Cuisinart CFO-3SS Electric Fondue Maker
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Kitchen and Housewares Reviews of Cuisinart CFO-3SS Electric Fondue Maker
Customer Review: Fantastic fondue!
Summary: 5 Stars
Update 3/19/11:
Since introducing my kids to the joys of fondue for dinner last summer, they've wanted to have fondue for every special occasion. After borrowing a friend's Rival fondue pot, which is similar to the Cuisinart one, we decided to buy a second pot since one wasn't quite enough for 5 hungry people trying to cook two items at once! Since my brother-in-law wanted to get us a Christmas gift, I told him to get the Rival one since it's cheaper (I didn't feel right asking him to spend more money on the Cuisinart since my friend's Rival pot was fine when we used it for chocolate fondue and my Cuisinart for the oil-based meat course). Well, the shrimp and steak stuck to the bottom of the Rival pot once it reached temperature, but it never did with my Cuisinart! It cleaned up just as easily, but it made me wish we'd asked for another Cuisinart. If you are choosing between the two, definitely go for Cuisinart! In the meantime I will be researching how to keep meats from sticking to the non-stick Rival.
Original Review (thanks for all the helpful votes!!):
I got this fondue set as a wedding gift and tried it out for the first time last night. It heats quickly and evenly, and the ability to dial the temperature in .5 stops from 1 to 10 is very helpful. It's a nice large size, so larger fondues for a big crowd are no problem (you could easily double small recipes). We made the chocolate hazelnut fondue recipe that came with the set and it was fabulous! Best of the four recipes we made last night. The removable top has 6 slotted "rests" for the fondue forks, although we didn't need it since we were just dipping. One thing to be aware of is that the cord is pretty short, but if you have a heavy-duty extension cord then that's no problem. I highly recommend this fondue set! It's great as a gift or a self-indulgence!
Customer Review: Will not cook evenly
Summary: 1 Stars
Besides all the pros & cons of this fondue pot as listed previously, the practical use of it negates them all. I followed their instructions for cheese fondue which state
"Setting 6.5 to add liquids & bring to a slow boil. Reduce heat to Setting 4.5-5 to gradually add shredded cheeses. Hold Cheese Fondues for serving at Setting 3."
I attempted to use this item two different times, first with a white wine, second with a beer. At 6.5, both of them boiled intently for a few seconds then immediately burned up leaving me with browned wine/beer, looking & tasting very similarly to burnt vegetable oil. After cleaning, then attempting again at a lower setting, the opposite occurs...no boiling, and then when adding the cheeses, no melting. I tried the settings from 3.5 to 5.5 to melt the cheeses...none of them would melt before either the smaller pieces of shredded cheese burnt black to the bottom or the liquids would burn. Then there was also the cheeses that wouldn't melt at all while other pieces would have to be scraped off. At setting 3 nothing would happen. I was with my pot *constantly* stirring, so there was not an issue of leaving it unattended for any period of time.
This was not a purchase worth anything besides a half-entertaining evening of scraping off burnt, black cheese. Although considering the other reviews on amazon.com, perhaps I received a defected product.
Customer Review: Great concept, failed execution.
Summary: 2 Stars
Just bought one of these and used it this evening. Out of the package the partial cover used to rest the forks on didn't actually fit the bowl and teetered and fell in repeatedly. The temp is difficult to get fine enough control over when making a cheese fondue. Your choices are lumpy and semi-solid or full boil and trying to stick. Not easy to clean up and store because of the permanent attachment to the heating element/stand. It comes without a lid, which is a little annoying. And the most annoying feature is that the cord is phenomenally short and magnetically attached. The weight of the extension cord was enough that the slightest jostling of the pot made it break away over and over again while trying to use it. The magnet isn't strong enough and the cord is too short. It even claims you're not supposed to use any extension cords with it. The cord it came with doesn't even reach from the middle of my table where the pot is to the edge of the table. Who has outlets installed in their dining table? It also has a very wide bowl, which while nice for us 4 adults, means you need a pretty high volume of stuff in it compared to what most people want to eat at a fondue sitting.
It's pretty and could have been a great product, but it seems like user testing groups were nonexistent on this one.
Customer Review: Delicious and a snap to clean
Summary: 5 Stars
Used this for Christmas Eve fondue after trying it as a guest at my Dad's house. We used a broth recipe from online and it was really good - recommend broth over an oil (which we had the first time as guests) for health and taste (big difference in flavor) reasons. Make sure you have extra broth on hand though - next time I will probably make 2 full batches since you could use the left over to make "french onion soup" the next day. I love this and can't wait to use it more. It really is easy to have shrimp, steak and chicken with several sauces and not mess up your entire kitchen. I made dipping sauces earlier in the day, then put the broth items in the pot to heat/simmer while I prepped the meats and veggies.
Then you get to clean up - and wow was it easy. Hand wash it with ease or put it in the dishwasher - whatever your fancy.
A note on the extension cord - the provided cord is extremely short so we did use an extension cord, there really is no way around it if you are having it at a table. As we are responsible adults and were not leaving the unit unattended I had no issues with this. Plus the magnetic disconnect is an added safety bonus.
Give it a try - you won't be disappointed.
Customer Review: "nondue", not "fondue"
Summary: 1 Stars
I purchased this pot to throw an old-fashioned fondue party, and it replaced a cast iron sterno heated model that was effective but difficult to clean. Many reviewers mentioned the short cord and that feature created a safety challenge, particularly while heating oil for meat fondue. Best feature: kept the oil hotter than my sterno ever could. Worst features: uneven heating for any other kind of fondue and a fragile cord connection that came apart far too easily. The heat concentrated over the internal heating coil ring, making even heating impossible and requiring nearly constant adjustment with the temperature control dial. The cord on our pot tended to seperate just slightly and then stopped heating altogether. In this pot's design a magnet assists to hold the prongs into the electrical receptacle on the pot, but failed to hold the attachment securely. The magnet was held in with a glue that deteriorated with heat. Because I do not prepare fondue often I did not have an opportunity to return the unit within the warentee period and we attempted cooking fondue only four times before discarding the unit. The last time I needed to prepare something else for dinner! I expected better from this brand.