Kitchen Reviews

I already had an electric waffle iron made by Salton that was turning out great looking and delicious tasting *round* waffles. But because of the rave review I read here (plus it was nearing Valentine's day), I gave in and bought this Villaware heart-shaped waffle iron.

And sure it worked - but not as good as I expected for this price. As it has five different temperature settings (supposedly gives you control over how soft/crisp you want it), I tried out three: At "2" the batter was not yet set in the middle when the "waffle tone" sounded. At "4" it was too browned even for my husband's taste. I can only imagine how runny "1" would be and how burnt "5" would be - seriously, why do they give you five settings when only one of them work? At "3" the waffle tasted close to the way I like it, but even then, like all the other settings I tried on this, the color was uneven throughout the surface of the waffle. There were patches that were very pale and spots that were a medium brown.

The other bummer is this: It is impossible to make perfect heart shapes. I tried different consistencies in the batter and really attempted to fill in the scalloped edge, but as it cooks, the batter rises unevenly and when you divide the finished waffle into five little hearts, they're always a little crooked.

So - while this one certainly works and may thrill people who have no prior waffle making experience or are simply less demanding, its relatively high price only brings extra features (heart shape, temp control, "waffle tone" alarm...) that are unnecessary and don't work well. I find my cheaper Salton model... still works much better.

My humble advice: Go for a simpler model without all these bells and whistles, all you need to look for is a good quality non-stick surface. The doness can be easily controlled by how long you cook the waffle (the amount od steam is a good indication). I will stay loyal to my old waffle iron from now on.

great machine, alarm is not to loud, waffels are wonderful. Kids and wife enjoy the heart shaped waffels, well worth the money. I almost rated it 5 stars.......

I was hesitant when I bought this as a gift for my fiancee, since I had never made waffles before. It sounded like too much work to me, to get out the waffle maker and then have to clean it afterwards. But since my fiancee loves waffles so much, I decided to give it a try. I looked for heart shaped waffle makers in many stores and other websites, and this one is the best deal, no question. We use this waffle maker every weekend and it is so simple! We make a big batch of waffles and then freeze the leftovers to eat during the week. There is almost no cleaning neccessary, we just wipe out the griddle with a paper towel when we're done. I also ordered the waffle recipes from Villa Ware... the recipes are great! We especially like the Yogurt Peach Waffles. YUM! If you are hesitating to purchase this waffler, DON'T! We promise you won't regret it!

We got this with our 4.5 quart stand mixer. The mixer is great, but this has some small worksmanship problems.

The mixing abilities of this mixer are unequaled for a hand mixer of its size. It quickly beats eggs, syrups, or liquid batters excellently. The trouble with ours is it won't shut off.

When we try to put the control lever in OFF, it simply keeps going on slow. This is dangerous and on more than one occasion has led to a potentially dangerous situation. Overall the mixer works well, but I would expect that KichenAid would not allow a brand new mixer to act in this way.

It still would not effect my decision to buy or reccomend this product.

I am on my second Classic 3 mixer. The mixer is great for handling all of my (many) baking chores. However, in both cases, the beaters broke before the motor died. If anyone has a set of beaters which has outlasted the mixer, I'd like to talk to you!

KitchenAid is one of those manufacturers who just can't make a bad product, regardless of price. Even this, their least [costly] hand mixer, says 'quality' from the moment you pick it up and affirms it when you switch it on.

A professional chef will tell you that if you can't get the job done with 3 speeds on your hand mixer, you probably shouldn't be in the kitchen. That's why you find this particular mixer in the homes of so many chefs. It's a no-nonsense tool for serious cooking. Probably the most important feature is the design of the 'Turbo-Beater Accessories'. Made of 100% stainless steel, the beaters have a rounded mixing surface similar to a chef's balloon whisk. Instead of hacking through whipping cream and egg whites like the typical knife-edged beaters found on most hand mixers, the KitchenAid's beaters gently but efficiently incorporate air into the ingredients. There's less risk of having your meringue collapse from overbeating. Having no center shafts, the beaters don't clog when you're mixing heavy cookie dough. At cleanup time, the beaters can go into the dishwasher or wash up easily by hand.

The slightly angled grip gives the user a greater feeling of comfort and control. At any speed, there's little vibration. The noise level is low enough to permit conversation without having to shout. The motor cooling fan vents warm air away from the user, and the beaters produce far less splashing than conventional beaters. All of this quality comes at a slight cost in the overall weight of the mixer, a bit heavier than most.

Ultimately, the choice is simple. You can keep paying twenty bucks for one cheaply-made hand mixer after another, or spend a little more for a mixer that will become a true friend for life in the kitchen.

I find a thousand uses for these tongs in my kitchen, and out of it! The are sturdy enough to go camping with. I even have used them to turn the coals in the campfire! They are easily cleaned in the dishwasher. We use them for pretty much anything that needs to be grasped and turned. The comfort grip is wonderful and the locking feature makes them easy to store. We've been using ours for over two years, and fully expect to continue to use them for many, many more.

I recently purchased these tongs and I love them! They are just the right size for my hands (my other pair are WAY to big). The comfort grip makes them much easier to handle, and I don't fumble around with them. I love the locking feature because they store easily in my small kitchen drawers without getting caught when opening the drawer. These are the best pair of tongs I've tested. :-)

I got both 9 and 12 inch tongs for my bridal shower. I LOVE them, so does my husband. They are sturdy, easy to handle, the lock is smoth and does not get stuck like some other brands. I am getting my in-laws, who love to cook, a pair this christmas and I know they will love them too.

I purchased several of these little gems in various colors for the first time a few months ago, and I have to say that my drinks have never been the same since! Their ability to add a whole new dimension to the ambience and conversation of a given party never fails to impress either the host or the guests. My only issue with the Litecubes is that once their batteries run out (about 8 to 12 hours depending on storage and usage conditions), you have no choice but to dispose of them and purchase replacements (which can get rather expensive if you own several sets of them in different colors like I do) since it is not possible to reseal the watertight plastic casing that houses the batteries. It would have been nice if they had designed them so that the batteries could recharged by placing the litecubes on a charger base of some kind, which would solve the power capacity issue for the most part without having to physically remove the batteries. (An upgrade for Litecubes 2.0, perhaps?)

I encountered these cubes in a bar in the Netherlands last week. They are so cool, you put them in your cocktails and they light them up. You can also dance with them (if you want to). The best part about them is that you can stop them working and they're not like the glow snap stuff you get at Disney, that lasts a few hours and then dies on you. They last for ages!!

I would recommend them for holidays or theme parties as favors for your guests. (It is such a great gift in festival's sovenuior such as wedding, X'mas or Halloween.) Litecubes are economical and will certainly provide entertainment for your guests, especially in darkness environment. If you want to buy Litecubes, you can contact us as follow email address: icubesworkshop@yahoo.com.hk

There are 3 main reasons people cut themselves with knives: 1) bad technique, 2) bad knife handle, 3) dull knife blade (you have to struggle to cut and then you slip). This knife solve the knife handle problem wonderfully. It also should give you no problem with sharpness if you have a knife sharpener. This is not one of the great chef's blades that can have a lot of use before requiring resharpening.

If you have a good French Chef knife and have no problem with the handle (some are just so big and hard to grip!), do not bother with this knife. If you need a decent Chef knife and are willing to sharpen it occasionally, this is a good buy. (You have to sharpen ANY knife eventually.)

I am a quadriplegic/tetraplegic (C5-6 if you care) and I love this knife. Not for its mediocre blade, but for its handle. I have 1/3 use of my hands and 1/2 use of my arms, but I have no problem using the grippy handle on this knife. I own an expensive French Chef knife with a BETTER BLADE, but I use this one far more often because of the BETTER HANDLE.

My Mom has mild arthritis and she loves this knife, too.

This is absolutely my favorite knife. (including a few by Wustoff Trident) I'm not much of a cook, but WHEN I cook, I want it to be painless and hassel free. I picked up one of these at TJ Maxx here in the Chicago area about 2 years ago for $10.00, and now I wouldn't be without it. It replaced a much more expensive chef's knife by Chicago Cutlery that I found to be a useless piece of junk (gave it to my brother - now the thing is his problem!). This one has a much nicer balance to it, sharpens beautifully, and as with all the Good Grips products, love that no-slip handle! I'm not a gourmet or a professionally trained chef, but for the average household kitchen, I think this knife would be a great addition. Great for kids in the kitchen learning to cook too. Smaller hands seem to find this knife much easier to use than most.

PS - my other two top Oxo picks: the red spoon shaped spatula, and the red regular spatula. Spend $30.00 for the 3 and make your life a whole lot easier!

THis is a great knife that arrives quite dull. After correct sharpening, however, it became one of my favorites. It is easy to hold and the balance is good... a great buy overall, but it does dull easily. If you hate the rusting and/or discoloration of expensive high carbon steel knives, this is the knife for you. I find myself using it even when I could use a smaller knife. Use a stone to keep the edge on it after every use.

I agree with other purchasers of this case..best use is as a dust cover, not a carrying case. It's hard to close..trying to fit the lid into the flimsy grooves on the bottom is a pain and it's very thin. I was worried the sewing machine would fall out while walking as it slides around inside. I purchased it for my daughter so it served it's purpose as her first sewing machine and case but I wish cases were still made like the fitted one on my old Burnina. Now that sturdy, fitting case was what I'd call quality! You could just remove the top and sew, it fit the sewing machine perfectly and even had storage in the bottom. This cheap thing should have been given free with purchase of a sewing machine.

Surprise surprise! Welcome to the 21st Century, where there are 400 channels of TV, sheep and cats are cloned and sewing machines now come without carrying cases. What? !!! You say, you just spent $$$ on a machine and it has no case? Yep. Apparently the manufacturers of many sewing machines don't feel that they ought to kick in the extra few bucks it must cost include a case. Boo.

I don't need to tell anyone who sews that dust is NOT something you want in your machine. Plus, many people like to pack up their machine and take them to classes, quilting clubs, up and down stairs, well, you get the point. So here's a generic case that should have come with your new machine but didn't. That's why I give this carrying case 4 stars, because you had to pony up for this instead of having it included. I also docked a star because it is the usual putty beige color, which is getting pretty tiresome. Who decreed that all computers and electronics should be clothed in a dirty vanilla color? Oh well.

This is just what I was looking for to protect my Kenmore machine from dust and the kids! Nothing fancy but plenty of room for your machine and anything else you want to carry with it. Good price in comparison to others I've seen.

I received this griddle/grill for Christmas and was so excited....at first. My old grill was made of steel and aluminum and was a total pain to clean. So, I thought this TFAL, with non-stick surface would be the answer to my prayers. I was wrong. Not only did the chicken breasts I was grilling stick to the grill, but the marinade literally burnt onto the surface. After soaking the grill for hours, and with A LOT of elbow grease, I was able to get the darn thing clean. I called TFAL's consumer help line, and they told me that grilling with marinades was not recommmended, and that I should soak the grill in vinegar for a couple of hours to remove the burnt on mess. What is the point of having a non-stick grill if things stick to it? And whoever heard of grilling chicken without some kind of marinade? Save your money and pass up this loser. Mine is going back to Amazon and I will stick (pun intended) to my old grill!

I use this product almost everyday. I have made steak, grilled chicken, fish, cheeseburgers, and porkchops. You never need to use your oven/broiler or stovetop again to make these foods. Grilling on this BBQ is soooo much better! I love the presentation which makes the grill lines on meat just like an outdoor BBQ does. Also, the meat is very tender and juicy. You must remember to put water in the tray,this prevents from smoking and also helps with moisture for your meat. Do the same with your griddle. I also have used the breakfast griddle a bunch of times. The griddle fit about 6 french toasts plus srambled eggs. I also had made pancakes and was a little worried about the sides of the griddle not holding up b/c I had read a review by a customer that said the pancakes had to be poured in the middle of griddle b/c it went passed the sides. This was not true! I use this everyday and recommend this product to anyone who wants delicious food and to BBQ in the privacy of their own home.

This T-Fal Indoor Grill has been one of the most usable appliances I've ever bought.In fact,I rarely use my oven anymore.Before I got this grill,my steaks would turn out tough and/or overcooked,but now they come out perfectly every time.I've never had a problem with the grill not being hot enough when the "GRILL OK" indicator comes on.Sure,it might be a sticker,but it gets the job done and that's what's important.If you're on a low-carb diet or thinking about starting one,then this grill is a "must have".The only negative aspect of this particular grill is that the grill plate can be difficult to clean.I let it soak in hot soapy water for a few minutes before putting it into the dishwasher and that seems to help.The griddle plate works fine as well and helps save counter space so you don't have to buy a grill and a griddle.

I've used the Krups coffee maker with these filters in 2 different states including 5 addresses. It works great. Don't know that I would use this particular coffeemaker without the filter. I'm having difficulty obtaining replacement filters.

I received my Krups Model 476 coffeemaker as a gift. Now it is time to change the Duo-Filter.....and I can't find one anywhere. Mine has split, so I definitely do not want to continue using it. I am disappointed in this product. I do believe the filter made the coffee taste better, but; what good is it if you can't use the maker properly! I have spent too much time looking for this little "accessory". I think I'm more inclined to make the coffee without it, and when the coffee maker sees its last days, I will be searching for a new brand of coffee maker to purchase. Seems little to ask for a company to readily provide accessories for the products they make. If its this difficult, Krups better rethink their marketing practices, or they will find themselves at the bottom of the list.

I believe that the reason why some people are having difficulty finding these filters is because the coffe makers, Crystal arome (model #398) and Crystal arome time (model #458) have been discontinued, these filters fit those models. But as someone else has mentioned you can buy the filters on-line. Simple solution.

You can go to krups.com to find out more about the discontinued coffee makers.

This is decent set of flatware. Its the first complete set I've ever purchased, so the only thing that I have to compare it against is the cheap garage sale stuff that I had in college. Overall, its a pretty decent buy...I bought it when it came with 4 bonus place settings...only the bonus place settings were the shiny finish and the regular 8 place settings were the the satin...I'm very picky about things like this and I was very upset. Another thing, the edges of the silverware are not smooth, they are sharper than I would like them to be. I was hoping for more, but at this price, I wasn't suprised when I was dissappointed by their lack of quality. If you are buying this to look nice and use it for family get togethers, unless you this is your first set of flatware, don't get it, save your money...if you are just starting out, its not a bad buy...go to a brick and mortar store though and buy it there, this deal is nothing special..plus that way you will get to see what you are buying if you don't like it, you don't have to get it. If I would have bought this at a brick and mortar store, I would have taken it back...just to much of a pain to send it back now otherwise I would. At least 8 of my 12 placesetting match. If I ever have more than 8 people over, I'll just keep the lights low.

I got this set for $49.99 [In fact I got this set + oneida 20 piece set i.e. set for 12 for $63 shipped]. Same week a 93 piece set (for 12) went on sale in Cost-co for 69.99+tax (Original 79.99). I bought that one too so that I can compare when I get the Oneida set. After comparing apples to apples, I can confidently say that this is a great starter set but not even close to the one i purchased from cost-co.

Quality and finish are nice. I like the dune finish which is sort of dull chrome. Some pieces are showing dot of rust here and there (though its all stainless).

This set of Oneida flatware is a joy to own; the pattern is simple, elegant, and easy to live with. The design is timeless and the flatware is very durable. They are easy care; just put them in the dishwasher and they come out shiny and as good as new. I bought one set a few months ago and came back to order another. It is a fantastic set of flatware and a great deal as well. I enjoy the serving set and the extra set of teaspoons that are included in the set. I just love the fact that I got a a great price AND a bonus service for four along with the service for eight on this order. Thanks Amazon!

I have been putting off buying a new vacuum for way too long. I am amazed at how quiet this Bissell Powerglide is. It's also very easy to push around. I like the fact that it has height adjustments that allow me to use it on my carpeted floors as well as tile. The tools work great for picking up pet hair from my stairs and couch. I should have bought one of these a long time ago. I will recommend this vacuum to anyone who will listen.

After doing a bit of research, I found that CR gave good marks to the Bissel machine. So, I ordered it from Amazon (free shipping), and it took a mere 3 days to arrive.

The vacuum is light, QUIET (I originally bought a Hoover but it was so loud I returned it), has a nice length hose for the cleaning tools, and has a long power cord (35'). As for performance, it does a great job, and the suction from the upholstery attachment is indeed very strong (actually, almost too strong). The bag is easy to reach/replace (just pop off the front cover), and the vacuum has both a pre-filter (to prevent objects from entering and damaging the fan), and a post-filter (to keep dirt from exiting the bag). (I'm not a fan of bagless vacuums. They must be emptied more frequently and are very messy to empty. And don't be fooled into thinking you are saving a lot of money with a bagless; the better ones have expensive HEPA filters that must replaced). The only real problem with the machine is that because it's lightweight, it has a tendency to tip over when using the cleaning tools.

In sum, unless you are willing to pay about $175-$350 for a top of the line vacuum cleaner, the Bissel at only $99 here @ Amazon is a best buy.

Looked for a long time for a vacuum cleaner that was lightweight, powerful, quiet and priced right. This was the one. Can't beat the quality for the price. Alot quieter than some of the more expensive comperable vacuums. The free delivery was also a bonus and arrived five days before listed. Thanks Amazon.com!!