The Beacon Journal asked readers to share their thoughts on products being tested for our “Does It Work?” series.
Here’s what they told us:
StufZ
“Seven steps to make a burger! I made one burger with the StufZ press, then I gave up and made the rest of the burgers with my $1 Dollar Tree press and my thumbs.”
— Dan Haynes, Barberton
“I found it hard to do. The hamburg meat would squash out of the ‘machine.’ … Also the two patties came apart in the cooking, and if you had it too thick, the meat didn’t cook through.”
— Cheryl Artis, Akron
“For the most part, I was pretty satisfied [with my StufZ]. … My only ‘con’ is that it is very hard to clean. I had to use a dish brush to get all the meat out of the nooks and crannies after it came out of the dishwasher still dirty and still feeling greasy. I would recommend this product to anyone who does a lot of burger grilling.”
— Joy Walters, Streetsboro
Potato Express
“Save your money!! I get the same results, only faster, by wrapping them [potatoes] in Glad or Saran Wrap.”
— Jean Boehme, Akron
“It does a good job on small potatoes, but large ones must be put back in for additional time. The bag lists lots of warnings, but they’re basically common sense. I’d give it an A-minus.”
— Cindy Wolcott,
Cuyahoga Falls
“It was given to me for Christmas by a friend. I had my doubts — but tried it. It works exactly as stated, and I was pleasantly surprised.”
— Ruth Partridge, Hartville
Perfect Bacon Bowls
“I recently purchased a set of the Perfect Bacon Bowls and have had satisfactory results using them. The one recommendation that I have is using thick-sliced bacon when making the bowls.”
— Joel Lazar, Barberton
Bacon Wave
“Very worthless product. Doesn’t microwave as well as a paper plate and napkin. Creates rubbery bacon. Takes longer to set up than most products.”
—Nancy Masi, Medina
“I have been using the Bacon Wave for 15 or more years (it went away for a few years and came back again). Love it! I put about a pound of bacon in the nuker for about 13 minutes. It comes out crispy like potato chips, or use less amount of time for less crispy.”
— Linda Smith, Stow
“If you want to prepare bacon in a microwave, it’s a lot simpler and more effective to spread a paper towel out on a ceramic plate, stretch the bacon slices out on the plate, and cover with another paper towel. It’s faster, the bacon cooks more evenly, and cleans up easier. This is the first time I’ve used the device and after this, I’m donating it to a charity rummage sale.”
— Jim McIntyre,
Streetsboro