Home and Kitchen Reviews

I love this espresso maker, just love it! It makes great coffee, I agree with all the rave reviews.
I have one word for you to think about: "aluminum".
After couple of times I used it, I noticed that aluminum on the bottom of the inside started peeling/oxidizing/dissolving. At first, it did not bother me, I knew the problem and I cleaned the parts before using with a washcloth taking off the aluminum powder (when it dries up it looks like a powder). Not long ago I read an article that advised not using aluminum pans and pots in cooking, since aluminum gets absorbed by the body and this is tied to an Alzheimer disease.
Recently, I bought stainless steel espresso maker. Makes same great coffee, however it does not have a spout (it is just round) which makes it hard to pour into small coffee cups and the upper part (the part where the coffee goes) has sort of trench on the bottom which makes it inconvenient in cleaning.
Hope this helps.

Unit worked well and coffee was good, but does not make the 3 cups as advertised. Two cups is more like it. If you need more than 2 cups, buy the next larger size.

I do not like the taste of coffee. Bitter. Icky. But oddly, smells great. Still, after 42 years, I decided to try and get a hankering for the stuff.

Starbucks just opened in our little town and I really like the caramel machiattos but only with a single shot and iced with whip cream though they are very very bad for a diabetic like me and sometimes extremely bitter..bleck...

What to do. What to do?

I went on line to amazon.com and found a tiny espresso maker that can be used on the stove, even for camping and decided, why not try this?

The little box came today. After reading the reviews on the amazon website, I rushed to the store and bought a small bag of freshly ground not less than 10% Kona coffee beans since light roast is not as strong as the darker roasts.

Brewed up the espresso in three minutes, heated whole organic milk with Kortja cinnamon and sugar free vanilla syrup in the microwaves, added half of the coffee and taste..

Wow! No bitterness, extremely creamy, very tasty cappucino! And cheap!!

Hubby actually liked it as well as my coffee loving mother in law who lives next door. I am very impressed with this little coffee pot and the fresh coffee grounds.

Who knows? I may become a coffee drinker yet!

This skillet is great for browning meat, making lots of eggs, or any other cooking job where a REALLY big pan is needed. It's also easy to clean. One caution---This skillet is quite heavy and is a little awkward when the pan is hot and you're draining grease or transferring the ingredients to another container. You'll want to store this in the oven or another easy to reach location. You won't want to lift this one out of a stove drawer or the bottom of a cupboard very often.

This is an excellent skillet. Cooking is very even and clean-up is straight forward. It is quite heavy though, which can make it difficult to handle when hot.

I've had this skillet a short while now and I like it a lot. I'm new to cooking with cast iron, I grew up with it, and now I have the pieces my mom got as wedding presents in 1952. I bought a few additional Lodge products to round out my collection. This skillet is indeed heavy, but manageable because of the helper handle. The weight takes some getting used to, but it works great. I'm not a professional cook, but I like the way cast iron feels in the hand, and the way it holds heat. This skillet is a good size for a large meal. I season the preseasoned cast iron myself before use, I found that it isn't really absolutely non-stick out of the box, but one hour in the oven coated with vegetable oil is not much to ask to prepare this great looking, great functioning skillet for anything. Don't think of picking this pan up with one hand to spill off juices or to move it, use two hands, and don't forget the potholders, or barbecue mitts. I've used this skillet on top of the stove, and in the oven, both ways it cooks great. I bought the Lodge cast iron wok too, and it works really well, heavy piece, but well made as all the Lodge products I have are. Natural non-stick is a healthy way to go, and the little extra care cast iron needs is a more than fair trade off. It is true what they say about old cast iron, it really lasts!! Mom's old 10" skillet and round grill work great, and have lots of character. I wonder if Teflon would last 50+ years...

I bought the 13 1/4" Lodge cast iron lid at the same time as this skillet, and am glad I did. It is a great fitting lid for this skillet. Unfortunately it looks mismatched because the lid comes "natural finish" only, but I am not that picky over appearance, as long as it works great, which the lid does without question. Use care handling the hot lid, it is heavy, and the handle I find a bit small for a really sure grip. The lid will darken over time with use, and seasoming, but it would be a nice touch to factory preseason the lid just the same.

This isn't a review of the product since we could never use it. We ordered this because the price looked so good and we thought it would be a nice set to have. The first time it arrived the delivery person advised us to open it- sure enough it was SHATTERED beyond recognition (though it made a pretty sound). So we rejected the box. We decided to give it a second go, thinking they couldn't possibly botch the packing twice. Lo and behold the second set arrived - at least recognizable as cookware this time - but broken again. It is so clear from someone who packs and sends items that whoever packed this assumed it was a box of bricks. Many of the packing airbags were FLAT in both cases, but there wouldn't have even been enough to stop breakage even if they were all inflated. Essentially three sides of the box were padded, not even top and bottom. No more fragile purchases here!

I've used these to bake everything from a rump roast to Shepard's pie, and the are fantastic. Nice and think porcelain meaning no burnt bottoms and a breeze to clean. The large pot will hold a 6lb roast with no problems. The smaller one is perfect for side dishes like green bean casserole or baked beans. Best part is they are pleasing to the eye and make a perfect serving dish...straight from the oven to the table.

I received it on time with good condition no damages.....I purchased this product for 13$....I would like to buy another if there is an offer......corelle products are awesome

This vacuum while seemingly good at first, after use noticed pet hair not coming off the carpet. Hair seems to clog very easily in hose and filter compartment. The vacuum is very heavy up stairs and the power paw feature has only worked a couple of times. I would return if possible.

I have several pets who shed alot. While I really liked my windtunnel vac, the bags were expensive and, with daily vacuuming, I would go through a bag each week. This Boss vac is bagless, so it gets dumped (an easy procedure) each and every time- so the suction remains good and strong! And I had never before owned a self-propelled vac- what a pleasure.

Very powerful vacuum - while waiting for my order was using a shop vac which I thought would be more powerful than a regular upright vacuum, but when receiving and using this Eureka, I could not believe the amount of dirt being removed, that the shop vac missed.
Very happy with the purchase, and overall quality.

Well reviewed on amazon but this kettle is lacking. The copper does, indeed, boil water fast; and that's the job of a kettle, I admit. However, the button/trigger that opens the spout is too close to the steam and you're forever guarding your fingers and shying away from the kettle. As you tilt the kettle to pour, you're also tilting the steam nearer to your fingers. It's uncomfortable at best and searing at worst.

While you learn how to not get scalded, this kettle is always at least slightly irritating. There are better kettles around.

If you are a cooking enthusiasm, this is NOT a Teakettle for you. Otherwise, everytime you cook foods, you need to put it aside, anywhere but the stove top, to avoid it being bespattered.
Once the teakettle get dirt on the surface, especially oil mixed dirt, it will be a nightmare to clean it. I've tried every clean method, even using metal scratcher plus hand soap, still can not get it cleaned. So the poor teakettle of mine always looks dirty! how frustrated it is.

other than this flaw, it do quite a nice job, water can be kept warm for more than 1 hour after boiling, even in winter.

I have used a Revere teakettle for 41 years. To clean it...all you need to do is take some Easy Off oven cleaner (spray type) and spray the stainless steel part. This cleans all the grease spatters and any other spatters you get on it. Leave the Easy Off on until you see that you can wipe off the stains. Wipe, rinse and dry. It will look brand new.

I bought three small ones of these for leftovers. I've already thrown one out. I can't get the tops off and I have no problems with my hands. Not recommended.

This Pyrex storage set was ordered because I needed a replacement for my 3 quart
glass Pyrex storage bowl of a certain age. The cover on that bowl had split. When
I received the new set, I was uncertain about the shape of the glass containers: not
rounded bowls, but squattish truncated cones, unlike the rounded shapes which are
so welcoming of just-off-the-stove soups. Although I'm resigned to the bowl shape,
the covers are vexing. They do not fit easily on the glass containers. They do not seal
with a satisfying "snap" or "snick." In fact, they are difficult for aging fingers to get on
at all.
That said, I will continue to use these containers, hoping that, with time, the covers will
become more relaxed.

A passionate home cook that has been honing her cooking skills for the last 25 years writes this review. My favorite cookbooks are "The Professional Chef" by the Culinary Institute and "Culinary Artistry. Cooking is my form of therapy. I have owned my set of these for at least 5 years, and possibly longer. Additionally, I also own a set of the original Pyrex storage containers that do not have a vet.

The glass that these containers are made from is very tough. I have not broken a single one of these containers in the time that I have owned them. This may not sound like much but I am hard on things, and for all of them to still be intact is a minor miracle in my home. The glass is very tough.

Pros:
1.Glass is very tough, seems almost indestructible
2.I like that they are not plastic, so I feel safe about reheating food in them
3.The lids fit well and provide a tight seal
4.The lids of this upgraded product appear to be more durable than the original Pyrex lids
5.The vent is nice for microwave reheating without messing up your microwave's interior
6.These containers fit well into lunch bags so that you family can take your healthy home cooked food to work or school.
7.The containers stack well inside each other for space cramped kitchens
8.You can bake in these and then cool the food (I place the entire container into a roasting pan filled with ice water) put on the lid and slide the pan into the refrigerator.
9.You can freeze food in these containers

Cons:
1.The lids are easy to use for me (I am 44 years old) but I suspect that they might pose a problem for older arthritic hands.
2.The original Pyrex storage containers do not stack efficiently inside the new design. The shape is just a little different.

Overall, I would recommend these to anyone that likes to cook in quantity and doesn't like to reheat food in plastic. I use these everyday in my kitchen.

First off, the knives cut wonderfully and are very well balanced. Unfortunately, they rust terribly. The rust will scour off, but it recurs with each washing. This is not exclusive to just Chicago Cutlery. I returned a set of Farberware because of rusting and purchased the Chicago Cutlery set. I DO put them in the dishwasher because I think it's disgusting not to. I have always put my knives, even the cheap ones, in the dishwasher and never had a problem. This is definitely a 'buyer beware' product. It's an awful lot of money to spend for something that has to be cleaned again after cleaning!

Lisa S from Ohio complains that the knives rust very easily and that this is a buyer-beware item. This is not a buyer beware item. This is an item that requires some knowledge about use and care of carbon steel knives. Carbon steel is an alloy which allows one to hone a very keen edge and it is used for very fine cutting tools in general. It does rust very easily and should always be dried after washing, and even wiped with a little olive oil. These knives cannot be left sitting in dishwater, and they should never be run through a dishwasher. If you want to throw your kitchen knives into a dishwasher, buy cheap stainless steel ones!

Some have said these rust. I run mine through the dishwasher (have for almost a year) and have never had a single spot of rust on them. Maybe they reformulated their metal sometime, don't know.

The larger knives are balanced with the center of gravity at the place where the blade ends and the handle begins. The steak knives and the pearing knife are not balanced. However, because these knives are smaller and are very light (hollow handle, short blades) I really think balancing them would be overkill.

I do not know how they make seamless stainless steel and have a hollow handle (reducing the weight). However they do it sure makes cleanup very easy. Running under a faucet for a couple seconds gets almost anything off.

If you use them heavily I do suggest honing them on the included sharpening steel from time to time. They always seem to stay sharp, but to keep the "that's the sharpest knife I've ever used" level of sharpness a few strokes across the sharpening steel restores it immediatly.

Oh, I do have one gripe. Where is the filet knife? I guess I do more seafood than most people, but I had to go buy a seperate filet knife. I guess you can only fit so many knives in a 12 piece set.

Overall the best knives I have used.