Home and Kitchen Reviews

I replaced my original 35 year old Foley Mill with the new model. On the plus side, it is greatly improved by the fact it is now made in stainless stain. On the minus side, the handle is no longer solid but rather an "open" handle and I find it now difficult to hold. If the new handle would not be a problem for anyone else, than I would give it 5 stars.

I purchased this mill after seeing it at my friend's home. My most important reason for wanting the mill is to make applesauce. It functions beautifully. I've not used it for other purposes as yet.

I have this scale and can testify that it is wonderful. It works just as described giving you all the nutritional information you need for hundreds of food items. It's aesthetic and ergonomic features are a real plus.

The product works as it supposed to work, without any headaches, and I definitely save time planning my diet. Also, I think it's beautiful - looks nice in the kitchen, and the user interface is intuitive - it took me less than 5 minutes to learn how to use it. Overall, I feel I got good value for my money.

My 7-year old son was recently diagnosed with Type 1 diabetes and required to eat certain carbohydrate amounts at each meal. Measuring exact carbs for produce, pasta and rice are very difficult. This machine has over 900 foods pre-programmed into it with carb, fat, sodium and calorie counts (including produce, pasta and rice!). Now we put the food on the scale, type in the code (in the included catalog) and push the carb button. We know the exact carb count of apples, bananas, cherries, strawberries and so much more!! It is beyond priceless and I highly recommend this product.

Got one for our house and one for our cabin, very impressed!! Not to loud at all, has 3 speed settings as well as full auto settings adds humidity VERY FAST, hours not days.

I purchased this because I want to eat healthier foods, but I'm short on time, and I dislike cleaning up lots of pots and pans. It has worked out well. The CorningWare ceramic pot is very nice. It looks good and it comes with a plastic sealable lid if you want to store leftovers in the refrigerator. The slow cooker itself cooks at the correct temperature. I actually went through the trouble to fill it with water and test it with a candy thermometer. The exterior does get warm, but not really hot. The automatic reduce-to-warm-when-finished feature helps keep the food from overcooking.

I only have two minor complaints. First, I'm a little paranoid about leaving any kitchen appliance plugged in for a long period. I even unplug the coffee maker. Therefore, I think it would be a good idea to include an idiot shutoff feature that shuts the appliance off after, say, 24 hours. Second, it does make the counter top a little warm. Perhaps the bottom legs need to raise it up a little higher. In any case, I purchased a tempered glass cutting board, which is heat resistant and can be used as a trivet. I placed the cooker on top of that and I no longer have any worries about my counter top.

A few cooking tips:
* Coating the CorningWare with cooking spray makes cleanup easy.
* It works best when it's full of food.
* Don't put too much water in it if your cooking with vegetables.
* Fresh ingredients work best.
* The general idea for many recipes is
a) Place heavy roots and vegetables, like carrots or potatoes, on the bottom
b) Place light vegetables, like corn, in the middle.
c) Place meats on top.

This is the first slow cooker I've purchased. Being that I am a new mom with a hectic schedule, this has been a big help. I've made soup, chili and stews - all with great success. As it states in the instruction manuel, it does have a burning smell when you first use it. Don't be alarmed and send it back - it's normal. I also suggest getting a good slow cooker cook book. When I tried to make things on my own without a recipe, some ingredients took longer than others to cook (making for an unpleasing texture). Other good points are the stay warm feature which allows me to have perfectly cooked items warming and not overcooked when arrive home after work, the outer casing stays fairly cool, it has nonskid feet, it holds 4qt (perfect for a family of 3), it is easy to clean and it has a heavy glass lid. The funny thing is that I am a chef by trade, but this thing helps me provide easy, nutritious, one-pot meals ready to serve when I am. I didn't give it 5 stars only because it only allows you to cook on "high" when you program it for one, two or three hours. If you want to cook something for more than three hours it automatically cooks on "low," You can only cook on high for more than 3 hours if you are around to reprogram to high after three hours are up. Also, I haven't had much success cooking anything on high for three hours, or less, and have it be brought to tempurture, nor cooked completely. If the folks at Corningware could tweak this and make it fully programable, it would be 5 star. Otherwise, a great slow cooker for those who want something to cook all day and have something ready and perfectly cooked when you arrive home.

So nice and useful!. I can program for whatever time I want to. It's so easy to use and clean.

I like being able to see how much water is in it, so I don't waste energy heating water I don't need. I can brew tea for icing right in the kettle. My kids like to watch it boil.

The whistle is adequately loud though somewhat sputtery and not the most musical. The handle gets rather warm though I haven't felt the need to use potholders on it.

You have to remove the lid before pouring, making pouring a two-handed operation. This might annoy some people but hasn't been a problem for me.

I use this on a gas stove so I haven't had to use the included wire loop.

I got this fan to use in my bathroom which gets quite steamy. It does the job well, but what I don't like is the switch location. It's in back of the top of the circular part of the fan so it's awkward to get at. Whoever designed the location of the switch must have been totally not thinking. But, it does work, and it cools the room and helps with the steaming up. I just can't understand why the switch is in such an illogical spot. I do not recommend this fan because of that.