Back to Basics TEM500 Egg-and-Muffin 2-Slice Toaster and Egg Poacher
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Kitchen and Housewares Reviews of Back to Basics TEM500 Egg-and-Muffin 2-Slice Toaster and Egg Poacher
Customer Review: Excellent in every respect
Summary: 5 Stars
I've had this product for about 3 months. I use it every day. It's next to flawless.
Nitpicks:
Toasted bread a is a little uneven -- darker one side than the other, but still acceptable.
"Extra-Large" and "Jumbo" eggs overfill the poaching cup. I use "Large" to avoid a mess.
Meat comes out steamed. Fine if you like steamed sausage patties or ham. I don't.
High grades:
By trial-and-error regulating the amount of water (use the markings on the supplied cup -- middle of the word "poached" is my favorite)-- I can get any consistency I want -- from runny soft to fully-cooked.
I can load the cup and the water cup the night before, put the assembly in the fridge, and everything's ready to cook while I have my first sip of coffee. Painless.
Not recommended (my lawyer says so) but it works for me: I wash the pieces once a week. In between, I wipe out the cup with a paper towel, re-spray it with Pam or other Canola oil (absolutely recommended) and it's ready to use again.
I haven't used the hard-boiled egg feature, but there's no reason to think it won't do well.
Toasted English muffins are simply superb.
For a little variety/spice: put a couple of drops of Crystal (or other pepper) sauce in the raw egg. Stir it around in the white. Not too much if you have a sensitive mouth! I'm going to try a wee bit of Worcestershire next.
This is one of those "Why didn't I think of that" appliances, and a very attractive price, to boot!
My wife disdains kitchen gadgets, but she's happy, too, as long as I'm making my own breakfast :-)
Customer Review: Excellent concept, poor execution
Summary: 2 Stars
I've owned this product for about 3 months now. I thought that the concept was excellent - a single appliance to do the job of 2-3 appliances. That would be convenient. By the way, 'Back to Basics' and 'West Bend' are the same item.
I have not experienced the teflon problem that others describe, but this is a later review, maybe it has been improved. My first impression 'out of the box' was that it was very light - read that as cheap. Ok, I put that idea aside and tried it out. I went ahead and used it over and over for several months and this is my impression:
The egg poacher works well. It is like a drip coffee maker, the length of time that it cooks is determined by the amount of water you put in it. When the water is gone, the cooking stops. Unless you like rock hard eggs, do not follow the instructions, decrease the amount of water by at least one third.
The meat warming tray - well, that just means putting a piece of meat in the poacher so that it gets steamed to warm. Sure, it drips on the egg, but no big deal.
The toaster (to me, the heart of the machine) is the real weak point. It's more of a bread dryer. It toasts unevenly on each side and unevenly (lines) on a single side. Used as a toaster alone, I would rate it as poor.
Conclusion: It works ok for a sandwich, better than fast food, and it is convenient and inexpensive. But if you have the budget, wait for the quality models to come out (I see that there is already one listed on Amazon). As soon as that new model is available, this thing goes to Goodwill. As I said.. I think the concept is great, but there needs to be quality too, which is absent in this product.
Customer Review: Very nice so far
Summary: 5 Stars
I am the kind of guy who likes breakfast food but rarely can be bothered to do anything not absolutely required before work in the morning (and I still manage to be late most days). For many years my typical breakfast has been a diet coke in the car on the way to the office. I bought this appliance in the hopes that the lure of a tasty breakfast sandwich would tempt me to get up a couple minutes earlier than I absolutely had to. So far it's working.
I have had this thing for about two weeks. I've made 7 egg sandwiches. It took a couple tries to find the water level that resulted in an egg that way I like it (I prefer the yoke completely cooked but still orangish and not hard, in my machine that equals a splash over the "medium" line in the cup). Since finding the right water level, it has been consistent.
The complaints about meat dripping into the egg are valid but its a simple thing to remedy. I just drain the egg pan into the sink before dropping the egg onto the bread. You could use a paper towel if you really don't want any juice getting onto your sandwich.
The meat tray has no problem making frozen (precooked) sausage patties hot. I haven't experienced any problems with the bread getting cold or the nonstick coating coming off the egg pan yet... still wondering if that might be an issue later. For $30, I won't be expecting it to last a lifetime. When you consider the ingredient costs vs. a mc-breakfast, it really doesn't have to last that long to be worthwhile, not to mention the convenience and health benefits. If it lasts a year I would be totally pleased and ready to buy another.
Customer Review: Confused by some other reviews...
Summary: 3 Stars
I've had this unit for several months now and like it very much. It makes a great egg muffin breakfast sandwich particularly if you want to make a low fat, low cholesterol version. Just use a yoke-less egg substitute, Canadian bacon, turkey or chicken slices or drained and paper toweled cooked bacon strips (I pre-cook it and freeze the slices) and fat-free cheese slices. There is also pre-cooked sausage patties available, but the fat content is much higher.
I've read several complaints about the muffin toasting... claims that it leaves them hard and dry. The truth is I've experienced similar problems with Thomas' English Muffins. For some reason, over the years, they seem to have become smaller and flatter than they use to be. This makes for a particularly thin half that toasts far too quickly. They don't even look like English muffins any more. If you don't believe me, buy a package of Old Tyme English muffins and compare the two side by side.
I've also read that some have complaints about the poaching pan losing it's coating. I have yet to have this happen. Perhaps they got a bad production run. Maybe cracking real eggs on the edge of the pan is chipping it. I see there is a recommendation to use a fork to swirl the yoke in the pan. Maybe this is scratching the surface. I really have no idea.
I also have not experienced any parts breakage or component failures a few others have. That just might be luck.
Anyhow, I'd recommend the device to a friend.
I can't comment on toasting bagels or hard boiling eggs as I have never tried.
Customer Review: "BACK TO BASIC" PRODUCTS NOT WORTH THE RISK
Summary: 1 Stars
THIS COMPANY'S PRODUCTS ARE NOT WORTH THE RISK. I will never buy a product that carries the BACK TO BASICS name again. We were out of town when our toaster arrived, so by the time we opened the box, our 30 day return period had elapsed. As soon as we plugged this toaster in, it smelled like an electrical fire. The toaster obviously has an electrical short in the wiring and there is no doubt that even plugging it in is a fire hazard. (This smell was not from the usual burning off of factory residue.) Any Back to Basics warranty requires that you pay to ship their defective item back to their company, which would be understandable, except that they will tell you under no circumstances will Back to Basics reimburse you for your shipping expenses. Even after they have determined that their product was defective when it left their factory.
This experience with the Back to Basics company (seeing the inferior quality of this product and dealing with their customer service) leads me to believe that these cheaply-made Back to Basics products are not reliable and the Back to Basics company is not a reputable business to deal with. I would caution any consumer to think twice before investing in any Back to Basics product, especially when purchasing online.
As far as this particular Back to Basic toaster is concerned, it makes sense to us now why we could not find any physical store willing to carry this product. Call Back to Basics, and they cannot give you the name of any physical store that sells this product. That fact in itself just screams out "caveat emptor!"