Customer Reviews

Maxi-Matic ESB-301F Elite Cuisine Single Cast Burner 1000-Watt Hot Plate, White

5 star:		(36)
4 star:		(17)
3 star:		(5)
2 star:		(4)
1 star:		(12)

 

 

This hotplate is compact, affordable and a good value, and offers great control over heat. I bought it for its solid, flat plate, which is much easier to clean and much more stable than exposed-coil heating elements, which tend to rattle around in their drip pan. I bought this not for cooking purposes, but for arts and crafts -- I use it in my studio for steam-setting dyed wool in a canning pot, and also for heating wax and encaustic paints. The "warm" setting and exceptional control over temperature is especially helpful for heating wax and encaustic, which have very low melting- and flash points. While an electric griddle might be a better option for precise temperature control, this hotplate is generally pretty well-made for its price and has a good, multipurpose heating element.

I recommend this good burner. This stuff is small --doesn't take much space -- and easy to carry. By my experience, when I turn it "High" (4 degrees: Warm, Low, Medium, High), it takes less than 10 minutes to boil 1 liter water (the time spent may not be the same depending on several factors). I think it should be suitable for people who don't have a kitchen or want to travel with a portable electric burner.

I love my single burner, if I had the space I would have bought two. It heats up quick and evenly. Small and yet big enough to cook in a pot or frying pan. It's great that it has a "warm" option too.
Very satisfied.

This hotplate worked three times -- and then it died. I had a hotplate that worked for six or seven years before this -- no problems. This "Elite" looked just fine when I got it out of the box. And, as I say, it worked fine -- once, twice, three times but, during the third usage, its light went out and it was gone to hotplate heaven. Multiple tries, multiple wall receptacles, letting it cool down, etc., etc. -- it was done for. I sent it back and, needless to say, I did NOT request a replacement.

I almost didn't order one of these because of so many negative reviews. But I have to tell you, it works wonderfully and I am extremely happy with it after 3 weeks of use. I use it nearly every day, at least once a day.

Packaging is solid.

The unit boils water with no problems whatsoever. Just to give readers an idea how I tend to use this hot plate, I mainly use it to boil water for making soups and ramen, or to boil rice and beans. Being single, I only need to cook for one person, so the amount of water I need to boil never exceeds 3 cups at a time. This unit provides plenty of power to do this (can't remember for sure, but I believe this hot plate is 1000 watts).

I never need to use it for more than 12 minutes or so at a time. It boils 2 1/2 cups of water in about 7 minutes (very respectable in my opinion). When I'm making just rice or rice and beans, I bring it to a boil for 5 minutes, then I turn the unit off because I place the pot I'm using into an insulated pot cozy for 20 minutes more to finish cooking without the need to use more energy.

Some reviewers reported the power indicator light goes out. And yes, sometimes it does. This is because once the iron plate heats up to temperature, the heat element turns itself on and off to maintain the temperature you have selected, not because it's shorting out.

The first 2 or 3 times I used the hot plate, there was a faint smell from the hot plate. Most likely it was from a factory coating placed on the heating element when it was manufactured to protect it from corrosion during shipping/storage. After using it a couple of times, I smell nothing but good food cooking. I was never concerned about it catching fire, like other reviewers have reported.

I don't know how long some reviewers who left negative opinions were using this hot plate, and maybe they really did have major issues with this particular model of hot plate. But no one with problems mentions how long they had the unit on before experiencing their issues. Since I don't plan on making seven course meals on this single burner hot plate, and don't need to have it on more than 15 minutes at a time, I don't expect to ever have a problem with this product. Even if this hot plate conks out on me right now, I feel it was well worth the twenty bucks. I suspect it will last a very long time because the build quality is very simple but durable, maybe with the excemption of the temperature selection knob which feels a little flimsy (though it is not wobbly or jiggly, just a little too easy to turn in my opinion). But I'm only planning on using that to dial to the temperature I need, not swing on it. It turns on, it turns off. When you're done with it, unplug it like you should unplug every other appliance that's not being used.

Extremely pleased with this product. In fact, in the time it took to boot up my computer and write this review, my rice was finishing cooking in it's pot cozy. And now it's done.

I have no complaints whatsoever, and I would highly recommend this hot plate for someone like myself who wishes to make very simple meals.

This burner is head and shoulders above the usual electric hot plate. It's quite heavy and feels solid - it heats up quickly and has a decent range of adjustments - and it's easy to clean. Because of its stability, pans sit level on it (which does not always hold for other hot plates). For $20, it's a real bargain.

I would recommend this product to anyone. It doesn't take long for your food to heat up. I have used other similar products and prefer this one over the other brand.

We thankfully tested this unit out before using it in our camper. I wanted to ensure that it would work well for cooking simple meals and heating up canned goods. I also wanted to make sure it wouldn't get too hot underneath the unit and damage our new laminate countertops.

The unit wasn't level when sitting on our granite kitchen counters. It was about 1/4" too high on one leg. We removed a rubber cushion, and that solved the problem (though we shouldn't have had to remove a protective cushion in the first place). Strike ONE.

After 30 minutes on the HIGH setting, a pot of water (about 1 1/2 quarts) was 190 degrees. The unit would cycle on and off (the light would be on, then turn off) without reaching the boiling point. STRIKE TWO.

The other HUGE problem with this unit is that there is no heat shield to prevent the heat from reaching the countertop. We used a thermometer to check how hot the granite countertop became and were shocked that it was 140 degrees underneath the unit!! STRIKE THREE.

I sent it back to Amazon today. I have no doubt that Amazon will continue to send out these units, so buyer beware. Aside from not being able to cook a meal, they are also a fire hazard. At the very least, they aren't safe to use on most surfaces. Stay away from this one.

We purchased two Sylvania electric single hotplates today from a drugstore chain. They have the coil type of burner, but are fast to heat (less than 8" to boil water) and only reached 87 degrees under the unit after a half hour.

I have had five versions of single burners over the last few years. I mostly use them to keep soups and other foods warm for serving since my gas stove does not regulate well for that purpose.

Other than a huge and expensive Broil King, this burner has been the best. The heat regulation is very good and the coating on the cast iron is very easy to clean (unlike the Broil King which eats up cleaning utensils).

I prefer this unit because of its compact size in my limited space.

The plate itself is rather small...a 2 quart sauce pan will extend a little around the edges of the burner.

I returned this single plate burner the very next day after I received it. It cycles on and off as a safety feature, however this cycling never allows the plate to get hot enough to even boil water. I had a pan of water on it for 45 min and all it did was produce a lot of steam, but never actually boiled. Don't waste your time and money on this item. Spend a few more dollars and get a much better product.