Product review: Leak Detector for your basement or kitchen by Alert Innovations LLC

One Drop Water Alarm is very sensitive to water as long as you put it the right side up. How can you tell which side is the right side? Make you can read the web address of the company in the left top corner. If the web address is backwards you got it upside down and it will not make any noise. I show how the mat reactions to drops of water with the right side up and the wrong side up.



I have had a leak under my sink in the past and it went undetected for several days until it caused some damage. This mat is going to let me right away. The mat very thin (1 mm thick) it comes with net liner so metal thing do not the lines on the mat and general false alarms. The mat can be trimmed as long as you cut between the sensor lines.



The alarm has two modes music and alarm, both are very loud and unpleasant. They can be turned off by changed the switch on the box. I made sure it was easily accessible because I will want to turn it off as soon as it lets me know there is a problem.



The alarm runs on 9volt battery and the battery is not included.



I received a sample unit from manufacture to share my experience with the alarm (be they positive or negative) the with potential future buyers. This fairly inexpensive device can save you a lot of money by preventing water damage.



You can locate One Drop of Leak Detector on Amazon via this link.



AshopZones review

Product review: Electric Meat Grinder & Sausage Stuffer by STX INTERNATIONAL

This is my first electric meat grinder and I was not sure what to expect. First, it is reasonably sized for household appliance it is 16" long, 9.5" tall, and 6.25" wide. Second, it works! It grounded 2 pounds of cubed meat in 5 minutes using the low setting. Third, it is loud. It was louder than I expected, if there is anything slightly negative I can say it would be the level of noise. What you see in the attached video is the grinder working on low speed and processing 2 pounds of lamb (clips are from the beginning, the middle, and the end of the 5 minute job). Fourth, the clean up is not bad. I was impressed by how little of the meat was left in the grinder, and washing it with soap and water immediately after the grinding was easy.



Overall, I am quite pleased. Using the grinder did not make much extra time to set up or clean, I was able to use better cuts of meat, and there is less worry about contamination that happens with the store-bought ground meat.



I received a unit to evaluation and testing and request for a video review so potential buyers can see the unit in action. My video includes the assembly steps. The manual skipped one important step about the use of the fasten knob, so I hope this will save someone time. Getting a free unit does not influence what I say, I covered the pluses and minus of my experience.



You can find STX-4000-TB2 Meat Grinder on Amazon via this link.





AshopZones review ★★★★★

Product review: Santoku Knife 7" by Zelite Infinity

This is a terrific knife. This a general purpose knife for dicing, slicing and mincing. The name translates from Japanese to mean "well-balanced" and is designed with the weights of the blade and the handle to be equally balanced. This balance in combination with the rounded design of the handle makes cutting and dicing with quick and easy. It is very sharp, everything I cut feels as easy as cutting soft butter.



The Santoku has a limited "rocking" travel in comparison to a Western-style chef's knife. When the blade rests on the cutting plane there is very little clearance above the cutting plane from heel to the tip. The Santoku design is shorter, lighter, thinner, and more hardened (to compensate for thinness) than a traditional Western chef's knife.



The "scalloped" sides that give this knife its unique look create small air pockets between the blade and the material being sliced and reduce cutting friction. The higher quality of Japanese knives use laminated steel which has a beautiful pattern. This knife has this laminated finish. The use of laminated steel improves the strength and rust resistance of the blade (and it looks beautiful).



It can be washed in a dishwasher, but I prefer to wash it by hand so it will last longer and there's no risk of them cutting the plastic coating on the appliance racks.



This knife was provided to me for testing and review by Zelite as part of the new product introduction. I am impressed!



You can find this "Santoku Knife" on Amazon by following this link





AshopZones review ★★★★★

Product review: OFIYOU Electric Fly Swatter

I have used an old fashioned rubber fly swatter and I thought this one will be just as easy to use, but turns out it is not so. The old style swatter has a smaller flexible surface and it is easier to generate high speed to squash the insect. This swatter is the size of a tennis racket and is made out of a harder material (plastic) so it takes more effort to generate high speed to make contact with an insect. To generate the shock the insect has to make contact with two metal wires to close a circuit. It is not enough to hit the insect you have to hit it right. This swatter has multiple layers of metal mesh which helps, but still there were times when I would make contact and the insect would fly away because it did not close to circuit which is necessary to generate an electric shock.



When I was fast and had good aim it worked. If I hit straight down towards the floor I could see the victim's body and could clean up. If I whacked side to side.... I knocked the body somewhere out of sight. I was not able to find the corpse or be sure the insect did not recover and fly away.



The swatter comes with all documentation entirely in Chinese. The labels on the switches are in Chinese (the label on the handle say "on/off"). The swatter is rechargeable and has an American electric plug. The label said 220V (it is made in China and aimed at different electrical system) but modern appliances are able to properly adapt to the different voltages and I was able safely to recharge the swatter's battery.



This is not a toy: touching the mesh with fingers will cause a mild electrical shock (not fatal but painful). Swinging the plastic "racket" could damage the furniture or whatever else you might hit in pursuit of the insect. The racket is made of hard plastic, it is not flexible.



I was provided a sample swatter for testing and review. Before I tried it I was hoping to use it on hornets, but because the kill rate is not 100% I don't think I will try it on insect that can fight back.



You can find this " Electric Fly Swatter" on Amazon via this link.





AshopZones review ★★★☆☆

Product review: BSTPOWER Infrared Touchless Stainless Steel Trash Can

This is a medium size trashcan that runs on four AA batteries (not included). I really like the battery choice for this trash can because I have a lot of AA rechargeable batteries and I am running this trashcan on rechargeable batteries. The trashcan has been in use for 2 weeks and I will post an update when the batteries will die.



The outside dimensions of the trash can (with the cover on) are:

12" tall, the base is 8.5" wide

The opening of the lid is 6.5" side to side and 5" front to back.

The finish is stainless silver. It a reflective (i.e. not brushed) finish.



I am using a 6 gallon trash bag.



The cover operates smoothly and closes well preventing odors from escaping. The Trash Can automatic opening mechanism is not too sensitive so it does not open when I just walk by, I need to hold my hand about 3 inches away from the sensor for it to react. If I am 5 inches away it does not move. This is a good thing especially if the trash can is located in a relatively small area.



The Trash Can comes with a handy ring, which allows me to neatly tuck in the trash bag inside the can. It is not totally invisible, but it holds the bag in place without overhang.



The only negative is that the lid, the ring, and trash can do not lock into each other. If the trash can is knocked down the lid and and the ring come off.



Overall I am pleased with this trash can. I am enjoying the convenience of touch-less trash can! It is like having a helpful hand whenever I need it.



This trash can is provided by BSTPOWER for testing and review as part of the new product introduction.

You can find it on Amazon by following this link.







AshopZones review ★★★★★

Product review: DUXTOP UltraThin Full Glass Top Touch Induction Cooktop

The best thing about this cooktop for me is that it keeps a steady temperature, this makes it much easier to cook some thing without worrying about burning. When searing steaks or making fried chicken the results come out better than using a conventional stove.



A ran a couple of experiments to help me see if the cooktop temperature is accurate and if it in fact holds the temperature at the point I set.



The temperature can be set in increments of 10, so to keep it just below boiling I set it to 200. I let it heat water for 12 minutes while measuring the water with a temperature probe (calibrated to be accurate within 2 degrees). The cooktop kept the temperature between 192 degrees and 183 degrees. This result was consistent on several tries. So even though there was a difference between the temperature the cooktop held and the specified goal temperature the there is difference between the two was consistent I can adjust for the difference (I use 10 degrees). I guess it is like learning a new oven they are all slightly different.



The second thing I measured is how it compares to my gas stove. I used the high powered gas burner and cooktop at its maximum setting (level of 10 and goal of 460 degrees). I used 1 cup of cold water and the same cast iron pan. The cooktop took 1 minute 50 seconds to bring it to boil. The gas stove took 2 minute 25 seconds before the water began boiling.



Another interesting difference was the distribution of heat. The cooktop began boiling in the center and then spread outwards (but still showed a hot spot in the center). On the gas stove the boiling began on the edges of the pan and then moved to the center of the pan.



The cooking surface is heated only when the pot is present. The control system shuts down the element if a pot is not present or not large enough. The cooktop itself does not get hot at all, so nothing gets burned and baked on it and it is very easy to clean by just wiping with a wet cloth.



Not every cookware works with the induction tops. This is because induction works by electromagnetic induction. This means to work on the induction top the pots must be made out of magnetic metal such as cast iron, stainless steel, and enamelled iron. In addition the bottom of the pan has to flat and make contact with the surface of the cook top and not too small (larger than 4.75" in diameter).



What cookware does not work? Heat-resistant glass, ceramic, copper, aluminium because none of them are magnetic.



I was able to cook pancakes at a constant and lower temperature and I thought they came out better this way. For steak I set the cooktop to the maximum temperature and the highest wattage. I was able to get the cast iron pan very hot which, of course, is the key to searing meat. For fried chicken, I set the temperature to 370 degrees (which translate to 380 degrees on the cooktop display) and cook it on both sides for 5 minutes, then finish it in the baking oven for 20 minutes at 375 degrees. The chicken comes out very crispy.



The cooktop is not as precise or as accurate as I hoped, but it is consistent so this is not a deal breaker just requires adjustment by the cook to know how their cooktop behaves. Everyone learns what to expect from their oven so this is similar.



You can find it on Amazon by following this link.





AshopZones review ★★★★★

Product review: iHomeSet Party Mooncake Mold

These are good looking cookie cutter molds. You get total of 12 designs, each cookie cutter has three molds.

Each cookie cutter is 6" tall and to stamp out a design you need to press the plunger. The designs are varied and intricate.



✅ The big round one is 2.5" across

✅ The small round one is 1.75" across

✅ The big square one is 2.25"

✅ The small square one is 1.5"



In attached video you can see how well they worked with sugar cookies.



The hardest part of using the mold is getting the cookie out of the mold cleanly so the beautiful design has nice clean edges.



1. I start by oiling the mold, making sure that every detail of the design is oiled. The press with a paper towel to wipe out excess oil and dust lightly with flour. I only oil once, but dust mold with flower before each cookie press.



2. For think cookies I roll the dough out with a rolling pin, for thicker cookies I use flattened ball of dough. In both cases I lightly dust the top of the dough that will face the mold cavity.I press the mold into the dough lightly, but firmly. Then I immediately remove the mold. The plunger on the mold really helps to push the dough out of the mold.



If the dough sticks to the mold it means it is a bit too wet, I either give it a bit of time to dry out or add more more flour.



I am pleased with these cookie molds, they produces beautiful designs, they were easy to use and they were easy to clean in the dishwasher.



You can find it on Amazon by following this link.







AshopZones review ★★★★★

Product reveiw: DUXTOP UltraThin Full Glass Induction Cooktop

The best thing about this cooktop for me is that it keeps a steady temperature, this makes it much easier to cook some thing without worrying about burning. When searing steaks or making fried chicken the results come out better than using a conventional stove.



A ran a couple of experiments to help me see if the cooktop temperature is accurate and if it in fact holds the temperature at the point I set.



The temperature can be set in increments of 10, so to keep it just below boiling I set it to 200. I let it heat water for 12 minutes while measuring the water with a temperature probe (calibrated to be accurate within 2 degrees). The cooktop kept the temperature between 192 degrees and 183 degrees. This result was consistent on several tries. So even though there was a difference between the temperature the cooktop held and the specified goal temperature the there is difference between the two was consistent I can adjust for the difference (I use 10 degrees). I guess it is like learning a new oven they are all slightly different.



The second thing I measured is how it compares to my gas stove. I used the high powered gas burner and cooktop at its maximum setting (level of 10 and goal of 460 degrees). I used 1 cup of cold water and the same cast iron pan. The cooktop took 1 minute 50 seconds to bring it to boil. The gas stove took 2 minute 25 seconds before the water began boiling.



Another interesting difference was the distribution of heat. The cooktop began boiling in the center and then spread outwards (but still showed a hot spot in the center). On the gas stove the boiling began on the edges of the pan and then moved to the center of the pan.



The cooking surface is heated only when the pot is present. The control system shuts down the element if a pot is not present or not large enough. The cooktop itself does not get hot at all, so nothing gets burned and baked on it and it is very easy to clean by just wiping with a wet cloth.



Not every cookware works with the induction tops. This is because induction works by electromagnetic induction. This means to work on the induction top the pots must be made out of magnetic metal such as cast iron, stainless steel, and enamelled iron. In addition the bottom of the pan has to flat and make contact with the surface of the cook top and not too small (larger than 4.75" in diameter).



What cookware does not work? Heat-resistant glass, ceramic, copper, aluminium because none of them are magnetic.



I was able to cook pancakes at a constant and lower temperature and I thought they came out better this way. For steak I set the cooktop to the maximum temperature and the highest wattage. I was able to get the cast iron pan very hot which, of course, is the key to searing meat. For fried chicken, I set the temperature to 370 degrees (which translate to 380 degrees on the cooktop display) and cook it on both sides for 5 minutes, then finish it in the baking oven for 20 minutes at 375 degrees. The chicken comes out very crispy.



The cooktop is not as precise or as accurate as I hoped, but it is consistent so this is not a deal breaker just requires adjustment by the cook to know how their cooktop behaves. Everyone learns what to expect from their oven so this is similar.



You can find it on Amazon by following this link.







AshopZones review ★★★★★

Product review: VonShef Professional Fully Automatic Ice Cream Maker With Built-in Compressor

I enjoy making home made ice cream because I can control the ingredients and experiment with different flavors. My old ice cream maker required the bowl to be frozen for 8 hour prior to making the ice cream. This meant that I either had to dedicate it a permanent place in the freezer or never able to be totally spontaneous about making it. Having an ice cream maker with a built-in cooler totally solves this problem.



The ice cream maker is well built and easy to use. In addition to the main body it has only three parts (the bowl, the cover with a paddle, and the paddle motor). When it works it is quiet. You can hear it in the video, it is a little quieter than the dishwasher and a little louder than the refrigerator. The top of the unit has a digital display which shows the temperature (in Celsius) and the time remaining. If the ice cream is not hard enough after 60 minutes (which is the default) it is easy to add additional time.



When the ice cream maker is operating it has two modes: mixing and cooling, so every 10 minutes it stops mixing for 10 minutes. Once the ice cream maker is done it enters the extended cooling period when keeps the ice cream cool without mixing. This means you don't have to rush to remove the ice cream from the bowl as soon as it done mixing. The ice cream can be either served immediately or stored in the freezer in an air tight container.  It comes out softer than I like and I usually freeze it for a little bit of time to get it harder.



I am very pleased with it: great ice cream, easy to use, easy to clean.





You can find it on Amazon by following this link.







AshopZones review ★★★★★

Metrokane 9251 All Chrome Electric Rabbit Wine Opener

After a couple of back surgeries my hand strength is pretty bad. One of the things that is difficult for me is opening wine bottles. When Metrokane asked me to test and review Metrokane Electric Rabbit Wine Opener I eagerly agreed knowing I will be one of their weakling testers.



I finally found the wine opener that is easy for me to use! All I have to do is press the bottom button on the wine opener and wait until the motor stops, and then push the top button to eject the cork from the wine opener. No strength needed at all! At the 4th of July gathering we opened a few bottles using it, and they all worked equally well.



Attached video starts with the use of the foil cutter - one has to squeeze and turn it to cut off the foil. Then the video shows extracting the cork, and finishes up with ejecting the cork.



The bottle opener comes with a charger. It takes 5 hours to fully charge the opener. The top of the opener has a digital display which shows how many bottles you can open with the remaining charge. The fully charged unit can open 30 bottles.



I am attaching a collage of photos (which can be located by following 'customer photos' link under the main photo).



✔ Photo #1 shows the use of the foil cutter

✔ Photo #2 shows wine opening removing the cork

✔ Photo #3 shows the cork coming out of the wine opener

✔ Photo #4 shows the cork being ejected

✔ Photo #5 shows the wine opener being charged (just starting, so it shows 0 bottles)



The Metrokane Electric Rabbit Wine Opener comes in an attractive round box. It would make an attractive gift.



Electric Rabbit Wine Opener has a 1 year warranty. It can be returned for repair or replacement to Metrokane (proof of purchase is required) to the following address:

Metrokane Consumer Service

150 East 58th Street

New York, NY 10155





You can find it on Amazon by following this link.





AshopZones review ★★★★★

DBTech Electric Egg Cooker

Boiling eggs is not hard, but on a few occasions through the years I got distracted, the water boiled away and ruined a couple of my favorite pots. This is my first egg cooker. I love it! I have been using it for about a month and it is working very well.



I am attaching a video which shows how the cooker prepares two eggs.



The small up that comes with the egg cooker shows marking in three columns "hard boiled", "half-hard boiled" and "soft boiled". The amount of water you need to add depends on the number of eggs you cook and the desired hardness of the egg. The water is measured with a small cup that comes with the egg cooker. The lettering on the cup is just raised numbers and letters, they don't have any contrast with plastic and very small. I have to put my reading glasses on to see the markings.



Before starting to cook you need to piece each egg shell with a provided tool. The tool works very well, it makes a very small neat hole.



When the cooker is done it buzzes and turns itself off. I am very glad to have an automatic turn off and a buzzer reminder . The buzzer is pretty loud as you can hear in my video.



I received this egg cooker from the manufacture for an honest review.



The only negative for me is that the marking on the small cup are very hard to read. Other than that I have been quite pleased with the egg cooker. I hope the description and the video will help you see what to expect.





You can find it on Amazon by following this link.





AshopZones review ★★★★★

Maverick Wireless BBQ Thermometer Set - Maverick ET732

This digital thermometer is designed to be used outdoors to barbecue (the transmitter unit is water tight) but it can be used the regular kitchen oven as well. Since we have 2 feet of snow outside, and I could not wait to try it out I used it in the regular kitchen oven to cook a rack of lamb. Overall it worked well, and I am including details below.



The first thing I did is to measure the accuracy of the thermometer. My video shows this test. Checking accuracy of the thermometer is very easy because we all know the temperature at which the water boils - 112 degrees. The video shows the reading of both the transmitter and the receiver. Listen for the sounds of the water beginning to boil (this means it reached 112 degrees), and look at the reading of the thermometer. You will see a slight delay between the sounds of the boiling water and when the thermometer reaches the 112 degrees. The thermometer's final reading is 114, which is 2 degrees higher than the temperature of boiling water. This test shows that the thermometer is accurate within 2 degrees.

  I am attaching a collage of 7 photos that I will be referencing in this review.

✔ The first photo shows everything that came in the package:



1. The thermometer comes with two units: the transmitter which has the probes attached, and the receiver a unit which you can place where it is convenient so you can see and hear what is going with the temperature of the probe. It will communicate with the transmitter up to 300 feet away.



2. There are two probes one measures the meat, the other one the temperature of the barbecue or the oven itself. The alarm can be programmed to go off if the temperature of the oven is too low or too high. You can also program the alarm for the meat temperature.



3. The photo shows a clip and a stand which can be used to position the transmitter and the receiver.



The sensors are heat resistant for up to 716° F and the receiver can display up to 572° F for the barbecue temperature. If you want to lower the temperature you need to wrap around going up to the max, there is no control to lower the number. This was fairly tedious, it would have been better if it had both up and down controls.



✔ The second photo shows the backs of the transmitter and the receiver units:



The transmitter unit is water tight, to open the battery compartment you need a small screw driver. The receiver unit is not water tight, so the battery compartment has just a sliding cover. The unit comes with batteries, but they were carbon batteries that we decided not to use and used our own alkaline batteries.



✔ The third photo shows the use of the thermometer with the kitchen over.



✔ The fifth photo shows the length of the two probes.



✔ The 6,7,8 photos show the probes attached the rack of lamb before, during, and after cooking. The rack of lamb turned out delicious.



I was provided this thermometer for evaluation and unbiased review be it positive or negative and I shared my experience with it including both the positives and the negatives.



Overall, the thermometer performed very well, other than I wish I could lower the temperature without going up and around I thought everything was well designed. I would not hesitate to recommend it to others.



You can find it on Amazon by following this link.





AshopZones review ★★★★★