Customer Reviews

StirChef Saucepan Stirrer

5 star:		(4)
4 star:		(2)
3 star:		(1)
2 star:		(0)
1 star:		(5)

 

 

The first thing I made was a marinara sauce, on the lowest possible heat setting. First, the intermittent setting does not work, it continues to stir constantly. Second, within just a few minutes of use, the plastic began to melt and stain beyond recognition. I attempted to contact the manufacturer via the weblink listed on the box, and guess what? It took me to a LAN/Wan support site. I wonder where they went? I emphatically DO NOT recommend this item! Not worth the cost of the batteries!

After visiting six stores and searching the internet, I finally found a deep saucepan with an 8 1/2 inch diameter to handle the not very long arms of the StirChef. Attaching the StirChef to my new 4qt saucepan, I turned it on to stir some chopped vegetables for 10 minutes at low heat. After about 4 minutes the flimsy plastic blades began to melt, adding an interesting but unwanted taste to the vegetables. Well, at least I have a nice new saucepan.

All in all, not a bad product, and relatively handy if you have other things to do than constantly stir something. If Amazon allowed for half stars, I would have given it only 3.5 instead of 4, but it is better than a 3 star rating.

The unit looks like the picture. The arms have the ability to fold up next to the unit for compact storage. I have no idea what they mean by "spring loaded arms", the three different sized paddles that come with it have bendable tips that allow for a fitting into pans that might not be the exact size of the paddles. They aren't rubber and you don't really want them scraping along the sides of your pan, so you often find yourself going with the smaller paddle, which works just as well to keep things moving. The paddles connect to the unit via the metal rod that has a clip on one end. The rod fits thru the motor part, and at no time is it actually connected; this allows the varying depth. The unit either turns constantly, or intermittently, depending on where you set the switch.

Biggest problem I have with the unit (next to the 4 dead batteries that it came with) is the speed at which it turns; the constant turn setting seems a little slow. I found that at the speed it turns, I needed to keep my heat at a slow medium or I got build-up and scorching. Not a problem that you can't overcome, but lower temps mean longer cooking times. I really would like to see a version 2 of the unit that allowed for a variable turn speed.

I love risotto, but it doesn't fit with my usual approach to making dinner. I don't have 30-40 minutes to devote to one task. I bought a StirChef and used it for the first time last night. It worked very well. The housing is a little bulky, but I just kept pouring ladles of broth past it and in the end had very good risotto while being able to cook the rest of the meal and pick up the house a little. This was great for a time-challenged cook.

This is a good product for when you want to stir a sauce over low heat for a long period of time and don't want to do it yourself (bechamel that you've just put roux in is when I use it the most).

However, this product, used at its maximum range (width-wise) I found to be very dangerous, because its arms are spring loaded, meaning you pull them out for a bigger pan to clip them to the edge of the pan. It says right on top of the device that you shouldn't put it in a hot pot, and the reason is that once you have an arm on one side and you're trying to put the arms on the other sides (thus stretching out the springs) an arm can slip off and the whole device snaps back at you like a rubber band. This can send sauce and the device itself flying all over the place. Needless to say, this is a substantial burn danger if you try to put it in a hot pot. Putting it in a cold pot doesn't solve the problem, because the same thing can happen when you try to remove the device from a hot pot. Also, if there's grease on the sides of the pot, I fear that the normal vibration of the device could cause it to snap off.

So, it's useful, but I would suggest that if you buy it, you only use it on smaller pots where you don't have to stretch out the arms.

I just set this up for the first time to make a roux... what a joke!

It fit the pan and that is THE ONLY thing that was a positive. As soon as those worthless paddles hit that hot oil and flour, they began to dissolve! Surely these idiots knew that they would be used for stirriring more than luke-warm water.

The person that gave this 5-Stars must have been the inventor!

I spent one dollar on this at a thrift shop and I still feel like I was ripped off. It is no surprise they are already out of business. The thing doesn't even fit on all but one of my saucepans. I feel sorry for impulse buyers that don't check out these reviews first.

I've had this product for several years and love it. I use it mainly for the cook-down stage of tomato sauce making with tomatoes from my garden. It is great, it's just not big enough for my 4 qt pan. Hopefully they will make a larger one someday. I agree with the other users about the potential arm stretching safety issues but if you follow the directions and use the product carefully, it works very well. I find that the intermittant setting is perfect for the tomatoes over low heat. Yes, it takes a long time, but I don't have to watch it much so that doesn't matter to me.

I have had my Stir Chef for almost 6 yrs now. I love this product. The only drawback is that is will not fit my larger pans but for my saucepan that I use the most, it is perfect. I sent one to my sister and she loves it too. It works like it says and I have never had a problem with parts melting. Most sauces are not cooked on high heat therefore I have not used it with any boiling sauce or water.
I love the fact that I can make bernaise sauce or other sauces and not have to stand there and constantly stir it.

Bought this from a Tuesday Morning for around $30.Have made countless curries,sauces soups without any trouble.it attaches to most size saucepans and works ! Great !+ Bad thing I can't find another one anymore.