Kitchen Reviews

I was looking at Oreck's upright vacuums (because I wanted a light, but strong vacuum) and then I found this Bissell Prolite rated better in Consumer Reports. I decided to try it and I love it. The upright is light, has great suction, and is $150.00-$250.00 cheaper than the Orecks I was looking at buying. It is a little loud, but still worth it. I definitely recommend this vacuum pair!

I grew tired of pushing around my 10 year old vacuum that weighed a ton, so this time around I wanted something lightweight but powerful. This combo pack with the Prolite and Propartner was the answer to all my cleaning needs. The Prolite is so lightweight and easy to use, but really picks up the dirt. There are two fans for increased airflow (yes, I did my research) and this really helps for edge cleaning around baseboards. I can actually watch the dog hair being sucked up. I use it on my carpet and hard surfaces, and it works wonderfully.

When I was looking into purchasing a vaccum I noticed that the Prolite didn't have any tools or attachments, which was something that concerned me. Bissell has solved that problem by including the Propartner canister vacuum. I use this to clean the stairs, upholstery, and even my car. It has a switch on the handle to adjust the suction power which is really neat. I also love the retractable power cord. Why hasn't anyone else thought of that yet?

Between the lightweight (but powerful) Prolite and Propartner canister vacuum, the dirt in my house no longer stands a chance. If you're looking for a new vacuum, give these a chance and I know you won't be disappointed.

100% of our bread at home is homemade and heavy texture. We've worn out a lot of electric knives. Most wear at the joint at the front of the blades or the blades start to separate in the middle so that they shave up a thin piece of meat between the blades.
We got our first B&D ERGO based on a test report in a cooking magazine. So far it has held up very well and is the best electric knife we've had. It didn't like being dropped on a concrete/ceramic tile floor but continued to work while wrapped in tape. I think that this is the first time we've tried to get a specific model as a replacement.

This is an excellent knife. It is sharp, cuts with minimum effort, and has unique safety features. Most importantly, is very easy to use because it is comfortable for the hands.

This is the best iron I have ever tried. If you don't always get to your ironing right away it allows you to steam all of the wrinkles out in no time. It produces an amazing amount of steam. It is what I would call medium weight. The only problem I have had is that eons ago I developed a habit of sitting an iron on the heel while I adjust the ironing piece. You can't do that with this iron. Oh well, it was a bad habit anyway. I highly recommend this iron!

I purchased this item at the beginning of this year and absolutely love it. You can use this iron for regular steam ironing or verticle items such as jackets and long evening dresses. This steam iron gets dried wrinkles out of cotton material and also allows you to hold a velvet blazer on a hanger and steam all of the wrinkles out of it too. I really love it and use it all of the time. I am purchasing one for my daughter for Christmas. I am sure she will love it as much as I do.

Just ordered these from Amazon. They came in the mail today and they are beautiful.

I am very satisfied with this product. I also ordered the cordial set and I am happy with them as well. They are nice for the price and well represented in the description and picture.

Picked up this press recently and love it. As I am the only coffee drinker in the house (except when family or company arrives) this is perfect for me. Be aware that it only makes 1 large cup of coffee. If you want coffee for more get a larger size. So for one mug of coffee its great. I anticipate using it for travel and it should be perfect with no glass to break. Very pretty, very functional, compact and looks indestructable. Overall an excellent product for ONE coffee drinker.

I recently decided to part with my aluminum stovetop "espresso" maker, as I'm trying to eliminate aluminum from my kitchen. I originally thought I'd get a stainless steel stovetop espresso maker, but then I started reading a lot of raves about french presses. I had seen that the Bodum presses were strongly recommended, so then my decision was to decide which of the Bodum presses was best for my needs. I finally decided on the 3 cup Columbia for the following reasons:

1. It is made of stainless steel, so I won't be breaking beakers. I will also be able to travel with it.

2. I prefer an insulated press to keep the coffee warm during brewing. I'm not interested in leaving my coffee sit, since that always results in bitter coffee anyway. I'm only concerned about the couple of minutes in which the coffee is actually being brewed. If I want another cup of coffee, I'll make another one.

3. I wanted a small pot, since I am the only coffee-drinker in my household, and as I mentioned earlier, I prefer to brew one cup at a time. I also like to keep kitchen clutter to a minimum. This little pot fits nicely on my corner shelf.

4. I wanted something that would look nice in my kitchen. This pot is very cute. It's much better-looking than a big machine.

I wasn't expecting my press to arrive until tomorrow at the earliest, but I was surprised to have it arrive today. I quickly grinded up some beans, boiled some water, then brewed my first cup of pressed coffee. I was amazed! There is absolutely no comparison! I don't think I'll ever be able to drink coffee brewed by any other method again. Now I don't understand why companies even bother to make other types of coffee makers. The coffee was perfect, with absolutely no bitterness (make sure you're also using fresh, whole beans from a good roaster.) The flavor of the coffee was all there. To say I was impressed would be an understatement. There was a tiny bit of sludge in the bottom, but personally, I don't mind it. If you don't like it, go a little coarser with your grind (you should use a coarse grind with french presses.)

Clean-up was a piece of cake. I simply dumped out the coffee grounds and then rinsed it out. It takes me longer than that to wash my coffee cup.

This pot feels very sturdy, and I believe it will be with me for a long time. I can't wait to recommend this pot to my friends! I'm sure all it will take is a cup of coffee in my kitchen to convince them.

Now that I have the fuel and tried it out with some pre-made fondue cheese I found at the grocery store, I can say that this fondue pot works great! (This is using the glass insert to melt the cheese.) I struggled initially to find fuel for this pot which is probably why it is on sale. The brochure that comes with it says to use "Sterno Canisters" gel fuel and nothing else. From what I can tell, there are no Sterno items that fit this pot. So I called Bodum and they said Crate and Barrel carry the fuel. This fuel normally cannot be shipped via mail order or internet sales but you can find it at Crate and Barrel locally or online at a few places.
The fuel that works is Firestar brand gel chafing fuel which is made in Switzerland and sometimes called "paste". It comes in packs of 3 and is very inexpensive(about [$] per pack of 3). These are packed in foil containers that fit inside the burner of the pot. I have also seen it for online purchases shipped via ground only.

This fondue pot is cleverly designed as a double boiler. A glass liner, supported by a metal frame, is immersed in water. No more scorching fondue again! The intelligent and stylish design keeps the fondue evenly heated from the first bite to the last! Bravo to bodum.

This knife is sharp, amazing see thru slices. A notch above the Boker Titanium knife. It comes with a sheath, which I use everyday to protect it. I use it to cut everything, from twigs to potato chip bags. It keeps it edge.

This ceramic Knife opens a new world in cooking. It's light weight, and sharpness actually makes prep work in the
kitchen something to look forward to. It is actually fun to use and the light weight feels like like it floats in your hand.
In slicing tomatos, it is possible to make the slices as thin as 1/32th of an inch, with total control. In decorating with
carrots, radishes, or any vegatables, and apples , oranges and all fruit, your creation is unlimited. This type cutting
equipment really spoils you from wanting to use other regular knives. I think we will see more of this type equipment in the future to match all other type knives found in any complete cooking or kitchen area. I notice some of the Master Cooks on the Food TV Network are already using them. For a new experience in the preperation of
food I would recomend these ceramic cutlery highly. Ray ...

This is an awesome meatgrinder. I just aquired the Bosch Compact machine and this attachment. I'am really happy with it. It makes the best burgers and you know what kind of meat is in them.
I also tried it on some vegetables and does them also nicely. If you own the Bosch Compact and like grinding your own meat, this is a great buy.

Well, I first ordered a cheap ... 250Watt meat grinder from Harbor Freight. It had a plastic worm gear, didn't work well at all, so it sits on my shelf. Then I got a hand operated meat grinder, and that turned out to be quite a lot of work. I like to grind my own burger and was still looking for a good meat grinder. I did own the Bosch mixer and noticed they made a meat grinder attachment (I bought the mixer after I bought my first two grinders). I have the 450 watt mixer. I figured I would try the meat grinder. I got the grinder and it was all metal, except for the tray on top and the push tube. Well, I diced my meat and got ready to grind some burger (I just don't trust supermarket stuff - too many recalls!). WOW! was I impressed -- this thing grinds like a demon! perfect hamburger. And, it ground up the meat as quickly as I could get it down the tube too...this is the one that I will keep and use for my burger grinding. The other two grinders that I own are going to go to Goodwill as a donation. Money well spent...

I have the MUM 6622, and I found it for substantially less than Amazon's listed price, so shop around. My wife and I have had this for about two weeks now, and I really can't say enough good things about the Bosch Universal. We decided to try it after we found that our Kitchenaid Artisan mixer just wasn't cutting the mustard when it came to mixing whole wheat bread dough. Not only did the motor struggle too much, but the dough climbed up the hook when it mixed, and I kept having to pick out little black specks where the dough picked up grease from the attachment assembly (yuck!).

The Bosch handles the bread dough (and a larger amount, at that) with ease, and the dough hook does a great job. We haven't actually tried out the beaters, yet (at least not with anything in the bowl), but they look like they do a fine job, and the video on the CD Rom that came with the machine shows it making meringue from as little as a single egg white.

We have also used the blender quite a few times, usually for smoothies and shakes, and the 700 Watt motor shines. There are never any large pieces of ice or frozen fruit after blending -- everything comes out smooth.

All in all we are very happy with this mixer -- much more so than the Kitchenaid -- and we recommend it.

Let me start off by saying we purchased some extras: the pasta making attachment (which works fine, we've used it once, and had some awesome whole wheat pasta) we got an extra bowl (the stainless steel. It's much more convenient to have 2 bowls.)

My mother says that the blender on the right side of the machine is better than any she's ever had, and tops even our Vita Mixer. (Which we had thought was the best till we got this!).

We tend to use the stainless bowl more, (because we make bread dough, and let it rise in the bowl, and the stainless conducts heat where the plastic might melt.)the one thing I have noticed is that when we make bread dough, some of it gets down inside the spindle. That's not really a problem. The dough hook needs hand cleaning, which is also not a problem.

Now this machine really can handle 10 -- 12 pounds of 100% whole wheat bread! Name me another appliance that can do that!

One thing: because of the vibration, you need to put it on the floor when making bread, because it will sometimes jiggle itself too close to the counter edge. Also the lids will occasionally go flying right off. This is startling if you're in outer space but if you pay attention it won't be that bad :-)

We have made cake batter in here as well. The twin whisks are superb for frosting, and again having 2 bowls comes in incredibly handy.

Mixer has 4 speeds: a momentary mix, (like pulse on the Quisinart) and then 1, 2, and 3 speeds. We have not yet found it necessary to use 3, as 1 is good for bread.

This is definitely worth every penny of the money required. It's just so much easier! We've had a Quisinart for years (and that's still good for chopping vegetables) but as far as mixing goes this is a ton better.

This is a must buy for any serious cook.

Bought this as an open box. What a great detector for the money. I had it out of the box and up and running in 5 mins. Very easy setup!! Took it to the back yard and found 3 pennies in the first 10 mins (one was a wheat penny). The LCD correctly displayed them as a pennies. As this was my first time detecting, the unit seems very easy to use. An excellent choice for those wanting a feature filled detector at a bargin price.

My Grandfather bought the bounty hunter sharp shooter 2 metal detector for my daughters and my self. They are 5 and 8 and love going to the beach to search for "treasure".