Thursday, November 7, 2013

Zojirushi EJ-PC50 Gourmet Food Steamer



Decent rice, excellent vegetables, questionable fish.
This is the only steamer I have experience with so I don't know if it's better or worse then others. It cooks decent rice in less time than a Zojirushi Neuro Fuzzy rice cooker which I also own. Rice cooker results are more predictable and you can make a lot of rice in a large rice cooker. The steamer is less sophisticated but if you only cook 2-3 cups of rice, this steamer is all you need. Vegetables come out very good but you need to watch them, because every vegetable requires different cooking time. Overall I like this steamer but these are some negatives: 1) If you steam a lot of vegetables the bottom water collection tray may overflow. 2) In summer time in hot and humid climate, more steam in the kitchen is the last thing you want. 3) When I use a tray for steaming fish, it collects water, and fish sometimes comes out boiled rather than steamed. Regardless of the above, this is a good way to prepare food and sometimes the only way.

Functional and easy-to-clean equipment.
This is a neat kitchen tool...easy to use and clean! I've used it several times for steaming green beans and I will probably use it only for steaming veggies, rice and other food that don't have a strong smell (Asian dumplings and buns, custard, etc). I'd be a little wary of cooking fish in it just because the "fish" smell may be difficult to wash off.

Easy to Use and Food is Great!!
I have used this several times since my purchase a month ago. It's very easy to use and clean. The veggies turn out wonderful. I have not used this for rice but it looks easy enough as well. I like having two bowls to work with. I think it's plenty big for a family of four. Many more than that and you might want to use a larger steamer. The directions recommend not adding any seasonings to the veggies (in the water) but I found that you can add to the veggies directly and they are still very good.

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Top Quality By KALORIK RED FOOD PROCESSOR



It's ok
I like the processor itself. It works well and does its job. I've had it for a year and have never had a food processor before, and I never knew what I was missing! I love the slicing attachment, but I can't run it without a lid, and a regular sized potato won't fit down the chute.

The worst part is, the bowl fell out of the cupboard this morning and cracked! This $100 item is now worthless because I can't seem to find the parts sold separately!

No more Kalorik for me!
I purchased this unit thinking, it having been made by a German company, the engineering on it must be good. WRONG! The tub is a dark smoke color & you can't see through it, hence you can't see the progress of your food processing! Oh my goodness, did they forget to take this to the test kitchen before sending it to China for manufacturing? This is going into the garbage.



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OSTER 5838 WHITE BREAD MAKER 2LB 18SETTINGS NONSTICK PAN (5838) -



Great Bread
I bought this as a gift to my daughter. She uses it all of the time and has nothing but good things to say about it.





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Nordic Pure 18x18x1M12-12 MERV12 AC Furnace Air Filter, Box of 12



Surprisingly high quality
I was a little concerned about buying a dozen filters at over $100 without trying one first. I've been very pleasantly surprised. They are every bit as good as, if not better than, the Filtrete "Micro Allergen" filters that I normally use (which cost about 50% more.) These filters are structural sound, in fact, I think they are more sturdy than the Filtrete filters. That is the characteristic that I was most nervous about as I've previously had discount filters (from other manufactures) buckle and collapse inside my ducts. The filtering media itself also appears to be high quality. I've had them installed for several weeks now and everything appears to be working well. I will definitely buy Nordic Pure filters again.





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Dr. Weil 9803 The Healthy Kitchen 48-Ounce 2-Speed Blender with Glass Jar



It's OK but you need to know a couple things...
My wife and I noticed on first use that the motor emitted an electric-ozone smell. It might be oil in the motor windings left over from the manufacturing process, but if it's ozone from arcing brushes, it wouldn't bode well for long life under heavy use. We don't use a blender very often, so the smell hasn't gone away yet after several uses. My wife later called me for help to remove the cutter for cleaning. It just refused to come out. The manual says to insert the provided removal tool into the cutter base and turn clockwise to release it. Look out, you have the potential for a carpal-tunnel injury and potential unit breakage here, because the user's manual has it backwards: If you instead turn it counter-clockwise as would be most logical (looking down at the bottom of the inverted bowl) it will release with just about the amount of resistance you'd expect. While blenders in general are dangerous if misused, I also get bad vibes from a warning in the manual saying that if...

not to be used by children!
Just bought this at a discount store. Solid. Sleek. Powerful. Easy to clean. Definately worth what I paid - almost half what they are asking here.

Please: PUT THE LID ON THE JAR BEFORE PLACING IN THE BASE. PUT IN THE BASE, THEN PLUG THE UNIT IN!! I was going to clean it by the recommended method - couple drops of dishsoap and some warm water and take it for a spin. Made the stupid mistake of plugging it in and then putting the jar on the base (I did not read the instructions!). But, hey...my kitchen needed a good wipe down, anyway...nice warm soapy water all over me and the kitchen. I laughed out loud and was sooo glad I had only soapy water in it! This was my stupidity, yes - to a point.

I did notice the off-putting smell mentioned by other posters. I suspect it will go away with time - or at least is not an indicator of problems to come. I have noticed this type of thing with other new appliances, as well.

Overall, I am pleased so far. If...

STAY AWAY FROM THIS PRODUCT
The motor emits a weird smell, and the buttons don't work properly. I have bought several Dr Weil products and they're all disappointing.

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Wednesday, November 6, 2013

BrewStation 12-Cup Stainless Steel Trim Dispensing Coffeemaker with Removable Reservoir



Keeps Coffee Very Hot
Tis is a very good up grade in the Hamilton Beach Coffee makers. It keeps the Coffee very hot on the warming cycle so let it cool a bit before drinking.





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Tag-A-Long Portable Propane Radiant Heater



cheap plastic construction
Plastic housing for propane cylinder broke on the 1st day while closing it to cover cylinder. Cheap plastic construction construction.

Best heater yet I love it thank you mr. Heater
Best heater purchased yet while electric heaters short out and cause fires this is a lot safer even though propane automatic low oxygen shutoff tip over shutoff and thermo couple



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