Showing posts with label snacks. Show all posts
Showing posts with label snacks. Show all posts

9/13/2011

Rival 8806-BL 6-Quart Oval Electric Ice Cream Maker, Blue Review

Rival 8806-BL 6-Quart Oval Electric Ice Cream Maker, Blue
Average Reviews:

(More customer reviews)
I just received this ice cream maker yesterday and made a batch of french vanilla ice cream. I ordered Ben and Jerry's Ice Cream Dessert book at the same time I ordered the ice cream maker and they both came the same day. I used the French vanilla recipe from their book. The recipe is only for one quart so I quadrupled it. I used a lot more salt than the directions with the ice cream maker calls for to get the temperature down and also used a little table salt along with shaved ice. Use enough salt with the ice and you should have no trouble getting the temperature down. The ice cream was done when the motor stopped as per the directions. It only took 18 munutes from start to finish. The brine didn't even run out the drain hole in the can before the ice cream was done. The ice cream was pretty stiff consistency right away. We ate some for a taste test and put the whole can in the deep freeze for about an hour and the stuff set up very well. The ice cream was smooth and not gritty like it can be if it takes a long time to get done. After reading some of the reviews before buying this maker, I had some reservations about buying this particular model. I see now that they were unfounded. I had no problems with it at all. I would recommend this maker to anyone looking for a reasonably priced ice cream maker. Just be sure you use plenty of salt with the ice and be sure your ingredients are good and chilled when you put them together. By the way the recipe I used is excellent. Page 35 of Ben and Jerry's book.

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Fun for the Family! Rival 6 Qt Bucket Ice Cream Maker makes homemade ice cream, frozen yogurt, or sorbet the fun way with this durable plastic bucket ice cream maker. New compact design with 6 quart capacity and translucent canister lid for easy viewing. Powerful motor, easy to lock motor housing - eliminates the latch system. Simple to use and easy to clean. Delicious recipes included.

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7/12/2011

Hamilton Beach 25450 Gourmet Panini Press Review

Hamilton Beach 25450 Gourmet Panini Press
Average Reviews:

(More customer reviews)
You can't give this machine a bad rating. This Hamilton Beach Panini Press does one thing and one thing only, but it does it very well. If you enjoy pressed/grilled sandwhiches you will love this machine. As I write this I'm eating a feta/olive/artichoke/roasted peppers on pita sandwhich hot off the panini press, and it's scrumptious. I actually bought this as a christmas gift for my mother, but I probably use it more than she does.
The machine looks good on the counter, and has a large, non stick service. It's not on a hinge so it's designed to accept even the thickest sandwhiches without squeezing all the filling out. You can even "lock" the lid down to apply constant pressure, or lock it up to maintain minimal pressure or to not make contact with the top at all. It's great for quesidillas as well. Ignore the user that says it takes too long to heat up, it takes only a couple of minutes, about the time a waffle maker would take to heat. Even cooking on the stove you need to take a few mins to heat the pan! Also ignore the comment that this machine burns the bread before heating the filling, I've never had such problems, although I do wish there was a temperature control for further versatillity. But my bread never burns... I find 2-6 min will brown the bread perfectly, from lightly browned to nice and crispy (depending on how you like it) without burning it at all. I've never burned anything on this machine. I even once used it to grill some chicken, and it did the job nicely, though it's not really designed for that.
The only down sides are that there are no frills. I've seen other models that come with nice recipe books, this one has just a few hastily thrown together recipe ideas in the instruction booklet. There's no temp control either, which is fine, but it would be nice to have some kind of control (it would be more convenient if you wanted to use it for alternative purposes. The machine gets very hot, but that's to be expected. There's no alternate "plates" or cooking surfaces for say a flat "griddle" style surface, so you'll have to settle for the striated grate style surface, which in all honestly is not a big deal at all.
This is a great machine, at a decent price. It could be better with a temp control, some extra features, and a better recipe book, but all-in-all, you can't complain. It does its job, and does it very well.

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The Hamilton Beach Panini Press Gourmet Sandwich Maker is an excellent appliance to have on hand to make grilled cheese and other hot sandwiches. Every deli sandwich tastes better hot and with melted cheese. This Panini Press can handle sandwiches of any size.

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