Showing posts with label grill pad. Show all posts
Showing posts with label grill pad. Show all posts

Wednesday, July 23, 2014

PAN Grill-it

PAN Grill-itThe PAN Grill-it is an amazing product. Grilling has never been more simple, versatile, or delicious. We've used the PAN Grill-it at home for breakfast (french toast), lunch (panini's), and dinner (hamburgers, steaks, fish, chicken, kabobs etc..) and have gotten excellent results each time. Tailgating is now easier than ever since we don't have to lug our grill around and clean up is a breeze. The biggest plus for our family is that it's chemical free, providing a much healthier alternative. We'll be using PAN Grill-it for years and years to come.

My family and I really enjoy grilling with this product. The pictures do no justice as to how high-tech this product and design really is. I know what I'm getting my friends and family for Christmas this year. Cast Iron Cookware made in the USA. Congratualations on a wonderful new cooking idea and product.

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After finding out I couldnt use my mini charcoal grill on my apartment balcony, I needed to find a way to grill inside.

I was cooking on my Lodge cast iron pan, and while looking for another cast iron grill pan, i stumbled across this.

It works pretty good, but is a tad hard to clean, and takes a while to heat up.

The seller threw in a free handle mitt and scrubber, which was very nice of them.

Read Best Reviews of PAN Grill-it Here

Friday, June 27, 2014

Weber W68 6-Ounce Stubborn Stain Remover for Grills with 2 Pads

Weber W68 6-Ounce Stubborn Stain Remover for Grills with 2 PadsThis stuff actually does remove stains from my grill. The exterior grill cleaner which I also bought and also a Weber product does nothing. Neither do any other stainless steel cleaners I have tried.

Monday, March 3, 2014

LamsonSharp 14-Inch Stainless Steel and Rosewood Barbecue Fork

LamsonSharp 14-Inch Stainless Steel and Rosewood Barbecue ForkHandsom and well made, this fork with its long handle is a pleasure to use. It allows me to move the food on the grill surface while keeping my distance from the hot charcoals. See also the matching LamsonSharp 14" Stainless Steel and Rosewood Grill Turner (spatula).

Saturday, February 1, 2014

Cuisinart CGS-5014 14-Piece Deluxe Stainless-Steel Grill Set

Cuisinart CGS-5014 14-Piece Deluxe Stainless-Steel Grill SetI love how large and solid these feel in my hand.

The case looks nice except the velco straping that holds the tools in were already falling apart. I think I'll just try some fabric glue to fix them. The stitching was weak on almost all of them.

If you are buying these for the case you might reconsider, but the tools are awesome.

First I will say that I love Cuisinart products and that is why I ordered these ones over any other. For the first time I am disappointed in one of their products. The tongs don't lock closed, which is a mild inconvenience, especially when putting back in the cheaply constructed case. The case hinges are not square and the lid closes "off" just a little. I have to push it into place to make it latch properly. The part that really irritates me and dropped the score so far is that the tongs will not pick up any weight. I love to slow cook roasts on my grill and these tongs will not pick up a 3lb. roast. My cheap Wal-Mart tongs did fine with this all the way up to a 5 or 6 lb roast. When I bought my new grill I wanted a good set of tools to go with it. They are cheaply made and bend under any amount of weight. Plus the cleaner brush has a straight handle and the grate has to be pulled off the grill to be cleaned properly. My old one had a handle with about a 30 degree bend in it and could use to clean more effectively even with the grate still on the grill. Just a poorly made kit all together.

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I bought these as a gift...and they look great! The picture doesn't really show how sturdy and nice the set looks. I might just buy another for us!

Read Best Reviews of Cuisinart CGS-5014 14-Piece Deluxe Stainless-Steel Grill Set Here

I bought this as a gift for my son, who had just gotten a new grill, and he loves it! He was impressed with the quality of the entire set and enjoys using it each week.

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The tools themselves are okay and of decent quality. The case, as mentioned before, is very cheap. The interior was torn upon delivery before I even opened it. The tongs really could use a mechanism for holding them shut as well, so you don't HAVE to store them in the case to keep them from taking up an entire drawer.

The reason I bought this set over an almost identical one was because of the "$20 Omaha Steaks Gift Reward Card" which isn't a reward card AT ALL. I live less than 5 minutes from an actual Omaha Steaks store, and thought I would stop in and grab a few things. 1) This "reward card" can not be used in stores, only online or over the phone. 2) It isn't a "reward card" at all; it is a COUPON and you have to spend $80.00 to use it...

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Thursday, December 19, 2013

21st Century B59A4 Food Umbrella, 12-Inch by 12-Inch

21st Century B59A4 Food Umbrella, 12-Inch by 12-InchWhen I received it I took it out of the package and noticed that the bottom piece on the tent was broken. It cannot stand up on its own because of this so it cannot be made into a tent. The tent is cheap and unusable.

love this product works like a dream, would recommend this product 100 percent..try it for yourself you will love it.

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Friday, September 27, 2013

Bradley Digital 6-Rack Smoker

Bradley Digital 6-Rack SmokerI just received this machine. I owned an original Bradley Smoker that gave up the ghost. When I saw the digital one for sale I thought that it would be more precise and a "set and forget" solution to smoking. I have tried it four times now and have discovered that the temperature variation on the unit is as much as 28 degrees over the set point and as much as 16 below the set point for a temp swing of 44 degrees. It turns out that Bradley has a forum for owners and those interested (look at their web site). Quite a number of new owners have been dismayed and disappointed in the temp swing on this unit. When I called Bradley they just said "that's the way it is with this unit" and told me it is similar to my house oven. I doubt that my home ever varies that much. The cycle time for this variation is 15-20 minutes so the food is never at the set point for very long. I don't recall swings like this with my old one.

If you look carefully at what you get for the hefty premium, it is not much. The basic unit has the automatic biscuit feed and when its out of biscuits there is no more smoke so the smoke timer on the new one means nothing. The timer on the cooking side has a time limit according to the Bradley owners so you can't leave it more than ten hours without going out and resetting it. The temperature control is not reliable so what do you get for the extra bucks. Not much to my way of thinking.

By the way, look at the photo carefully. This unit is not aluminum. It has a door that is painted an aluminum color and the body is black. I have to say that the fit and finish is very nice on the unit.

My advice is buy the original model and save yourself the extra bucks.

I have had this unit for a little over 2 years now and I have used it at least 50 or more times. It is very easy to set up. You have three "plugs". One is a chord that runs from the smoker box to the smoker. Then another plug that does the same. Finally you have the plug that powers the unit. Simple. Inside you find the bowl that holds water, obviously 6 racks, drip tray...normal stuff. Some people debate on this or the 4 rack version. Go bigger every time when it comes to bbq. You might say you would never use it but you are wrong. Every time I am invited to a get together I am always asked to smoke something. People buy the meat, I do the prep and the cooking. Just did 2 12lb turkeys on Sunday. By the way, 2 12lb turkeys fit perfectly. I have done 4 8lb pork shoulders as well. No problems.

Another nice thing about this smoker is the ability to cold smoke. Though some mods need to be done before you can do, or you need to live in a cold area, but cold smoking cheese is great. Every winter I smoke enough cheese to put WI to shame.

The instructions are easy to follow for the most part. I did months of research before I bought this so I was well prepared for what I was getting into. If you can't find the answer in the directions go to the bradley forum, those guys over there are the best at helping you out.

The negatives about this smoker, as one reviewer already pointed out, the temp is ungodly wrong. I bought a nice double, wireless, thermometer. Absolutely essential for smoking, no matter what smoker you have. This thing tells me what the temp of the smoker and the meat is, as well as alarms that I can set. So if my smoker drops to a very low temp, say below 100 degrees, an alarm will go off. This is good in case the unit becomes unplugged, or you and your buddies have had a few too many and forgot to reset the cooker timer. (By the way, 10 hours is plenty of time. No, meat is usually not done by then, but within 10 hours you are guaranteed to walk outside and check on your smoker at least once) The other problem I have with the temp is the lack of an extremely high temp. To get a good bark on a Boston butt sometimes requires a temp of over 300. That can be a problem with the bradley. Poultry skin comes out crispy either way, and shoulders are perfect, sometimes I just want a little more. Other than the temp, this thing is perfect.

I love this unit. If you have been using wood smokers, water smokers, vertical smokers, offset smokers, your old bbq as a smoker (which I have used all of these)....whatever, this unit will be a welcomed, headache free, addition.

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I had just bought the four rack smoker and came to the realization that I should have bought the six rack. I like the idea of the digital smoker as I can set it and go away or to bed for that matter and not have to worry if I am over heating and burning food. I would say both units are good. but if you are only smoking once or twice a month the manual unit is fine but daily like I do spend the extra money

Read Best Reviews of Bradley Digital 6-Rack Smoker Here

I was really excited to get this product and spent over a year trying to get it to work. After a year and a bunch of research I came to the conclusion that the product is crap. You are welcome to do your own research but I think what you will find is that this product is very easy to use. However, the ease of use comes at the cost of a smoker that does an unsatisfactory job of actually smoking. As you know the key to good smoking is maintaing conistant heat and the Bradley is simply not designed to do this.

My list of issues are as follows:

1) The six rack smoker has the same heating element as the four rack smoker. So while it is significanlty larger it has no more power than the smaller model. I believe its heating element is only like 500 watts and I believe my wifes hair dryer has more power than that.

2) The heating element in the smoker is way underpowered for the six rack unit (and I suspect the four rack one as well). It takes over an hour to heat up to 200 degrees and then drops way down when you open it up to put the food in and takes well in excess of another hour to get back up to tempeture. It was so under powered that I would just leave the unit set at its highest setting, like 300 degrees, and I do not think I ever got the unit up past 250 degrees. Since it was so underpowered it took very long cook so that towards the end of my use with it, after the smoke had set, I would take the food out and put it on the gas barbque at 250 degrees to finish off.

3) Owing to the design every time you have to open the unit to check on the food you loss all of the heat (i.e. there is no effective heat sink) which then takes for ever heat up. Think about it, to service the unit you have to open the door competely allows all the heat to escape.

4) the design of the heating element creates hot spots along the back of unit and it is significanly hotter at the bottom than it is at the top. Bradley themselves recommend rotating the racks front to back and top to bottom to get an even cooking. This means you need to open the door which allows all the heat to escape.

5) the digital thermostat is located just above the heating element so it reads high. The spread between the tempeture reading on the digital unit and one taken manually from the top of the unit is like 30 degrees.

6) the digital thermostat has like a 20 degree varience between starting and stoping when it is at tempature. Do research, I read that people recommend buying the orginal and an after market digital thermostat which is far superiour and overall cheaper than buying the digital Bradley.

7) An electric smoker will not give you a smoke ring. The smoke ring comes from a chemical reaction related to the carbon burning off from charcol or wood. The smoke ring is a sign of good smoked food.

My reasoning for giving it 2 stars is because the smoke generator works wonderfully well.

The cons in my humble opinion so far out weight the pro's that a cheap guy like me gave the Bradley away. Spending almost $500 on a smoker to dump it becasue it does not do a good job hurts, expecially when all of the issues that I listed above are well documented on the net and I failed to do the detailed research before hand.

Rather than trying to modify the Bradley to try to get it to work I decided to buy a Weber Smokey Mountain. While WSM is lacking the electronics it is wonderful to use. It maintins the heat like an oven, I actually cannot believe how fast it heats up and how long it will maintain a constant tempeture without any adjustment. There is lots of support for the WSM on the internet and I really do not see it being any harder to use. Personally, I also like the idea of cooking with charcoal, it just adds to the mistique of smoking food and impresses the neighbors.

This product in my mind is just a gimmick which produces an unsatisfactory product. Please, do yourselves a favour and read the Bradley sites on the net and you will see all of the issue I mention above are documented and the modifications people are doing to deal with heat and tempeture issues. Knowledge is power.

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I have owned a Bradley Digital 4 rack smoker for 7 years, I have been very pleased with it. In the past I used it very infrequently until I discovered the Bradley forums, then after reading peoples experiences I increased my knowledge and branched out into the smoking world, I just recently experienced a small grease fire in my smoker which pretty much burned it up, I am replacing it with a 6 rack digital. After reading the negative reviews for this product I had to give my two cents. Yes the factory temp sensor is inadequate, but any fault with this smoker can be overcome. First you can add a small fan kit which will circulate the air inside, you can also add an additional heat element which will greatly inprove the cooking times. If you are a serious smoker you will see the need for a PID which will control the temps far better and is highly accurate. Yes you will spend some extra money but the end result is far worth it. My best advice is to do some research before you purchase one of these smokers, you may decide that this one is not for you, if you get one you will not be disappointed once you realize what its potential is. Also visit the the Bradley smoker forums, any possible question you may have about this smoker has already been asked by someone else and has been answered.

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Sunday, August 25, 2013

Swissmar Fire Gel 16-Ounce Fondue Fuel

Swissmar Fire Gel 16-Ounce Fondue FuelMy new fondue set recommends the Swissmar 3-once tins of gel fuel, but when I ordered them from a very good company at Amazon, the tins opened up in the mail and spread all over the box. I contacted the company and they were very nice and resent the tins at no cost to me. Those opened up in the mail too. Between the two boxes I scraped up enough fuel for my party. I kept one of the tins and bought this bottle of fuel and it didn't break in the mail. I will be ordering this bottle from now on.

I have never had a fondue party before, and so when I realized I needed fondue fuel, I did my research. This gel was the highest praised because of its refilling easy and long lasting flame. So I bought it and to my joy and relief it worked beautifully. I only had to use about a 1/4 a cup of gel per pot of fondue. And so by the end of the party I still had half a bottle left over. This is defiantly long lasting and doesn't smell like a chemical fire or alcohol fire. And it has a very clean flame and doesn't smoke up the room. Though I would suggest opening a window or have the fondue party outside, because it does throw off some heat.

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I've never cooked fondue before. I got this gel fuel because it seemed more efficient than the typcial "sterno" types. Worked great. Highly recommend.

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Good product and very convenient to be used with the Swissmar Fondue pot because of the fact that no cord is needed to heat the pot and it can be placed anywhere on a table or coffee table and not worry about a cord. This fire gel kept the fondue pot very hot for quite a long time and seems very safe to me, just do not overfill the gel pot.

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When I was researching fondue pots and accessories for a gift for my wife, I did a lot of research. What I found was that I didn't want an electric one, but a traditional one. I also thought that sterno cans were still the way to go. I was wrong, apparently.

This fire gel was really easy to use, burns really clean and with a blue flame, and is easy to clean up. This size jar will last us a while and the price was great too. I would say yes to this, especially if you're using sterno. No smell, no problem. Thanks!

Thursday, July 18, 2013

Calphalon Simply Calphalon Nonstick Hard-Anodized Aluminum 13-Inch Grill Pan

Calphalon Simply Calphalon Nonstick Hard-Anodized Aluminum 13-Inch Grill PanI have owned my fair share of indoor grills, from a Foreman grill to a really heavy grill pan which I ordered through Amazon. Not too long ago I recently acquired the Calphalon grill pan because my Foreman grill is too small if I want to cook a piece of meat and some vegetables at the same time. Plus the black coating on my Foreman grill is wearing out. So I bought the Calphalon grill pan when it was on sale at a local department store. I haven't been able to get enough of it. It is so easy to clean even when I had cooked a piece of meat that was marinated in Italian dressing or in my own concoction of ground fennel seed, garlic, shallots, and extra virgin olive oil. The marinade will of course stick to the grill which is expected however cleaning it off the grill pan was so much easier than my last grill pan which was heavy and difficult to clean because it wasn't non-stick. I also like using the Calphalon grill pan because I can cook both the meat and vegetable (say asparagus) at the same time. The results are fabulous. I get those wonderful grill marks and grill taste. Although it is a bit big for this apartment dweller, I still consider this grill pan the best of all the indoor grills I have owned. Well worth the money too.

I have had this pan about 2 months now and have put it through it's paces. I too bought it based on the Cooks Illustrated (America's Test Kitchen PBS Show) review, I like their analytical approach to testing and cooking, so I trust them.....and they were right. The concept works if the grooves are wide and wide apart. Let's get one thing straight here first, this is not a "grill like flavor" producer, it "enhances" the food with a grill like taste. I will use it mostly in the winter when I can't get to my Weber grill outside, but I will use it year around for veggies, chicken breasts, and pork chops for sure. Burgers and steaks are better on an open flame, but this pan is awesome to grill zuchinni, eggplant, anise, tomatoes, etc. They come out much juicier than on the open heat and flame of an barbeque grill, plus you can keep a closer eye on them inside the house as you prepare a meal. As for chicken breasts, it's very good as well, I never really saw the advantage of barbequing chicken breasts outside because you would have to over-cook them to get any real disernable taste from it. But on the grill pan, they come out great, perfect grill marks, good flavor, and you don't get that slightly tougher outside that makes it difficult to slice if you put it in a salad or pasta dish. Pork chops are good in this pan too, I usually give them a quick grilling in the pan before I put a sauce on them and finish cooking them in the oven, they retain MUCH MORE juice in the pan than on the BBQ grill. Clean-up can be a challenge, but like they said on America's Test Kitchen, if you buy the George Foreman 'grooved' scotch pad (hard to find!), it's a snap. It's built well and I know it will hold up for many years. In closing, look no further, this is the pan to buy if you want to grill inside.....PS, 4 stars because it doesn't "REALLY" grill like the outdoors!

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I chose this pan based on the Cooks Illustrated review, and boy do they know what they are talking about. This pan is awesome! I've used it to grill fajita strips and steaks and it works perfectly. Beautiful grill marks just like on a real grill, great conduction so it heats up evenly all the way across the pan, and the nonstick surface makes it clean up super quick and easy. One of my favorite pans! Highly recommended.

Read Best Reviews of Calphalon Simply Calphalon Nonstick Hard-Anodized Aluminum 13-Inch Grill Pan Here

I'm a vegetarian so cannot comment on the ability of this pan to grill meat, but I can tell you this it is an absolutely *fantastic* piece of cookware!

I cook a lot, and turn to this pan quite a bit. It heats very evenly, is truly nonstick (w/o need for a single drop of oil), and clean-up is an absolute breeze. Since it works so well, I'm no longer just using it to make omelets and scrambles.

I've had Circulon for yrs, and like it a lot but some types of food (e.g. eggs) tend to get stuck in the grooves. So that was my main reason for buying this pan. It has far exceeded my expectations. I'm slowly going to transition from Circulon to Calphalon as my budget allows. Thanks amazon for a super buy on this pan.

I'm a grillin fool now:)

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Does an excellent job of cooking with grill marks. Easy cleanup. Wish they made the same grill pan in a 9 or 10" size. Would probably use it more often

Friday, June 28, 2013

Baker's Secret Large Broiler with Grill Top

Baker's Secret Large Broiler with Grill TopNB: The one star rating of this broiler is only(!) because there is no "zero star" option.

I went through *two* of these broilers in less than two months and after repeated delays awaiting a return lablel (I don't have easy access to a working printer) finally returned them to Amazon for refund -which I never(!) received, despite being assured that I would be refunded the shipping cost I paid to return them.

Despite close(!) attention to the use and care instructions, the non-stick surface of the pans began to crack/peel/flake after less than five to six washings in my automatic dishwasher. Under no circumstances whatsoever should foods of any type ever be placed in the pan.

The non-stick surface of the grills lasted longer, but they, too, eventually deteriorated, allowing foods to stick and the coating to peel.

Despite the low price I cannot recommend this item.

I bought this at my local grocer for the "grill pan" so I could bake foods with less fat. After reading the instructions when I got home, I raised an eyebrow. The instructions say, "DO NOT use vegetable cooking sprays. Follow recipe instructions for greasing and flouring." I had to wonder why no use of vegetable sprays? After all, that is precisely what low fat recipes call for. I wondered if this meant that you didn't need to spray it since it was "non-stick", or that the sprays would leave a film. Because there was no explanation as to why, I just decided to follow the recipe (as the instructions said) but eliminate the specific instruction on using the spray.

The very first dish I made (oven fried chicken and specifically this recipe: ) stuck so badly to the pan that I didn't think I could actually clean it off. It took two days of soaking and multiple scrubbing sessions. I finally assumed that perhaps this was a recipe that needed to be done without a grill pan. Okay fine.

The second time I made simple baked fish. It still stuck to the grill pan. In fact, we had about half the fish I originally baked in the oven because it tore apart when I attempted to remove it. Once again, I had to soak and srub, then soak and scrub.

I then thought I'd try one more thing. I oiled the grill pan before baking chicken. It helped, but did not appear to make too much difference at all. I still had chicken stuck to the grill pan, though admittedly it was a bit better. Still, the chicken was also a bit more greasy than I wanted.

I don't know what else to say about it. The grill pan is a complete failure as far as non-stick goes. The one perk was that after being scrubbed so many times (the grill pan, not the roasting pan) it still had no scratches at all, so at the very least it is durable.

The roaster part of the pan has given me no trouble at all, but that's probably because so far I've only used it to catch the drippings. Still, the drippings that have fallen into the roaster pan wash out instantly even if dried, so that at least is definitely non-stick. It's too bad that they didn't make the "grill pan" with the same material.

I would not recommend this purchase if you're buying it for the grill pan. If you're looking at it just for the roasting pan, you can buy that alone for a cheaper price. I'd recommend doing that instead.

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I may not be a master chef, but I have tried multiple times to use this broiling pan. Everytime I get the same results! The surface of the non-stick pan cannot take the heat of your oven on broil. My oven has a high and low broil setting, and even the low setting ends up with a smokey plastic smell (without food on it!). I am back on Amazon tonight to seek out a replacement. I have been craving lamb chops, and I need to get broiling!

Read Best Reviews of Baker's Secret Large Broiler with Grill Top Here

I've had this pan for several years and finally threw it away today. It's a small size, which is what I needed for my 2-person family, and works fine as a broiling pan. However the grill is hard to clean even if you spray it first, and after the first use or two it was already starting to look kind of crummy. That was OK with me, since a broiler never looks good after being used, and as long as it was clean and sanitary I was happy. But for the price I think it's time to toss it and get a new one.

So if you don't mind a broiling pan that looks like it's been used, you can't beat this for the price. Personally I'll be upgrading to a more expensive one now, in hopes that it will be easier to clean.

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I really thought I was getting a good deal. I believe I did. However I have used the pan once to broil a steak and I can't get the top of the pan completely clean. Looks like it is permanently stained.