Irons Reviews

I've owned this waffle maker for over a year now and have given it as a gift. It heats up fast and provides a lot of flexibility in doneness. Easy to clean its non-stick surface. Like all similar machines, don't overfill with batter and the clean-up is minimal. It also stores well in a small space. I see that the newer model has a locking mechanism for storage. Nice, but not needed.

I use Carbon's malted waffle mix. I've never seen it in the stores, but you can order it from their website. It's the same mix used by Marriott's Residence Inn chain and comes in several flavors. Blueberry and Pumpkin are our favs, and the plain can be used as a base for your own creativity.

We have wanted a good belgian waffle and haven't been able to find one until now. I started by reading all the reviews on all brands of belgian waffle makers. I liked what Chef's Choice reviews said. I ordered it and haven't been sorry. We use it at least once a week. It's not very big, but it can put out the waffles fast. They come out just the way we like them, crisp on the outside and soft on the inside. I like it because you can control just how crisp you want it on the outside. I highly recommend this waffle maker.

Fortunately, I didn't toss my old 8-inch straight-sided cast-iron skillet when this one arrived. This pan works as well as you'd expect, but the sloping sides reduce the cooking surface of the pan. The slope makes it easier to get a spatula under an egg and cleaning the rounded corners inside the pan is probably marginally easier. The flat handle doesn't seem to get so hot. Overall, though I don't think the loss of cooking surface is worth the benefits of the pan.

I have replaced all my cephalon cookware with cast iron and stainless steel.

The general consensus is that these pans are a bit harder to take care of. For me, this is not true.

I use skillets for sauteing and cooking eggs, and with a coating of vegetable oil or butter, sauteed vegetables and eggs clean up with hot water and a quick scrub with a brush. It took a little more effort to clean the nonstick pans from the day they came out of the box, and a lot more effort within a few months as the coating began to deteriorate.

If you are considering replacing all of your non-stick pans, you'll want to get a stainless steel pan or two for tomato products and liquidy soups, which can dissolve the "seasoning" off of a cast-iron skillet. Of course, it's easy to build the seasoning back up again, but why bother?

I bought this skillet over one month ago. It is wonderful. It makes perfect omelettes and fried eggs. This is my new everyday pan. I used to be a fan of nonstick pans, however, after noting the nonstick coatings coming off my pans, I went back to the basics with cast iron.
Cast iron cookware needs more care to prevent rust. That is the only drawback.
I have the surety of knowing that this pan will last forever and not worry about chemicals coming off onto my food.

I hate to iron and despise the cost of dry cleaning...so, I was really excited when I saw this steamer at CVS. It was reasonably priced and sounded wonderful. I was bragging about how much I loved this steamer after using it just once! It was easy and fast....then, the second time I used it---Water everywhere!

Water started to spit and spray out of the (sealed and closed) base of the steamer. I had turned the top to the locked position...but, the black rubber ring (supposed to keep the thing sealed?) was all twisted up---explaining why it wasn't working. Well, I fixed that rubber thing back into place, but it still kept spraying boiling water. SO, right now it's sitting in the corner waiting to be thrown out.

I'm very frustrated with this product, but love the way that clothes steamers work. It looks like I'm going to have to bite the bullet and buy an expensive one. But, how expensive should these things be? All they do is boil water and shoot it out of a nozzle, right?

This product is a waste of time and money...I can't believe that there were any good reviews.

I am a trained research assistant; therefore, I try to research products before I purchase them. In the case of this purchase, I saw the item during an early bird sale at Kohls, so I grabbed it. I owned a professional steamer that was purchased at a store that was going out of buisness, but it is really bulky, so I thought that the compact steamer would be a great choice. On the contrary, it was a big waste of time trying to dewrinkle a blouse, and although it was on sale, it was a waste of money. The problems I had were:

1. The cord is too short: directions instruct user to hang nozzle on the door hook which hangs over the top of any door. The nozzle would not reach to the top of the door, and I live in a mobile home, so it is not like I have the tallest doors in a home.

2. The most important thing in steaming a garment, for me, is to avoid the garment getting wet. I did not fill the steamer to the maximum line, because I know from past experience that this could sometime cause the spitting affect. After 2 minutes of waiting for the steam, I began to try it out on a silk blouse, and what a big mistake I made. The water spat out on the material. I thought that I should not hold the nozzle so close, but it did not matter, because water continued to spit out on the blouse.

3. The steam pressure would not dewrinkle the blouse. The is not a case where the material was so hard to dewrinkle; it is silk, not that hard of a material.

I have read other reviews, and if this machine worked for them, I don't know how, but I can attest to the operation of the steamer that I purchased. I dabble in selling clothing on another website, and I have owned my other steamer since 2002, and I will continue to use it; I will just have to deal with space that it takes up in my home. Conair GS4 Compact is a bust.

This is a dangerous steamer. Sometimes it will pour steaming water and burn you badly. definitely not recommended. I am throwing mine away.

This skillet has worked great, but it has 2 drawbacks: 1) it's HEAVY and 2) it creates a lot of smoke.

I don't know how much it weighs exaclty, but it is heavy enough that cleaning is difficult (especially since most authorities reccomend cleaning the skillet while it's still hot).

It also creates a lot of smoke. I set off the smoke detector everytime I use this thing even when I have all the windows and doors open to ventilate the apartment (I have no exhaust on top of my range). I'm not sure if this is because of the way I seasoned the pan and it's the oil burning off, or if it's a characteristic of iron in general.

Otherwise it has worked very well. I've mainly cooked steaks with it and they've all come out excellent.

At some point in the post WWII American consumerist age, we decided to replace all the good stuff that worked with newly invented junk that did not work in the name of progress. Think of margerine instead of butter..for some reason we took natural butter off of our tables and replaced it with artery clogging scientfically invented margerine. Americans such as my grandparents ate butter every day of their lives and lived into their 90's.

This is exactly the type of thing with happened with cookware in the US. We had a perfectly good product (cast iron) which has superior heat retention and distribution and we replaced it with the miracle of science..TEFLON!! Teflon was a newer better way to cook except that we eventually found out it might be killing us. Besides, were you ever able to make a meal properly with those junky teflon pans?? They always over heated and burned or were not hot enough and cooked your food irregularly. I could never get these cheapo teflon pans to cook a simple blueberry pancake all the way through without burning the pancake.

Being in my thirties and never having had any cooking lessons, I stumbled upon cast iron one day and like the other reviewers here, I can't believe that Americans ever decided to use a different (new and better!) product. The original is still the best!! Buy this cast iron product and amaze yourself at how much more efficiently it cooks and tastier the food is. The heat retention of these pans literally amazes me. You can take the pan cold, wash it with hot water and then dry it..at this point you can feel the warmth from the hot water that was retained in the iron..amazing.

If you have a Wal Mart near you you should first check there for the pans. They have the three different frying pans pre seasoned for cheap and no shipping cost!

Lodge rocks!

One of the most important things to consider when buying anything cast iron is its weight, and therefore, balance. Never use your wrist alone to pick up a heavy skillet, use part of your arm as well. Because for its inherent weight, it is very important for cast iron cookware to be properly balanced. You should be able to put part of the skillets handle just past your wrist so that your arm is providing partial support. The pan should feel balanced this way.

Another thing about cast iron is its non-stick abilities. Once a pan is properly seasoned, and kept rust free, it will work better than a teflon coated pan. Why? Because, the butter or oil that you put into the pan distributes evenly, and doesn't form a puddle like it does with traditional non-stick cookware.

How to clean it? Personally, I don't feel a pan isn't clean without using soap. So, I use a vegetable brush to get rid of any hard stuff, then wash it out with dishsoap and rinse thorougly. Then I put it on the stove, heat it until it is dry, and rub a little oil on it.

Yes, there are health benefits to using cast iron. Some of the cast iron gets into your food, which you eat and absorb. Wouldn't you rather eat iron than teflon? I would.

This is the first cast iron cookware I have purchased and the quality is compeling me to buy more of Lodge products.the speed and ease of buying it through amazon is another plus.and last but not the least,where else can you get it at this price!
overall an excellent product.

I hadn't owned a dutch oven before, so wasn't sure what to expect. This is a quality item: heavy(!), sturdy, durable. There's no preparation time; the oven comes pre-seasoned so you can cook with it as soon as you take it out of the packaging. It's easy to clean (no soap, though, just hot water). The price from Amazon (expecially with the free shipping and handling) is a real bargain.

The Lodge cast iron Dutch oven is an essential for anyone who loves to cook. Once you get the knack of cooking with cast iron, i.e., keeping it properly seasoned and using its heat retention properties to your advantage, it's a wonderful pot for stews, braising, or even avoiding spatter when browning. Without the lid it can be used for roasting - although a trivet would be advisable for that use. The Dutch oven can be used on the stove, in the oven or even over a campfire. It will last for generations and poses no worries about chipping, staining or wearing out as do enameled cast iron pots. Cleaning is very easy if cast iron is kept properly seasoned. If something does burn on, first soaking in water and then scraping gently with a plastic blade usually does the trick. The single drawback with cast iron is the fact that it's heavy. But, of course, from the standpoint of cooking, that is also a major advantage.

I've used my Dutch oven for more than forty years. My recent purchases of Lodge frying pans and Dutch ovens have been as gifts for grown children who also enjoy cast iron cooking. There's little doubt that forty years from now they will still be cooking with the same Lodge cast iron utensils.

Although this is a nice compact waffle maker, the recipes that come with it produce dry, tasteless waffles that stick terribly even with nonstick spray after each one. No overflow protection, so if too much batter is used, it overflows and creates a huge mess on the unit, shelf, floor, etc. The recipe by a reviewer here is MUCH better and produces great waffles... with a LOT of spray between each waffle. The teflon used is not very slippery.

This waffler was a gift for my son. He loves Belgian waffles and says this waffler is great.

Better than expected, great waffle the first time out. Easy cleanup and storage. Quality is fine. If I had a complaint it would be crisp on one side and soft on the other, but with syrup it's not a problem.

I was reluctant to part with the money for All-Clad, but I wanted made in USA cookware, and I needed flat bottoms for a ceramic cook top. Started with the LTD set and soon found that the cookware heated faster at lower settings, with no hot spots (like the old copper bottom Revereware clones) and it cleans up with little effort. The handles are heavy duty and riveted on, not attached with flimsy little spot welds. Polished stainless lids fit perfectly and clean easily, and the sauce pan lid fits the fry pan - keeping any spatter inside, so unless you need both pans at the same time one lid works. The stainless interiors clean easily with Barkeeper's Friend just as the instructions recommend. I was so impressed with the quality and performance that I ordered two All-Clad non-stick fry pans. Nothing works for eggs and fish like non-stick, and just because it's non-stick doesn't mean I can't toss butter, olive oil, minced garlic and onion in with the coated halibut! All-Clad non-stick is nothing like the other stuff - believe me. This stuff cooks perfectly, at low heat (you gotta keep the heat low as the thermal transfer of this stuff is incredible), doesn't burn, discolor or scratch. It cleans up with a drop of dishsoap and a swish of a dish rag, rinse and its done. Folks it's worth the money, and will last a life time.

It took my wife and I a long time to finally decide to purchase All-Clad stainless cookware. Thanks to Amazon for their frequent specials, we picked up 2 of the 1qt. stainless saucepans for a very low price on Amazon and those pans conviced us to buy nothing else after that. A couple of months ago one of our local department stores had their All-Clad open stock severely marked down so we started buying a few pieces each couple of weeks, by the time we were done we had expanded our collection to 20 pieces (not counting lids).

This cookware is just flat-out amazing. Others have already said this but I will say it again, food cooked in All-Clad actually tastes better. Whether it is the heat control, the quality of the stainless, or whatever. Saute a steak or cook up a pot of oatmeal, it taste amazing.

The only complaint we had was cleaning. After a couple of years the 2 original saucepans had gotten dull on the inside, the outside still had its original gleam. When our new pans started to look the same, we went looking for a solution. By the way, even though the stainless is dishwasher safe, we always hand-wash our cookware. Anyway, imagine our surprise when the $2.00 solution recommended by All-Clad, namely the Barkeeper's Friend cleaning powder, really really worked wonderfully to clean all our pans. Even the old originals cleaned up to look as good as the new.

Anyway, in summary, don't let the price scare you off. If you like to cook, consider it a well-deserved tool that you will use for the rest of your life. Buy the All-clad, clean it with Barkeepers Friend, and enjoy!

We received a set of Calphalon One for our wedding, and it functioned well for nonstick. As I got more into cooking, though, I wanted to try stainless, and I thought All-Clad would be the best. It is! There's nothing better than the sight and smell of onions sauteing in olive oil in an All-Clad pan.

I don't use any more oil than I did in the nonstick pans, but I get more delicious fond for pan sauces. With stainless pans, you can cook healthy meals without sacrificing flavor or texture.

Of the set, my favorite pieces are the 3-quart covered casserole and 3-quart saute pan. The casserole is perfect for making smaller batches of soup, and the saute pan is perfect for wilting spinach and cooking large batches of vegetables or meats.

I've never had a problem with cleanup -- we just put them in the dishwasher on the "pots and pans" cycle. They come out beautifully every time.

As other reviewers have mentioned, it's good to keep a nonstick skillet or omelette pan on hand for cooking eggs. I also prefer nonstick for pan-frying tofu.

This set of All-Clad has completely lived up to my expectations and has made cooking even more enjoyable.

This is a great kitchen tool. It's easy to clean, waffles don't stick, good temperature regulation and I like the light and sound indicators for notifying you when the waffle is done.

Cuisinart really got it right with this 4-slice Belgian waffle iron. Its stainless "retro" styling is truely handsome, and it makes perfect waffles every time with heat variable by you to suit any individual's wish for degree of doneness. But you better get one while there are any left because I've been told that Cuisinart is discontinuing this retro styled model. DON'T DO IT, CUISINART !

We absolutely love this Belgian Waffle Iron. It browns uniformly, and you can make them as light or as dark as you wish. The audible "done signal" is a major plus. The waffles have deep nooks and crannies to hold all the melted butter or ice cream you want to put on them. My daughter asked for them instead of cake for her birthday party. The recipe in the book is really the best one to use for this iron. Enjoy! We do.

As mentioned in another review, if you need to fill the water while iron, it is a pain as is the dial under the Handle. I would say DO NOT BUY this iron.

After much thought and research we decided to buy this particular iron. The first few months with it were alrite. The automatic stop went off every ten minutes after beeping for several annoying minutes. You then have to unplug the appliance for atleast a minute before you can turn it on and use it again. After six months, it started having problems with the steam generator. This after cleaning out the water after every use. THere were mineral deposits all over my clothes and I completely stopped ironing them unless required. Thank god most of my husbands shirts didn't need to be ironed always and I am a scientist...noone at the lab really cares if your top is well pressed or not. Its been a year and a half and the thing will not work with water in it. I need to have something else with which to sprinkle water on the clothes. To iron a single shirt now takes over 10 minutes. Do not bother getting this one. I am right now eyeing a rowenta. Will keep u updated on that purchase.

Great iron. Steams very well. I like that is shuts off, but it shuts off after quite some time 10 to 15 minutes. I did not have any problems filling the iron with distilled water. Great iron for the price. Very satisfied. It does seem a bit heavy when filled with water but then I do not have to press down at all to help get the wrinkles out. I like that it has a steam burst as well.