Cooking Reviews

You get what you paid for and may be a little bit more. I give it only three stars because the cups are too small for everyday use. The cup measures 6.5 OZ when filled to the rim. By the way, I received the cups of different shape than shown on the picture. They are taller than whider and have stright lines. This shape looks more American and typical for the dinnerware used in some small town diner. Otherwise, the workmanship is decent and the look is OK for the money.

Is this your first home? If you answered yes to this question, then you should consider the Strawberry Street Blue Dinnerware. It fits great into a brand new home where it becomes your first collection of dishes that you will be able to use again and again. In addition, you can add other designs to this set because of its simplistic pattern and traditional color combintations. For the price of this set, the investment will pay for itself!

This thing is not only awkward to use but you can't take it off the charger one handed! I loved the old cordless, wall mounted one they used to make. I gave one to my Mom, Grandma and best friend. They all loved it. I had mine for over 7 years then it finally stopped holding a charge. I went to their web site to get their phone # so that I could talk with B&D before writing this review, but they don't list a phone # on their site! Nothing I hate more than that. What happened to good old customer service? I absolutely would not recommend this product. Try again Black N Decker...........

We got this gadget three months ago because my wife has limited right hand grasp and can't use a manual can opener. Pros: Our Gizmo has opened many a can since, from small to large. The trick for us is to position the Gizmo on larger cans, turn it on and let it "walk" itself around- smaller cans may have to be held. The charge has lasted for weeks on the average. Cons: Though the blade looks rather cheesy, it has done well so far... the only defect we have noticed is the Gizmo and associated charger's size- they are bulky and don't fit easily into normal kitchen drawers (ergo, four stars). Nonetheless, it is an easy decision for us- the Gizmo stays!

Ive used mine regularly for over 2 years now and its still running strong :)

The first oven didn't work at all. The second of the same model would not get hot. This product is not durable - the fram is flimsy and not assembled properly.

The oven part works well and is insulated so the unit doesn't get overly hot on your countertop. However, the toaster has never toasted well. When you push the toast button you have to hold the back of the oven with the other hand so it doesn't slide across the countertop. We also tried the less expensive Black & Decker model and the toster switch broke after 16 months (rocker type and wouldn't stay down) and it toasted worse than this one. Give me the old heavy duty all-metel models from the 70's... If you just want an oven and have a good toaster, then go for it.

The Black & Decker TRO2200 Electronic Toast-R-Oven/Broiler is a very good, time-saving appliance to have. Toaster ovens are a wonderful device to have for cooking small items like French bread pizzas and bagel sandwiches. It's good for things too small to put in an oven and for which a microwave won't do.

This particular toaster oven is also good in that it is a bit smaller than a typical one. That means you cannot cook some larger items that you would in some other ovens; but, it does have ample room for most items. Living in a small apartment like I do, I find the smaller size a decided advantage.

One negative about this item I must say though is that the recommended pre-heat time of five minutes is far from adequate. I have found that something approaching 12 minutes is better. Also, the heat attained seems to be about 15 degrees less than the dial setting. If a particular food calls for a temperature of 325 degrees, I recommend setting it somewhere nearer to 340 or 345. The cooking times seem to be fine as I don't often find myself leaving the food in the oven for longer than suggested.

On the second time using this, the base shattered because I was trying to crush ice. I bought the Hamilton Beach BlendMaster, which is plastic, and it is not only cheaper, but it has never leaked and blends ice with ease. It's a good thing too, because I put a LOT of use into it.

We used this blender for a lot of smoothies & crushing ice. We received it as a gift a year ago, but just sold it at a garage sale for $5 which I was happy about. It seemed that the blades got dull quickly and just wasn't that great after a few months of use, which was probably only 30 times or so. The way it is built just doesn't seems to help bring down things in the blender, it just pushes them up so you have to stop it and shake it or move stuff around to get it to chop up anything. After awhile we also had black plastic dust getting worn off of the base and liquid leaking through the bottom, but a new ring would probably have taken care of the leak. I'm looking forward to buying something a little nicer!

We asked for this for our wedding it works great i had no problems with it and I love that the base locks...

I hate to be ungrateful (this was a gift from my mother), but it is the worst appliance I have ever used! It does every job terribly, it's noisy...I hate it! Spend the money if you can. Go for a Cuisinart! I know I will be...

I used this food processor 2 times before it broke. I put a potato in and the middle of the grater blade shredded into plastic shreds. I called Black and Decker for a replacement shredder - and found out that they charge $20 for the replacement part on a $30 machine! Don't buy this - it's not worth it!

I never used to be much of a cook, but since I had my daughter seven months ago, I began to realize the importance of eating real food at home, and not out of styrofoam take-out boxes. As such, I needed to buy a great deal of kitchen accessories. I scrimped where I could, and splurged where it was appropriate. Many of my low-price deals have been greatly pleasing (specially-priced Calphalon cookware, and a very low-price cutlery set from Amazon among those purchases), but this is not one of those purchases.
For the positive outlook, this machine does the job it's supposed to do: the food is cut easily and efficiently, to the desired size and texture. From my experience, I've found most food processors to be noisy, so that doesn't bother me like it does the other reviewers. In fact, for all the work it does, I expect some noise. And all of this sure beats using my arms and a knife, no matter how sharp the knife may be.
What I object to is the fact that it has one malfunctioning "feature." The machine boasts the option of either grinding the food into the base, or removing a plastic insert and adding a metal divider to funnel the food out of the chute and into a separate bowl. This was one of the major selling points for me when I shopped for a food processor- otherwise I would have gotten one of the super-small Cuisinarts. But if you use this feature, lots of bits still get into the base; if you choose not to use the chute, and you put the plastic insert in to keep the food in the base, food still flies out through the chute, no matter how well the insert is placed.
One of my first ventures with this food processor was to shave carrots for a carrot cake. It did most of the job well (except for shooting food out of the chute when it wasn't supposed to), but there were still chunks of carrot that got stuck in the mechanism that I couldn't shave down any further. And the plastic is not very resistant to staining- after that one venture, it is permanently stained a weird orange color (I know carrots are known for staining things, but ususally it cleans out of most surfaces just fine!).
If I had to do it all over again, I still would have spent a small amount of money on a food processor- as it turns out I don't use it a whole lot in my house, and I needed the big bucks to go into a Kitchen Aid mixer. But I would have opted for a small (1 1/2 cup) Cuisinart mixer instead of trying to maximize my dollar and get this one. Sure it holds a lot more than the minis, but there's a reason it's got such a cheap price tag- it is a cheap machine. Black & Decker needs to stick to the garage-variety tools and stay out of the kitchen.
Bottom line: if you need a bigger food processor, and can't afford a good one, this could be okay, provided you don't mind cleaning up a big mess. Otherwise, use a hand grinder until you can save up the money to buy a better food processor; you won't regret spending the extra- they're well worth their price tag.

The toaster oven worked fine until the toast button stopped working. We've been using the broiler to toast things but end up burning things since the broiler isn't timed. I'm sorry we didn't read these reviews first.

I'd give this a 0 stars if I could, but that's not an option apparently.

Black & Decker quality is definitely on the skids with this product. I had a predecessor to this model which I bought while I was in college and it lasted me a good 15+ years. So, I thought "Hey, I'll get what looks like the same model and it'll last me another 15 years." Well no such luck. The first one I got had to go back after about a month because the heating element started to make a loud buzzing noise and the timer governing the toast was really erratic (sometimes too light, sometimes burnt, using the exact same settings.) The replacement we got started buzzing after about 3 months, and then the toast switch mechanism totally failed (so we had to stand there and hold the button down to toast bread --- believe me, interactive toasting is a sucky thing.) We found a way of making it less interactive by jamming the switch closed using a fridge magnet, but forgot we were toasting one day and it ate itself in a molten, firey mess (lucky the house didn't burn down.)

Here's the executive summary: "DON"T BUY THIS TOASTER OVEN!!!"

I have had my Black & Decker Toaster Oven now for over a year. I have had no problems out of it. The only reason I did not give this a perfect 5 is that the under the counter mount is very hard to find. the only place I have found it other then B&D website is at bed bath and beyond. When you have a small kitchen like myself you need every bit of counterspace you can get.