Appliance Reviews

I bought one of these devices for my wife and one for my mother and both enjoy them very much. It may sound odd, but as folks get older a simple task such as opening a jar can be quite a challenge, especially for people living alone. The same is true for people of all ages who suffer from arthritis or other problems that restrict hand strength. This product is ideal for such people. We found it to work exactly as advertised. It was simple to use, required almost no effort and opened even the most difficult-to-open jars, large and small. No more banging, prying or using hot water. My 89-year-old mother had no trouble using it with only minimal explanation. And now my daughter-in-law wants to buy two more--one for her mom and one for herself. It remains to be seen if this product will survive the test of time, but so far it seems to work fine.

I bought the Black and Decker Lids Off Jar Opener for myself and am amazed at how fabulous this appliance is. It is very easy to use and the best designed item I have ever seen. I sometimes use it to open jars that would normally be easy to open by hand, just because it is so much fun to use. This product deserves an Academy Award!

This is a great, useful product for a senior citizen or anyone with limited hand/arm strength. My mom would always have a couple of jars lined up for me to open whenever I visited and was somewhat chagrined at having to ask. Unless you commonly buy giant economy sizes, it will probably handle most of the jars in your pantry (it easily accommodated a tall pickle jar and a 32-oz mayonnaise; those were the largest we had on hand).

This is a cool item to own. If you are looking for something to help start your summer off right, well this is it. It was made for crushing ice just right for those speciality drinks. Get one and enjoy!

Don't let the price and appearance fool you. This blender is amazing! I was worried about how well it would crush ice, but it does it effortlessly. Ice cubes turn to slush in about 5 seconds. The size of the blender is just perfect for making one or two servings of your favorite smoothie, without taking up any counter space. You can tell some serious design went into this product, because they make it really easy to clean by putting the blade inside the jar. The jar also stands upright without the base so you can just put the rest of your smoothie in the fridge.

Note however, that this is not an all-purpose blender, since there are only two settings (on and off). I personally don't find that to be a problem at all. How useful is a dozen or more different speed settings on a full-size blender anyway? (You can simulate the effect by just turning off the blending sooner.) The two-speed dial just makes operating the blender a no-brainer.

Overall, very happy with the product! Perfect for a college student or for anyone who doesn't need a full-size blender.

I love this steamer! I have used it for vegetables, rice, hard-boiled eggs, and making my own babyfood! I started out keeping it in a cabinet, but I found I use it so often, I moved it out onto my countertop. I have already recommended this product to several friends, and now I am buying one for someone as a gift. It makes perfect rice everytime. I love the timer. It comes with a wonderful guide for ideas and recommended cook-times. The herb/spice flavor scenter is an added bonus. This is the best purchase I have made for my kitchen in a long time, and my family is eating healthier now because of it.

I received this steamer as a wedding gift back in June 2003. I've used it regularly ever since. I've steamed all kinds of veggies like broccoli, green beans, cauliflowers, corn, etc.. Also, because of its conveniently oblong-shaped, I was able to use it to steam fish (with ginger, green onion and soy sauce) as well! Yum! What a great way to eat healthy! It is extremely easy to use for a novice like me. You just add water to the reservoir, put your food in the basket or bowl provided, cover it up, and turn the timer knob to the time you'd like. And that's it! Also, cleaning afterwards is so easy. I've never tried to cook rice with this steamer as I've already had a rice cooker that does the job. But it does what it's supposed to do for me. I highly recommend this product. It's definitely worth every penny. And obviously it deserves its place on my countertop!

I have owned my Black and Decker steamer for almost three years and I can say that I have been happy with it for that entire time. I have been most pleased with the quality of the machine itself (mine has never had a problem or malfunction), but there are several other features I appreciate too.

1. The manual that came with mine has a very extensive chart of various foods and how long each needs to cook in the steamer (this is most helpful!). I primarily use my steamer for vegetables such as asparagus, brussels sprouts, green beans, carrots, red potatoes, and corn on the cob. Although B&D boasts it as a possibility, I have never used my steamer for rice because I do not see how piles of rice would/could cook evenly! I have also never felt the need to try the fish recipe included in the manual because I didn't want my kitchen, or the plastic parts of this appliance to retain a "fishy" smell.

2. I also agree with the previous reviewer who states that this appliance is a snap to clean. In most cases all it needs is a thorough rinsing under very hot water and then a wipe down. When I first purchased this steamer I lived in the country and had fairly hard water (high mineral content) which caused a bit of a lime build up on the heating element of the steamer. My worries about this have proven to be needless as I have now owned it many years and these occasional mineral buildups on the heating element do eventually fall away as you wash it after use.

3. The model I have is the same in every way as the one being sold with the exception that mine comes with a stacking ring and another steamer basket so that you can actually steam two different foods at the same time. I paid nearly twice the price that Amazon is currently offering for a single basket steamer though, and if I were doing it all over again, I would opt for just the single basket model.

I highly recommend this purchase as a quality product at a great price with the added benefit of enabling you to eat more healthy foods.

I bought this an year ago and it worked perfectly for few months. I've been mainly using it for onions, green leaves etc. After few months, the blades were sharp enough and it couldn't make onion paste of it. The jar also started showing small crack lining from the friction between blades, onions/tomatos and the jar plastic. It seems like the materil used is very soft and gets scratched easily. After few months, the lid also becomes loose and if you try to put tomatoes in it, they'll start leaking the juice from the top when the mixer is on.

It's definitely convenient, but not dependable for long time.

This is such a little time saver in my household. We use lots of onion, garlic and nuts in our meals and this little processor is perfect. You don't have to waste time lugging out and setting up a big food processor. We keep this one ready to go in our cabinet. Takes just seconds to process and all you have to do is rinse clean. For projects like chopping this is perfect. Keep in mind it is really small but it saves so much time from having to dice and chop green onions, garlic etc. If you are looking for convienience in a small package this is the processor that is good to have. If you need to do large or even medium size meals I would get a bigger processor.

First off, it's a GRIDDLE and waffle baker, not a grill. And second, it's so poorly made that it's frightening to use. Mine fell apart while it was burning hot the first time I used it. I wish I hadn't wasted my money.

My mother has had her B&D Wafflemaker for years and it's fantastic. She bought me this one as a gift, but I have to say the quality is not nearly as good as it used to be. The chrome is very thin and the plates don't always line up easily and lock snugly into place. I had to bend the clips in the front so they wouldn't touch each other and cause the plates to come loose.

I don't agree with other reviewers that it doesn't get hot enough or bake waffles well. As long as you have a good recipe and keep them in long enough (until they stop steaming) then they will come out crisp and yummy. I don't recommend the receipe that comes with the unit- the batter is too thin. I have also used the griddle side for grilled cheese and it worked fine. Be sure to season your plates well before trying to use jellies or cheese on them.

All in all the wafflebaker works well, but the quality could be much better (especialy for the price!).

I love this waffle maker! It's like the ones our mom used, not those cheesy seeming plastic things they're making now. It's also got a lot of excellent features that make my life easier.

I'll mention right now that this is a VERY hot waffle maker. They make the plastic ones to be "cool touch". I'll trade the cool touch feature for the sturdier design of this versatile machine. I'm being careful and haven't burned myself yet. But it's something to consider if you'd like your children making waffles. My ten year old could be careful enough, but I keep my five and eight year olds away.

The waffles this machine makes are great! They freeze well too. The family is very happy. When the light goes of the unit is ready to make waffles. Pour in the batter and the light comes on again--wait for it to go off and the waffle is done (however, I usually go on instinct and sometimes pull out the waffle before the light goes off.)

The open grill feature makes wonderful pancakes and fried eggs. I have a big family and it's nice to have two pancakes cook at a shot without taking up all my stovetop! I can have bacon and eggs on the stove and the pancakes on the waffle maker. (I can also have a heart attack if I keep eating all these bacon and eggs!)

The sandwich feature is nice. I can cook two grilled cheese sandwiches at one time getting me out of the kitchen quicker. Some advice--cheese might drip out the side of the sandwich. Just keep the sandwich away from the back of the unit where the cables run in and the mess just wipes off--no problem. The sandwiches cook far more uniformly than they do in a pan on the stove. They taste great.

This unit cleans up easily and changing the grills from waffle to flat is easy. I recommend it over a lot of more costly models if you want more value for your money. This is the most versatile waffle maker I've found and all the features actually work!

I wish I had my old B&D cordless Can Opener. It was 100 times better than this "newer" model. I hate the way it works--or rather fails to work.
The unit is difficult to place securely in the charger. Sometimes one cannot tell if it's properly placed for recharging.
The cutter blade falls out easily, not to mention how difficult it is to get it on a can. Also it is so slow in cutting that I think that it may be possible to go on an extended vacation before it's finished cutting.

I purchased a Black and Decker cordless can opener
1 1/2 months ago at a discount store (Sorry not Amazon.com). The magnet on the removable cutting head broke off. I called Black and Decker. They said that since it wasn't defective, they wouldn't warranty it, and I had to return it to the store that I bought it from. I feel that it should have held up better under the normal use it had.

We received this can opener as a gift and liked its size and portability. After 18 months of use, the NiCad battery died and the can opener would not hold a charge any more. I tried to replace the battery but could not by it locally. When I called Black and Decker they told me the replacement battery would be $24.95! That's more than was paid for the new can opener.

Seems like an electric cordless can opener should last more than one and a half year and that the battery replacement should be a little more reasonably priced. BTW, we also left the unit on the charging base when not in use, so the battery does not have a long life with even infrequent use. Looks like I'll go back to the old plug-in variety!

The chopper/grinder works very well -- but the the shredder/grater with chute is just horrible. As the other reviewer said, the grated food sprays out all over the work surface instead of into whatever container you innocently intended.

I'm very disappointed in this design -- I had another B&D small food processor with a grater/shredder WITHOUT the chute which lasted for nearly 14 years. When that finally gave up the ghost about 2 months ago I bought this one, and I'm sorry I did.

I guess it's back to hand-grating cheese again and scraping my knuckles . . .

I use this mainly to grind pulses and veggies and it does a great job. But it is extremely noisy and the grater and other chopper attachments are not impressive. Food flies out as said in the other reviews and it is difficult to clean, unless one is using it for something really dry in which case, just a rinse will do. If one is okay with noise(a lot of that), then this is good to buy. Else, look for options. I am looking too...

This Black and Decker processor is great! It is compact and SO easy to clean! I purchased it to grind up baby food. It works great! I haven't used that attachment on top yet but it looks interesting for blending fruits or whatever. Definitely worth the money.

In this day of technology and the fact that Black and Decker are supposed to be a reputable company, this was a piece of garbage.
If you have arthritis, I definitely would not recommend. You have to have two people to operate this. Not worth the effort!! I called Black and Decker (aka: Applica) and they claimed they've never received any complaints. I was civil with them, but they would not offer any help on this, nor would give me to a supervisor to speak with.

I recieved this as a gift.I tried it out several times.The consistency is nothing like soft ice cream,more like hard ice cream that has been sitting out.Wastes most of your ice cream anyway.Total junk.Also black and decker has not been a pleasent company to work with.After much insistence they are going to investigate the situation and consider some form of a refund.

I bought one locally for my Mom as she likes soft serve, well, I HAD to buy one for myself, and that's when I saw Amazon has it and I'm buying it. It makes ice cream like you get from soft serve machines at DQ and places like that. You do need to make sure the ice cream you put in the machine is VERY hard, other wise it wont make a good soft serve cone, it'll be way to soft. This machine is great if you are making more than one cone, and you will need atleast two people if you are making cones. It's a nice little kitchen tool, and I highly recommend this. Play around and come up with neat mixes, add candy and nut pieces, have fun with it.

I own quite a few Black and Decker products, and they are all great, so I trusted the name when I purchased this item. I bought it because I have problems with my hands, and was very excited about being able to grate cheese. This was a total waste of my money, and I am surprised Black and Decker would sell a product that doesn't live up to their reputation. In my opinion, this is a piece of junk!

ZERO STARS FOR THIS OVER PRICED PIECE OF JUNK! TO PUT IT SIMPLY, IT JUST DOESNT WORK AT ALL! IF YOU WERE THINKING OF BUYING THIS, DONT. JUST STICK WITH A HAND GRADER. EVEN AFTER FREEZING THE CHEESE ( AS RECOMMENDED)IT STILL WOULDNT WORK.

This product does not work at all. I called Black & Decker and asked for a refund or a different product of equal value and all they could tell me was that they could send me a new one. Well after reading negative feedback on different website I told them I didnt want a new one. They said thats the best they could do. DONT WASTE YOUR MONEY on this piece of junk. Black and Decker has definitly lost me as a customer!

the price tells about the product everything. when used in shredding or slicing mode (as shown on the picture) sliced food flyes everywhere except for bowl. cuts uneven and the motor makes noise. i am very disappointed and going to return it back to the store.