Home and Kitchen Reviews

I sealed products & when I pulled it out it had gone bad.

Thank goodness I only use it once in a while. The first day I tried using it and it didn't work. I call customer service and they had me remove the rubber seal and make sure there wasn't any dirt and placed it back. It finally did work. The product is simple to use and it seal nicely when it works. The seal doesn't always seal properly. I just have to cross my fingers and hope for the best. I wouldn't purchase another one.

I'm very pleased with this foodsaver and it's easy to use. I not only use it to keep food fresh (cookies, steaks, leftovers, etc.) but use it for odds-and-ends, like small beads and children's toys. What's great, also about this is that you can reuse many of the bags, so I cut off a nice-sized portion to begin with. Much better than any ziploc bag.

My mother gave us our Rival F69204 Electric White Mountain Ice Cream Freezer, which worked well for three seasons. Yesterday, I made a batch of frozen custard for company for dinner. The result was terribly salty and had to be thrown out. I filled the stainless steel container with water, which seeped out overnight. Apparently ice cream salt bled into the custard mix while the ice cream was making. Online, I discovered (1) that Mother paid much too much for this item and (2) there seemed no way to order replacement parts--as in a new tank. Can you help?

Just like the home made ice cream we used to have at my mother's house. Your recipe in the booklet is great and even freezes well. The freezer is well made and performs beautifully. Just like the one we had growing up only ELECTRIC. Well worth the money and great service from AMAZON.

Simply put, an awesome churn for home-made ice cream. I have an old hand-crank that I had always used to make the best ice cream, but it was a lot of work - churning fast at the beginning and then slowing down as the cream transformed. With this churn, the motor is variable in its speed and churns at an excellent fast speed to begin; then, as the cream solidifies and freezes, the motor changes pitch and slows down to give you a wonderfully whipped and smooth cream. I even made ice cream using just whole milk and peppermint sticks and it still turned out great. Highly recommended and much better than any other electric churn you can buy. I've had two other electric churns - neither of them could hold a candle to the White Mountain.

I have bought this item and it works excellent. I used the mold to freeze orange juice, then i put the mold in and pressed the button. Out came perfectly shaved ice, just like snow.

i love this product and easy to use and i always use it

We have been very happy with this ice shaver. It is very easy to use, and the ice comes out very finely shaven. It is a great deal.

I am using these mortars in the kitchen for various purpose such as grinding spices. Excellent quality at reasonable price.

Really nice set for the money. Grinding surfaces are textured just like the more expensive sets. Lots of flexibility with 3 different sizes. Why spend more? Great buy for any cook.

this mortat and pestle do the job
i used them right away.. grinding up herbs.. they work wonderfully. i have seen the same item for 39.99 for the set
your price seems to low.. but they do the job.
thanks
Harley Reinbold

I enjoy the pan. The steaks that were cooked on the pan looked great for serving. One downfall is how heavy the pan is. If you can get by its weight you will be happy. Be careful the handle gets very hot during use!!!

Purchased this pan to sear roasts before transferring to the oven. I am very happy with the size, the design, and the heft.

The pan measures 12 inches square and includes grill ridges that extend almost to the edge of the cooking surface. The cooking surface has a 3/4-inch tall lip surround. The main handle and assist handle are well sized for the pan and seem sturdy. This pan is heavy.

The pre-seasoning on this pan is pretty decent, but is not as smooth as the type of seasoning you would get after years and years of use. However, it's a good start -- I figure it'll smooth out over time.

When I use this pan, I toss in some salt between the ridges before I put the meat on the pan. The salt helps to absorb and prevent juices, etc. from sticking between the ridges (makes for easier cleanup). And since the salt is between the ridges, the meat never gets salty. Also, I let this pan heat up for a good five minutes before searing.

Cooking with Cast Iron is great, but only if you use it under the correct circumstances.

One of the reasons Cast Iron still has a use in the kitchen is that it has an extremely high heat capacity -- higher than any other metal used in the kitchen -- once you get the pan hot, it stays hot (even if you drop in a cold steak). If you need a pan that can quickly respond to changes in temperature, I'd recommend getting a Stainless Steel pan.

Another point to remember is that Cast Iron is not truly "non stick" -- no matter how much you season it, or how "pre-seasoned" the pan is (or how much the manufacturer claims it is). It is, however, "stick resistant" provided the pan is seasoned and you use enough fat (butter, oil, lard, etc.) while cooking. If you require a non stick surface, then you're probably better off with an Anodized Aluminum pan.

The only down side to using Cast Iron is cleaning it. Cast Iron should never be washed with detergent and should NEVER be washed in the dishwasher. The reason for this is simple -- detergents cause the seasoning to disintegrate. The seasoning on a Cast Iron pan is nothing more than polymerized fat (fat that is solidified in the presence of heat) -- it sounds gross, but its perfectly normal.

I use salt to clean my Cast Iron. After I'm finished cooking, I let the pan cool a bit (to the touch), scrape/wipe out the residue, then rinse it under warm water. Then I pour in a thick helping of table salt and use the backside of a (rinsed) scour sponge to grind the remaining residue out (the salt works like sand paper and doesn't destroy the seasoning). I rinse the pan and repeat with the salt until the salt crystals stay relatively white. Once the cleaned pan is rinsed and dried, I warm it for a few minutes on the stovetop and apply a little oil with a paper towel. The pan is now ready for storage.

the salmon I grilled on this pan was superb - crisp outside and moist inside. I especially like the dimensions of this pan, it would fit 5 or 6 portions of chicken or fish easily.

However, I wouldn't recommend this for use in kitchens that do not have a high speed fan, as it does throw a lot of smoke. I have a 900 cfm rangemaster fan which handles the task quite well.

Being new at canning I purchased this home canning kit, as I have the pressure cooker at home already. I quickly learned that pressure cookers are NOT considered safe for the high pressure canning method. So purchase this canning kit only for canning small batches of food using the hot water bath method of canning.

I love the funnel! Very sturdy and durable. The canning rack fits into one of my smaller stock pots which is nice for smaller batches. This is a nice set. They include a book with some recipes and color pictures. Beware if you've never canned before, The pictures under the "steps for pressure canning" were taken by someone who had no clue. Step 2. shows jar of food with someone removing bubbles, step 3. wipe rims of jars... shows empty jar turned upside down with someone wiping it, step 5 shows how the magnetic lid lifter works... except they are using it after the ring is on!. Anyway this is a great set anyway.

it's not only the best canning tools, it's also compact enough to utilize the small spaces I have in my apartment.

I really like this griddle. This is the first time I used a Cast Iron griddle and it works like a charm. The heat is distributed very evenly. It is great that now I don't have to worry about the non stick surface and keep buying new griddles everytime the non stick surface gets bad. It works great for pancakes, sandwiches for everything.

Great for frying eggs, but I prefer a pan with higher sides for omlets. Every grilled sandwich I've made on this griddle has come out perfect. My kids use it to make pancakes and they swear by it. I've found that pre-heating the griddle in the oven first helps it heat more evenly and avoid the hot spots that can occur when cooking on a stove top. The pre-seasoning works great.

I'm a lousy cook and I love pancakes. I've always had to go to a restaurant to get a decent pankcake because I never figured out how to make them right.

But when I got this Griddle I started turning out perfect pancakes every time! There must be something about iron. I've never had any iron cookware before. And the size is just small enough so it's not too heavy, but the flatness allows me to make a "short stack" of pancakes all at once.

This is the most joy that $12.00 has brough into my life in a long time. And, I'll save a ton of money over the rest of my life not going to restaurants to get pancakes!!

I use a french press for fresh coffee while camping. I had been using a glass Bodum french press, which worked great but it was only a 3 cup press and i was afraid it would break eventually... so i was looking for something bigger and more heavy duty. so, i bought the thermos, which is not all I thought it would be. It says a quart, but it's only maybe 3-4 cups of coffee... and for my big camping mugs, it's hardly 3 cups. Also, the filter does not work properly and there are many grounds in every cup... YUK! So, Memorial Day weekend when I went to pour coffee for my and my buddies, we were very disappointed in my new press... sure it keeps it hot longer, but we were planning on drinking the coffee... and it's not as big as we thought it was... size does matter in the morning when you want your coffee... and when you have to pour out 1/3 of the coffee because of grounds... well, we aren't impressed!!

The Nissan Thermos French Press makes great coffee!

There is a problem with the lid, however! The rim of the lid is not deep enough and does not form a complete seal when in the thermos. Coffee will leak out no matter in which direction the pour spout "hole" is pointed (whether it is lined up with the pour spout or whether it is against the body of the thermos and coffee should technically NOT be going out).

If the lid had a longer rim that depentrated deeper into the thermos that might help prevent leaks.

Also, there is a ring depression in the thermos, just below the rim. If the lid had a "O"-ring designed to fit into that ring depression (along with the longer rim on the lid mentioned above), then the thermos would probably not leak.

Perhaps the company might consider a redesign along these lines?

I have owned one of these buggers for about 7 years now. Basically it rocks, but my filter is all torn up now for many years. I have searched high and low for a replacement filter and although this product boasts having replacements, I have found none!!! I have to hand filter any coffee with a strainer per cup which is a mess! So now I drink tea in the thermos! Go figure!

I bought two Blend-N-Go cups so my husband and I could make smoothies, and they worked great the one time we did it. Then we gave up real food and went on a liquid diet, where you mix flavored powder with water. The Blend-N-Go Cup is terrific for this. We blend the powder with water and a few ice cubes, and it makes the drink thick and frothy like a milkshake, which tastes much better. Also, there are different shake formulas for men and women, so I can't just make up one batch for both of us. The Blend-N-Go makes it quick and easy to make two different drinks at once (but only if you buy two of them).

This tumbler is great for kids with different taste. My kids now prepare their own smoothies.

With this cup I just turned my 20-something-year-old Oster blender into a smoothie machine as well as a snow cone and iced cappuccino machine! Better actually than any of the three because it has much more power and because I don't have to try to get my treat out of the blender, just change the top and go. I'm glad I bought several -- it's gonna be a great summer.

This peeler rocks. No more holding onto a tiny handle and cramping up. Peeling done easily, quickly and cleanly.
Buy 2 and give one to a friend.

I bought one for my mother some years ago due to her arthritis. It worked for her. I bought one for myself and then for all my family members. I don't wish to spend much of my life peeling veggies, but when I do it has to be this product. The soft grip is very helpful in avoiding discomfort, fatigue, and pain.

I purchased the OXO Good Grips Peeler back in 2000 and I have been using it ever since with no problems whatsoever. I originally bought it to replace the peeler that came in my Culinary School tool kit. That peeler had broken after only a month of use. But I have used the OXO peeler ever since, going on 5 years now. It feels great in my hands and peels potatoes, carrots and other vegetables perfectly. While I was in school my classmates were constantly borrowing this from me and asking me where I bought it. Even one of my Chef instructors loved it and would use it from time to time. If this peeler were to ever break on me, which it has shown no signs of doing, I would not hesitate to buy another OXO.