Sugar, Sugar

Any reviews on the cake ball maker?

I must admit, I’m intrigued by a couple of these, but there’s just this Alton Brown voice in my head yelling at me about what “unitaskers” they are.

Even my 24 yr old son loves his cupcake maker. I think these are great things to do cooking crafts with kids.

Manual for Lemonade Maker
http://www.smartplanethome.com/v/vspfiles/assets/images/ELM-1_Manual.pdf

EXACTLY my thoughts. They look so cool and I want to try one. But it only does one specific thing. I’d probably use it a few times the first month, once the second month, then once every 3-4 months… then laugh about owning one.

Happy Fasnacht!

To bad the “donut” maker won’t get here in time. :frowning:

I’m wondering if the lemonade maker would be useful for this margarita recipe:

Or, if I should just get a juicer.

With the mini-pie maker, what would you use for the crust? Would you be able to use a ready made dough (like pizza dough or frozen pie crust)? I would love to make little “breakfast pies” for my daughter to grab for breakfast, or use soup to make little homemade pot pies. Thoughts?

I picked one of these up at a major chain drugstore after Christmas for $5. I still haven’t used it, but according to the manual: “For the best results, we highly recommend using puff pastry or butter puff pastry for the pastry top, and puff pastry or ready rolled pie crust for the pastry base. We do not recommend using ready rolled pie crust for your pastry top.”

It’s unclear whether they are differentiating between homemade pie crust and “ready rolled” pie crust that you would get from the grocery store.

For your daughter, I would certainly think that you could make little single-crust breakfast quiches or the like. (Even if you use a “ready rolled” pie crust for the top, the pies will probably be fine – if not as aesthetically pleasing as they would be with the puff pastry…)

Be aware that the pies are pretty small - about 2 inches in diameter - so one won’t be enough for most folks…lol

I bartend at a reception hall that uses the chocolate fountains and they are a bear to clean. I see deals like this and wonder how mnay people buy them as a throw away for a party or something. They look neat, but I’d never wish having to clean one on anybody.

I have this fountain and it is not a problem to clean. It’s small and a little hot water on a cloth is all it takes. The whole fountain part comes apart and you can run the hot water right through it.

Unitaskers! I love the “waffle iron” my mom gave me from circa 1940, has removable plates so you can make waffles,(waffle plate) pancakes, bacon, grilled sandwiches (a griddle plate) and a “fancy plate” that has indents for filled pastry, bread/hand pies. Why fix what ain’t broke?

Puff pastry from the freezer section isn’t very expensive, that would work. And a 2 inch pie would be plenty to hold over my little birdy of a 5 yr old. I’m lucky if I can get anything in her before school as she is like me and not big on eating first thing in the morning. But, this might just have enough unique factor to work with some cheesy eggs inside.

Thanks for the info, very helpful (all the info :slight_smile:

Uni-taskers? Dunno. The cake-pop makers look identical (save color and price), and the mini-pie maker and pizza-pie maker look the same (save color and price). Also, Mini cupcake maker and Mini Brownie bites maker look the same (again, color and price notwithstanding). I bet you could make a variety of things in a couple of these, just use imagination. How about trying to use the mini-pie maker as a ravioli press?

The pie maker, at least, is on sale cheaper on Amazon: http://www.amazon.com/Smart-Planet-PPM-1K-Keebler-Personal/dp/B007M4X2MA/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1360888861&sr=8-1&keywords=Keebler+PPM-1KWOOT+Personal+Pie+Maker