Advantages: Fast Paced read.
Disadvantages: None.

...The Stainless Steel Rat joins the Circus. Author - Harry Harrison. The Hero or Anti Hero of the series of stainless steel rat books is Jim DiGriz. He was born or rather created in 1961 and has appeared on book shelves ever since. The richest man in the galaxy, Imperitrix Von Kaiser Czarski, Hires Jim and his wife Angelina to investigate and if possible to catch the criminals behind several bank robberies. Jim, his wife and their son, James, find a common link to each robbery in that every time a bank has been robbed a Circus has been very near by. Jim hires a retired magician, 'The Great Grissini' to teach him some tricks and then joins the circus pretending to be a magician! As is the ilk with the 'rat' stories, there then follows some odd, fast paced and improbable adventures where Jim faces death, is conned, double... Read review

Ciao members have rated this review on average helpful

Advantages: Heats up quickly
Disadvantages: None

...Recently i seem to have had a bit of bad luck where it comes to my household appliances, first it was the cooker which i have had for 8 years it decided not to cook anymore, then the washing machine broke then my lovely other half decided he wanted fried chips instead of our normal oven chips and when he switched our deep fat fryer on it blew all the sockets in the house giving us no electric for a while. So to say the least i have had a bit of an appliance nightmare but all would be saved by my lovely mum well chips would anyway she bought me a brand spanking new deep fat fryer. I'm not the sort of person that is bothered if all my kitchen paraphernalia matches so when my mum walked in with a stainless steel deep fat fryer i was more then happy to except her gift. The Deep fat fryer comes in quite a large standard box which... Read review

Ciao members have rated this review on average helpful

Advantages: Great looking fast boiler & reasonable cost
Disadvantages: Noisy!

...Every 24 to 30 months I have to replace my kettle, why I know not but they only seem to last a month longer than the warranty! With this in mind one of my priorities is that I dont over spend knowing it will be replaced within 2 years or so. Had to be brushed stainless steel to fit my decor & it makes it easier to keep looking new as opposed to shiny S/Steel! Efficient in boiling & easy to refill & clean as I have teenagers who are reluctant to do any of these! Also a safety feature to prevent boiling dry a common mis-use by said teens. Those were MY specs.......................my parents had just bought one of these & are usually good in their research & value for money , they did tell me it is noisy............I went ahead & bought one & am very pleased with its performance but as always parents are right & it is noisy! but I... Read review

Ciao members have rated this review on average helpful

Advantages: Nice product if you dont use it
Disadvantages: Scratches badly

...After spending a considerable amount of money on a new kitchen (£15K) we purchased this sink thinking it would be a good investment, £400, and within a week the stainless steel scratched terribly. We consider the quality of this sink to be poor, and dont believe it should scratch so quickly. We wrote to Franke, who wrote back saying they couldnt even consider any complaint unless we filled in a complaint form, which would not necessarily get us any further. We couldnt believe the attitude of these so called customer service people at Franke.... Read review

Ciao members have rated this review on average helpful

Advantages: Best pans you will buy.
Disadvantages: A bit pricey

...I have been in the catering industry now for 9 years and i am yet to find pans better than the Stellar range. Non stick they are not! but high quality stainless steel - You will have to try hard to stick something to these pans. All the Pans have a thick base to help evenly spread heat while cooking. Fab. The lids also cary the high quality finish of the pans. They fit well and are well made with no screws in the inside of the lid. Handles also well fixed and designed not to get hot while cooking. If you want pans that can stand the test of time then Stellar is what you want. I have had mine for 4 years and they still look good. Although exspensive it is posible to find Stellar cheeper in sales i got a deep casserole pan a lid and a shallow pan in the sale half price(at a large well known department store) This is how i... Read review

Ciao members have rated this review on average helpful

Advantages: lighter to use, will last a lifetime if looked after well.
Disadvantages: none

...About 8 months ago we had a fire in our garden shed, we had been burning garden rubbish and thought that we had been very careful in dousing the fire. We were wrong and the fire completely detroyed our garden shed,and all the tools that were in it,30 years of collecting old tools,things that you cant buy to-day. We were devastated at our loss,but something good did come out of it,we decided to buy stainless steel tools, and a rake was part of our important buys. I cant tell you what a great difference it has made to us, it is lighter to use,not so heavy on the wrists,the work seems to be lighter,it can be used for heavy work or light,I have a lot of clearing to do on a small allotment and the stainless steel rake is a must. provided you clean the stainless steel when you have finished the garden work your steel tools should last... Read review

Ciao members have rated this review on average helpful

Advantages: Stylish, Durable, Classy, Excellent Performance
Disadvantages: Not all Non Stick Coated, Weight could be a problem for some

...to use such high ring temperatures either to achieve the same result. In fact there is a wee bit of a knack to using the pans and it pays to practise a couple of times first. The Frying Pan and Milk Pan come with a Teflon non stick coating. The Saucepans and Stock Pot are not teflon coated, but come with lids. The Stock Pot and larger saucpans come with two handles to make it easier to life them on and off the ring to avoid damaging the base and also witht he weight issue due to the copper. The pans are constructed from Stainless Steel, with a metal handle which can get hot during use so a glove is recommended too, and all the pans have a nice shiny 2 cm thick copper bottom to them. This is stamped with the Finest logo (pure snobbery) and also cooker and washing symbols too. I find the pans cook very well, and having no Teflon coating... Read review

Ciao members have rated this review on average helpful

Advantages: Boils quickly
Disadvantages: is very loud

..., long life polished stainless steel, 1.7 litre capacity and level three safety protection. Well all that is very well and good but what is it like to live with? In a word: loud. Some kettles boil quietly but not this one. It drowns out everything else that is going on. This is fine if you have only put the kettle on during an ad break while watching your favourite TV show. But when you are trying to watch “Richard and Judy” while boiling up some water for the vegetables, pasta or whatever you are having for dinner, the sound is very annoying. When we first got the kettle the fast boil did indeed seem to be just that, fast. However as you grow used to things you start to take it for granted. It is like getting a new internet connection, for the first few weeks you really notice how fast it is and then it too seems to be slow... Read review

Ciao members have rated this review on average helpful

Advantages: Real good looker in any kitchen!!!
Disadvantages: Too many to mention!!

...Thought I'd treat myself to a good looking, new cooker to tide me over until I have my kitchen knocked out and fully fitted. Yes, this cooker looks really good. Stainless steel. Easy to clean and keep clean! You could do your make-up in the reflective front oven door! Oven works really well, being a cake decorater, essential for a good cake! The inside oven light comes in very handy for the sponges aswell. Quite a big storage space for trays, pans, etc. underneath. That's really all the good points!! The bad, well, I think it is a poor design on safety, especially with children in mind, (I know the kids arn't supposed to be in the kitchen), and for adults aswell!! I've had bad experiences with it aswell. Let me explain!! There are two metal covers that the pans sit on over the burners. They have different widths in diameter which... Read review

Ciao members have rated this review on average helpful

Advantages: Cook on 3 floors, shut door for grill use
Disadvantages: Water marks and smudges easily.

...and the third the grill on the small area, the 4th push in control is the temperature setting for the single oven and also clean facility for the single oven/grill. The oven comes with a grill pan and wire tray situated in the single oven/grill which you can grill on, I also load this up for the food on the oven setting as you cannot fit a baking tray in the slot. You can use the timer to cook food for say 30 minutes, then it beeps to let you know the time is up, you can also use the clock to set up the oven to switch on at a certain time and use the timer for this, the oven will switch off afterwards if you programme it. The glass panel on the oven door can be removed to assist in cleaning, the only thing I do not like is that the stainless steel marks easily with water marks and grease etc, the person who installed the cooker recommended... Read review

Ciao members have rated this review on average very helpful