Shears Reviews

I have the older model, Superior E 10 X 40 model purchased about 6 years ago. I use it for astronomy and sightseeing and concert going. I LOVE these binoculars. The images are bright and sharp and CLEARLY better viewing than less expensive (read "cheaper") models. The units are fairly light weight, but not slim. Fairly big and not a binocular you will hide walking into a concert. But, we can now buy cheaper seats in the back of an arena and still see up close and personal. If you want the pair of binoculars that will last a lifetime, consider this model.

I stayed at a rental house where they had these knives. They were so bad that I actually went out and purchased new knives just for our own use. I'm not a huge fan of serrated knives anyway, but I don't think that I've seen a cheaper set of knives in terms of construction. But, what's worse, is that these are actually very dangerous knives. They're weirdly balanced, the blades are too flexible and combined with their inherently dull edge, they cause a tendency to sort of waver or stick whenever you cut into anything with the least amount of resistance. This can lead to the knife going where you don't want it to, namely slicing into a hand or a finger.

Yes, they're cheap but you'll throw them away or buy other knives anyway. Just spend an extra $50 and get a decent set of knives. (But stay away from the cheap Henkels, those are terrible, too.) Even the non-serrated edge Farberware knives are much better, and they're only $30 more for a set.

I would very strongly NOT recommend this knife set:

1) The sides of the blades of these knives are a kind of ugly, rough-finish brushed steel surface. (It's only after you receive the knives and then compare them to the pictures online and on the front of the box that you realize that they were photographed so as to hide the ugly finish.) I've never seen knives like this before and after using them for a while it becomes clear that there's a reason why knife blades are smooth-surfaced. In use, you can feel the added resistance that the rough surface causes while cutting through just about anything. This is also noticeable when cleaning the knives, although if you use a dishwasher this is, of course, irrelevant. In addition, a polished edge is less likely to corrode. These knives are just plain ugly and cheap looking. I would be embarrassed to give these to guests to use.

2) As for performance, in addition to the added resistance already mentioned, these knives cut more like saws than knives. I've used serrated blades for years but these knives are more suited to rough carpentry work than onions, bread rolls and steaks. The blades rip, grab and tear their way through food in exactly the same way a rough-cut handsaw would. Bread rolls are a good example- the surfaces of the bread after cutting are rough and torn, and there are lots of small chunks of bread and crumbs to clean up. Don't even think about raw meat.

These problems are not typical of serrated knives. I bought this set to replace a serrated set (not Farberware) that after fifteen years of daily use is finally too dull to use. I'm very surprised that Farberware would put their name on a product like this and you can bet I'll look very close before I consider buying anything else from them.

On the upside, this knife set was inexpensive and I have no doubt that these knives would have no problem cutting through a fir 2 X 4 if you should ever misplace you saw. I'm going to toss them in with the camping equipment and never go camping again.

I was initially very skeptical about spending so much money on a pan, but I had read good reviews about Scanpan products, so I thought I'd give it a try. Now that I have this saute pan, I cannot do without it!

I have abused this pan most horrendously, and it still remains perfectly nonstick. Cleanup is always a cinch. And it is big and versatile enough to take care of all cooking needs. I even use it for a casserole dish.

Granted, this pan is a lot heavier than what I'm normally used to, so it's impossible for me to carry it with just one hand. But it's pros far outweigh its only con.