The is apart of Foreman’s “Next Grilleration” line of grills and is definitely an improvement over our old countertop grill (which has since been trashed). Like the Champ grill, the GRP4b Grill lifts up to sandwich your food between a top and bottom grill plate. It advertises room for 4 burgers but I’d say it’s more like 2 or 3 (but that’s still a great improvement over 1). I was even able to cook 3 chicken breasts at a time. The actual grilling area is 72″c square, a little less than15″ by 5″.

Because of the top grill plate, there’s no potentially painful grease splatters. There’s also no need to flip your food because both sides cook at once. I have noticed, however, that, it seems to take longer to cook our food on this grill than the last one. The booklet estimates 8 – 10 minutes depending on your type of meat and one of the reviews for the GRP4b Grill on Target’s site also indicates that this grill is less hot than the fixed plate grills by George Foreman. Regardless, a couple of minutes wait time is more than enough for the convenience provided by the George Foreman Removable-Plate Grill.

While cooking, the grease from your food drips down the slightly declined bottom grill plate onto a plastic drip tray. The tray and accompanying spatula are made of a much stronger black plastic than those of the Champ grill. Furthermore, the spatula which comes with the George foreman GRP4B Grill is curved to make flipping or scooping up your food much easier. The spatula is made with notches that fit over the ridges on the grill to scrape off residual food or grease for cleaning.

The GRP4b Grill has the same nonstick coating as our old grill had. It’s something akin to Teflon but I believe the formula used on these grills is special to Foreman. Unfortunately, it started to rub off after only the first washing. There are certain places on the grill where the grill ridges are “pointed” and these spots seem especially likely for the coating to wear thin. On the good side, the coating hasn’t worn off any more than it did the first washing.

The top and bottom grill plates lift off by “floating” handles – handle and all. This means the plates are attached to plastic handles via screws. The plates are easy to clean by hand and are dishwasher safe; although, I’ve only cleaned them by hand so far. The rest of the grill can be wiped with a cloth if there’s any grease or food particles.

The George Foreman Removable-Plate Grill results in less greasy food (+health) and easier cleaning than a regular outdoor grill or even a frying pan. The GRP4B model is a substantial kitchen appliance which makes grilling multiple pieces of food quick and easy even during the cold winter months but which is still small enough to fit in your cupboard. We currently keep it on one of the top shelves without worry. I would definitely recommend this product.

The good: This set includes a pair if scissors which works just fine. It also has several rubber spatulas and plastic spoons, the latter which I have found myself using pretty frequently. There are about a dozen different knifes, including 5 kitchen knives (paring, larger chef knives, etc) and 8 serrated (steak? I don’t know, I only ever use my one utility knife) knives. The knives all came with cardboard sheaths and were plastic wrapped. All these are dishwasher safe and come in a carousel for easy access. The carousel also had enough room to add some of the tools I already had.

The whole set was also reasonably priced. We paid somewhere between $20 and $20 so I can’t complain one bit for the sheer number of pieces we got.

The Bad: The sheath and plastic had fallen off of 1 knife. I was careful and noticed but someone could easily have been cut. However, out of a dozen or so knives, this wasn’t bad. I don’t really need 8 serrated blades. I think 4 would have been enough and they could perhaps provide 4 other types of knives, too. The carousel tends to “stick” and doesn’t swivel well so I wind up moving the whole thing but it’s really not a big deal.

The biggest downfall is that the knives had rather angular handles are I cannot use them for long before they start to hurt my hands and cause serious crampage. I think they could easily cause blisters. I was cubing potatoes once, and tried 3 different knives all to no avail. I wound up resorting to my old one-size-fits-all utility knife which has never caused pain to me at all. I haven’t yet used this for steak or meat because I never eat steak but I think it would be less of a problem because you use the knife much less frequently and with less force with that sort of cooking.

There are also a lot of reviews on Amazon for similar products which talk about the knives rusting. I have yet to have that problem but I have not washed them in the dishwasher or used them frequently enough for this to occur.

So if I consider the main purpose to replace my utility knife, then this 21 Piece Cutlery set from Farberware fails. Still, if I focus on having other tools like spoons, spatulas and a pair of scissors, then I am still better off. Furthermore, if I ever invite 7 other people for steaks or need to cut fresh baked bread, I’m probably set. For my infrequent need of cutlery, I could have done worse. When i’m ready to replace this I will definitely make more of an investment and take time to read reviews as well.

As a side note, I remember watching some home improvement show where the crew came to help this couple who were trying to renovate their apartment so they could list upstairs. They finished the bedroom and added a beautiful bathroom complete with tile shower, clawfoot tub (the floor had to be reinforced) and a gorgeous basin sink that matched the fabric the wife had wanted to incorporate into the upstairs. I thought that was really neat! ]]> http://reviewsbycole.com/2009/02/a-pain-in-my-back/feed/ 0 http://reviewsbycole.com/2008/07/all-aplologies/ http://reviewsbycole.com/2008/07/all-aplologies/#comments Tue, 29 Jul 2008 04:19:00 +0000 Cole http://d1360885.u46.nozonenet.com/wp/?p=55 I did not mean to be gone for so long but moving was just hectic. Things have calmed down a bit now that we’re staying at the inn and have nothing to do. I figure I can post a bit. I had been wanting to post about of the few items I used when cleaning my house that made the job absolutely easier so I’ll get right on that.

Lysol Disinfecting Wipes 4in1 – Citrus Scent are simplay amazing. I like wipes because I don’t have to touch anything dirty and I can just throw them away. I’ve always hated using washcloths to do surface cleaning because I felt like the cloths became dirty and then I didn’t want to touch them anymore.

I’ve used a variety of wipes including Clorox and generic brands as well but really prefer the Lysol Disinfecting Wipes; they’re tough and thick without being a hassle (the new, thicker Clorox wipes are sort of quilted in a way that makes it easy to catch on sharp corners, fingernails et cetera).

Besides wiping up visible messes, the Lysol Disinfecting Wipes disinfect and kill the germs and bacteria the eye can’t see so they’re perfect for use in the kitchen (counter tops, refrigerator, freezer) and bathroom (counters, toilet, handles) where germs like to live.

I’d say the “4 in 1″ claim is a bit exaggerated because the “4″ things are that they kill germs, clean messes, are strong wipes and can be used in the kitchen and bathroom.

Silly advertising aside, these wipes are definitely handy to have around!

They’re very simple creatures; simple enough, in fact, that this review might seem silly. But I’d like to recommended the Scotch Brite Dish Wand to you so here I am, reviewing it.

The wand you buy comes with a sponge head which is replaceable. Depending on the wand you buy, you may get just a sponge or the heavy duty sponge, which has 2 layers: 1 yellow softer sponge on bottom and 1 green scrub sponge on top. I picked up the Heavy Duty Dish Wand because it was all they had. Scratch refills can also be purchased for those really tough jobs.

So what makes this more than a sponge on a stick? Well, the “stick” or the handle is hollow and you filled it with your dish soap of choice. (The end is a cap which screws off.) The soap is then dispensed into the sponge via a tiny hole; it took me a few minutes to locate it when I was actively trying – although this was when there was already soap bubbles on the wand.

Once you fill up the Scotch Brite Dish Wand, you’re good to go. This method really helps regulate the amount of dish soap you use, helping you reduce waste. Furthermor, you always have an adequate amount of bubbles on the sponge to really clean your dishes.

The sponges are typical Scotch Brite quality and the heavy duty sponge head works well for scrubbing dried on food. Of course, after some use (it will vary depending on how many dishes and how dirty they are), the heads will need to be removed. You can probably prolong the life of the dish wand heads by being careful around sharp utensils such as knifes. Nevertheless, they will need to be replaced and doing so is easy, and fairly cheap; the replacement heads seem to run around $2/2 pack.

I love that the Scotch Brite Dish Wand keeps my clean and while making my dishes the same. I love that I save dish soap in the process. I love that I don’t need to use a big, bulky sponge to scrub my dishes.

Of course, there are several aspects I don’t love. Traditional bottle brushes will work better for some dishes (bottles, glasses, jugs) because the heads are more malleable and straight. The particular angle of the Dish Wand doesn’t work well. Sometimes I can’t reach and often, with glasses, I feel like I cannot clean the bottom of glasses adequately.

Also, most of the Dish Wand is plastic which doesn’t make it a very “green” product. I can accept the handle as it doesn’t need to be replaced and can probably be used for some time but each of the replaceable heads have some chunks of plastic on them which get tosses out with the rest of the head. However, for the convenience and cleanliness it offers, I’m willing to make that sacrifice. You might disagree.

If you want something to make doing dishes easier and almost, maybe, a little fun – check out the Scotch Brite Dish Wand!

With limited supply at the BX, we didn’t have a lot of options. At first, we purchased a set of 3 sauce pans for a whopping $9.99. The price looked good and proved too tempting. The quality was sore. However, I made due with those shoddy pans until I couldn’t possible anymore.

It was time to upgrade and upgrade we did. We decided on a basic 10-Inch Saute Pan by Mirro, in the Get a Grip line, in addition to the 3 quart saucepan we already had. Eventually, I added the 12-Inch Covered Jumbo Cooker as well. This remains my current collection if Mirro Get a Grip pans, all in a wonderful red.

I made the purchases separately because, at first, I wasn’t sure how well they would hold up or how much I wanted to spend. In hind-sight, I wish I had purchased the 8-Piece Cookware Set, instead, and might still do so as it contains different pieces than the ones I already own.

With that said, you can imagine that I’m really impressed by the Get a Grip pans by Mirro! I will preface the rest of this review by saying they are not the best pans ever but they are likely the best you’ll find in this price range (The set runs for around $50 on Amazon and each piece I purchased individually ran around $10- $15).

The first thing that I love about the Mirro Get A Grip Aluminum pans is their colour: a beautiful red. It’s a bit darker than the pictures at Amazon show, which I prefer. This is a great, modern colour and will make any kitchen look pretty! In store, they also had black. Mirro cookware can be found in stores such as Target and Ace HardWare. Shoppers beware, the price of individual pans and the set vary greatly from store to store and also by colour. Sadly, some of the colour of my pans has chipped over time, but not much.

The second aspect I love about my Mirro cookware is that it’s non-stick. Now, we’ve all dealt with non-stick cookware that really didn’t live up to its name (my $9.99 trio for example); rest assured that Mirro Get a Grip cookware will! It’s not perfect, I’ll tell you now; I cook with forks sometimes and this has resulted in scratches on the non-stick surface but these scratches do not lead to peeling of the non-stick coating and are mostly due to my carelessness. I’ve had my Mirro Get A Grip 3-Quart Nonstick Aluminum Saucepan with Lid for over a year and a half, now, and scratching is really minimal.

Not only does the non-stick surface hold up fairly well, it works. Not only is cooking a breeze when food doesn’t stick but so is cleaning! Hand washing dishes is much easier than almost all of my other dishes and if there is a little stuck on food, it comes off after a short soak. Although hand washing is recommended, I have had no trouble washing my Mirro Get A Grip Aluminum Nonstick Cookware in the dishwasher.

The other namesake of Mirro Get A Grip Aluminum Nonstick Cookwave is it’s grip. Each pot or pan has a very sturdy handle, coated in quality silicone. You can be sure that your handles will be safe to touch with this cookware. Furthermore, the handles on Mirror Get A Grip cookware won’t slip, slide or turn in use; you’ll never have to worry about handles coming loose or off entirely like cheaper cookware.

Additionally, cooking is really improved with my Mirro Get A Grip Aluminum Nonstick 10-Inch Saute Pan. Not only does food not stick but it cooks more evenly than cheap alternative pans. Furthermore, it cooks faster. there is a noticeable difference in the cooking time and quality when using this cookware.

Lastly, several of my pieces have lids: the 3 Quart Sauce Pan and the 12-inch Jumbo Cooker. The lids are very well made domed “Safe-T” glass with stainless steel rims. They fit snugly over the pans and help reduce splatter messes while letting me keep an eye on the food. My only complaint is that my sauce pan does not also have a lid, which is typical for sauce pans. If any of the lids in the 8 piece set were interchangeable, I’d be in heaven.

So there you have it. Mirror makes aluminum pans with sturdy non-stick coating, secure silicone grip handles, rich colouring, and quality lids all for an affordable price and in available both in a set or individually. If you’re looking for decent cookware at a decent price, Mirro’s Get A Grip Aluminum Non-stock cookware is for you!

Still, it was quicker and less messy than a mop. I don’t like to be on contact with surfaces that seem dirty and the Swiffer Wet Jet All-In-One Power Mop Starter Kit provides me with the “barrier” I need to clean yet stay clean myself.

However, when I purchased a newSwiffer Wet Jet after moving, I was quite disappointed. Version 2.0, or whatever it is, requires batteries and they are not included! I’m not sure why this version needs batteries, but it’s just another thing to replace. If the original could do without, why not this one?

Also, this one was much more complicated to put together. The battery area requires extra pieces. With the original, it was easy to put it together but I actually had to follow directions with all the new pieces.

The revamped Swiffer Wet Jet tries to look classy but instead looks cheap and plasticy. Indeed, when there are spots I need to scrub, I sometimes wonder if I won’t break the shaft of this machine because it bends and feels weak.

As others have mentioned, the pads, solution and sponge all need to be changed fairly frequently. Although it depends how often you use your Swiffer, how much dirt you mop up and how large of an area you have to mop, refilling these articles may cost you next to nothing or an arm and a leg.

However, compared to the wet mopping pads on a regular swiffer, the Swiffer Wet Jet seems to be a vast improvement, especially when it comes to scrubbing with the provided attachments (in the case of the Wet Jet, a small, rough sponge attached via welcro the the side of the mop).

Overall, the Swiffer Wet Jet is an improvement over traditional mopping systems, but it could be more efficient and if the company continues to utilize such inefficient “upgrades,” I see myself parting with the Swiffer Wet Jet All-In-One Power Mop if something better comes along.