Amazon.com Review

The Black & Decker bag sealer makes the business of bags simpleand versatile, without a lot of messy steps. Suitable for fresh,cooked, or dried foodstuffs, the sealer extends the shelf life of justabout everything in your larder by cutting down on oxygen exposure. Italso lets you seal individual portions for microwaving or boiling lateror reseal bags on items like pretzels and pasta. Designed for sealingin 30-second intervals, the device makes a three-sided, custom-size bagin one easy set of steps. Another step seals or vacuum seals the bag.To accommodate varying bag thicknesses, Black & Decker built in threetemperature settings for the sealing wire. Handy details include aprominent red indicator light, a center-mounted vacuum, and a storagespot for the cord. --Emily Bedard ... Read more

Features

• Includes starter roll and instructional video
• Powerful suction for effective long-lasting storage
• 2-wire sealing system and in-unit bag storage
• Adjustable temperature setting for various bag thicknesses
• Slim design for easy storage

Reviews (12)

Great Sealer for freezing and storage
I actually own the VS200 maybe this is a later model. ... Like the other reviewer has commented this sealer really works. I am having no problems with it. It seals great. Besides if it didn't seal just right, check and do it again. It's easy and very effective. Get yourself a sealer and start saving money and hassles. You really can't freeze much without one because the best of ziplocs always seem to let in freezer burns. My only tip would be that when sealing something really juicy, freeze until juice is solid. If you do this you will find that you get a much better vacuum and more air removed more quickly from the bag. But the little trap inside is very easy to clean out drips. Also, stop the sealer quickly if juice is going inside before it has a chance to get inside the vacuum pump. Also has separate hose available and canisters like the pricier Tilia. I haven't tried Tilia but since I'm happy with this why should I spend more?

Good for the money
For the money it works well. You do have to make sure that you smooth out the bag and position the end into the channel for vacuuming. If you do this it does have sufficient power to make a good vacuum seal. For anything with high moister content freeze first even if for just a couple of hours. The vacuum will suck the juices from meat and other items and if this gets into the sealing area you will lose your seal. Also hold firmly. If used correctly this is a good unit for the money.

I like this product
Its is cheap and works well if you follow the directions

Works great !
I seen these on sale and said what the hey i'll try one.Well they work great only if your use the proper bags with them. Some stupid people try to vacuum and seal there own bag well they don't work they seal but not vacuum on chip bags and others.This is a great product to have happy vacuuming.

It DOES work!
I bought the BS200 and my initial reaction was sceptical but after taking a look at the suction pump I quickly realised why several people had found problems.
If you follow the instructions properly the air removal is fine. It is not industrial quality but for the price you can't expect that. The sealing is good as long as you use it properly...

Vacuuming tip:
Put the object in the middle of the bag and then slip the bag in the machine. Smooth the bag over the sealer propely with on creases.
Start vacuuming and then push the object in the bag up towards the vacuum head getting it as close to the machine as you can.
Smooth any pockets of air towards the vacuum head. You have to do this manually as the vaccum pump is not strong enough otherwise. When you are satisfied with the air removal seal the bag. Presto. If you can't do this you are dumb! It's easy.

Another good tip is to wet the food (where appropriate) before vacuuming as this makes the bag/item contact much better. If it's meat or so on there's no problem but other things like vegetables work better moist. This also protects them when freezing.

What do you expect for this money? Follow the instructions properly and you won't be dissappointed. ... Read more

Features

• Handy clips for convenient beater storage on the unit
• Lightweight for easy, everyday use
• 4 speeds can handle a variety of mixing tasks
• Removable spatula attachment scrapes the sides to blend batter back into the bowl
• 125 watts of power

Amazon.com Review

Equipped with professional-style wire beaters and amply powered for home use, this five-speed hand mixer performs any stirring, mixing, beating, or whipping chore you can dream up. Stir cookie dough, mix cake or muffin batters, beat frostings, and whip egg whites and cream--all in their own bowls or pots. This handy portable tool lets you mix ingredients where they stand--much easier than lugging them to a stand mixer. A plastic spatula can be attached to the beaters to scrape batter from a bowl's sides. The mixer has an ergonomically designed, angled handle that fits the hand snugly and keeps the wrist straight to prevent fatigue. The top section is rubberized for comfort. The detachable beaters are dishwasher-safe, and this hand mixer (just 4-1/4 inches high without beaters), unlike bulky stand mixers, stores easily in a drawer. --Fred Brack ... Read more

Features

• Dishwasher-safe, chrome-plated, professional-style wire beaters
• Five speeds for mixing, beating, and whipping in bowl or pot
• Includes detachable spatula for scraping bowl while mixing
• Uses 200 watts of power
• Attached electric cord plugs into a standard 110 volt outlet

Reviews (3)

A great mixer!
I own this mixer and LOVE it. I use it for making very stiff biscotti dough, a task that is beyond all the other more expensive mixers I have now put away in my cupboard! I rarely use my expensive stand mixer anymore, since this works just as well, and requires a lot less cleaning. There are just two drawbacks. It's top-heavy, so be careful when you put it down, since it tips over easily. I have knocked it over numerous times, and it still works fine. The beaters are not very sturdy, so if you plan to use it a lot buy a few extra. I wish I bought this one before I wasted my money on those more expensive hand mixers. No, I don't work for Black & Decker. I just love their mixer.

mediocre
The mixer is designed to be ergonomic, but I found that it was so heavy that my hand and wrist got sore after only a few minutes. Also, the 5 speeds are fast, faster, really fast, speed of light, and warp speed. In fact, I didn't even test the highest speed because I thought the mixer would take off! The lack of a low or medium speed presented a problem when mixing dry ingredients into wet.

I wouldn't buy this mixer again or recommend it to anyone.

Nice mixer, but...
Good mixer, the lowest speed is pretty fast so I find most of the mixing I do is on speeds 1 and 2. Ergonomically pleasing to the hand. A bit hard to rest on the counter top, the small stand area of the mixer takes a few tries to find when putting the mixer down. ... Read more

Amazon.com Review

Its high handle permits this electric knife's twin 9-inchserrated stainless-steel blades to slice a roast, a loaf of crustybread, a block of cheese, or a pineapple straight down all the way tothe cutting board. With 100 watts of power, the knife requires no skillto effortlessly carve uniform slices. All it requires is grasping thepower handle (rubberized for comfort and slip resistance), pulling thetrigger, and drawing the knife in a straight line, as the blades sawback and forth at high speed. Included with the knife in this set is a10-1/4-inch, stainless-steel carving fork with a rugged plastic handle.Power handle, blades, and fork store in a 7-1/2-by-12-inch plastic casewith a snap-on top that's only 3 inches deep so it can fit in a drawer.As a bonus, a 7-1/2-by-11-3/4-inch poly cutting board comes along withthe knife set. The knife carries a one-year warranty against defects.--Fred Brack ... Read more

Features

• Bonus included: 7-1/2-by-11-3/4-inch poly cutting board
• Electric knife with 9-inch serrated blades effortlessly slices food
• High, rubberized handle for slicing straight down to cutting board
• Set includes 10-1/4-inch stainless-steel carving fork with plastic handle
• Power handle, blades, fork store in 7-1/2-by-12-inch plastic case

Reviews (3)

A very good medium priced electric knife
I bought this knife to avoid tragic turkey incidents. You see, I used to try to carve my Thanksgiving Turkey by hand with poor results (as in, "Gee Tom would you rather have a 1 inch slab of Turkey or a wafer thin piece?") I bought the knife as it was in the perfect middle area between the cheapie knives and the $50 models.

After cutting my first turkey with this knife, I wished I had bought one years ago. This knife is just great--the rubber handle lets you keep the knife firmly in hand even when you get turkey grease on your hand. Also, there is a handle over the trigger so you cannot turn the knife on when changing the blade. And the bottom line is that this cuts like a dream. I've used it on everything from turkey to roasts with great results--it allows me to easily cut nice uniform slices. No more tragic turkey incidents!!!!

The only reason I am here today writing a review is because I wanted to order another knife as a Christmas gift and saw that this knife received a poor review which I just don't understand. My knife is probably about 4 years old and I still love it.

This knife stinks. FIND ANYTHING ELSE
Absolutely the worst knife I have ever used. By FAR. Ergo, as in ergonomic??? NOT. Can't even hold the on-switch on for a full minute, it keeps turning off. What a HUGE PAIN. AVOID.

Finally A Knife That Slices All the Way to the Board
I have always wanted an electric knife that didn't leave a small wedge that wasn't sliced through. Now I have one. It does a wonderful job on meats and breads. On cheese it does a satisfactory job, although I prefer a plain, old serated knife. The safety lock which prevents the blade from moving while inserting or removing it is also a worthwhile feature. ... Read more