Kitchen Reviews

I, too, bought this cooker at Target believing it was a fryer and was disappointed that the instructions noted it was NOT a fryer. Unable to find anything I liked better (the plastic machines seem flimsy and clunky), I took the advice of the last reviewer and tried it as a deep-fryer for tofu and eggrolls. It works! The thermostat seems reliable, and it heats up quickly enough. Plus, it's dishwasher-safe and nonstick. The only disappointments include the fry-basket, which isn't optimum for draining oil and is awkward to handle with a removable pinch-handle-- but I improvised with tongs. And it would be nice to have an airtight lid to store the oil-- but the glass one does just fine if you change the oil occasionally. As someone who usually avoids frying foods for health reasons, this little pot allows me to cook the few fried goods I'd normally go out for as well, or even better, than how I'd get them at a restaurant-- and it makes my "it-ain't-good-unless-it's-fried" husband feel like he's got a place in the kitchen.

I have been using a Fry Daddy for a few years and wanted something that would go into the dishwasher. This is a great multi-cooker. I have the older version of the same appliance so I am using this one strictly as a deep fat fryer. The instructions said NOT to deep fry in it but it works just fine. I live alone and don't need something big and this is just the right size for me. It would be nice to have a plastic cover for it but I like the clear glass lid. The basket is okay also. I can use it in the older model as well. Cooking dried beans in it takes less time and electricity. Thanks, Presto!

I dont want to say too much, but it is really great!

I received this set as a freebie with purchase, and I'm happy to have it. As often as I need a big roasting pan like this, that is to say a few times a year, this set is certainly adequate. I have to say though that I had trouble manipulating the handles which swing out for use and then flop back down when released. This is fine when you're first putting the pan and it's heavy contents into the oven, but when attempting to grasp the handles when the pan is hot and you're wearing bulky oven mitts, it's pretty frustrating. If I used it a lot, I think this would really become a sore point. The pan cleans up very easily, as does the rack, and of course that's always nice.

I received this roasting pan 2 or 3 months ago as a freebie with something else I bought (can't remember what). I recently used it for the first time to cook our 16 lb. Christmas ham. The size of the pan was perfect, and I was also pleased with the roasting rack included. Cleanup was a breeze...well, of the roasting pan anyway...sometimes I wish my entire house was covered in non-stick coating!

I had my husband lift the ham in and out of the oven for me, and he said he liked the handles on the pan. He did however, have to use a less bulky pair of oven mitts than normal to accomodate the size of the handle openings.

My pan did have a slight ding on the bottom - the reason for the 4 star rating. I'm sure Amazon would have exchanged it had I requested it, but I had the pan for 2 or 3 months before I opened it.

Someone really put thought into this pan! Big handles make it so much easier to get a heavy pan out of the oven. The rolled edge makes it easy to grab the pan also. The non-stick is great for clean up after a long meal. No pre-soak or re-washing. It's worth hand washing. I never put pans in the dishwasher anyway. Definitely a great pan.

Maybe "A customer from CLEVELAND, OH" was trying to cook more than one ostrich egg, because this thing has lots of room - as any 3qt pot will - for MANY normal sized chicken eggs. This thing is for steaming, anyway!

This is a great steamer. The only thing I don't like about it is the lack of a longer handle to stay cool away from the flame/burner. The small handles on this thing get very hot, and after cooking my ostrich eggs I have never been able to grab it off the stove without pot holders. High quality, definitely worth the price.

I have owned this pot for less than a year. It is a perfect size for steaming veggies for 3 or 4 people and it does a nice job of it. I use it a lot. It will hold much more than one chicken's egg! I like the handle design BUT I am very disappointed that one of the handles actually has a large piece chipped off of it. I never expected this to happen. This is why I gave it 4 stars instead of 5. Also, the finish is difficult to keep nice looking. Water seems to "stain" it. However, this is not a priority for me.

This is a great size pot!! It fits nicely in my cluttered cabinet! The pot is light in weight, even with the steamer insert, but it is not flimsy and is well made. The handles stay cool and the lid seals on nicely. Great for steaming vegetables, preparing rice dishes and any other recipe where a larger pot & steamer would be inappropriate.

I gave this product five stars in my original review, but now it's down to three. I prefer the look and feel and the clicking confirmation that tells you when to stop pumping of the Concerto over Vacu Vin's original model , but it hasn't proven to be as durable. Less than a year after I got it, the pump seized up and couldn't be used until I sprayed some WD-40 lubricant in it. It worked fine for over a year until the bottom of the pump mechanism broke off completely. I've taken the original model out of mothballs.

I use the wine saver almost daily to seal my favorite merlots. I have never lost a bottle of wine since I began using it about 8 months ago. Recently the unit suddenly froze up and would not work until I lubricated it with a little vegetable oil. Unfortunately after that it no longer clicked when a seal was reached. I decided to contact Vacu Vin directly via e-mail. What a pleasant surprise when I received a reply asking me to mail them the unit for immediate replacement. My new unit arrived several days later. I give the product 4 Stars but the company gets 5 Stars for customer service.

It took the air right out of the bottle so fast that I did not believe it was done. When you hear the clicking you know you have pumped enough times. After using it I bought 2 more to give away to my other wine lover friends.

I love my Ice cream freezer but have found that a half batch freezes better. All the more reason to have the extra bowl. I freeze my ice cream in two separate runs. It's worth the time and money for the superior product with less overrun (air in the ice cream) and a smaller ice crystal (for a creamer product.) Why only 4 stars? Cuisinart makes a good freezer but not the best. It is however more than satisfactory for home use.

Cuisinart makes it easy for ice cream lovers by selling extra freezer bowls! Having an extra freezer bowl is extremely useful if you are making large quantities of ice cream or you plan on making different varieties. According to the instruction booklet it can take between six to twenty-two hours to freeze the bowl. We usually keep one bowl in the freezer all the time, then when making a batch of ice cream we replace it with the extra bowl. The freezer bowl doesn't take up much space and it's easy to clean! Fantastic Buy!

While I do have the ice cream maker, I ordered an additional freezer bowl to have on hand. It is helpful if you want to make two flavors of ice cream, or if you want to cool the warm custard for vanilla ice cream before you freeze it.

I have also used this container to quickly cool items (like Jello which must be cooled for a mousse, raspberry mousse comes to mind :) in a metal bowl. Place any metal bowl on the top of this container. It will be stable and the bowl will get ice cold. The contents will then cool very quickly.

Try this bowl to cool down custard when you are filling pastries. Just pour in the custard and stir with a spatula for a few minutes. Soon, you have creamy, cold custard to fill those pastries.

I recommend keeping one of these in the freezer at all times. There are just so many more uses! Use it everytime you need to cool a liquid quickly. You will love the results.

I was a little apprehensive about this oven based on the other reviews but I have had mine now for 2 weeks and it works flawlessly. I have had no problems with the door sticking while the oven is hot. The oven is a good size for cooking for a small family without heating up the whole kitchen. I often avoid baking in the summer because of this, but not now! Since I am used to a gas oven, I have had to learn to adjust baking temps for this little electric unit which tends to brown faster on the same temp as the gas oven. I haven't broiled in it yet but it toasts very well. The unit looked good as new (matches my cusinart coffee maker) and now the price is even lower than I paid...and I thought it was a great deal.

I own a lot of Cuisinart products (food processor, waffler, ice cream maker, toaster, coffee maker...you get the point) so I'm familiar with the exceptional quality. But I was not prepared for what arrived at my door yesterday.

First, I was amazed at how HEAVY this toaster oven was; 20lbs shipping weight. In addition, I expected to see some smudges and scratches considering that this is a refurbished piece of equipment. What I pulled out of the box could not be distinguished from new with the exception of a small scuff on the upper rear panel of the toaster. This is a BIG unit. When they say that you could cook a 5lb chicken in this oven, it's no exaggeration.

Finally - How does it work? First, I fired it up to cook some chicken nuggets and tater tots for the kids. 425 degrees came in less than 3 minutes! Not that these are gourmet items, but the nuggets and tater tots cooked perfectly to a nice golden brown in about 9 minutes instead of the requisite 13-15 in my large gas oven. And on a hot day (98 degrees yesterday) it'll be a real God-send.

Oh...I made some toast for the kids this morning and that works equally well. You simply cannot go wrong - especially at this price. I'm thinking about buying a few more and giving them out as Xmas gifts.

This is my first independently owned toaster oven ever, and I couldn't be happier. I live by myself, and rarely cook anything bigger than my fist. All those nights wasting power heating up a big oven, what was I thinking?

So far, I've only made toast, but the toast was stupendous. I mean it. This is a cool little oven. Simple, innocuous, and it beeps like a microwave and shuts off when the toast is done. It's the total package.

This tool is well-designed and handles comfortably, grating fine swirls of cheese with a quick crank of the handle. Note that this item works well ONLY with hard items like Parmesan and other European hard cheeses, but not with the cheeses commonly found in supermarkets, which have been processed to the point of being like rubber (including US-made Swiss, Edam, Cheddar etc.) These softer cheeses choke up the grate barrel and become glued to the internal structure, making it increasingly difficult to dispense cheese and impossible to clean.

This HARD cheese grater has been in daily use (we loooove parmesan) in my kitchen for over 5 years with no signs of wear, not even the grater teeth. It is equally handy (not to mention, esthetically pleasing) sitting on the table for topping off. The Zyliss has regularly survived the dishwasher TOP rack with no bending, melting or warping.

It's major limitation is the min/max quantity of cheese required for a good grating experience. Thin slices (slip right through or get jammed) and huge blocks of cheese (the Popeye arms requirement mentioned in another review) just don't cut the mustard, or the cheese in this case. BUT...any reasonably sized (1/2"-~2") piece of cheese grates like a dream. Don't make cheese formfit the cheese container or it'll get stuck. Basically this is a common sense issue.

Zyliss produces a wonderful quality grater that's become an integral part of my daily life. If it ever breaks, I would happily buy a new one.

After seeing the Zyliss grater used in so many restaurants, and unable to find it locally, I was so thrilled when I was able to order it online. It delivers everything it promises and more. I have tried most other brands before, and none comes even close to the performance of this little marvel. My wife being French, she insists that we purchase REAL ITALIAN Parmesan, and uses it almost every day. The instructions state clearly that it is a grater for HARD CHEESE, dry nuts, and chocolate. We have used it for all the above and had extremely good results. The cleaning being so easy, as there are so few parts to clean, we haven't seen the necessity to put it in the Dishwasher, but I am pretty sure that it would not be damaged if one has the good sense to put on the top basket. Will recommand it without reserve.

I purchased the 5 piece set which is a nice combination. However, the handles were marred and discolored. I sent them back and got another set with the same problem. I have since visited many retail stores and seen the same problem. I contacted Henkels and they told me that they were aware of the problem and to try rubbing some oil on them. I did which darken them up but did nothing to the scratches.
The blades are excellent, however the 5-star handles have issues. Just check them out carefully before you buy.

First of all there's no doubt that Henckel 5 Star are top quality knives. Bought them and love them. However according to Consumer Reports here are the top ten knives: 1. WUSTOF (Trident Grand Prix) 2. WUSTOF (Trident Classic) 3. Henckels (Professional "S") 4. Henckels (Four Star) 5. Tramontina (Professional) 6. Cuisine de France (Commercial Sabatier) 7. Chef's Choice (Trizor Professional 10X Cutlery) 8. Chicago Cutlery (Legacy Forged) 9. Lamsonsharp (Forged) 10. Henckels (Five Star)

The Henckels Five star (which is the same as the Henckel Pro Series except for its handles) was rated 10 because it is "more likely to corrude". I would contest the validity of that statement but I'll let you decide. As an amateur cook, I can't tell any significant difference between the top of line Wustof and Henckel knives. From what I have read the true test of quality is how it feels in your hand. I choose this set because of its exceptional grip. They are easier to handle and more comfortable to use than the traditional full tang handles and still maintain a nice balance. As for the price, it is a little steep but it's worth every bit. As an alternative consider getting a good starter set and build up your knives collection later on.

These knives are the bomb. Absolutely the best set of knives you can own.

The Cutco mouth-breather (who graces us with three of the same reviews, as if we need his advice even once) needs to be hit in the head with a ball peen hammer, to straighten things out up there. Cutco knives are vastly inferior to Henckels, in terms of blade quality, balance, and overall construction.

At any rate, go with the 5 Star series, and you won't go wrong.

Package arrived intact, no rattle sound either. However, motor made a loud high pitch noise that seems something scratching the motor or fan. Bionaire seems needing a better quality control over its supply maker.

I bought Bionaire BAP1175 as opposed to other HEPA air purifiers because I wanted to make sure I can get a brand whose filters are available anywhere and for the fact that it does what it's supposed to do. I didn't give it a full 5 star rating because the two Hepa filters that I would probably have to replace costs about $30 each. I think the filters are overpriced.
As far as how it performs , so far I am happy with the product. It does also have a carbon filter which does remove oders and the way the air is circulated through the unit, efficiently removes dust and particles through its HEPA filter.
I have found that the unit also serves as an efficient air circulator. At its highest fan speed it moves the air arround the room so that the room actually feels cooler in the summer and warmer in the winter.
At its lowest fan setting, it is quite enough for me to sleep comfortably. So it is appropriately named for what it does and where you can place it -- in the bedroom.

I did a lot of research before deciding on the Bionaire 1175. My criteria were: (1) Quality product from a company I knew; (2) True HEPA with a prefilter (see how much I learned?); (3) Functional and nice-looking. I could not be more pleased! The unit absolutely looks great: modern, clean design, well-placed buttons, and the nightlight on the readout looks great. It fits neatly against a wall and has a small footprint. These are aesthetic concerns, true, but the unit has to sit someplace in your home, and I wanted it to look good. The air is drawn in the front and out the top, so you get maximum cleaning without the outflow interfering with the air intake. It truly is quiet; the highest setting could probably be compared to running a regular fan. Every day or two, I can remove a good amount of cat hair and larger dust clumps from the front grille -- and this is just the bigger stuff that's getting caught before it even gets to the filters! So, I know it's cleaning my air, and it looks great doing it. Works for me!!

A good basic coffeemaker this isn't. It is a great coffeemaker with features that should make it cost much more. The water and filter baskets are removable which makes for easy set up and clean up. The clock and auto setting are great! We can actually have coffee at work when we arrive! What a plus(If I can only get someone to make sure its setup the day before)

I recommend this and considering the low price-you can't beat the price-and the convenience of the features, it can't be matched by anything on the market.

What can I say. We had ours for about 4 years and the hot plate did start to peal away. I looked everywhere in my local stores and could not find it. So we bought a Mr Coffee. My husband and I did not like it at all!! It was a hassle and a big mess. So I came to Amazon, which I should have done before...I found my Hamilton Beach Coffee Maker! When I saw the price for a new one I did not even hesitate to buy it. Had it in 3 days and surprised my husband. He truly was a happy boy. I really hope Hamilton Beach does not discontinue this model. My favorite feature is the removable reservoir and it makes GREAT Coffee! We highly recommend it!

I have had this coffeemaker for 8 months and have had no problems with it. The timer is very easy to use. It is nice to wake up to the smell of fresh brewed coffee!