Ivation Pressure Cooker

I received the Ivation 7 in 1 Programmable 6 Quart Pressure Cooker through a promotion. 

Product Info:

• Tight seal
• High boiling temperature (Over 250 degrees Fahrenheit)
• Easy to clean
• Helps preserve nutrients, vitamins, minerals, and flavors
• 11 Preset cooking styles
• Programmable timer function
• Automatic keep-warm

The Ivation electric pressure cooker is great addition to the kitchen that can be used to cook a variety of dishes. 

The pressure cooker comes with a few accessories. A rice spoon and small soup spoon to help dish out food. There is also a measuring cup. These accessories are not made as durable as the actual pressure cooker. They're still nice extra pieces to use with the cooker or around the kitchen.

The lid to the pressure cooker can take a few times to get onto the pressure cooker and locked into place. 

The stainless steel material of the pressure cooker is durable and can hold up for several uses. I accidentally dropped the lid and no damage was done to the lid.

The air vents on the lid help regulate the pressure inside the cooker. The seals work well to hold the moisture and desired pressure inside. It helps bring out the flavors and nutrients in the foods being cooked inside.

The pressure cooker can make foods like soup, poultry, meat, beans, rice, yogurt, steamed vegetables, and many other dishes. Even desserts, such as some cheese cakes and puddings, can be made inside the pressure cooker.

There are automatic and adjustable timers. The preset cooking modes are quick and easy to use.

One of the first dishes my family made with this pressure cooker is rice pudding. The rice was done faster than when we use our stove top pressure cooker pans. The automatic warmer helped keep the rice warm once it was done cooking. Time went much faster than expect.

I am very pleased that this pressure cooker can also be used as a slow cooker as well.

The product does come with a booklet that provides good instructions on how to use the pressure cooker.

One of my favorite parts of this pressure cooker is the inner pot. The inner pot is a thick stainless steel pot. It's durable and very easy to clean. I love the engraved measurements in the pot. For example, if making soup, you can see how much soup was made or how much is left.

 Pros:

- Size good for single or family cooking

- Preset cooking modes

- Adjustable timer

- Automatic keep warm

- Durable pan and pressure cooker

- Easy to clean

- Good information in booklet

Cons:

- None found

 Check out this pressure cooker on Amazon.

Stainless Steel Splatter Screen

I received the Stainless Steel Splatter Screen and Lid through a promotion.

Product Info:

• Made from 201 Stainless Steel, fine mesh, and silicone covered handle
• Safe on gas and electric stoves
• Allows you to observe food while cooking
• 5 1/2" long handle 
• 6 1/4" mesh area
• Grooves on stainless steel fits on 8", 10", and 12" pots or pans 

The Stainless Steel Splatter Screen works well for cooking, steaming, or boiling food. 

The stainless steel on the lid and mesh screen is safe to use on gas and electric stoves. The grooves on the 12" surface allows the pan to fit securely on 8", 10", and 12" pots and pans. 

The mesh allows you to see how the food is cooking. It allows steam to get through the lid, which allows you to steam or heat up certain foods, like vegetables. The mesh allows air to get through when food is boiling and steam to get out. For example, if boiling water, the mesh screen allows room temperature air in and allows steam to be release. It helps prevent the water from boiling over and making a mess on the stove top or getting into the flames if using a gas stove. The mesh screen can help protect you from food that splatters. If cooking bacon or some meats over the stove, the splatter mesh screen helps keep the grease from getting out and burning the person cooking or making a mess on the stove. 

The side of the stainless steel lid is slightly sharper than I'd like it to. It's something to be careful of when washing the lid, although the lid is dishwasher safe. 

The silicone covered handle is okay. The silicone cover helps prevent the stainless steel handle from burning the person touching it, which is nice. I still prefer using an oven mitt or pot holder just to be safe. The part that doesn't impress me is how the handle is attached to the stainless steel of the lid. During the first use, I noticed that the handle can bend the stainless steel lid where it's attached. It takes a small amount of effort or force to bend it and makes the product seem less durable.

Pros:

- Fine mesh

- Grooves on lid to fit various pots and pans

Cons:

- Lid can be bent where the handle is attached 

Check out this product on Amazon.

ekSel BBQ Grill & Baking Mats

I received ekSel's BBQ Grill and Baking Mats through a promotion.

Product Info:

• Set of two (one Beige and one Black)
• Reusable 
• Works with ovens, gas grills, charcoal grills, and electric grills 
• Non-stick
• Size: 15.75" x 19.7"
• Can be used with steak, ribs, burgers, bacon, sausages, chicken, turkey, fruits, vegetables, pizzas, fish, hash browns, etc. 
• FDA approved

My family grills a lot during the summer. We tend to use gas grills or putting a grate over a fire-pit to grill our food. A lot of the time meat can get burnt front the flames in some areas, grease can cause a mess, and the grill gets hard to clean with certain foods. 

The first time I tried the grill mat was with an oven. I wanted to make a pizza, but often pizza sauce can bubble up, fall off the pizza, and land on the bottom of the oven. It makes a mess, smells horrible, and gets difficult to clean. None of our pans were big enough for the pizza, so I used one of the mats and placed it on an upside down pan. The mats was big enough to cover the area of the large pizza. I stuck the pizza right on top of the mat. Some pizza sauce did bubble over from the pizza, but it landed on the mat. There was still a smell from the sauce getting cooked, but it wasn't as if it was getting burnt. As soon as the pizza was done, I used the upside down pan to grab a hold of the pizza and mat to pull it out without having it fall or fold over from the flexible mat. The mat was so much easier to clean the pizza sauce off of compared to the actual oven. The mat is dishwasher safe if place in the top rack. Otherwise, washing with soap and warm water works as well. 

The mat does fit over our gas grills. It allows us to make thinner meats, such as bacon or some sausages, without having them fall through the grill's grate. It made it easier to turn the meat without worrying about having it fall. It also kept flames off the meat to avoid the meat getting burnt. 

Note: Greasy meat or other foods should still be watched closely. Yes, the mat does help catch some of the grease and makes you able to grill bacon. If grease comes off the mat and goes into the flames, the flames can flare up. 

Check out this product on Amazon. 

3 in 1 Veg Spiralizer

 I received the Kuuk 3 in 1 Veg Spiralizer through a promotion.

Product Info:

• Works on fruits & vegetables
• Spiral cuts and noodles
• 3 stainless steel blades
• Hand powered 
• Suction cup feet 
• Stays in place

The Kuuk 3 in 1 Veg Spiralizer is a decent sized spiralizer that works on both vegetables and fruits. I'm not a big vegetable eater, so I mostly used mine for fruits, like apples, or vegetables like potatoes.

The prongs do hold some fruit or vegetables in place. The prongs don't keep them all in place. Some fruit or vegetables either fall out or off the spiralizer or they move while you're trying to cut them.

Each blade can be snapped into place on the spiralizer. Pushing the bash towards the blades and turning the handle allows you to cut the fruit or vegetables. Each blade has a different style to it.

The handle is to be hand cranked. It can be tiring if you do many fruits and vegetables or the larger ones.

 There are three types of stainless steel blades to create a different style of spiral or peel. There's a shredder blade for spaghetti-like spiral strands, the chipper blade for thicker spirals strands, and the straight blade for long, ribbon-like strands.

Towards the bottom of the spiralizer, there is a opening where the blades that are not being used can be stored. It keeps the pieces of the spiralizer together, so the extra blades don't get lost.

The spiralizer may not stay white or clean looking forever. Some fruits or vegetables may cause stains on the spiralizer.

I usually clean the spiralizer by hand with soap and water to make sure that it's all clean, although it is dishwasher safe.

Check out this spiralizer on Amazon.

Kitchen Monster Pizza Cutter

I received the Kitchen Monster Pizza Cutter through a promotion.

Product Info:

• Ergonomic handle
• Sharp
• Comfortable grip
• Dishwasher safe

The Kitchen Monster Pizza Cutter has a very nice handle on it. It's the first thing I noticed about the pizza cutter. The handle is bigger than most of the other pizza cutters I've used in the passed. The handle is comfortable to hold and fits in my hand nicely. I don't have to use a tighter grip to hold this pizza cutter like I do with other ones I have. 

The blade on the pizza cutter surprised me. I had not expected it to be that sharp. It's a very nice blade. Although, it does not cut through pizza with just one go. The crust area still needs to be gone over a few times. It still cuts nicer than some of the other ones I have in my house. 

The pizza cutter is easy to wash. It's dishwasher safe, but I prefer to wash it by hands to ensure that every part of the blade surface area is clean. 

Check out this pizza cutter on Amazon or Greenwald Brands.

Knife Sharpener

I received the Knife Sharpener from Priority Chef through a promotion.

Product Info:

• Creates concave shaped finish 
• Creates extra sharpness 
• Ergonomic designed handle 
• Non-slip base

When I pulled this knife sharpener out of it's box, I was impressed with how well it looked and felted. I really liked the design on it. The knife sharpener seems very durable. The handle was wide and high enough to be able to fit my hand on it comfortably. It allows for a comfortable grip. The non-slip base allows me to put pressure into sharpening the knife without having to worry about the sharpener moving on me and having the knife come back at me on accident. 

This knife sharpener from Priority Chef works in two steps. First, using the Tungsten carbide blades (closest to the handle) should be used for dull knives. 3-4 pulls through these blades helps sharpen the knife and prepare it's shape. Second, the 2 ceramic wheels will help sharpen the knife and create a razor like edge. 

The Tungsten carbide blades alone get the knives sharper than what they had been within a few pulls. The ceramic wheels get the knives very sharp. I was impressed with how well they worked. 

Do avoid sharpening the knives and using this around children or letting them play with it. It could allow them to get hurt if you or they are not careful. 

This knife sharpener is not suitable for serrated or ceramic knives. It could ruin the blades of those knives. 

Check out this knife sharpener on amazon.