Mini Indoor Grill REDTS-640

I love my mini grill
it is awesome....leaves great grill marks......it lets you control the temperature very easily, all you do is turn the knob to your desired heat.....

Not happy with grill!
Grill takes a long time to cook the food. Temperature of grill seems to decrease during cooking and food does not cook all the way through.



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Mahogany Fibrous Casings - 2 1/2" x 20" (10 Count)

What I was looking for
I am happy with this purchase. It was exactly what I was looking for and my first attempt at venison summer sausage turned out great.





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Kalorik CC-20575 700-Watt Combination Grill and Sandwich/Waffle Maker, Stainless Steel

Too small for two people
Pros: Nice variety of grills, Compact Storage, Temperature Control
Cons: Difficult to Clean, NOT dishwasher safe, Limited Capacity
Best Uses: Snacks, Quick Meals

Beautiful design, temperature controls, one of the very few indoor grills that makes real sandwiches instead of paninis, but it's way too small for much else! Place two sandwiches side by side -- that's exactly the size of the grilling surface! As if that weren't bad enough, the grills aren't dishwasher safe! So close and yet not even in the ballpark.

Not good for our household
I wanted an appliance that could make waffles and grilled sandwiches - this seemed to fit the bill. However, the sandwich plates were too small - even for regular grill cheese sandwiches. The button used to open the appliance got stuck on occassion - eventually (after 4 months of weekend use) the clasp broke, making the appliance unusable.

Very slow
I thought this would be great for its versatility and liked its sleek design but I am quite disappointed. It cooks waffles incredibly slowly even with the temperature dial set to the highest setting. I have used other waffle makers before and this one takes easily 2-3 times as long to cook the waffle. It is not great for grilling sandwiches as it does not have a floating hinge so can only grill the thinnest of sandwiches ...or you have to squish your sandwich into a pancake. I would not recommend it.

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Fischer Bargoin Natural Whetstone In Individual Box

The Shape and Price Point is Spot On
I bought this primarily for the shape so I can more safely sharpen my curved non-serrated sickles. I guess us Americans needed a French company to remind us that this is an efficient shape and tool for the job. Before this I was using chunks of silicon carbide stone which is a bit dangerous. The shape is long, thin, and slightly rounded so it will go over the curved bevels easy. I'll be forcing it to become more rounded as time goes by using it. As far as the mineral make up of the natural whetstone here is more information.

1. This stone is a hard gray novaculite. Unlapped, and unrefined.
2. The polish left by the stone is high, and the stone will not remove a considerable amount of metal without a lot of force. Even so, the grit can be about 200 + with extreme force. In comparison, a coarse silicon carbide will remove metal much faster.
3. Being unlapped, the polish should increase over time, however the abrasiveness will be cut down. Thus what I...





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Jarden Consumer Solutions ISS13-NP Mr. Coffee 12 Cup Switch Coffeemaker

Nice coffee maker --- with some electrical issues.
We purchased this model about a year ago and we've been pleased with it. It looks nice and it doesn't take up much counter space. Recently it stopped working so we purchased another one just like it. Within two weeks the new one stopped working as well. Same problem -- it won't turn on. Bad luck perhaps, but I would recommend hanging on to your receipt.





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Norpro Ceramic Knife Scissor Sharpener, Black

Knife hone
This is not a sharpener, it is a knife hone and for that purpose is is ideal. It will effectively hone a 2 sided, one sided and scissor edge. Be sure to look on which side your one sided knife is sharpened, You may need to turn the hone around.





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Nespresso U D50 Espresso Maker with Aeroccino Milk Frother in Pure Black + 40 Capsule Carousel + 2 Stoneware Mugs

I may never drink plain old brewed coffee again.
I love good coffee. And when my friend offered me a latte from her Nespresso machine, I was so impressed I had to buy one. I have had the machine for a month now and find it easy and convenient to use. Every drink I have made has been a delicious delight and i would rather have a latte made here at home than one made at the coffee bar around the corner. (I hope that my Nespresso machine doesn't put them out of business!) The Aerocchino milk frother is quick and painless and does a great job. The whole package looks great on the countertop.

There are a few drawbacks. The first one being the expense of the machine compared to some other "pod" type coffee/espresso machines. But I have tasted coffee from some of those other machines and was not impressed.

The second drawback is having to order the capsules rather than being able to find them locally. I was told by one retailer that used to sell Nespresso capsules that the company decided to sell them online because...





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BlinQ Cotton Candy Factory

cotton candy
i luv dis cotton candy machine. It is really fun and easy to make it is cheap and makes a great ball cotton candy at a time. it's not the best cotton candy machine but it is grat for the price and size of! Positive you'll be satisfied if u luv cotton candy and enjoy making it!





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Toastess TJK-28W 1500-Watt 1-4/7-Quart-Capacity Cordless Electric Jug Kettle

Worked great for 7 months
This kettle did everything it is supposed to flawlessly...for 7 months. Then it just quit. The switch no longer turned it on or the overheat switch is preventing it from turning on.
Appearantly "Toastess" is not a real brand name. This is a Chinese-made import item from Fox International. I sent mine in for repair under the one year warranty. No shipping label is available and so I had to spend more than one third its new value on return postage alone... We will see how the repair or replacement goes.
Update: It is now December and I still don't have a kettle.
After they had it a month, they determined that the kettle needed to be replaced (hey, don't rush on my account). Now it is two more months later and four calls so far and I still don't have a replacement...
So the moral is spend a little more and get a brand name kettle by a reputable company...

Overpriced failure
Bought this from Amazon in March of 2011. As of now (July of 2012) it has started to fail. It stops boiling before being finished but the switch stays in! So after forgetting about it, it may... or may not, start boiling again! No longer seems to make good contact with the base and so you are smelling an electrical burning smell! Avoid! This is overpriced and not worth the risk. I gave 3 stars instead of 2 as it has worked well until now. After seeing another persons revue I won't even bother with any contact with the company based in Quebec Canada

Very poor quality
I'm English so a tea kettle is an important appliance to me. Our Toastess tea kettle worked ok for several months and then started randomly shutting off, or powering on and boiling water - it seemed to have some kind of switch problem. We did some research and found out what Ken Marks reports too, that Toastess warranty issues are handled by Fox International. We emailed them several times and got no response and our calls went unanswered for weeks. When we finally got in contact with Fox they had us send the kettle power cord back to them after cutting it off the kettle. We then waited weeks and weeks for them to decide to replace it under warranty. They sent us a new kettle of the same model. After just a few more months, the lid catches have stopped working and we have to pry the top open to fill it with water. I'd recommend you buy some other brand. The Toastess kettles are poor quality and their customer service is terrible.

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Rival FPRVHM00 Hand Mixer, White

**Value for the money**
I bought this from walmart for $5 on clearance the day before I was supposed to bake cupcakes for my kids' birthday. I double checked the price to see if that really was the case - yes it was!

For an occasional baker baking small quantities for family use - this is great. I did read reviews for the product elsewhare and they said this product is cheap and has plastic moevable parts - probably true which explains the price. But for my purposes - this was excellent.

Very easy to store too as it is small, the beaters come off and there is a snap-on feature that secures it in place for storage.





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Impressa Xs90 Super-auto espresso/cappuccino machine

Great for the office
We purchased this machine to use in a 13 person office, and everyone loves it. Very easy to maintain and the coffee tastes great. My only complaint is that Jura does not provide a very useful manual for this machine. You can download one online on their website, but it is for two different models and can be confusing. If you are looking for a high quality machine for less $$ this is for you!





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Strawberry Shortcake Maker

Makes dessert endless
I was so excited when I received this I wanted to make what else...? Strawberry shortcake, I purchased strawberries, and when I got home noticed they weren't in the bag :( so I decided I was still going to make the french vanilla dessert cups but instead filled with my tots choco pudding and topped with whipped creme. It was a hit! My tots always just eat the frosting and then toss the cake, not with this they ate everything. I must say this though the fiirst batch stuck to the cup wells, I had to clean them and make sure no crumbs were there because I didn't want them to burn....that was no easy task, but was totally worth it. The next batch I sprayed a bakers spray and after that didn't need to respray for the 7 following batches. My next batch will be chocolate cake mix or brownie mix, I'm sure they are going to be delicious. Totally worth the price!!





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Black & Decker® CO1200B Grand Openings® 3-in-1 Can Opener, Black

Literally useless
I have had this can opener for about one year. It is literally useless. The cutter rarely punches into the can, only after repeated attempts will the cutter cut into the can. Then it takes several attempts to get the entire can to be opened. This is why I am now looking for a new can opener.





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Green Power KPE1304 Twin Gear Juicer Wheatgrass, Vegetable & Fruit Juicer - 220 VOLT Euro

Great, but ...
We absolutely love our new juicer. It took us forever to find a juicer that would work in Europe with a 220-volt motor. We were thrilled when we found one. We live in Italy where they use standard European plugs, however, the juicer came with a UK plug which is a totally different plug than is used in the rest of Europe. It took me about a week to find an adapter so we could use the juicer but once that was taken care of we have been thoroughly satisfied with the product. You can tell there is some residual juice in the pulp but not enough to be concerned about. I know some other juicers might do somewhat better in that area but at a much greater cost than is worth it to us.





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2-qt. Whistling Tea Kettle

On the small side and it doesn't whistle until it's at a very high boil.
Looks-wise, just what we wanted but we bought it to replace a Farberware 3 quart tea kettle with very similar lines. In comparison, it seemed dinky. Also, it doesn't whistle until at a high boil, when the water is spitting from the spout.





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FPR 8 CUP 2 SPEED FOOD PROCESSOR (70550R) -

8 CUP 2 SPEED FOOD PROCESSOR (70550R) -
Bought this to use with a grater i have to make pasteles & it worked wonderfully! i make them it half the time it would take me to grate all the vegetables needed to make the pasteles. the "masa" came out perfect, truly authentic. Gyeat buy





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Brew1 Coffee Maker with Travel Mugs and Reusable Coffee Capsule (Titan)

Makes Brown Water
Buy anything but this! Like other reviewers said, it takes a long time to make a weak cup of coffee, and the chances are high that you will spill water. Why anyone would buy this over a one cup gravity drip for $5 or a $15 brew and go is beyond me. Oh yeah, I did, but now you know better.

Plus, at the time I write this, someone is trying to sell one for nearly $200. He/she probably thinks they are just seeing what the market will bear, but at some point you're just a crook! I'll let you, gentle reader, decide where that point is on an item that often sold for less than $20 and does not really work. Maybe this is now a collector's item?

I've also seen a few reviews where people like using this to to make supposedly strong coffee. Maybe we have a different definition of what strong is, or at best, this indicates questionable quality control, since so many reviews are similar to mine. But if there is a trick to getting this thing to work, please let me know before...

Excellent device *with caveats
I purchased this item for $18.99 on a one day sale at another retailer about two months ago. I have made about 3 to 4 10oz. cups of coffee with this device each day since. On Brew1's website this item is $130.00. (This third party vendor hasn't read the memo; presently priced at $199.00). [just noticed the mugs which weren't part of my purchase from a different vendor]

I am very pleased with this coffee maker. It takes roughly three minutes to brew ten ounces of coffee when using the reusable capsules provided. For me, that is fast enough.

I would give it five stars but, for me, I can't. Why? Because the reusable coffee capsules/pods in which you place your own coffee, are virtually impossible to clean because of the space within the cap between the exterior shell and the interior water disperser. I clean them the best I can but there is still detritus coffee film which I have found to be a concern. If you do not plan to use your brand of coffee and expect to...

Do Not Buy
Expensive machine-replaced twice in 3 months for explosions. You can only buy coffee directly from them and not only is it expensive, the customer service is non existent.

Place your order and if you are lucky, it might ship in a week. Or not. You'll have to spend hours emailing for information and begging for a tracking number.

Don't say you were not warned.

Gave then one star because I could not give them ZERO using the Amazon system. Seriously, unless you have a lot of money and time on your hands-oh, and you don't mind a coffee maker exploding in you face, I would look elsewhere for a single brewer.

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Cool Brew® Fresh Coffee Concentrate - Vanilla 6x500ml - Make Iced Coffee or Hot Coffee - Enough for 100 drinks

Good Coffee
Most coffee gives me heartburn an hour after i drink it, tea does too. Don't know why. But this coffee doesn't for some reason. and it's as good as Starbucks coffee and very easy to make. No coffee pot to set up, just fill the little reservoir on the bottle, pour it in your coffee cup and add water then microwave for 3 minutes or less.
Easy to make goooood coffee.





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Polder IBC-9454-69 54-Inch Moderate Use Replacement Ironing Pad and Cover, Metallic Silver

Very nice cover!
I love this cover! I have only been using it for a week but it's nice and fits very snug. If you want to keep the cover as snug as possible, you should buy those extra cover fasteners for underneath the board that are sold separately. But it fits fine without them too. They would just make it even more snug to the board. It has tight elastic all the way around the outside so it pulls tight around the board. I like the fact that the pad and the cover are one piece. I also want to emphasize that I do not have a Polder brand board and it still fits great.

Replacement Ironing Pad and Cover
I have owned a Polder ironing board for about ten years and needed a new cover. The replacement cover is better than the original.
It is durable and padded - very easy to iron on. I love it!

Polder Ironing Board Cover
It seems this size cover 51 in x 17 is hard to find. I believe Polder no longer makes this size ironing board. The covers are great. Plenty of padding for my needs and good thickness of fabric. I prefer a lighter color but amazon only carries the cocoa color. I would highly recommend this product.

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[Clearance Deal] DFD HB93169 14-Cups(European Standard)/12-Cups(US Standard) Switch Coffeemaker with Glass Carafe, Black

Worst coffee maker ever
I opened it up to find out it simple does not make coffee. If you would like a hot plate, it may work. The pump was unable to move water from the water holder to the coffee. Instead it got really hot and I had to turn it off after 20 minutes for fear glass would go flying everywhere in a coffee maker explosion. DO NOT BUY. I bought it thinking it was cheaper than the others, cheap equaled no coffee and all I wanted was coffee. :(





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Diamond Knife Sharpener (#SB-DS)

Nice sharpener
nice & cheap with course & fine grain. very convenient with the keychain. But its kinda weird that the files can be taken out, it's really easy to loose them





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Excalibur 5 Tray Dehydrator with 26 Hour Timer + Preserve It Naturally Book + Paraflexx Premium Reusable Sheet 14X14 + Knife Set 7PC with Pine Block + Bamboo Toast Tong - 6.5 Inch Long

Not worth the money
I bought this dehydrator because the reviews seemed to be good on them and I always love to buy the dehydrated fruits and veggies and the health stores. I've tried asparagus and green beans and neither were really worth eating. I left them in the lower end of the required time, according to the cookbook. It said they should be brittle, but they were still moist. So, I left them in the maximum time in the cookbook and they were like eating string. The apples that I tried were only slightly better. Sorry that I wasted money on this machine. I should have just kept dishing out the money for the ones at the store. I will try some other things before I just use it as a shelf. It's just too bad that I didn't buy a more inexpensive model. I wanted one with the automatic timer, so I bought this one.





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7 Qt. Stay or Go Portable Slow Cooker-33472

Slow Cooker
This cooker is great. I can cook in it and then securely take it to my party. It is great.





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Brylanehome Stand Mixer With 2 Bowls

Way Too Fast and Powerful, But Some Nice Features
I guess I'll be the first to review this mixer. I took a chance ordering it with not a single review of it anywhere on the web, but I wanted a 2 beater mixer with two bowls, preferrably in red, so this one fit the bill, on paper.

First the Pros:
* Very powerful. I think the motor is 400 Watts (maye 450) and it had plenty of power.
* Good suction cups on the bottom kept it firmly in place (although I only tested it with cookie dough, not bread)
* AWESOME retractable cord (except the placement). I wish all mixers had this!
* Very attractive, kind of retro looking.
* Not as tall as the Sunbeam MixMaster (though still too tall for my cupboard)
* Two bowls. Not many mixers offer this these days, but sometimes you just need that smaller bowl for a little whipped cream or a small batch of frosting.
* Quite light! Despite its metal construction (it feels very sturdy) it is very light. It doesn't strain you at all to pick it up and set it...





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Chefman Food Chopper

Chefman
I tend to buy this brand a lot on Amazon. Does the job well. Replaced my old black and decker and this works just as good for half the price





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NEW 4 pcs SMART CRUSHER® 2.0 " Spice Pollen Tobacco Kitchen Grinder & Pouch

Good stuff
Amazing quality for the price. Every feature I wanted, see through top, crank handle & pollen catch and for a price I was willing to pay.

picture is a lie
the glass top isnt really glass the inside is silver not black as shown in the image above there is a TM on it too where you cant see the top part sharp stone in grey lettering other than that it seems to be a great buy it is a very low weight grinder also makes it feel cheap other than that tho its worth the money



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Toastess DLTT671 2-Slice Electronic Toaster, Stainless Steel

Still looking for a good toaster....
This makes the 3rd toaster since my old one went bad. I give this one 2 stars because it did work at first. Was impressed with the evenness of the toast and it did not take to long to toast, but around the 6th time I made toast it started toasting uneven. Looking inside some of the coils were no longer working. This one goes back. My old one was a remanufactured Cuisinart and lasted 9 years. I think I will try another Cuisinart next. Really! Is it that hard to make a decent toaster???





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Toastmaster TSM2032T Sandwich Maker

I can see why the price dropped!
I had one of the originals...with the vaneer look. --Ugly yes, but it was actually very sturdy & well made. Unfortunately, it got lost in a move.

Then I purchased the newer one. It just wasn't as good of quality & the latch section cracked on me on the fourth or fifth use! Garbage!

Pay more $ on a Cuisenart or Delongi...you'll be happier.

Sandwich Maker
This is a nice little sandwich maker. It's compartments are pretty small. You have to cut the crust off of your bread and cut it diagonally in order to fit the sandwich in the compartment. Also, you need to keep an eye on it, because the indicator light isn't realiable to let you know when the sandwich is done. I've had a couple of too cruchy edges on my sandwiches because of this. Otherwise, it makes a great sandwich! For the money it really is a pretty nice machine.

Toastmaster okay
It does the job for the price. Smashes the bread too thin, makes the edges too hard. I use it in my office for quick lunches, but would not purchase another.

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Black & Decker BLC12600B 650W Cyclone 12-Speed Blender, Black

Decent Blender - when it stops working just smash it to get it going again.
This is a decent blender, which I mainly use for protein shakes. All the different labelings are pretty much superficial as it simply just regulates the speed, so don't expect any "sophisticated" interval programs.
As the other reviewers pointed out, after a while it stops working and the ON light blinks repeatedly when being plugged in. In this case I recommend unplugging it, taking a hammer, smashing the top and bottom and side (do quite hard, you don't have anything to lose at this point) and voila: starts working again. Don't ask why, but worked perfectly in my case :).

Unequivocal piece of sh**.
On first use I put a glass and a half of water, a packet of protein powder, four pieces of ice, and three strawberries into the blender and hit the "blend" button. It ran for all of FIVE SECONDS before quitting...never to run again. All that happens now is the red "On" light blinks repeatedly. The phone support line was no help.

Looking at the time duration of use, it actually took longer to unpack it from the box than what I actually got out of it in usage.

Black and Decker should be ashamed to put out a product this bad.

It's a shame I can't give zero stars.

Doesn't even deserve one star!
I bought this to make protein smoothies and puree vegetables for baby food. The first time I used it, it stopped running after only 6 seconds. A red "on" light blinked and wouldn't stop so I read the booklet, unplugged it for 30 seconds and plugged it back in. It ran again for only about 4 seconds more before stopping. I angrily unplugged it, dug out my ancient smoothie machine and used that instead. A few days later I thought I would give it another try while making baby food. I placed some cooked, SOFT green beans into the blender with some water and pushed puree. That stupid piece of @#$& quit working again after only 6 seconds and again that lovely, calming red "on" light started glowing. I unplugged it for 30 seconds, tried again and it wouldn't work. I unplugged it again, WAITED, plugged it back in, NOTHING. I stood starring at the piece of machinery in disbelief. It's appearance is so classy, so stylish and so deceptive! Knowing my husband had already burned the box...

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Saeco Vienna Superautomatica Espresso Coffee and Cappuccino Machine

Fast & Easy Good Espresso - But Not Perfect
There's a lot to like about this machine. It is definitely a fast and fuss-free way to brew good espresso. Doubtless you'll increase your espresso intake, so stock up on some good beans before you buy the Vienna!

Brewing involves setting the desired grind (from a coarseness setting of 0 to 18, but more on this later), amount of water (1 to 5 oz.), and whether you'd like one or two cups (these are true cups -- if you select two, the machine fully cycles through twice). You then press a button to begin the wonderful process of delivering a good cup or two of espresso. After about 30 seconds of a variety of noises and internal happenings, you're ready to drink.

However, this process may disappoint those who like additional control over their brewing. If you like to change types of beans, you'll find it a frustrating endeavor to determine how many beans to pour into the hopper to deliver just one cup. For example, should you desire to switch to decaf espresso and you've left any...

Great product - UNTIL IT NEEDS SERVICE
I purchased this machine two years ago, after extensive research on espresso machines (which you are probably doing now, if you're reading this). I decided specifically on the vienna "superautomatica" and felt justified in when it ran strong for the first year. We're talking 2 cups a day for both my husband and myself, I drink mine with two shots and he drinks his with three, so 10 shots/day - IF we didn't have company! The machine makes great espresso, a nice crema, easy to clean, yada yada yada. All the stuff I thought was important.

Then one day the machine didn't heat up. I'm waiting... and waiting... and never again does that handy blinking light tell me my machine is heated up and ready to brew. No big deal, we were bound to break it with all our "espresso drinking". I was just glad I had sent in the special card that extended my warranty to 18 months. We're in the 16the month. Cutting it close. I'll just call the 1-800 # provided in my paperwork. And I'll call...

Still satisfied after 2-1/2 years but I have some survival tips
My Saeco is still working fine and producing good results for the price. I've learned a few things that may help your ownership experience:

1) If you're in North America call the Saeco main number and ask for support. They can give you some cleaning documents via email that will help you go through the cleaning procedure. You need to keep up with the cleaning or the small passage between the grinder and the "brew group" plugs up, particularly if you use dark roast coffee. The manual that comes with the machine is pretty close to useless.

2) Use filtered water and you can skip the descaling process. I've had a lot of problems trying to run the special formula through it and my local dealer claims it's unecessary since I've always used filtered water.

3) I would probably buy the deluxe model because it has a dual heater for steaming. For doing things a little quicker with this model I heat to steam first, do the steaming and then flip back to coffee...

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Easyway 20" Pedal Style Foot Sealer, Stands Included

BS Gourmet Jerky
Works good. Although I find the rod for the pedal little short, so the peddle sits a bit to high for comfort.
I tried lengthening it by loosening the bolt some what but there seems to be thread damage at the end so it won't lossen any further.
Other wise the sealer it self works great.





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Kloc Microwave Rice Cooker

EXCELLENT UNEXPENSIVE MICROWAVE RICE COOKER
THIS IS A 6 CUPS TOTAL CAPACITY MICROWAVE RICE COOKER/VEGETABLE STEAMER/MEAT STEAMER. CAN COOK 2 CUPS OF RICE EVERY TIME. IT PERFORMS AS GOOD AS A 20 DOLLAR RICE COOKER. COOKS PERFECT ALL THE TIME. CONVENIENT SIZE, AS LEFTOVERS CAN BE STRAIGHT REFRIGERATOR.





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BlendTec Home HPA-621-B The Professional's Choice 1500-Watt Programmable Blender and FREE Shipping

Great blender...when it actuallty works
I purchased this blender only three months ago and I'm already on my third one. After only a few weeks, the first one suddenly stopped working for no apparent reason. I called Customer Service and they said it was due to a known issue with the electronics. As a raw foodist, I depend on my blender DAILY, so going a week without one while I awaited the arrival of the replacement was a significant hardship. Now, only four weeks after receiving the second one, it suddenly stopped working. Needless to say, I'm not a happy customer. They have one more shot. If this one fails, I'm reversing the charge and going with a Vita-mix.

BlendTec Home HPA-621-B
I purchased this blender after reading THE CHINA STUDY, EAT TO LIVE, and GREEN FOR LIFE (all Highly recommended and if you are buying this blender you'd be missing out if you didn't read these books, particularly GREEN FOR LIFE).

All three books really drive home the importance of eating Greens (Swiss Chard, Kale, etc.)on a daily basis. For me, this was a challenge. The only way I could tolerate kale was to slather it with olive oil or butter and salt and cook it, thereby destroying most of the benefits. Even then I ate it dutifully and without pleasure. Then I read GREEN FOR LIFE and got the idea to blend up raw greens with bananas and other fruit into nutrient dense green smoothies.

You need the high power blender for this sort of thing, other blenders can't handle it. Thank goodness the Blendtec was mentioned in reviews for GFL, or I would have never even known about it. I ordered it with fingers crossed. It was a lot of money to plunk down for a blender and I...



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Black & Decker BL10475 CrushMaster Blender, White

Bad Blender
The first B&D blender lasted 3 uses and then quit. The motor just quit. The seller replaced it with the same model and it died after 3 uses too. Same problem. Granted, these are heavy duty uses. I blend up about 5 quarts of fruits, vegetables, and nuts once a week. This includes carrots, celery, kale, other leafy veggies, onions, cauliflower, brocoli & stems, etc. Nevertheless, I have a 20-year old General Electric blender that still does it OK. If that old work horse can still cut it, these new B&D powerhouses should be able to last a lot longer than 3 uses! It is a powerful blender, but there is just no excuse for two blenders in a row biting it in exactly the same way.

Product engineer should be fired
I have one comment for Applica, they should fire the engineers and product managers for this product. The Black & Decker line of blenders are riddled with design flaws and manufacturing flaws, it's a complete failure. You can't pay me enough to take one home again.

1) The screw groove of the glass jar seat is in the same direction as how you seat the entire assembly onto the blender motor assembly. When you are screwing the assembly into the bottom, you will end up unscrewing the glass jar from its seat. When you unscrewing apart the glass jar assembly from the motor assembly, you are again unscrewing the glass jar. The only way to safely aseemble the two pieces is to hold the white plastic seating piece. Hamilton Beach designed it correctly by using opposite screw grooves. This is the most irritating flaw on these blenders.

2) the motor is sooooooooo loud, even with nothing in the blender, it sounded like this thing is ready to take down the house...

DO NOT BUY THIS BLENDER
I wish I would have read the reviews here BEFORE I purchased this piece of junk. Granted, mine lasted longer than some of the others (almost 18 months), but the end result is the same... a funny smell and then it just stops working. I called Black & Decker and all they would tell me was that it had been longer than the 12-month warranty period, and there was nothing they could do about it. I told them that it just didn't seem right, being that it had only been used a maximum of 40 times and that there must be some design flaw or something, but they didn't care. I told them that I had purchased this model because I thought it would be more durable, especially based on it's name (Crush Master). But the customer representative, and later a supervisor I spoke to said that "corporate" dictates what they can do.

I told the supervisor that it would seem that Black & Decker should be concerned about a product that has a problem that might be a result of faulty design, and...

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Jarden Consumer Solutions SCR500-GF Rival Crock-Pot Slow Cooker

Best crock pot ever
We lost everything in Hurricane Sandy. One of the first things I replaced was this crock pot - I am so happy it is still available. The liner removes for easy cleaning and storage in the fridge. Has 3 settings - warm, low and high - when many others just have 2 settings. Plus I love the cheery colors. Great item that I use all the time.

poorly made
The handle melted on the lid shortly after buying this unit. Which concerned me as I had it set on the low setting at the time. I have since learned (after many over cooked and Dried out meals) that the Low setting heats to the same temp as the high setting. I am guessing that something is wired incorrectly on the inside. I would NOT recommend this item to anyone, if fact I am going to through mine out as I do not feel it would even be safe to donate to the Goodwill!



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Applica Food Processor 450W Black & Decker AP4 FP1450

Yea, you have to read the instructions first.
We bought this and are very happy with it. You have to read the instructions before using it, solves a lot of problems.

Did not work the first time
There is some problem with fixing the lid. It did not start how many ever times I tried to fix it.

Do not buy...waste of time.



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Narita Herbal Medication Pot - 3.2L (NEP-400)

I dont burn my pot any more
I burned two pots before this electrical one. Really like it. i got one like this before. I messed it pot when I was washing it. it dropped and lost the handle, creating a hold on the wall and i had to get another. so, just be careful. it can get slippery.





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Aroma Electric Water Kettle

Auto Shutoff Failure
Alert readers may note that there is no "Amazon Verified Purchase" link on this review. That's because I bought it at a local store rather than through Amazon. However, I do a good bit of comparison shopping via Amazon reviews before I buy things, so I felt posting here would possibly be helpful to others.

I use an electric kettle because a) it's faster than a teakettle on the stove and b) automatic shutoff. I'm sometimes easily distracted and I also have a baby. My last kettle quit heating up after about a year of daily use, and I confess I sought the least expensive replacement available locally. I should know better by now.

The manual warns that the exterior becomes hot, and it did, noticeably more so than my last kettle. I noticed that the kettle seemed to have thinner walls and to be less sturdy in general (which I figured was to be expected since I went the cheap route). There was a significant smell of warm plastic when I operated it for the first...





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Ew-92214ivs 2-tier Digital Stainless Steel Healthy Diet Food Steamer

Is there lead and/or BPA?
Stainless Steel from China and possibly many other sources contains lead which leads to conditon called PLUMBISM.Surgical quality,Swedish Steel is lead free.
The plastic in this product has not been certified "Bisphenol A Free".Ew-92214ivs 2-tier Digital Stainless Steel Healthy Diet Food Steamer





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Hamilton Beach 68322 Gel Ice Cream Maker -

First try.
First try with ice cream, Got to taste down. But it was still too runny to put in a cone. Maybe I need to harden the mixture a little ahead of time.





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NewAir AI-100S 28-Pound Portable Ice Maker, Silver

Practical Details ... Here's the scoop ...
I purchased this to go with my Mr. Coffee BVMC-FM1 20-Ounce Frappe Maker, since I was using so much ice.

The best way to use this is to turn it on when you need to make ice, unless you are going to need a lot in a hurry - then you can freeze the cubes ahead of time.

1) How much ice does it make?
Well, each time it makes a batch, it makes between one and two cups ... that's every 6-10 minutes. So in an hour, it will make 6-10 cups of ice.

2) How much ice does it hold?
I was able to empty 2 trays into a gallon freezer bag (barely), so I'd say that it holds about 1/2 gallon of ice before it automatically shuts off.

3) Do you need to keep it turned on?
You can, but you don't have to. Put the ice you've made into your freezer and turn it off. When you aren't going to use it for awhile, you drain any extra water out so that you can be sure your water to make the...

What a disappointment
This review has always bothered me. I was initially thrilled with the unit and happily gave it a five star review...my icemaker QUIT AFTER ONLY THREE BATCHES OF ICE!!! At that time, it was not possible to change the star rating on a published review. I felt very bad thinking how many people had read my review praising the NewAir and bought one in consequence.

After reading the documentation that came with the unit, it was clear that this was a temperamental problem child and pretty much expected to misbehave, and I'd be lucky to ever get one that lasted...and worked. My bad, perhaps, for not going through return and replace, rinse and repeat ad infinitum in the hopes I would get a better unit, but, really, I bought this so I wouldn't have to waste time and energy, twiddling with filling and emptying ice trays, hauling bag ice from the market, or returning broken units over and over again.

It seems as though other folks had similar experiences and mine...

Love It!!!
I received the NewAir Icemaker in Red for Christmas. Once it was unwrapped, I wiped it down, plugged it in, added the water and let it do its thing. It works great! Within 15 minutes, I heard a "popcorn popping" sound and realized it was the first batch of ice cubes falling into the "ice tray" (and this is the only noise I've heard from the machine). I was pleased with how quickly it produced the ice and how within an hour or so I had to remove the ice from the tray and move it to my freezer so that it could continue to make ice. I was expecting approximately 10 people for Christmas dinner that evening and thought that I was going to have to run out to buy ice for the party, but this little machine produced more than enough ice to get us through the day with our regular drinking and through the dinner party.

I should note that I have only been using the machine for about a week now. I do not keep it on constantly as the "freezing unit" turns off once the tray is full, so...

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Toastess DLHB414 Hand Blender, Stainless Steel

handblender
Bought this to replace an aging BRAUN, which I could not find anymore, the blender is made of stainless, which will scratch pans, the blades are smaller and it doesnt mash as well as the BRAUN.





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Nesco 18qt Stnls Steel Roaster

GOOD COOKER but not long lifed
This was a good cooker while it lasted but it stopped getting over 300 so we had to replace it this year.

It's in the basement
I bought this last Christmas so we could have both turkey and ham without over-taxing the oven. I followed the directions carefully and would agree - the burn in must be outdoors. The odor was pretty strong. As a trial run, we tested a roasting chicken. No question about it; it was delicious. We bravely moved on to a sixteen pound rack of ribs. Again, the taste was excellent. The cleanup was horrible! It took hours and still looked like it had been used multiple times. It has been relegated to the basement and is not likely to come out until I take it to Goodwill.



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Classic Crock-pot the Original Slow Cooker 5 Qt. SCR509B-A Black

Too hot for all day cooking
I've used this slow cooker twice while I was at work and contacted the company because the food was bubbling fiercely and caked to the sides after cooking on low all day. They told me that the low and high settings use the same temperature, but the high setting gets there faster. The appliance is beautiful and the quality seems to be very high, but if I can't cook a meal while I'm at work, then I have no use for it. This one's going to Goodwill.

Good basic slow cooker
This is almost exactly like the silver one on here that has some bad reviews, so I will keep this brief. I have this slow cooker and also a Hamilton Beach. I use both a lot and they are a few years old, so they don't have the locking lids to carry them or anything too fancy beyond the warm, low, high settings.

Mine has a glass lid, and it does sputter sometimes while cooking and also sometimes gets the counter a little wet, but very minimally. I have noticed that this gets hotter than my other one, so if I am home and want things done in 4-6 hours instead of being gone 8-10 hours, I use this one. Even on low, this gets things done quicker. I have never had things burn while I'm gone, but I always have it on low for overnight or for when we're gone all day.

I also have this round one and an oval. I do prefer the round one, and this size is great for feeding a large family or group. I make 6 pound roasts in it often for BBQ sandwiches or pork taco meat or...

Too hot
Put a beautiful roast in to SLOW cook. Got to hot. Came back to a dry tough piece of meat

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GE GVS04BDWSS 19 Beverage Center - Stainless Steel

Hot Beer.
If you like your beverages warm as opposed to cold, then this is the fridge for you.

If you want an appliance that works, keep searching. It broke almost immediately and the service department took their sweet time fixing it.

In fact, it still isn't fixed. It's just sitting here in my apartment sucking up electricity.





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EZ Grill Reg SZ Grill

Good value for money
Took longer to get hot enough for cooking than I thought it would but it did the job just fine

works like a charm
it is made from natural elements, we took on our fourth of July camping trip and does a super job of grilling. Plan to purchase more for a beach trip.



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Adcraft IND-C208V Manual Control Induction Cooker 208V

Good price for a commercial Induction Cooker
Good price for a commercial Induction Cooker
Very easy to handle, its appearance is very clean and off alone when it no longer has a pot over.





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Kalorik WM 30821 Rotate S.S Waffle Maker

super cheaply made, not worth the price
I purchased this waffle maker because I used one similar at a hotel. This model is terrible. It is really hard to get the handle lined up to shut it tight, difficult to swivel, & cooks unevenly. It's almost all plastic & the metal is cheap cheap cheap! My waffles were unevenly cooked & even after I greased the surface like mad, the waffles STILL stuck. I will be returning this product & you will too if you buy it.





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Lansky 9" Butcher Steel Sharp Stick

Lansky 9 in. diamond sharpening steel
The item looks and feels solid. My complaint is that the diamond coating is rough and irregular. While sharpening my knives I could feel significant irregularities as I slid the blade across the diamonds. I'm hoping the sharpener will smoothe out after some use. I've owned a DMT for years and it has given me good results but the price on the Lansky was significantly less. If it smoothes out I would bump the rating up by one notch.





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Lansky Sharpeners Knife Sharpening System Standard

The easiest way to use stones to sharpen your knives.
I've owned the Lansky system for almost 20 years and they perform perfectly and enable me to get fantastically sharp knives every time with a modicum of elbow grease but without any actual skill. Lansky's system is a brilliant arrangement of a knife clamp with sets of holes that ensure consistent grinding angle for the stones that have long steel guides. This solves the problem of how to hold the stone to the knife at a consistent angle. Using stones to sharpen your knives gives you total control and allows you to achieve the finest edge (much finer than using a chef's choice, motorized bench grinder (which can overheat the blade ruining the temper), or any of those ceramic wheel/rod dohickeys). The available angle choices are 17 degrees (for Asian knives), 20 and 25 (for Western knives) and 30 degrees (for hatchets). Lansky offers various different stones (from natural Arkansas stones, to diamond abrasive). This particular set includes 3 synthetic stones - coarse, medium, and fine...

Sharpening Kit
It's a little work to sharpen knives; not really sure if the electric one would have done the same.



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