Oxo Reviews

I purchased this product because it was recommend on America's Test Kitchen. I didn't expect much, but I was wrong. The serrations do seem to improve the cutting ability of this blade.

I find that I reach for this peeler more frequently than I do my non-serrated peeler. It not only works well on tomatoes, but also on lemons, asparagus, sweet potatoes and butternut squash. I believe that this peeler could function well as the only peeler in a kitchen.

If you need a new peeler, try buying one of these before purchasing a standard peeler. I have been pleasantly surprised at how well this peeler works on both delicate and hard vegetables.

This is a jewel. Takes the skin off nice and clean. Just the tool to get rid of those tough skins on a few tomatoes and no more fuzzy peaches. Just bought 6 more for family and friends.

I love these corn holders . Especially great for little ones hands. But I also use it for something else. And that is apples, when I peel the apple I put the holders on the ends and give it to my 3 year old . No more sticky hands. And she does know not to throw them away!

Very easy to hold & better than the old yellow corn prongs that are always breaking & getting rusty just be careful not to stab yourself with them!

A very good product, much better than the usuall ones that break after a few uses.

I loved this set of tongs and was using them for everything... but after less than a month the spring broke.. and they were garbage. I question the listing as dishwasher safe because I can't think of any other reason the spring should have broken. Very disappointed and hesitant to replace them with another pair.

This ample ladle, like the rest of the products from the OXO Good Grips line, is a great value of superior quality, unsurpassed durability, and flawless performance. Its ergonomic design, hefty body, and big, pressure-absorbing, non-slip grip, complete with flexible fins to accommodate your fingers, are the reasons why you'll prefer this product to the more traditional models, as they will allow you comfortable, daily, wet or dry use while keeping you away from any stress-related injuries.
Its elegant, stylized shape makes it perfect to use either in the kitchen or at the dinner table, and it also comes with an oversized hole at the tip of the handle for easy hanging, and a strong, stout neck guaranteed to be unbendable.
Overall, this ladle's well is just perfect to make quick servings and stir all sorts of soups, beans, lentils, peas and other such foods, and its easy to clean, simple construction and dishwasher-safe, hardwearing materials make it an addition that will prove a dependable part of your cooking equipment for years. Furthermore, its stainless-steel metal parts will permanently keep your rust worries away.
After submitting this product to over two years of normal, everyday use, mine is still just like new.
--Reviewed by Maritza Volmar

We have owned these tongs for a while now and I cannot find anything to complain about! The handle(s) are very sturdy - allowing you to really get a good squeeze on something if it is heavy or slippery. The stainless steel always emerges from the dishwasher spotlessly clean and the "locking" mechanism allows these to be stored in the folded position, saving me a lot of cluttered drawer headaches!

Seriously, these would be good tongs at any price and at this price they are well worth the money spent.

This handle makes is really easy and comfortable to open anything you want.

We replaced a much less expensive manual opener with this. The difference in the way the handle turned was amazing. The Oxo is smooth and easy to operate.

I wouldn't use any other kind -- and this can opener is my favorite stocking stuffer as well!

I like this pounder because it's simple, elegant, easy to wash, and does it's job well. This one is a few dollars cheaper than others of it's kind, so that is a plus. It is also a little lighter. It's 1.4 lbs and other are 1.8 and up. I actually prefer the heavier ones. A bit more heft in the tool means less force you need to exert for the same amount of force. Most people put too much force into pounding meat though, so this may be a good thing for a lot of people.

A meat pounder does not have to just pound meat. I use it to pound anything. In the old days, a cook would just grab a heavy pot and use the underside of the pot to pound out things. I like to think that we've now evolved from using a pot to using something nice and simple like this meat pounder.

It's very useful. You can pound meat, you can pound/crunch croutons to make bread crumbs, crush graham crackers for crumbs, breaking up chocolate, crushing tortilla chips, crushing eggshells for the garden, and I even use mine to pound cloves of garlic.

Why do you want to crush your garlic? Allicin is the potent antimicrobial (substance that kills bacteria and other pathogens) that is formed when you crush garlic. Allicin is also responsible for the fresh clean smell of newly crushed garlic. Garlic does not contain allicin. It contains the precursor, alliin and the enzyme allinase in different cells. When garlic is crushed the two come together in a moist environment to form allicin. Crushing your garlic will yield a different taste as well to your dishes. I like cooking with crushed garlic for the taste and the allicin for the antimicrobial properties. Yes, a lot of people use the flat of a knife to "crush" their garlic, but when they're doing this, it's mostly just to ease the removal of the skin. The garlic is not truely crushed...unless if you use the flat of the knife several times. Yes, this is an option...but not that great of an option for me. I find that true crushing of the garlic can be better attained by using this meat pounder, and then there's no danger of cutting yourself in the process.

So as a conclusion, there are plenty of applications for a meat pounder like this. I like the heavier weight to aid in crushing. I like the simple design for ease of cleaning, I like the material it's made out of and it looks elegant. I like the handle that makes it non-slip even when wet. I like this design of meat pounder over the ones that look like a hammer because it offers more control. Swinging a hammer-like object is just less accurate than this design. Not only that, but when you're pounding meat, you don't want to be smashing it indiscriminately. You want to go in a nice, controlled downward and then outward motion. Encouraging the meat to spread down and out - not smash it into oblivion. Exercizing precision and care is necessary to not tear your meat.

Additional tips for meat pounding:
1. Start with a heavyweight wood cutting board, at least an inch thick, I prefer thicker - this will absorb excess force/energy. Remember, energy is never destoyed, it travels, it get absorbs, it changes forms. If you apply to much energy into meat pounding and there are no "shock absorbers", that energy reverberates back into the meat and your arm - tearing the meat and jarring to you.
2. Lay down a sheet of Saran wrap, spray that with a thin layer of water. Lay down your meat. Spray some water. Lay down another sheet of Saran wrap. The purpose of all this is once again, getting rid of friction resulting from excess energy that can tear your meat. It also aids cleaning and catches any meat splatters from going all over the place.
3. Pound in a down and out motion. So pound from the center and end that pounding motion out to the edge of the meat. Down and out. You're not "pounding" the meat, you're encouraging it to flatten and directing that meat to go outwards. Too much "encouragement" can lead to your meat disintegrating and tearing, so don't go crazy.

I would recommend this item.

I've used it to break up chocolate, crush tortilla chips, and pulverize eggshells (for the garden). In fact, for everything except pounding meat. But I'm sure it will do a great job at that when I get around to trying it.
It's got plenty of heft, a comfortable handle, and just feels well-balanced.
Another OXO triumph.

I have to say, I have been needing a meat pounder for a long time and this one is great. I used it on chicken and it did a great job with very little effort on my part. Plus is was very easy to clean, just some soap and water. I am very pleased with this item!

This opener is something you could easily find in a store for about the same price. Nothing spectacular about it.

An every-day-can't-do-without-it tool that is beautifully designed and therefore a pleasure to use.

These tongs seemed like a good deal when I bought them but after 2 uses the spring popped out and cut my finger.

I've had luck with OXO in the past but this experience was awful.

Amazon gave me a full refund but it was still disappointing and a hassle. Next pair will be from a store.

Tongs. Yes, I know, you can get tongs anywhere. Well, let me tell you, I have used countless pairs of "nice" and "professional" grill tongs through the years and nothing has held up like my Oxo tongs. This is by far one of the most important tools in your grilling arsenal...at least outside of your grill and maybe the beer you should be drinking while using your grill.

The 16 inch tongs are long enough so that you don't burn your hands on the grill and sturdy enough so that you can lift an entire turkey from grate to platter. I will use nothing else!

Run, do not walk, to the store and get one of these for the grll. After countless dedicated grill tongs failed, I took these from the back of the drawer (they are too large for most on-stove uses) and marched these outdoors from my kitchen one day. They are precise, easy to operate, steady to hold and long enough to keep you from getting singed. The edge is sharp enough to dislodge sticking meats from the grill. Most of all, these tongs aren't bulky like most grill tongs. These tongs go exactly where you want them to. For $12, it's a hell of a deal for a kitchen tool that's exactly right.

I am apparently not the only person missing the foot pedal....Love the can, but want the part. This can matches another size (8 gallon) and the other came with the foot pedal. I will investigate and hope to receive. Love the cans!

Wasn't what we were expecting and the TALL kitchen bags barely fit it.

I was thrilled to get this and it fits great in my kitchen. I love the foot pedal opening lid and the bag holder (to make sure that the bag doesn't fall down inside the can).

I actually received 2 foot pedals in my package. I guess I got someone else's that posted a review before that they didn't get one in their box.

The kids can use it easily and it's a great color (black), which is hard to find in regular stores.

I have neuropathy and arthritis in my hands. Like many people I prefer to use a pepper mill but found it very difficult. I do not have strength in my hands and had just about decided I would not be able to use any pepper mill when I saw the Good Grips. I am thrilled with how easy it is to use. My hands do not cramp and turning the handle is almost effortless. The Good Grips is also a breeze to fill with peppercorns and there is no surprise because you can see when it is almost empty.

Anyone with disabilities in their hands will find the mill easy to use.

I've owned about a dozen pepper mills over the years. I bought the OXO Pepper Mill about 5 years ago, and it is still going strong. I'm a heavy user so getting more than a year from a pepper mill is great. As the other reviews note, if you like fine ground pepper, you have to set it fine, grind a little, reset it fine, and so on until you have what you need. About the only time that's really an issue is Sunday morning eggs over easy. I've gotten into the habit of adjusting it finer before every use, the adjustment knob is very easy to use. But for most uses the gradual drift from fine to coarse is not a big deal. It never goes much coarser than about the size of typical restaurant shaker pepper.

Other than that, this pepper mill is perfect. It fits the hand, it operates smoothly, it's easy to fill, the holder pan catches any fines that drop out late. But most of all, it lasts forever (relatively speaking, 5 years is forever in my experience) and costs only about a third as much as most of the other pepper mills I've tried. I always wanted to try the +$100 mills, but why? The OXO is all I need. I was prompted to write this review because I'm considering giving one to all my siblings and was checking the price/availability. Amazon has the lowest price I've found, and you can get the pepper mill only (I bought the combo with the salt shaker, the latter being totally unremarkable, but then what special features do you want from your salt shaker?)

After waiting weeks for Amazon to stock this guy, I finally ordered it from oxo.com. It arrived today, and since then I have been grinding up a storm.

Since it uses a grinding mechanism that is the same or similar to the norm, it works about as well as the norm in that respect. In other words, it grinds fairly evenly, and it can make pepper dust or pepper sand, and everything in between. It is true, the coarseness adjustment feels light and easy to dislodge. I am curious to see if I have the same problem another reviewer did, where it won't hold a fine setting and the pepper particles become increasingly coarse as you grind.

The distinctive thing about this grinder is the case and handle which offer particular advantages and disadvantages, so I will focus on that. The grinder's overall shape is a kind of squat, slightly bulging cone, with a flare at the bottom. The flare makes it harder to tip over and easier to set down quickly, which is good, because the sturdy crank arm would otherwise make it tippy. It also means you tend to grab the grinder close to the top, so that my hand (size medium to large; I am a 5'10" man) crowds the crank on top, which is less good. If it were just an inch or so taller, and perhaps had another flare on the top, your grabbing hand wouldn't touch the crank.

The crank arm is another long swelling oval, kind of a leaf shape, with a round black rubber handle on top. (If it were grey-blue, it would look like something from Michael Graves' line for Target.) Since the arm is broad and flat, even if your hand holding the grinder body touches it, the contact is not painful or injurious. (But the contact is there.)

The black crank handle is tacky in a rubbery sort of way (it is not "soft" as Amazon's review says.) It is an attractive matte black sphere, which is nice, but that shape is not especially ergonomic. Your hand tends to grab it close to the arm, so that when you turn the crank, your knuckles touch the spinning arm, which again is not painful, but it is there. The black rubber handle should be shaped in an hourglass or pinched shape, not bulging outwards.

The crank itself is an advantage. It is longer than cranks on other pepper grinders, if they even have them. It makes grinding much faster and easier. As previous reviewers stated, it would be good for the arthritic, elderly, or impatient, since you can really crank out the pepper if you want. (The action is not "smooth" however, as other reviewers have stated. It is a little jerky at first, and even at speed it has a gravelly, grindy feel, which stands to reason and isn't a problem.)

So although you can crank out mounds of pepper easily and quickly, both your hands touch the spinning crank arm, which is a bit disappointing coming from an ergo-conscious outfit like OXO. Just a little more care in design would have eliminated the contact on both hands.

It has a clear door for refilling peppercorns, which is convenient, more so than having to unscrew a little nut and take the top handle off, which is the procedure for most other grinders. When closed, the door merges smoothly with the body. But opening the door requires hooking the tip of your finger on a little bulging lip. It doesn't require a fingernail, but it won't take a full finger. It is fine for me, but it might be difficult for people with trembling hands or poor fine motor control.

The "base" mentioned in the Amazon review is not a base, it is a thin plastic lid that snaps on to the bottom. It does a good job of keeping stray pepper off your countertop, but when you pick up the grinder, you have to snap off the lid, grind, then pick up the lid and snap it back on, then set the grinder down. You can leave the lid on the counter without bothering to snap it back on, but it is light and can skid easily across the counter. It would have been more convenient if it were loose-fitting, had some weight and some non-slip feet, so it acted as a base that one could just pick up the grinder out of and set it back in again. I may figure out some arrangement of that sort, possibly with PVC pipe end caps or some such.

Lastly, the lid and the grinder had very slightly rough edges left from the molding process (a peculiar preoccupation of mine). A few licks with ultra-fine sandpaper cured that problem. There were no other construction quality issues.

So...
Body shape - okay, could be taller to fit the hand
Crank arm - good, sturdy
Crank arm handle - okay, could be shaped to keep knuckles from hitting the arm
Grind adjustment - probably average
Grinding speed - unusually good
Grinding ease - unusually good
Refilling ease - good, though perhaps not for everybody
Lid - okay
Construction - not perfect but good

So I would give this fellow a 4.6 or 4.7, which rounds to a 5.