pieces of meat on Holidays, and at $39.99, an unbelievable value. I plan on purchasing several as gifts.

It is also ovenproof to 550 degrees; something not found in the plastic-lid products.

You will not be disappointed.

This is a great value. The cookware looks good, cleans up beautifully and conducts the heat very well. This product compares with cookware that is a lot more expensive. I got my moneys worth.