Appliance Reviews

We enjoy wok cooking several times a week and have gone through several "off the shelf" electric woks. Manufacturers had not yet produced a heavy-duty electric wok until now. The Circulon 14" wok is far superior to any similiar product we have found on the market - price included. The pan is heavy and retains heat exceptionally well. The controls are easy to use and offer the variety of heating temperatures needed for oriental cooking. Although non-stick surfaces have been available for years this pan is truly that. The ability to totally submerge the pan for cleaning is a definite plus and allows the user to hang the pan on a suspended cooking rack system. This wok with be the last one you will ever buy.

I have spent thousands of dollar's, On Meyers cookware everthing from KitchenAid, Anolon, Prestige, Faberware, & Circulan, just to name a few. Though Meyers does manufacture very high quality pots & pans and I would recommend them to anyone it's just sad that if you have any problem with them, under warranty, you have to go throught the chain of command, that never gets you anywhere, even if you want to speak with upper management about the rudeness of the customer service department. Their customer service department employees are always very rude and snotty and they act like they are doing you a favor to even talk to you about their products. Don't get me wrong they do make good cookware, probably the best, but you as the consumer are at the mercy of their customer service and their descision or your fait on wheather your life time warranty is honored or not.

Machine works great but the metalic covering on the plastic paddle is comming off. Logically, this covering goes into our bread (we do not tast it but it cannot be good for us). A new paddle ought to be the logical solution. It is afterall, a very small part. But, we can not locate the manufacturer to order a new part. If we cannot find a replace paddle, we shall have to dump the machine for a new machine (Panisonic?). Manufaturer address not on instructions, not on machine itself nor available on internet. For want of a paddle, the machine is lost!

I've been using this machine for about three years. The breads are really good, but I have some issues: if for any reason do you want to stop the machine, you have to re-start the whole process again; the kneading process is too strong and takes too long. I also don't like the big hole in the breads. I take care of my kitchen appliances very well, but the chrome is starting to show some brown spots. If you don't have another option, this is a good machine.

Having made my bread from scratch for many years, I resisted even thinking about a bread machine. I only purchased it because of the terrific price deal. Two days after receiving the machine & the 'Bread Machine Cookbook V' by German, (which I highly recommend also) I chose three recipes: Onion Cheese, Pumpernickel, & Stollen - Each loaf turned out perfect. Absolutely no problems of any kind! I had read opinions from buyers for other bread machines, which bothered me, but none of their complaints interfered with my bread results. It preformed exactly as promised, was easy to clean, & the bread was delicious even though I altered the recipes to suit my tastes (daring for a first time user). I set the machine on my washer, in my laundry room, out of any drafts, watched the mixing & kneading periods (as the book recommended) & left it to finish. The only disappointment to me, is the lack of the traditional loaf shape, & I will use my machine's 'stop after mixing' mode & shape my own for oven baking, when I have time. I hate to admit the machine is as good as I am at bread making. Onita

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This skillet is heavy and looks well-made, but it has many faults. After 2 years of use, I'm glad the stupid thing burned up because now I can throw it away!

1. The large handle is inconvenient and unnecessary. It gets in the way when cooking, and especially when you're trying to wash the skillet in the kitchen sink. I've been tempted to wash the skillet in the bathtub because it simply won't fit in my kitchen sink because of the stupid long handle. The handle isn't even practical, because the pan is too heavy to pick up by the long handle alone, even when the pan is empty. They should have put one small handle on each side rather than only one small handle and the one ridiculously large and cumbersome handle they used.

2. The legs get loose and won't stay in place. I tigntened the legs with a screwdriver every time I used this pan. It's enough to drive you crazy. They spin around and make the pan wobbly, which isn't very safe when you're cooking hot foods. DUH! Really bad design on the legs.

2. The knob on the lid is designed so that if you tighten it even the littlest bit too much, it POPS and falls off. The knob can't be replaced due to the way the lid is designed, so you have to buy a whole new lid. What a bad design idea! DUH again!

4. After approximately 2 years of use, I'm not happy with the way the non-stick cooking surface is wearing. It seems to be wearing off even though I clean it gently by hand and only use non-metal utensils.

5. The worst thing of all is what happened last night when I was cooking dinner in this pan. I was browning ground beef, which only takes about 5 minutes or so. Halfway through the cooking, I noticed a strong smell of burning plastic. I didn't see anything melting, but when I unplugged the thermostatic electric cord, it had a very strong smell of burning plastic and burnt wiring. I've spent the entire day on the internet searching for Circulon to see if I can order another cord, but I can't find a website for them, nor can I find any listing in the Yellow Pages here in Chicago, so I guess I'm stuck with a very expensive broken Circulon electric skillet.

I would NOT recommend this skillet due to the many reasons listed above.

I think I'm actually a bit relieved that the thing burned up and that I can't buy a replacement cord for it, because now I can justify throwing the stupid thing away and getting a more practical one that doesn't have spinning legs and a ridiculously long handle that gets in the way!

I had a Presto 'dutch oven' for the past two years;it is essentially their electric skillet with higher sides. I loved this skillet and used it several times a week for everything from frying chicken to making spaghetti sauce to cooking pot roasts and briskets. I'd still be using it, and happy with it, except that the nonstack finish started coming off after a few months. I kept using it until I couldn't tolerate little black flecks in the food. There's no doubt that a nonstick finish can be a godsend for sticky things, but half a nonstick finish is much worse than none! They always say these finishes are nontoxic, but who can be sure?

I went to the store to buy a Farberware, only to learn that they'd been discontinued. I came across the Circulon skillet at a factory outlet kitchen store and decided to give it a try. I have a large flat round griddle/skillet in Circulon that I've had for years, and also the large and small woks.

I've been using this appliance for roughly six months for essentially the same things I used to do in my Presto. However, since the sides are much lower, I can't really do the soups I did in the Presto. For me, the greatest drawback right now is its inability to neatly fry chicken--sides are too low for the grease level without making a mess! And, no, I'm not talking about deep-frying, but instead Southern pan fry style with roughly an inch. However, it does great steaks, croquettes, etc. I haven't seen any wear on the finish so far, and always use the appropriate utensils. It's certainly the prettiest of the available choices.

With the excellent luck I've had with Circulon pans and woks, I'm looking forward to a long history with this pan.

The Circulon Saute Pan cooks evenly, heats quickly, and the ridged bottom doesn't crack, warp or shed its protective layer. One wipe of the sink sponge gets out material cooked into the ridged bottom. We love it as a primary cooking appliance. One minor beef: some of the legs haven't stayed tight and as a consequence keep rotating out of position; even retightening the screws doesn't solve this. But other than that, this is a slam dunk purchase for your skillet needs.