Appliance Reviews

This PC air ionizer may appear to be small, but it packs a major air-cleaning punch. With its 12 volts of ionization, dirty dusty air flows in and really clean air that is healthy literally blows out so fast you can feel it blow on your hand.

For the price, it is well worth it. In fact, it's a great deal when compared to those more expensive models.

Unlike every other coffee maker I've owned, this one never spills when pouring hot coffee and never gets misaligned with the pot while brewing. No spills!! It makes a slightly weaker pot than my last coffee maker, but less-discerning people may not even notice the difference. It doesn't have a self-start/timer, but it brews really fast, and I haven't wished for one yet. It's my favorite that I've owned so far.

We own this coffee maker, and are purchasing it for our parents and a friend. Both who have expensive complicated coffe makers they complain about. When we have them over for dinner, they always say how sorry they are they didnt get a coffee maker like ours. Its lasted forever, has a light to let you know its on or not and pause feature. Everything important to a coffee lover. And nothing like needless bells and whistles that make getting an early morning cup of coffee more trouble than its worth. It has never overflowed, leaked etc. When we asked about Xmas presents this year: it was the first thing we were told. "We'd like your coffee maker".
It's great, durable. simple and easy - and a great price too!
Well worth it. I dont think I'd ever buy another kind.

Those of us who are convinced devotees of the George Foreman series of indoor grills will love this relatively new offering, which now allows us to extend the two element cooking principle of the Foreman grills to a more traditional cooker. Yet for us bachelor types, this is anything but cooking as usual, providing adequate space to accommodate a large (up to five pound) chicken or several steaks to thoroughly and safely cook meat to absolute perfection. This new version of the Foreman grill series of devices employs heating elements which are embedded both top and bottom to ensure a more even cooking of the meat. It also features a quite unique "rib-grill" design that is both easy to clean (as are all the Foreman products) and has a non-stick surface that facilitates cooking without the use of a lot of vegetable oil. One of the nicest features of this relatively inexpensive indoor grill-cooker is the neat 2.5 hour timer, which helps even a die-hard amateur like me to deliver the goods and have everyone asking for seconds, please! It also has some nice features such as a pre-heating function, a custom oval baking pan, which fits nicely inside, and an easy to use slide-out grease tray for easy disposal of the leftover residual grease. This is a great product, and is relatively inexpensive at around $55.00. Enjoy!

The only reason I rated this cooker 4 stars instead of 5 is that I've only used it once, but was I ever impressed with that once! Even though the directions say a 5-lb chicken, the one I had was a bit over 6 lbs. The lid didn't quite close at first, but after a short time the lid settled into place and the chicken was not only cooked in about an hour and a half, but it was also very juicy and delicious. The drip pan was filled to the brim with fat from the chicken but not overflowing. Clean-up was fast and easy. I highly recommend this appliance.

What I like about this Contact Cooker is that it's perfect for roasting chickens (less than 5 lbs), roasts, and whatever else you can fit in the cooker's cavity. It heats up in less than five minutes and is ready to go when you are.

The cooker comes with a removable insert which I used most of the time so the meat can roast in it's own juices. It also makes it easier to collect the juice for gravy, just make sure to use pot holders.

The only cons I have are:

1. The insert tray handles stick out of the sides of the cooker. It gets hot and can burn you if you're not paying attention. Plus, an unknowing person may accidently try to pick up the cooker thinking their handles for the cooker itself. It can be a potentially very dangerous situation when the cooker is being used.

2. You don't have a choice to the heat settings. Heck, it took me a while to find out what the cooker's heat setting was. It's a permanent 325. But, since you're cooking using all sides of the cooker, the temperature is quite practical for all meats.

3. The cooking cavity is not as big as I would like it to be. It's fine for anything less than 5 lbs and not overly large. Great for family meals of 4 or less - but don't expect to fit a pork shoulder roast or Thanksgiving turkey. It also doesn't allow room for me to slip in a temperature probe very well.

The Pros:

1. Easy to clean. The teflon coating clean up really nice. The insert tray take a little more work to clean, but it's not too bad.

2. Fast warm up. It's ready in less than 5 minutes.

3. Doesn't radiate heat as much like your oven would. A big plus, especially in the summer time.

4. Less mess overall. I use less pots and pans. What a relief.

5. Just about foolproof if you follow directions. Even though I like using temperature probes to keep tabs on my food, it really isn't necessary to do so.

This is a really nice cooker to have. Lots of pluses to having it, especially when you start using it. You'll discover the benefits yourself.

This gadget in my kitchen gets used more than anything else - even the coffee maker! My husband and our two boys now drink cans of soda as slushies. Be sure to have an automatic ice maker - each glass will use four to five icecubes at a time. It gets a four star because the ice does spray a bit when it shaves and may miss the glass if the child hasn't positioned it accurately enough.

This gadget is a must have during the summer. Especially if you have kids. Easy to use. Easy to clean. And packed full of enjoyment. I use mine everyday!!

This has been a great addition to our appliances! The kids can easily use it to help themselves to a no cholesterol treat after school or playing outside on a hot day. The flavor packets are easy to mix and are just as good as the local stand!

I had high expectations from this unit being called "professional series"

I had a JR Juicer for a few years which did well. I use my juicer about 5 times a week. I bought this one a few months ago and it is now broken. The top three parts are removable by twisting two of the components -- the top clear plastic part has a small lid which secures it - this is what broke. The lower white plastic lip unscrews for removal and cleaning all the while juice drips on the motor part and penetrates around the screw making it very difficult to cleam -- try taking the whole engine part under the tap.

I was interested in getting started juicing, and I compared several juicers on Amazon.com, but I got offered this one through the Gold Box for a good price.

Pros: It works! It's been great with carrots, celery, apples, pears, and especially ginger root, which I recommend adding to all your juices. It's not so hot with softer fruits like nectarines or peaches, and I've yet to try tomatoes or pineapples. It juiced grapes easily, though, handling the stems with no problem. The juice tastes good; it is very aerated and by the time it hits your glass apple juice will already have started to brown.

Cons: It's not quite loud enough to hurt your ears, but you will certainly never use this without waking up everyone in your house. It requires a firm hand on top to keep it from rattling. The safety mechanism is modeled on Cuisinart's, but it seems less foolproof - it'll protect you from a slip, but not from an attempt to defeat it. And the feed tube is a little small - a large apple has to be cut up into 8 pieces, not 4, to fit in. That's annoying.

Cleanup is pretty quick. You'll be wanting a sink that has a sprayer attachment; if you have that, cleanup takes about 60 seconds. I do recommend lining the pulp box with a plastic bag for easy disposal. Even if you do elevate the bag around the edges of the spout, you'll find that bits of pulp do manage to escape. The pulp itself is dry and sort of sawdust-y, and would probably make good compost.

One word of advice - start slow on the juices. If you do what I did and drink 30 carrots the first day you have this machine, you'll discover that you might be in violation of your state's "emissions laws," if you know what I mean and I think you do! But other than that I'm happy with the juicer and very glad I bought it!

I am absolutely pleased with the Juiceman on several counts:

1. powerful
2. machine is light and stores easily
3. non-pulpy juice
4. simple to use, minimal cutting prep
5. easy to clean

It's always interesting to read negative reviews of juicers because quite frequently the issue is that the reviewer didn't do enough market research before buying the juicer. Masticating vs. centrifugal, juices vs smoothies, wheatgrass/no wheatgrass, baby food/sorbet/nut butters/milling grain or not, these are all options we have when we look at the selection of juicers available on the market today.

Example: I had a much more expensive Champion juicer several years back and nearly never used it. I found it bulky, heavy, messy for simple juicing (plus the pulp in the juice was a real turnoff for me) and really a nightmare to clean. When I tried to make almond butter with it I found I had to add a huge amount of sunflower oil to "help" the machine grind the almonds. For someone interested in the other applications the Champion can be used for, perhaps this would have been a great machine. I have met people who adore them. But it was definitely not the right machine for me.

My suspicion with several of the negative reviews here is that the reviewers didn't read over the owner's manual before they started using the machine and unwittingly damaged their juicers. And yes, you can get replacement blades--in fact, it's recommended that you replace the blade every 2-3 years or when the pulp begins to seem a bit wet. They cost about $40 online, I believe.

The Bottom Line: If you are interested in non-pulpy, quick juice drinks with minimal fuss and easy clean up, the Juiceman is a terrific machine at a very good price and holds up well (have had mine for about seven years).

One Caveat: You would do well to have a bottle brush or toothbrush on hand to quickly clean a couple of corners where pulp likes to lodge--it takes maybe 5-10 seconds to clean them, but thought I'd mention it in case you hate surprises.

We bought this toaster based on looks alone and unfortunately it can't toast! Even on the highest setting, it can't make toast anything but light - and even then it's the slowest toaster ever!

I would not recommend this to anyone who wants toast quickly or anything other than lightly warmed.

A good toaster in most respects but the darkness control settings do nothing. You have to repeat the toasting process two or three time to make a decent english muffin or any other toast which you want crisp.