Showing posts with label lowes grills. Show all posts
Showing posts with label lowes grills. Show all posts

Saturday, July 19, 2014

General Electric Convection Toaster Oven

General Electric Convection Toaster OvenThis oven is fantastic. I have used Black and Decker models for years, with great results. However, I have wanted to move to a bigger capacity oven for sometime. I frequently cook rolls, and big sandwiches, and the small size of the B&D has me always burning the tops of these items. When I saw the GE for $49 at a big box store, I brought it home. You simply can't beat this oven at that price, esp considering it is a convection, and has a built-in rotisserie. It is very stylish. The capacity is huge. It has 2 racks that can be positioned at any of 3 built in shelves to adjust height. There is 12" of depth to cook a small pizza. Convection is simply a fan that blows the hot air around to promote even cooking. It definitely seems to work much better than non convection ovens. I will continue to use my B&D as a supplement, but the GE will now become my primary oven. It is also very quiet, with only a small hum from the convection fan in bake. In toast, the fan is off.

I started by cooking identical meals in the GE, and my B&D to see which performed better. The GE won by a landslide. I cooked rolls in each oven, at the same temp, and for the same time. Predictably, the B&D oven burned the roll. The GE oven cooked the roll nice and crispy on the outside, still flaky on the inside, and did not burn it. One thing of note, is that the rolls came out better when baked. Toast setting only uses the heating elements, the convection fan is off. In toast, setting the timer on "medium" the roll was barely cooked at all. But, on Bake, with the convection fan in use, it came out much better, tho it took several minutes more to cook. IDK how it would do on actual toast, b/c I don't eat toast, but the timer settings on toast seem to be on the too fast to be adequate side. You might be better off buying a smaller oven for toast, and using this strictly to bake, where it performs amazingly. Next, I cooked frozen french fries, and fried chicken, again at the same temp. The B&D is a much smaller oven, so it heated up faster, and cooked the meal 6 minutes faster. However, the GE cooked it better. The fries were crispier, w/o being overdone, and the chicken was moister, more tender, and tasted better. I cooked a skinless chicken breast in each. Again, the B&D was 5 minutes faster, but the GE was better. Though skinless, the GE produced a seared top that made it nice and crispy on the outside, nice and tender and moist inside. The B&D was good, but not as tender and moist.

However, there are some important warnings. One, both the top and bottom heat up, esp.the top. All toaster ovens do this, but I have a heat pad under it to avoid scorching my counter top, and I'm careful not to touch the top when cooking. Two, the oven can be operated with the door open! My B&D always shuts off whenever the door opens. Obviously, this is a huge potential safety hazard if you're one of those that grabs stuff out of the oven, and doesn't remember to shut it off. That is why I always pull the plug whenever I'm done using any toaster oven, just in case. Next, the metal on the front heats up immensely. The only thing that is safe to touch, is the handle bar. More than once, I have opened the door all the way, and then brushed my hand against the top of the door as I lift my hand up, almost burning myself. Either be very careful, or use an oven mitt. It is for these negatives that I give 3 stars instead of 5.

I have mixed feelings about this oven. For me, it's 5 stars hands down. It cooks great, and looks great, but I have long been into the practice of unplugging toasters when not in use. The fact that the oven will stay on with the door open is a huge red flag to those that have household members that might forget to turn it off. For those with forgetful family members, small children, or who just don't like to unplug appliances, not to mention those who hate to use oven mitts around a toaster, I would stay away from this. If you're like me, then by all means jump on it for the $49 retail price.

As the oven on my old range has expired, and I intend to replace my manufactured home in the next few years, I decided to buy a multi-use toaster oven to use in the interem. After narrowing my choices down to the GE and a Black & Decker product, I finally purchased the GE product.

In the space of almost a week, I have used the toaster function many times, baked brownies, roasted peanuts, cooked a TV dinner, baked potatoes and made my special Rosemary Potatoes. Thus far, to my surprise, it has performed each function perfectly. The controls are easy to use and, while the oven gets hot, it's not as hot on the outside as I'd expected considering the heat on the inside, especially while on broil.

So far, so good . . .

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I bought this oven from walmart at Christmas time for about 1/2 the price of the going rate on here.

With that being said

This is in my opinion the little convection that could!

It cooks bread,cakes,and pastries like a champ perfectly done and not burned on the bottom

the rotisserie works awesome (Albeit there is a little lag in the motion)

but it cooks chickens just like you would buy from the deli or restaurant

I also rotisserie cooked a rib roast on Christmas day and it came out perfect

i couldn't be happier

as for complaints about the edges of the handle being to hot?

yea its true but most of us know not to open a hot glass door by the edges

awesome unit

i recommend it to everyone

Bill

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For making biscuits and other baked items, you can't beat this oven. Everything turns out fluffy and light.

However, when it comes to making other non-pastry/rising items like potatoes au gratin, etc. it seems like this oven takes forever to cook the item. I always thought convection ovens were supposed to be faster, but this isn't. That's a bit of a turn-off since I thought I'd be saving on some electric.

The oven does get VERY hot and one must take that into consideration if you have children or pets or your counterspace is limited and there is fire hazard for something this hot to be in close quarters.

Last but not least, the instructions said you can't use aluminum foil inside the oven. So you'll want to make sure you're stocked up on parchment paper. That's not a huge deal, and I prefer parchment. But one should be aware of this before purchasing.

There are few instructions included, which is also a bummer, so I also think the instruction manual could be made a little more informative for the user.

It is, however, a value for the money. But don't expect the convection end of this to be a great energy and time saver in the kitchen.

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I was surprised to see the low ratings given that I am back on Amazon to search for one of these for my mother in law. I personally love the toaster oven, don't find that it damages my counter top at all (and I have a cheap particle board, do it yourself counter from Home Depot!) and use it for everything! I cook casseroles in it, bake cookies, full size DiGiorno pizzas, brownies, meats, etc., etc. Sure, some things take planningie, the large pizzas should be rotated, but I don't mind since it's just simple physics that the backside would be hotter next to the insulated walls as opposed to the side by the thin glass. I even used the rotisserie function to make a full rotisserie chicken! The top does get hot. Not a big deal. My only complaint is that it doesn't toast bread very well. I prefer a regular toaster for this, since the bread turns out toasted all the way through in this oven (like Melba toast). But some people might like that. I live in a hot climate, so having this as an alternative to using my big oven is WONDERFUL!

Sunday, July 13, 2014

Casa Moda S'Mores Maker with Ceramic Round Tray

Casa Moda S'Mores Maker with Ceramic Round TrayScientific Utility Brands International, Inc. makes the right size chafing fuel for your S'mores. Item #MF003 3 pack 1 hour burn. Product is called Magic Flame.

They have retailers such as ACE Hardware and Meijer Supermarket (Housewares dept) to name a few that carries the Magic Flame item # MF003.

Web Site: www.scientificutility.com

You can probably live your entire life and never have an acute need for a Casa Moda S'mores maker. Given a choice, I'd rather go outside and do up the marshmallows on sticks by a campfire (no sticky clean-up!), but for those instances when you've got a bunch of kids together for a sleepover or something this little gadget is great.

Quality wise, it is assembled from heavy ceramic that should be durable and from which it is a cinch to clean off the aforementioned sticky marshmallow and chocolate mess. The metal grill and internal burner are a bit more difficult to scrub, however.

The 2.6 oz. fuel cans are difficult to find (thanks to the reviewer that helped out on this one) but in a pinch I used a tablespoon of Sterno from a 7oz can scooped into a little steel cup, which I placed in the burner. Worked great!

The kids *love* this thing, just be sure to supervise them when they are using it, as burning marshmallows are a definite fire hazard!

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So you probably don't need this to make smores but what do you buy a 10 year old???? She loves smores and it is a cute set up for sleepover parties. It has a space for all the makings and it keeps the flame a little safer enclosed in a little burner. We love it. Make sure mom or dad are there to help and watch out for those flaming marshmellows!

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Great for college kids. 2.6 pz chafing fuel is sold at Kroger under the brand name of sterno. I was in the household items.

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I recieved this for a christmas present and opened it right up. The design is fair. The sterno container that I purchased did not fit in the holder that was included. I traveled to 13 stores to see if they carried the smaller 2.6 oz cans to no avial. The flame was not as big as I had hoped, since the product display shows everyone can toast at once. I did end up using the adaptor top as reccomended and the flame is so condenced that only 1 or 2 people can toast at once. Very sad:( ... Best thing about it is that I am the only one that has one, so everyone hangs out at my place a little more.

Friday, July 11, 2014

Calphalon Contemporary Nonstick 9x12-Inch Panini Pan and Press - JR8112P

Calphalon Contemporary Nonstick 9x12-Inch Panini Pan and Press - JR8112PPerfection

This past Christmas Season, I asked for Calphalon pots and pans and oh did my wish come true! Everyone bought me a least one pot or pan! I have a wonderful family who only live to please each other, so wow did I get Calphalon! Naturally there were some duplicates, so I returned the duplicates to Amazon and shopped and shopped with all my return credits and rather whimsically found things I wanted, I had never thought of a panini pan, but I thought it was a nice looking pan, best decision I ever made. I use it all the time, and if I'm not usung the pan I'm usuing the press to keep bacon from curling, pre-heating steaks to get the crossmarks on the meat and a million other things that are not coming to mind, I love it, and wondered how I cooked without it and I've been cooking for 35 years. Try it, you'll love it!

I've borrowed both the Cuisanart and Brevelle panini presses from my neighbors and tried them. I loved them, but was afraid of storage problems and that cleanup would deter me from using them. I took a gamble and got this one on a whim...and I am ecstatic. It works perfectly. I can adjust the heat. I throw it in the sink and it cleans up in a minute. It's large enough for two large sandwiches. I can store it with my other pots and pans so no lost counter space, and no trip to the pantry to dig it out. Did I say cleanup was so much easier than the presses I borrowed? :} COULDN'T be happier with this purchase.

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We don't make a lot of panini sandwiches. We have a panini grill, but too much trouble to get it out. When we want them this is quick and cooks them perfectly. The best part of the pan is we cook hamburger patties, chicken breasts, small steaks, etc. It becomes our grill pan. The weighted cover is perfect to use in other pans as well and great as a bacon press. I was going to buy one in the store, but read the review of the larger pan on line being the better buy. It is. There are only two of us, but when we cook we cook four of everything. Dinner that night and lunch the next day. The pan fits our needs amazingly. Highly recomended.

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Cannot explain how great this pan is. Everything tastes delicious and done in 15 min. I was worried that chicken breast would come out dry if I fry it, but it was great, my husband loved it and he is a picky eater. I haven't made panini on it yet but I made chicken, pork chops and streak and it was all great. I have a George forman but I hate cleaning it, especially 2 plates and the machine takes counter space( not a lot of it when you live in a city) this pan easy clean up and doesn't take much extra space.

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I have ditched all my other fry pans. Not only is this useful for sandwiches, but I have made burgers, scrambled eggs, omelets, grilled vegs and bacon in it. I use silicone utensils or wood. So easy to clean after years of stainless steel, I wish I would have purchased it sooner!

Thursday, May 29, 2014

Charcoal Companion Big Head Rosewood Handle Fish Grilling Spatula

Charcoal Companion Big Head Rosewood Handle Fish Grilling SpatulaI grill a lot of salmon at picnics and such. Using a regular, or even "grill size" spatulas makes a big mess of the fillets sometimes.

This is so wide allows you to scrape it loose from the grill and lift big fillets onto a platter.

On my second one. The first one was swiped!

Monday, May 26, 2014

Dog Treat Maker with Decorating Kit

Dog Treat Maker with Decorating KitI love my dog biscuit maker but I only paid $8.99 in Bed Bath and Beyond. This is a great way to make healthy treats for your dog and save money.

This is such a unique and creative way to make doggie treats. I used to use up a lot of energy turning on my oven (propane) making treats before but now this is so much more convenient, fun and little clean-up. I have also been experimenting with my own recipes using the doggie treat maker with great success! My doggie loves the treats and I have shared them with other furry friends as well. This treat maker is the best!

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Little girls love to bake and this is a somewhat good tool for that. Two cousins immediately jumped to use it and may again if I suggest it. Had a problem with the carrying case and the distributor quickly solved the problem for me.

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Not what i expected at all. I was expecting this kit to come with some sort of biscuit mix & it didn't.

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Tuesday, April 15, 2014

Rachael Ray Hard Anodized Nonstick 11-by-9-Inch Rectangular Skillet with Cast-Iron Flat Press, Oran

Rachael Ray Hard Anodized Nonstick 11-by-9-Inch Rectangular Skillet with Cast-Iron Flat Press, OrangeI have always wanted to try this cookware but truthfully have been too cheap! I finally got this particular pan and am in love with it! I will be expanding my collection soon I hope. For the first 2 weeks this pan was literally always on the stove. You can cook anything in it and clean up is awesome. The press helps cook meats faster than I've ever seen! Bacon goes from the fridge to crisp in literally 2 minutes! It makes awesome scambled eggs too. I cannot say enough good things about it. You have to try it to believe it!

I really like bacon but I've always had a hard time with getting it to cook evenly, that's why I purchased this pan. It really does a good job with heating evenly and the press keeps the bacon flat on the pan so the ends don't curl up and then not cook. I've also discovered that because of it's shape and non stick properties, it does a great job on french toast because you can put 4 slices in the pan at once and just like the bacon, it cooks evenly. My only complaint is that the handle on the press should have been made so that it doesn't conduct heat. After a while you have to use an oven mit to pick up the press. If the handle could be made to stay cool, I would have given it 5 stars.

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I am using this about four times as often as I anticipated, sometimes with the press, which works great, and sometimes without. Amazing the versatility that the shape of the skillet provides. Heavy, but not crippling. ;) I don't think anyone would have regrets about this purchase.

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After using this for a little over six months, I can honestly say there are both good things and not-so-good things. Love the size and shape that's the primary reason for purchasing. We used this skillet on average twice a week for cooking bacon and cook on a smooth cooktop surface. At this point, our primary dissatisfaction is that the center of the skillet has bowed inward a bit. Now the bacon in the center 4-5" of the skillet burns before the ends of each piece are completely cooked. Because we thoroughly allow cooking utensils to return to room temperature before washing them and always wash them by hand, this should not have happened. The bacon press is nice and heavy and does its job well. When using the bacon press, the bacon cooks much more evenly. I will probably try another brand of skillet to see if there's something out there that will hold up better.

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I ordered all of the Rachael Ray Pans and I have to say the quality is supurb. They clean up easily and do not stick. I bought the hard anodized or something like that. You have to cook on medium heat and no higher but the outcome of what you are preparing will make you proud. Try it I'm sure you will love it as much as I do.

Saturday, March 29, 2014

Charcoal Companion Monster Brush Replacement Head

Charcoal Companion Monster Brush Replacement HeadThis replacement head lasts a long time and does the job very well. Overall it is worth the price.

My wife bought me a Monster Brush [Two hand Model] for a joke. Jokes on her, I love it. Now with refills, it's like new all the time.

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This Grill Brush replacement actualy fits the brush it is suposed too and it is resonably priced.

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was perfect, fit right in just like the original. With this installed you can not tell it from a new one

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What's scary about this BBQ brush is; when cleaning your grill the metal bristle come off. If your not careful it can get in your food and in you digestive track causing all kinds of problems.

I threw mine away in the trash.

Monday, February 17, 2014

Camp Chef Tahoe 3 Burner Stove

Tahoe Deluxe 3 Burner Grill Black/redI purchased this product almost 2 years ago and have been very happy with the quality and performance. Recently one of the valves began to leak propane so I called Camp Chef to order a new one. I fully expected to pay for the valve the product is out of warranty and has been well used. To my surprise, the operator told me the valve would be shipped no cost. Camp Chef builds great products and truly stands behind them!

I saw this stove on sale at a local store, wanted a larger camp stove than the typical 2-burner camp stove, but saw the "made in China" label & thought it might be cheezie. I did some on-line research & found the Camp Chef stoves are just about all there is in the 3-burner category of big camp stoves & so bought it right before we went camping. I no longer think this is a cheezie stove. It's well designed & has a huge cooking area. I also got the cast iron griddle that's designed for it & wow, that is the best griddle I think I've ever used! The griddle weighs as much or more than the rest of the stove, fits perfectly over 2 of the burners, has high sides so your food & grease stay corralled until you're ready to deal with them, nothing sticks to it (not even eggs), and it's very easy to clean. The burners are huge & heat rapidly, yet the controls allow you to go all the way down to a warm setting if that's what you need. The one & only issue we had with this stove is that the burner's sheer size makes them too large to properly heat a percolating coffee pot, which needs a small burner area to make the coffee. Other than that, this is one great stove & I wish I'ld gotten one earlier.

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Very pleased with the product. Easy to set up. Works well for my intended use, canning vegetables and poultry outdoors. I read a review that advised getting the three burner model and, though about $60 more, eventually did so. I'm very glad I did. This way i can have a pressure cooking going while sterilizing jars on the second burner and heating water for hot packing on the third. It is sturdy, something that I was very concerned about. Once lit, the burners are easy to regulate though for the first thirty seconds or so the flame must be watched as it may go out.

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This is the most pleasant purchase I've made in a long time. It really preforms. The only weak spot I've found is the grease cup holder. It's very very cheaply made and broke in the hinge at first use. Why would someone design a well built unit and put in a piece of junk like the grease cup holder in with it is beyond me. It took away the good feeling I had for this unit itself. However, upon contacting the Camp Chef folks and offering to purchase a better grease cup I was informed that that was the only one they had. They were very apologetic and offered to send a new one out right away. Hurray for their customer service. Very well built and well thought out. If you camp and feed a large group you need this. I can see were it would come in handy at home also.

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Since my indoor stove does not have a true hood vent to outside, I simply use this stove outside on my patio every day. I have used it every day for 3 years as my main cooking source. The burners show no sign of failing any time soon. Simply, the grates have some rust, and the chromed manifold bar has rust as well. The only design problem is that the bottom plate is not designed to keep bits of food contained, so dropped bits of food fall through to the deck. With some modifications this could be much better. IE stainless cooking grate, fully sealed bottom plate. Very windy conditions are somewhat of a problem, have to turn up the heat to prevent the flame from blowing out, and/or shift the pots to where the flames are at.

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Monday, February 3, 2014

Brinkmann 9021 Shish Kabob Set

Brinkmann 9021 Shish Kabob SetStraight out of the box, I managed to make three batches of perfect kebabs on my first attempt with this set. Yes, I bought three sets. Beef, Mediterranean lamb, and Asian chicken all turned out perfectly. The points are sharp enough to pierce meat and vegetables, but dull/safe enough that they don't pierce your fingers. The skewers are flattened just enough that they're still small (didn't split onions), but the chicken didn't spin around like it can do on single wooden skewers. Some reviews suggested that the meat was not resting on the grill it's not really supposed to be, indirect heat works best. The height of the stands was perfect for 1-1/4" cubes of meat and vegetables to just lightly contact the grill(1-1/4" cubes are ideal for slight char on outside yet still cooked through over med-high heat without overcooking veg).

So, perfect results, why not 5 stars? I'm giving a 4 out of 5 for three reasons the frame folds, and can be a little tricky on the grill lifting the skewers to turn them (probably just need to get used to them). The rings at the top of the skewers have a slight gap, and when they don't have food on them, they tend to get stuck to each other worse than a bunch of empty clothes hangers. The notches where the skewers rest in the frame are rounded at the bottom, so the skewers sometimes want to rotate to one side or the other (hard to control the precise angle critical for 90-degree rotation every 2-3 minutes.)

Two of these fit on the grill at the same time (I've just got an average-sized propane grill). Just make sure to place the rings on the outside on both sets (away from each other) for ease of access with tongs for rotating.

THe prongs do the job but if you insist on using the accompanying rack you are out of luck. Everything becomes to crowded very quickly and you can't really fit everything on there -as shown in the picture. Blah Blah Blah -I still use it.

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I ordered two sets of these. One of the frames broke just taking it out of the box. The frames and skewers are made of the same low quality material. Basically I got no sense of any durability whatsoever. Surprised Brinkmann even put there name on this product.

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Its good for the price of the product. I wish it was a little deeper. The product is not very heavy. I wish it were heavy.

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Fits perfectly in my Char Broil patio grill, which is small. So, if you have a larger grill it will fit fine, and it'll open up room for other stuff. I've only used it twice, but both times were successful, and all parts have been easy to clean thus far.

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