Specialty Appliance Reviews

100% of our bread at home is homemade and heavy texture. We've worn out a lot of electric knives. Most wear at the joint at the front of the blades or the blades start to separate in the middle so that they shave up a thin piece of meat between the blades.
We got our first B&D ERGO based on a test report in a cooking magazine. So far it has held up very well and is the best electric knife we've had. It didn't like being dropped on a concrete/ceramic tile floor but continued to work while wrapped in tape. I think that this is the first time we've tried to get a specific model as a replacement.

This is an excellent knife. It is sharp, cuts with minimum effort, and has unique safety features. Most importantly, is very easy to use because it is comfortable for the hands.

I can only give this slicer 5 stars, if I had a choice I would give it 10 stars.
I got this as a Christmas gift. My first use was to test it at slicing the dinner turkey leftovers for lunch meat. It worked perfectly.
I have since used it to slice roast beef, sharp cheddar cheese, ham and vegetables.
The meat is cut as thin as you want, I prefer very thin, no problem.
This is a dream machine, it is built to last and easy to clean.
I have tried to find something negitive to say but I really cannot. If you need a slicer Buy it,
No I don;t work for chefchoice. I am really a satisified customer.

I'm very Happy this product.
Slice the Hardest Italian Salami and the softest Bread the Same
way.Easy to clean. I'm recomending this product for everybody.

This slicer does a great job cutting all meats and cheeses. I have used several professional deli slicers in the past. For the home, I would definitely put this one up against all of them. It cuts tomatoes, cheese, and ham so thin and precise each time. The motor is very quiet and also very strong. The meat cradle could be just a bit larger but I have cut a ten pound ham and turkey breast with it and had no problem. Amazon is a hundred dollars cheaper than a leading chef catalog and the optional blade is twenty dollars cheaper. I will be returning this slicer to them, and re-ordering it at Amazon.com.

This slicer does a great job cutting all meats and cheeses. I have used several professional deli slicers in the past. For the home, I would defenatily put this one up against all of them. It cuts tomatoes, cheese, and ham so thin and precise each time. The motor is very quiet and also very strong. The meat cradle could be just a bit larger but I have cut a ten pound ham and turkey breast with it and had no problem. Amazon is a hundred dollars cheeper than a leading chef catalog and the optional blade is twenty dollars cheaper. I will be returning this slicer to them, and re-ordering it at Amazon.com.

I RECENTLY PURCHASED THIS ITEM AN WAS OVERWHELMED WITH HOW WELL IT WORKS. IT WILL ALLOW YOU TO SLICE PAPER THIN TO THICK. IT IS GRAT FOR CHEESE AND MEATS TO PREPARE FOR SANDWICHES. WE REALLY LOVE IT AND ARE PURCHASING ONE FOR A WEDDING GIFT. GREAT SLICER!

not only can you bake a pizza, you can make cookies, warm bread slices etc. very sturdy and a good buy. good for doing demos at expos and in-store demos. highly recommended for college students living in dorms.

This pizza maker is really an excellent product, a real essential for any pizza lovers out there. The best pizzas I have ever tasted were the result of this wonder-gadget.

The Crust:
The pizza crusts always come out thick and perfect: slightly cripsy on the outside and wonderfully soft on the inside and far surpasses the pizza stones in the quality of the crust.

The Quantity Made:
The pizza comes out about 1 1/2 inches thick and generally makes enough to feed 8 people. I have not tried to bake a frozen pizza in the oven, so am not aware of its capabilities in that area, but from a home-made pizza standpoint this is the best gadget you can get.

The Recipe Pamphlet:
The recipe pamphlet included with the pizza maker gives a choice of two dough recipes as well as for a multitude of different pizzas, all of which are excellent and give a good basis for experimentation.

Some tips for the buyer:
Put any veggies containing a lot of water (such as green peppers) on the pizza 5 minutes before the pizza is finished instead of at the beginning. The veggies will come out warm and crunchy and do not waterlog the crust. Remember that 20 minutes is the cooking time, not the making time. Leave about 1 1/2 hours for total preparation.

All I can say is that it comes out like N.Y pizza. I gave it to me daughter for christmas 2yrs. ago and I love the pizza you can get that great crust. I am about to
order another one for myself.
Pat
formerly from N.Y.
Where they make great pizza, I think this comes close

Absolutely the worst knife I have ever used. By FAR. Ergo, as in ergonomic??? NOT. Can't even hold the on-switch on for a full minute, it keeps turning off. What a HUGE PAIN. AVOID.

I bought this knife to avoid tragic turkey incidents. You see, I used to try to carve my Thanksgiving Turkey by hand with poor results (as in, "Gee Tom would you rather have a 1 inch slab of Turkey or a wafer thin piece?") I bought the knife as it was in the perfect middle area between the cheapie knives and the $50 models.

After cutting my first turkey with this knife, I wished I had bought one years ago. This knife is just great--the rubber handle lets you keep the knife firmly in hand even when you get turkey grease on your hand. Also, there is a handle over the trigger so you cannot turn the knife on when changing the blade. And the bottom line is that this cuts like a dream. I've used it on everything from turkey to roasts with great results--it allows me to easily cut nice uniform slices. No more tragic turkey incidents!!!!

The only reason I am here today writing a review is because I wanted to order another knife as a Christmas gift and saw that this knife received a poor review which I just don't understand. My knife is probably about 4 years old and I still love it.

I have always wanted an electric knife that didn't leave a small wedge that wasn't sliced through. Now I have one. It does a wonderful job on meats and breads. On cheese it does a satisfactory job, although I prefer a plain, old serated knife. The safety lock which prevents the blade from moving while inserting or removing it is also a worthwhile feature.

I bought the BS200 and my initial reaction was sceptical but after taking a look at the suction pump I quickly realised why several people had found problems.
If you follow the instructions properly the air removal is fine. It is not industrial quality but for the price you can't expect that. The sealing is good as long as you use it properly...

Vacuuming tip:
Put the object in the middle of the bag and then slip the bag in the machine. Smooth the bag over the sealer propely with on creases.
Start vacuuming and then push the object in the bag up towards the vacuum head getting it as close to the machine as you can.
Smooth any pockets of air towards the vacuum head. You have to do this manually as the vaccum pump is not strong enough otherwise. When you are satisfied with the air removal seal the bag. Presto. If you can't do this you are dumb! It's easy.

Another good tip is to wet the food (where appropriate) before vacuuming as this makes the bag/item contact much better. If it's meat or so on there's no problem but other things like vegetables work better moist. This also protects them when freezing.

What do you expect for this money? Follow the instructions properly and you won't be dissappointed.

For the money it works well. You do have to make sure that you smooth out the bag and position the end into the channel for vacuuming. If you do this it does have sufficient power to make a good vacuum seal. For anything with high moister content freeze first even if for just a couple of hours. The vacuum will suck the juices from meat and other items and if this gets into the sealing area you will lose your seal. Also hold firmly. If used correctly this is a good unit for the money.

Its is cheap and works well if you follow the directions

This is one of the worst products I have ever come across. It is poorly made, and began to come loose after two uses. I am afraid it is going to just fall apart one day. Also, it will not let you crank the handle after the corn gets popped a third of the way up. You have to shake the popper to keep the popcorn from burning on the bottom. The whole reason I bought this machine is so I didn't have to cook popcorn like this. I may as well get out my dutch oven and use it to cook my popcorn on the stove top- at least it is constucted well so I know it won't fall apart on me.

I've owned this popper for almost a year now. When I first received it as a gift I was really excited. It makes great popcorn BUT it is a pain in the neck to clean! As someone else stated in their review the L-screws that connect the lid fall out when you take the lid off. Cleaning the popper is a chore because of the was the lid is designed. It only took four or five times of using it before I got tired of cleaning it. I can't think of the last time I've used it because of the chore of cleaning up...I'm back to the microwave.

The butter drip cup handle/hook broke on the second use. I am having trouble getting to the manufactures site. The rest of the popper is wonderful - a little too easy to burn the popcorn though.

As of today, I am waiting on a new seal and blade unit. I purchased a Smoothie Elite in March...it leaked horribly from the bottom. We returned it to the store and got another one. After three or four uses all seemed well, so I threw away the box. Last night, it started leaking everywhere, a steady run...not just a drip or two. I called "Back to Basics" customer service today and they were very nice and will be sending me new parts. Hopefully it will correct the problem, I do feel confident that they will do what it takes to make me happy in the long run. She told me to call her back if I had anymore problems. When the Smoothie Elite is working, it is wonderful. I have never had a smoother drink. Excellent! But, it appears to me that there is some sort of design problem. Two units with the same problem? You decide.

I bought the Pro 600 Smoothie Maker for my teenage daughter, who can live on smoothies during the summer. She loves the machine and made 2 or more delicious smoothies a day for about 4 months. Then catastrophe struck. The motor is quite powerful and there is a lot of action going on when it's running (noise too) and apparently the vibration of the machine caused 2 flanges in the bottom of the machine to break off. This caused the strawberry-banana smoothie to flow all over the countertop and floor. It was a huge mess to clean up and left my daughter heartbroken. I have ordered another smoothie maker--the Pro700 stainless, in the hope it can withstand its own vibrating action better than the first. It certainly crushes ice much better than a blender and it does make delicious drinks. My daughter uses frozen berries, bananas, whatever fruit juice is available and sometimes a dab of homemade ice cream in hers. If the new machine holds up, I will give it a 5-star rating. Otherwise, it's off my list forever.

Hi, I just purchased my Smoothie Elite two weeks ago. (I wanted to stop wasting money on smoothies all the time.)So far, this smoothie maker has exceeded my expectations. I've noticed a lot of posts regarding the noise. It is kinda loud, but its not that bad. I dont make smoothies at 4 in the morning, so its not a problem. The smoothies turn out EXCELLENT. I throw in frozen rock hard strawberries with banana, apple juice, milk, yogurt, some ice cream, and its honest to god better than any smoothie i buy at a store. It turns the frozen fruit into a smoothie in seconds. pretty powerful. i would not hesitate to purchase this smoothie maker again. I've not had any problems with leaking or pouring. that little spout is kinda neat, you just push the lever and out comes your smoothie. i recommend this to anyone who loves the taste and nutrition of a smoothie.

...Rachel stuck it in a cup of ice to make smoothies, the little bateries couldnt power that blade enough to make it through. Last time i ever buy a batery power kitchen appliance!

I wanted something easy and convenient. Unfortenately this was not the blender for me, it just doesn't work. None of the attachements stay on and made it impossible for me to blend anything. I was very disappointed in this product.

Sounds like others have tried to use this item for the wrong uses. This hand blender is execllent for whipping cream, eggs, frothing and many other light blending jobs. It is convenient and quick to use on those jobs that you don't want to break out the beefy blender. Great for the right job!