Appliance Reviews

Cuisinart makes it easy for ice cream lovers by selling extra freezer bowls! Having an extra freezer bowl is extremely useful if you are making large quantities of ice cream or you plan on making different varieties. According to the instruction booklet it can take between six to twenty-two hours to freeze the bowl. We usually keep one bowl in the freezer all the time, then when making a batch of ice cream we replace it with the extra bowl. The freezer bowl doesn't take up much space and it's easy to clean! Fantastic Buy!

There's not too much to be said for this item beyond the fact that it does what it's supposed to do. It freezes solid and stays frozen long enough to make ice cream. I'd offer a couple of caveats which in no way reflect on the item itself: First, be sure it is thoroughly frozen or your ice cream won't firm up properly. Give it a shake. If there is even a little mushiness to the liquid inside, you'll hear it. And if you do, put it back into the freezer for 12 more hours. Next, get the ice cream out of the bowl as soon as possible after freezing. It sticks to the side and has to be scraped out. This doesn't necessarily detract from the quality of the finished product but it's a pain.

What's the point? Well, an extra bowl will allow you to make more than one batch of ice cream a day. If your freezer is set low enough, and not too packed, you can probably rotate two bowls for fresh ice cream every day. And isn't that really why you got your ice cream maker? I really recommend getting the second bowl, to avoid frustration and ice cream-less days with long faces and frayed tempers.

It's not expensive. Knock yourself out.

I bought my Cuisinart ice cream maker when I first got on the low carb bandwagon three years ago. Since ice cream can be such a guilty pleasure in the low carb lifestyle, I've got to have plenty on hand! The extra bowl allows me to have my low carb ice cream whenever I want. Use your favorite low carb ice cream recipe with heavy cream, a sugar substitute such as Splenda, some vanilla or cocoa or sugar-free chocolate pudding and in 20 minutes, you've got some great low carb ice cream! Great taste. Great product. Great price. If you're low carb and an ice cream addict, you need this to go along with your Cuisinart ice cream maker.

The browning dial has 6 settings on it. I can't imagine why, since my toast is almost burnt when it's set to 2. Perhaps it's not calibrated correctly. This toaster couldn't handle frozen waffles set at 1 and the defrost button on; it toasted them way too dark for my daughter's liking.

I bought this toaster based on the rave reviews it seems to receive but what a disappointment. The control on this machine does not have enough range to be able to toast a slice of white bread properly, it burns it everytime. Giving it the benefit of a second chance, I exchanged it for another unit. The second unit behaved exactly as the first. The instruction manual says that the control should be set to 3 as an initial setting, the range is 1 - 6. It consistantly burns white bread toast on 1. I didn't try it on 3, it would probably light the bread on fire. I'm returning this thing and getting a different brand. The only reason I gave it a 2 instead of a 1 is for it's great classic looks.

After falling in love with my Krups coffee maker, espresso machine, electric grill, and coffee grinder, I was dead-set on getting the little chrome Krups toaster. But this Cuisinart toaster just proves that a foolish consistency is the hobgoblin of little minds. Unlike the Krups toaster, this Cuisinart has an extra-lift feature so you can get your bagels out without risking electrocution. Plus, unlike Mom's metal toaster, even if you cook three consecutive bagels on the highest setting, the chrome exterior stays cool. Last, the whole apparatus is quite small (about as long as most coffee makers), yet it is very stable due to an extra-heavy base. The only weak feature is the crumb tray: the apparatus doesn't smoothly glide in and out, doesn't do a great job keeping the crumbs in while removing, and is placed in the rear where it's hard to reach. This is really just a minor irritation, though--not enough to keep this great toaster from earning 5 stars.

I wanted to alert you to a problem I had originally with this toaster and one which several other reviewers also had---and one I solved! The first time I put in my bread it only toasted on one side. I found out that this was due to my not putting it in the correct slot---if you only are toasting 1 or 2 slices, you must put it in the front slot, not the back. The second time, the bread toasted beautifully.

This toaster is fine but doesn't really have the oomph-factor. It is very big (takes up lots of room on the countertop) and not deep enough to toast the tops of tall bread. Other than that, its fine. But pricey--I don't think that it provides enough bang for the buck.

I bought this a year ago and have been very happy with it. It's well made, easy to clean, looks good - and toasts great. The slots are plenty wide for bagels and it easily fits four standard sized pieces of bread (or waffles, etc). However, you it will only accomodate two slices of larger bread (eg. Healthy Choice or Earth Grains). The only improvement I would suggest is they should make it about 1/2 inch taller - part of a large bagel can stick out the top and not get as toasted as the rest.

We never use the defrost or reheat buttons. We use the bagel button (although I really don't know what it does) and the 2-slice button is nice for saving electricity. Smaller items can be removed more easily after toasting by lifting the lever on the right.

Overall, I'm very happy with my decision to purchase this toaster.

I highly recomend this item. It preforms beyond expectations and the style is extremly attractive, it fits nicely in the theam of our kitchen. The function buttons are easy to understand and control.

After years of good toast, but a broken, ugly toaster, my husband finally bought us this new toaster. The first time I used it filled our home with a very strong burned plastic smell. I couldn't find any plastic in the unit at all, so I figured maybe it was just because it was the first use of the toaster (although that still didn't seem right). I gave it two more tries, and STILL get a bunt-plastic smell (though not as strong as the first time). Anyone else experience this??? The toast burned also! It has a fancy-sounding "custom control" feature. Well, this only works if the toaster remains plugged in. Once the toaster is unplugged,you lose all of your settings. Here's the caveat--the instruction manual tells you top unplug the toaster when not in use!! Huh???? I called the custumer service #, and after 3 tries finally got a nice lady who told me to return to to the store and get something else. It is boxed up and ready to go! No more cuisinart for us!!!

During 3 years of owning this toaster we had to get it replaced twice. Both times the knob for pushing down the toast broke. What an annoyance! However, when it was working, this toaster made very good toast, and warmed bagels just fine. It has a very nice appearance, and I must say the Cuisinart company was good about replacing their product. Now if they could just figure out a way to improve that knob .....

I was skeptical of this toaster based on the prior reviews. But when we saw it at Costco for $39.99, we had to give it a try. And so far it's been a very good buy.
We wanted a toaster that could make 4 slices of regular toast, but also toast slices of specialty breads that won't fit in a regular toaster without flipping the slice over, and then burning the middle. This definitely does that.
So far it has been very consistent. I like mine medium, my wife likes hers barely toasted, and we haven't had any problems yet. As far as we're concerned, that is all we care about. The score of 4 stars is only due to the fact that we haven't had it very long, and almost no product is perfect. For the price, I recommend giving it a shot!!