Showing posts with label electric grills outdoor. Show all posts
Showing posts with label electric grills outdoor. Show all posts

Tuesday, July 22, 2014

Vornado DVTH Whole Room Vortex Heater, Automatic Climate Control

Vornado DVTH Whole Room Vortex Heater, Automatic Climate ControlI recently moved into a house that had an exceptional heating system except in the master bedroom (probably due to a large French door). Didn't see the logic in heating the whole empty house just to keep one room warm, I started to look for a suitable heater. Upon some search, Vornado DVH surfaced as a viable option. Although pricier than other models, if it did what it claims to do (even warmth, quietness, safe to kids' touch, and good control) I thought the product would be ideal for my family needs.

While searching for the best price, I came to read the ratings by others on the Amazon site, and it was disturbing for me to see that there was a noticeable disparity among the raters (please look through the reviews and see for yourselves-5 to 1 star). But it sounded great at least for those who had them in working condition, so I decided to give it a try, knowing that there is a chance that I might get the bad apple.

Well, I have been using the unit for a while now and I have to tell you that it is worth MORE than its weight in gold!!! It is quite; temperature control is dead accurate; heating is impressively even throughout the room; and it really doesn't get hot at all to the touch; and even looks cool. I have occasional circuit breaker tripping when I use hair drier in the bathroom connected to the same room, but Vornado has not tripped the circuit not even once, even though I usually have it run at 78F when I use it (basically all night).

I'm sure others' claims on defective products are valid. But if you are unsure whether to give it a try because of those reviews like I was a few weeks ago, I strongly recommend you give this product a try. Even if you end up with a defective product like others claim, if you can get a good one after exchange (and get something like what I got), it is worth the trouble-and believe me I'm an extremely lazy person when it comes to product exchanges...

I only write this review because I wished that I had something like this to help my decision making. Hope it helps you.

I live in a basement apartment in Washington DC. The winters here get pretty cold and I do not have control of the heater. The landlord upstairs controls the heat (and they are rarely home).

I plugged this heater into my front room. The room measures 20x25'. The temperature gage intially read 58 degrees! Wow that's cold. I set the digital temperature gage to 72 degrees. It initially took about an hour to reach that temperature (I think the electronics needed to be broken in).

This little heater has been plugged in and running nonstop, 24 hours a day, for the past three weeks and it is nothing short of spectacular!

I positioned the heater at one corner of the apartment and it heats the entire room and keeps every corner of the room at the same temperature.

Since it has a plastic casing, it is constantly cool-to-the-touch and I have no reservation with leaving it on when I leave in the morning to go to work. The unit *never* gets hot.

I thought $100 was a bit expensive for a heater, but wow... this purchase has been justified.

I also have a humidifier (by Bionaire) running on a 24-hour basis to prevent the room from becoming too dry.

The temperature gage on the heater is spectacular. You really can tell the difference between 70 and 72 degrees with this heater.

It's fabulous. Nothing short of fabulous.

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The Digital Vortex Heater is wonderful! We have a drafty attic office in our home, which has been impossible to heat. We've gone through at least 3 different heaters (all under $50) with no luck. We decided to try the Vornado Digital because of "how" it heats.

With other heaters, the room never really got warm. As long as you sat or stood directly in front of the electric heater, you were freezing. With the Vornado Digital heater, it warms the entire room by circulating the heat. And believe me, no matter what other says, it works! The only drawback, is it does take (depending on the size of the room, how cold it is outside, and how drafty the room is) some time to heat up the room. For the attic office space we have, it's about a 20' by 20' space. It warms up the room in about 20 mins, depending on how cold it is outside. BUT, once it's warm, it stays warm! The internal thermostat on the Vornado Digital works quite well. We actually have to turn it down or off after a while, because it gets so warm. I have been noticing after a few weeks of use, that it seems to warm up faster. So maybe there was a break-in period it had to go through, I can't be sure. Although, it does seem to work better after a little use.

We tried several different heaters from several different manufacturers, and the Vornado was by far the best at warming a room, and keeping it warm! Is this heater the kind of heater that pumps out direct HOT air? No. If you want a heater that is just going to be pointed at you to keep you warm, this might not be the heater for you. But if you want a heater that will heat up a room and keep it warm, with soothing warm air, there is no other heater better for the price! Again, it's most amazing feature being that is circulates the air throughout the room. Just for the feature alone I am satisfied, because I feel that's the secret to correctly heating a space. The only downfall being, that it takes some time to do it.

My suggestion is to at the very least, try the Vornado Digital. I purchased it from the Vornado website for $100.00, but I suggest going through Amazon to save on shipping. I think you'll be happy you tried it!

Read Best Reviews of Vornado DVTH Whole Room Vortex Heater, Automatic Climate Control Here

I recommend this one only. It seems to me that DVTH is an upgrade version of DVH (you can see the product number which is different) and far better than VH2. Current temp. and setting temp. is shown repeatedly with fan speed ('LO', 'HI', and 'FA'n only), and it accurately monitor and warm up the room.

Other heaters stops fan as well as the heating element when the desired temparature is reached; this one doesn't. Fan works continuously (slowly) when the temparature is reached... so that the entire room air is heated up properly. I tried Homles one, and Black and decker one, but they don't have this functionality.

I am pretty sure this fan works well esp. when there is another heat source (like ordanary apartment) but heating is not enough. I am not sure for other cases. But definitely, this guy is well worth the money (I know this is expensive). You can search hard and ask for the best price in a big online company which sells this.

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I have owned several different space heaters from different manufacturers over the past 5 years or so, and this is the best by far. Most ceramic heaters generate too much heat in a small area and they get hot enough to start fires. The ceramic heaters I have used have melted parts of my desk or chair, they are a real fire or burn hazard. Even though they have fans inside to blow the heat, the heated air is so hot that it never gets more than a few inches in front of the heater before rising straight up. You are always either freezing cold or in fear of being burned depending on hwo many inches you place it from you. Oil heaters are nice but they have a terrible smell (supposedly this goes away) and they do not have a way to spread the heat at all.

The Vortex heater has a medium sized fan with a small wire heating element behind it. It's very much like the way a hair dryer works to heat air. This heater generates lots of air flow, more like a regular fan, while heating the air. You can place this heater 6 feet away and you will still feel a warm breeze from it.

The vortex heater is VERY quiet, and the front of the heater does not get hot enough to burn you. I also use this heater a quiet personal fan for the summer time. If you set the FAN switch to ON, the heat switch to LOW and the thermostat all the way down, it will blow air but not stop heating it.

The plug and power cord on the heater does not get hot like other heaters, but remember never cover the power cord on any space heater or high-powered appliance because it does still generate some heat.

The heater does a good job of detecting the temperature of the room and will turn off when it reaches the desired temperature setting.

The heater will turn off if tipped over. If the heater is bumped it turns off for a second. However, if you wanted to place this heater on an angled surface it will still work. Whatever the mechanism it has, it allows it to be angled but not tipped over all the way or bumped suddenly. The heater does not have a way to aim it up or down. It is preconfigured to blow at a very slight upward angle.

I have been using this heater to heat my 7 month old son's play area recently. He started crawling and the front of the design on the heater is just barely large enough to allow his tiny little fingers to poke into the front of the heater and get hit by the fan (this has never happened but at the largest part of the gaps in the front of the unit, it would be possible). Other than that, this heater is safer for children because neither the air nor the front of the heater gets hot. I would say that in a few more months his fingers will be too large to poke through. If this heater had the fine wire mesh front like most other heaters, it would be perfect.

The vortex heater is a little more expensive than other heaters, but it is well worth the extra money. I have had this heater for about 2 or more years and it works GREAT!

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Wednesday, June 11, 2014

Norpro Nonstick Cast Aluminum Mini Burgers Sliders Grill Pan with Nonstick Press

Norpro Nonstick Cast Aluminum Mini Burgers Sliders Grill Pan with Nonstick PressAlthough non-stick takes a little longer to heat up to the temperatures necessary for wok cooking, this wok is great for its price. Easy for a lazy college student like me to clean up after when I finally get up the nerve to cook non canned foods. Very affordable, easy to use, and easy to clean.

It's a very cheap piece of cookware, and it is kind of non-stick. I used it one time with a bamboo steamer, meaning that I had to place water in the bottom to boil, and afterwards I noticed that the bottom of the pan was a bit rusted. The metal screw on the lid also rusted.

I figured it would be fine if I just used it to steam things then, and the second time I steamed something the entire bottom of the pan rusted, and my food and bamboo steamer came out smelling very funny.

If you are very careful with it, or don't cook much at all, it might be worth it, but otherwise I would invest in something a little less flimsy.

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I am so dissapointed with this piece. If you cook meat, it is very easily get stick. I think the stick layer is too thin so that it does not work very well.

DO NOT BUY IT.

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The very first time I tried to use it, the non-stick material melted. Yes. I mean MELTED. It was just lucky I noticed before I ate anything or I'd be at the hospital having my stomach pumped. Don't watse your money. Look elsewhere.

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Unlike others, I found the nonstick coating to be effective at keeping things from sticking. However, it got peeled off in spots on the very first use, and that is with using only a wooden spatula to cook and a soft sponge to clean. Also the center of the wok is flat and very small, and the side slope up at a high angle from the center, so really food only gets cooked in the 5"-diameter center area. It is not really a hemisphere like traditional woks are, which acts to spread out the heat in a gradient from the center and allows for easier stirring as you fry. (It's called stir-fry for a reason).

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Tuesday, April 15, 2014

Maxi-Matic EBK-200 Elite Cuisine 3-in-1 Breakfast Station 4-Cup Coffee Maker, White

Maxi-Matic EBK-200 Elite Cuisine 3-in-1 Breakfast Station 4-Cup Coffee Maker, WhiteI was given this 3-in-1 as a gift for my "Man Cave Command Center" as I like to call it. I turned my room into one of the best places where I like to spend time. In my opinion, this little machine is a step up from the kids toy "Easy Bake Oven".

I'm a nurse and since I work nightshift, this machine serves its purpose in my room. Somehow I tend to rush when I go to the kitchen and I lose my mind. But since I have a fridge/freezer combo, and microwave in my room, everything I have is right here. Now that the 3-in-1 is a part of my collection, it makes everything so much simpler.

Some people gripe about how it's so small and that it can't do big items. This wasn't made for that. This was made to be the solution for those living in small spaces. To me, I'm perfectly fine with a small dinner roll to be toasted and eggs to be griddled on top. I find that awesome.

I give this a 5-star because it makes my life a lot better!

Pros:

1. Small in size

2. Griddle works like a charm

3. Coffee maker works fast!

4. Toaster a go-go! Can't go wrong with it!

Cons:

I don't see any in my opinion! I'm a simple person that doesn't need big items to be toasted. A simple dinner roll works for me!

This 3 in 1 Breakfast Machine contains a toaster oven, hot plate, and coffee maker. All the items are smaller than if you bought them separately, but if you are tight on space this is definitely handy.

The toaster oven was probably the biggest negative. It is only wide enough to fit 1 slice of break. Fortunately there is a top burner and a bottom burner so you can stack 2 pieces of bread on top of each other and flip them in the middle of cooking.

I cooked eggs in a basket on the hotplate and it cooked the egg in about 5 or 6 mins.

Pros:

Space Saving

Dial Timer 15 mins max

Can turn on/off top and bottom burner individually

Reusable Coffee Filter

Easy to clean removable hot plate

Comes with baking pan

Negatives:

All components pretty small, can't toast large items

Don't expect to cook for large parties, but if just cooking for yourself not bad.

Timer clicking down can get annoying

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I found this item to be convenient and very useful. I can sit at my desk at the office or at home and prepare a quick meal without ever having to leave my seat. I LOVE THIS LITTLE MAID....

Read Best Reviews of Maxi-Matic EBK-200 Elite Cuisine 3-in-1 Breakfast Station 4-Cup Coffee Maker, White Here

Great concept, especially for our RV but the coffee maker stopped working after about 8 uses no help from manufacturer.

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This works as promised. Takes little space in our tiny camper, which was the idea. The coffeemaker is a bit hard to deal with and I'm using paper filters now. Takes awhile to toast bread, does a fried or scrambled egg well. Overall, fine for quick breakfasts for one or two before hitting the road.

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Sunday, April 6, 2014

WeatherReady BBQ Cover

WeatherReady WRKH58 Polyester Barbecue Cover, Khaki, 58 InchesThis is a great value! I had a hard time finding a cover this size, so I was pleasantly surprised to find one at such a good price. The cover is heavy duty with velcro straps to hold it in place.

I live by the water with very high winds and this grill cover says on through any kind of weather and storms. This week we had a storm with 40mph gusts, and the cover stayed in place. A great one!!

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I literally spend 2-3 hours scouring the internet to find a cover to fit my husband's new grill which is 83" L x 51" H x 28" D and it fits wonderfully... even has a little room to spare. The other places I found one were asking over $100... yeah right! So glad I found this and it's a great price and also well made.

Read Best Reviews of WeatherReady BBQ Cover Here

If you plan to store this outside, you'll only get a couple of good years out of it before the fabric becomes brittle and tears.

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Excellent keeps the rain off the large barbeque we have. The only downside is that it mildews quickly and you have to really powerwash it to remove the stains. I think I'll find a black one next time to eliminate seeing the ugliness.

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Tuesday, January 28, 2014

Berndes SignoCast Classic 12-Inch Square Grill Pan

Berndes SignoCast Classic 12-Inch Square Grill Pani HAVE HAD SEVERAL DIFFERENT BRANDS OF stove top grill pans. Berndes is the very best. It comes with a lifetime guarantee. I use two at a time now, and have given a countless number to friends and family as gifts. Everyone loves the eveness of the cooking and the very easy clean-up!

I saw this pan being used at a cooking demonstration by a chef who was not pushing any product. I immediately noticed how easy it was to clean after it's use. That was the major reason I became interested.

It cooks evenly and cleans so much easier than my other grill pans. It's light weight and a must for any kitchen.

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In the beginning I was only looking for a George Foreman kind of small grill machine so we can still enjoy grill steaks & burgers in winter. But I just couldn't find a machine with the right size & function in my price range. I especially dislike that fact that with most of those machines you can't really control the temperature well. Then I saw someone's blog mentioned Berndes grill pan & I was immediately attracted by its features. Comparing to the grill machine this is more like real cooking so naturally for me, a homemaker who enjoys cooking, this fits my needs much better so I'm willing to spend more. Before I finally made my purchase I've read so many reviews about Berndes. People brag about how good its non-stick surface work. I was a little skeptical, but I'm a believer now that I've used it for a week. I've used it for grilled chickens, steaks, fishes, lamb chops & they're all good, plus I could rid off lots of fat. The pan is very easy to clean too. Yesterday I whipped a few eggs, wanted to make scramble egg but decided to test my Berndes Grill pan on how non-stick it can be. Without applying any oil I pour my whipped eggs on the pan & turn to medium heat. A few minutes later I pulled up an egg sheet(with light grill marks) and my Berndes pan is as clean as it hasn't been used. Neat~

Amazon has the best price for this 12" pan. Thanks to Amazon!

Read Best Reviews of Berndes SignoCast Classic 12-Inch Square Grill Pan Here

The pan is a little small for a family but it's great for the 2 of us and is so easy to clean.

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Exactly as advertised. Does not have quite the same searing effect that a charcoal or gas grill, but is acceptable. Keeps me in when the weather is bad.

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Sunday, December 22, 2013

George Foreman GR12B Super Champ Indoor Grill

George Foreman GR12B Super Champ Indoor GrillAll George Foreman grills that I have owned have been very good products, durable, cook beautifully.

This particular one is not readily available at retail, but when I found it here I was very excited. The shape is perfect for one person. Anything that because of the shape, i.e. steaks, chicken strips, anything elongated, this fits the bill. The other grills were either too big, or too square.

This is my fifth George Foreman Grill and the right size for two people. The price on Amazon was extraordinary, considering what I paid for the others. I give them as gifts and for my own personal use. It is a must in the kitchen. Thanks Amazon for pricing it right.

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i bought this for neighbor of mine as an early Christmas present and she absolutely loves it. now she can cook at home without having to wait a long time for it to finish. it makes her life a little easier.

Read Best Reviews of George Foreman GR12B Super Champ Indoor Grill Here

Great for one or two. Sprayed it with pan spray when heated and before adding meat, then when meat was done I placed a damp paper towel on unplugged grill. After eating, the grill was so easy to clean.

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Works great. Can't ask for more. Wish I had noticed that it doesn't have removable grill plates; my bad :(

Thursday, November 21, 2013

Presto 03430 Pizzazz Pizza Oven

Presto 03430 Pizzazz Pizza OvenFirst of all it's not perfect. The non-stick coating is thin on the pan, and can get scratched off easy. Plus, there's no easy way to clean off the brown, spots you get from baking. All that aside, this is a great device if you like homemade, and frozen varieties of pizza.

I used to try all kinds of tricks to get a frozen pizza to taste good. I'd microwave them partially first, I'd bake them directly on the oven rack; I'd try greasing the pan, or not greasing it. I had some success with these techniques, but it was a lot of work. This oven does the job, and gets the pizza cooked the way you want it. An easy flip switch on the top, can turn the heat on both sides, just the top, or just the bottom. You control the crispness, and the degree of browning on your pizza.

This oven is also great for baking those commercial, "take and bake" pizzas, from shops like Pappa Murphy's. Further, its better for reheating leftover pizzeria pizza than your microwave. What more can you want? I wanted just one thing, a 14" model. While most frozen pizza is 12" or smaller, you cannot heat one any larger. One final caution, rising crust pizzas will sometimes bubble, or rise into the top-heating element. It's a good idea to stay in the general area while the pizza is cooking, or it can potentially start a fire.

My in-laws gave us one of these as a gift. I thought it was a joke. Then we used it. The Pizzazz consistently cooks frozen pizzas well.

The nonstick disk is simple to clean. I don't understand how anyone would scratch it, unless he's using steel wool or something to clean it. And that is hardly necessary: it washes clean with a bit of soap and water (or even just a clean towel).

Even with rising crust pizzas, we have never had the food come anywhere near the heating element.

My only complaint is that you cannot accelerate the timer. You can adjust it to add time, but once it's set, you have to wait for it to run down. This is a minor inconvenience, though I would like to be able to turn off the heating elements when the pizza is done rather than take the pizza off the disk and wait for the "ding" at the end of the cooking cycle. (You could unplug the machine, but the residual heat from the elements might cook the disk, which obviously stops rotating when you unplug the machine. The elements stay hot for a little while after the cycle ends.)

All in all, this is a surprisingly effective product.

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As a single man who eats 2-3 frozen pizzas a week, this was a better purchase than my microwave. Frozen pizzas cook in 15 minutes or less, as compared to 20-23 minutes with a conventional oven. When you wait until the last minute to start cooking, 5 minutes is a long time. Additionally it cooks the pizza perfectly evenly. There are also controls that let you choose between crisp, normal, and light crusts.

**I still have mine over 3 years later and it works like the day I opened it. I sill use it 2-3 times a month (I'm married now, frozen pizza doesn't see itself on the menu 3 nights a week now), and have used it with almost all varieties and brands of pizza with equal success. The nonstick coating is a little scratched however (even though I've taken special interest in keeping it intact). But its still the best oven I own.**

Read Best Reviews of Presto 03430 Pizzazz Pizza Oven Here

I was pretty excited to get this item. I never had any success with my oven and frozen pizza. I never could get the middle cooked and many reviews said the Pizzazz would do this.

Pros:

Creates a crisp bottom crust

Center of pizza and toppings cook better than with an oven

Doesn't heat up the house

Cleanup is a breeze

Cons:

The outside crust is more breadlike (could be a pro for some)

Turntable on mine seems slanted and crooked

Doesn't perform miracles. Some reviewers imply that the Pizzazz transforms frozen pizza into real pizza. It improves frozen pizza, but you won't forget that you're eating frozen pizza.

Rising dough frozen pizza works, but the dough itself doesn't seem to bake fully. It tends to taste doughy even when the bottom and top are done.

12" is too small considering the better tasting 16" fresh dough pizzas available now

I like this gadget, but I can't give it five stars. Presto created a pretty cool kitchen appliance here, but I think they could improve it. They should make a XL 16" model that would accomodate "Costco" take and bake. I think the heating elements could be designed better to improve coverage as well.

As far as frozen pizza goes, Freschetta baked better than Di Giorno for me. Tombstone tasted like Tombstone. Frozen is what it is. There's UNO in my local deli case and I plan on trying that.

I think the Pizzazz is worth it overall. I don't regret the purchase in any way, and I don't use my oven for pizza anymore.

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I received this for Christmas and have tried it out using both regular and rising crust frozen pizzas. It does save time but the results aren't like those that you get from an oven. For one thing the pizza is never done at the end of the recommended cooking time. I always have to add on 4 or 5 minutes. Also, the outer rim of the crust doesn't get crispy like it does in a regular oven. The bottom of the crust cooks okay but the edge of the crust really doesn't get any heat. I baked a Digiorno rising crust pizza on it for the maximum time and the outer edge of the crust was still white. Yes, I followed the instructions on the proper way to cook a rising crust pizza. If you don't like a crunchy crust then this won't be a problem. I would recommend this product for a college student living away from home or for anyone who eats a lot of pizza and doesn't want to heat up their kitchen with a big oven. For the occasional pizza eater though, you might want to pass on this one.

New info: I discovered that if you place the cooked pizza on a cooling rack that's covered with a paper towel the pizza won't get soft and will remain crispy. Before I would just slide the pizza on to the cardboard it came with but that didn't allow any of the the steam from the crust to escape and the crust would become soft. By placing the cooked pizza on a paper towel on a cooling rack that allows the towel to absorb the steam and the rack allows air circulation around the pizza crust. Here are the settings I've been using. On a standard Tombstone pizza I set the control on Lower and set the timer between 17 and 18 minutes. After about 2 minutes I switch the control to Dual. I've found in most cases that the crust always takes longer to cook than the toppings so I start cooking the crust first and then switch to the Dual setting after a few minutes. For a homemade pizza made with raw dough I set the control on Lower and set the timer for 20 minutes. When I switch the control to Dual depends on how many toppings I have on the pizza. If I have just cheese then I wait 10 minutes before switching the control to Dual because the cheese only takes about 10 minutes to melt and start to brown. With more toppings I slide the control to Dual after maybe 5 to 8 minutes.

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