All-Clad Belgian Waffle Maker

A high-end waffle maker that produces thick, light-as-air waffles.

Part of cookware maker All-Clad's foray into kitchen electrics is the 4-Square Belgian Waffle Maker, exclusively available at Williams-Sonoma. A sturdy, heavy machine, this waffle maker is pricy, but makes thick, light waffles that are crispy on the outside and airy and tender inside.

The machine has a temperature dial, lights indicating the power and when it reaches temperature, and a beep signal when the maker is heated and when a waffle is finished cooking. The cooking plates are cast-aluminum and nonstick, although the instructions still recommend brushing them with oil.

The waffle maker emits steam while cooking; in fact, it's designed to release steam from the waffles to create the light, crisp texture. The deep square pockets in the inch-thick waffles also help to keep these waffles crisp; they didn't even seem to get soggy after sitting in the oven.

The one thing I don't like about this appliance is the drip trough. The back of the waffle grid is cut away to provide a runoff channel into a removable plastic trough designed to catch batter overflow. Even so, this makes a terrible mess and will likely need to be emptied if you're making more than a few waffles. What's more, the part of the waffle along the runoff didn't seem to cook as evenly as the rest of the waffle, and I had to cut away the gummy part of the waffle that spilled over. I found the drip tray messy to use and to clean (not to mention, difficult to remove from the hot waffle maker when it filled up before I'd finished cooking).

A little recipe book comes with the waffle maker. My favorite was the recipe for Yeasted Waffles, the batter for which is made the night before.

At $199.95 (or $179.95 for the 2-Square version), the All-Clad Waffle Maker is a splurge. But if you make waffles every weekend, this waffler might make some of the best you've ever tasted.

SodaStream Soda Maker

A fun tool that lets soda lovers make their own sodas.

My husband is a huge fan of soda, particularly those fruit-based, all-natural sodas they sell at gourmet and natural foods stores, and even just plain old seltzer water. The problem is, the cost of those sodas adds up, and lugging the bottles home from the store (plus out to the recycling bin when they're empty) can be quite a chore.

So when I saw the SodaStream C100 soda maker, I thought it would might be a good solution. And, for the most part, it is.

The SodaStream is a non-electric countertop device that pumps carbonation into water via a CO2 canister that is included with the machine (Note: Don't do as I did and try to either travel with or ship your SodaStream – CO2 cylinders are considered hazardous materials and are pretty impossible for the average consumer to transport). The SodaStream also comes with two 1-liter plastic bottles and lids. The bottles are BPA free and are reusable, which makes them very eco-friendly. Plus, they last for 3 years (bottles are even marked with the "use-by" date). Extra bottles are available for purchase separately, and once you've used up your CO2 canister, you can exchange it at an authorized retailer for a new cylinder, and pay only the cost of the gas (at my local kitchenware store, this ends up being only around $13, whereas buying the cylinder itself is twice that much). The company claims the carbonator will make 60 liters of soda water, depending on the amount of carbonation used for each bottle (A larger cylinder is also available that carbonate up to 110 liters of water).

Using the SodaStream is simple: You screw the CO2 cylinder into the back of the machine (the canister can stay in place until it's empty), then screw a bottle of chilled water into the front of the machine. Then, press the carbonating button a few times until you hear the machine buzz. Three buzzes will yield standard carbonation (which seems as fizzy as a just-opened can of soda), more or fewer buzzes will give you more or less carbonation according to your preference. Then, unscrew the bottle from the drinkmaker and either drink it immediately, or cap it and refrigerate it for later. The SodaStream can only be used to carbonate plain water, but for flavored soda, you can add syrups, juices or extracts to the bottle or to your glass.

I found only a few drawbacks of the SodaStream. For one, you need to chill your bottle of water first, which can be a drag if you are making multiple drinks and only have 2 bottles, or if you want a spur-of-the-moment beverage. Second, the bottles must be washed by hand. And finally, I wish the user manual had a few recipes for making your own soda concentrates. SodaStream sells its own line of soda concentrates, but they are all filled with artificial ingredients, which makes me itch to create my own (Although I do like that the sweetener for the diet versions is Splenda rather than aspartame). But for around $99 for the kit, I think the SodaStream is a fun and useful accessory for soda lovers.

Cleaning a Waffle Maker

Sorry, I could not read the content fromt this page.

Panasonic Bread Maker Review

Panasonic's Automatic Bread Maker is a good all-purpose option for the beginning bread baker.

If you're new to bread baking, Panasonic's Automatic Bread Maker could be for you. The machine is easy to use and yields seemingly foolproof good results.

The settings are easy to use, and you can use the machine to make white, whole wheat, multigrain or French bread, or even make pizza dough or use the machine on a bake-only setting . The separate yeast dispenser means you don't have to worry about layering dry ingredients over wet ingredients. Instead, yeast is automatically dispensed at the appropriate moment in the process, ensuring perfectly risen bread every time.

Experienced bread-machine users might be disappointed that the control panel does not indicate at what stage in the process the machine is, and that there are no programmable settings for your own recipes. However, there is a "dough only" setting that enables you to use the machine to mix your own recipes, then remove them after the first rise and shape them to bake in a conventional oven.

A problem I encountered is that the loaf sizes in Panasonic's machine are "Medium," "Large," and "Extra-Large," when bread-machine recipes measure loaf size by pounds. Nothing in the manual offered a description of the loaf sizes. A call to Panasonic's excellent customer-service hotline got the answer (A "Medium" loaf is 1 1/2 pounds, "Large" is 2 pounds and "Extra-Large" is 2 1/2 pounds).

While the instruction manual is helpful, the recipes aren't quite as user-friendly. The ingredient measurements for some of the recipes are in strange amounts, like 4 7/16 cups of flour, perhaps due to converting the measurement from ounce measurements (which are also given). If you have a kitchen scale, you'd be wise to use it to measure your quantities.

The Panasonic Automatic Bread Maker can be found for under $130, making it an affordable option for easy homemade bread.