Most Helpful Customer Reviews
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62 of 62 people found the following review helpful:
4.0 out of 5 stars
Demy Kitchen Safe an improvement over the paper clipping recipes, May 6, 2009
I've had the unit for over a month but didn't appreciate it's full value until today when they finally got the synchronization software working.
The Demy is basically a touchscreen, full color, loose leaf cookbook with added functionality.
The reason that I call it a loose leaf cookbook is that by setting up a free account at Keyingredients.com you can type in all your recipes that you've collected from newspapers, magazines, the internet, etc. and have them downloaded to the device. If you're too lazy to type them in yourself, for a price, key ingredient's partner will scan them in for you so that you can download them to the unit. The 250 recipes that come preloaded on the unit cannot be removed but when you download your own recipes they show up alphabetized in their own file (cookbook) so that you can find them easily by either scrolling thru the list of recipes or typing in the first letter of the dish's name and having that part of the alphabet in the list show up.
You can create as many cookbooks on the keyingredients.com website as you want and your recipes can show up in as many cookbooks as you'd like. For example I have one cookbook for internet recipes, one for newspaper recipes and one for holiday recipes. Some of the recipes I have will show up in both the internet & holiday 'cookbooks' making it easy to set up as many cookbooks as you want each containing only the menu you want for a particular event (this is only really useful for events, such as Thanksgiving, where you have the same recipe every time (like the stuffing). I wish you could create new cookbooks on the unit but right now that's not possible. You can create a 'favorite recipe' quick list on the Demy where you can list menu for a meal but can only make one of these at a time.
Some of the other functionality include:
1) 3 separate cooking timers
2) A conversion function so that you can convert tbls. to cups, etc.
3) A substitution function so that if you're out of baking powder it will tell you how to substitute baking soda.
All and all it's a fun unit but I'd only recommend it for people comfortable with installing software and working with websites for their databases.
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70 of 71 people found the following review helpful:
3.0 out of 5 stars
Great idea, but not-so-good execution, July 10, 2009
I have been wanting to purchase this since way before it was released - I would go to the website and dream about all the cool ways to use it. So, when I was given some money and gift certificates for my birthday, I ordered the Demy right away.
It arrived yesterday, and having played with it for several hours (including adding recipes and "cookbooks"), I have several observations.
Pros:
1. Solid construction and intuitive use. The power button is on the bottom and is easy to spot. On either side of the power button are the sockets for the usb cable (included) and the charger (also included). They both have rubber covers that can be placed over the outlet when they are not being used to prevent food getting inside.
2. Able to change font size and brightness level. There are 3 settings for each, making it nice when you're looking at the screen around a big mixing bowl, etc. You can also change the time before the Demy dims and before it "sleeps".
3. The included "gadgetry" in the software. The conversion calculator, the 3 timers, the substitution list - all are terrific. And of course, the ability to put recipes in separate folders ("cookbooks").
4. The recipe input process is fairly painless. I'm a quick typist, so I chose to input my recipes myself rather than paying to have them scanned for me, and the area to input recipes is easy to use. It's a nice, clean interface and is also easy to copy-and-paste if there are favored recipes on other websites.
Cons:
1. The cookbooks that the Demy came pre-loaded (as well as the individual recipes) cannot be deleted *at this time*. I just spoke to someone in Customer Service, and apparently this option will not be available until mid-August at the earliest.
2. The cookbooks/recipes that are already on the Demy DO NOT show up on the recipe website. So for example, one of the pre-loaded cookbooks is "Beef and Pork". If you decide you like that cookbook and want to load a favorite beef recipe into that cookbook - it doesn't work because since they don't register on the website, there is no way to add them.
3. There is no way to add/delete recipes or cookbooks right on the Demy. A small issue, but one that would be tremendously nice to have. There is also no way to search by keywords, so if you're looking for a specific recipe that doesn't have one of the ingredients in the title, you're out of luck. The index only lists recipes alphabetically.
4. There is no way to delete cookbooks you add personally. That's right - if you add a cookbook and decide you want to delete it in favor of something else, it will delete on the website but NOT on the Demy. For example, when I realized that I couldn't access the Beef and Pork cookbook, I wondered if adding an identically titled cookbook would help by taking the place of the first one, allowing me to access it. Nope. I got two identically titled cookbooks - no big deal, until I realized after deleting it on the website that it will not come off the Demy.
5. While the Demy will "sleep" after whatever preset time you program, it will not turn off, so it still sucks battery power. To actually turn the machine off, you have to hold the power button in the back until it beeps. Of course, if your machine does turn off (battery dies, etc.), then when you power it back on, rather than going back to the recipe you were using, it takes you back to the home screen, leaving you to find your place again. Small issues, but ones that would be nice if they were fixed. It would be nice to have my original place come back first, particularly if I'm in the middle of a dish.
6. Another small complaint is the process for adding recipes to the website. I either have to type them all in myself, or pay something like 50 cents per recipe to the companion site to have them loaded to the website for me. So, if like many, I get this machine to store a lot of loose recipes, that's either a bunch of typing over a long period of time, or a fair amount of money. While I'm no software guru, I would think it would be possible to scan my own recipes in, rather than typing them all by hand. And for any recipes stored on my computer, like a photo program, the software could scan my computer and create a file to load.
Quite honestly, for the price of this item, most of these things should have been taken care of before it was released. I love the idea of the Demy, and would love to keep it, but the execution of the software leaves a lot to be desired and makes it much more clunky than helpful. I am honestly thinking hard about returning it until a later date when I know that these issues (or at least the big ones) will have been fixed.
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8 of 9 people found the following review helpful:
3.0 out of 5 stars
Looking forward to a more user-friendly version, November 1, 2009
I was thrilled to see this product was available, but have been disappointed in some of the functionality. I'm hoping that there will be software updates to make it easier to organize your cookbooks and recipes within them. Right now, once you've entered something, you're basically stuck as is.
It IS great to be able to see the recipe, including a picture, and have a screen that doesn't go to sleep quickly.
Wish I'd waited for Gen 2, though.
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