Customer Reviews

West Bend 88003 The Entertainer 3-Quart Electric Fondue Pot with 8 Forks

5 star:		(27)
4 star:		(6)
3 star:		(1)
2 star:		(0)
1 star:		(0)

 

 

My husband bought me this for Christmas last year and it is still my all-time favorite gift. We have fondue at least once a month now and I have had a great time learning new recipes for entertaining or just a romantic dinner at home. I love the fact that you don't have to worry about a sterno and the temperature is very easily controlled. I'm requesting that he give me another one this year so that we can do full fondue meals.

Overall this has been a pretty sturdy fondue pot for me so far. It's simply constructed. It's got an all-in-one construction, with everything built into the pot. You just plug in the power adapter/heat control and go. No stacking 8-piece towers or cleaning a dozen seperate components. Cleaning has been easy and I haven't had any problems with the non-stick surface yet.

On the minus side, the forks seem pretty cheap. One of the wooden handles broke open completely and another cracked the very first time they were used -- and this was perfectly ordinary use (just in the pot and out, no mock-swordplay or anything like that). The pot is also a bit shallow if you stick with the recommended volume for your fondue and for me it ran a lot hotter than the what the temperature control indicated (and the owner's manual instructed). I tried a hot oil fondue and thing were getting burned on the outside while raw on the inside (no such problem with my old pot). Tweaking the heat settings will get you there, but don't bother relying on the instructions or what the numbers on the dial actually say. You just need to keep trying it.

This teeters a bit on the edge of a 4-star rating. I'm forgiving it some, because once you learn where to set the heat (by trial and error) it does do pretty well and I like the all-in-one construction. Ultimately, though, I think I will stick with my 15-year-old 2 quart electric that I had thought to replace with this one.

I just recently purchased this fondue pot because I had grown up eating fondues that had been prepared by my mother and I always loved the easy meals it prepared, so I want one for myself. Her Fondue pot is easily 25 years old and it still works wonderfully. It like this one is electric which makes the temperature control very easy. I had wanted an electric one originally and recely was given an oil based burner-style pot like the one made by Le Creuset (sp?). It stank. Temp control was terrible, clean up was a pain, it smelled while cooking, and the forks didn't stay put, lucky the bowl was too small or I'd be fishing them out of the boiling pot. Needless to say, I bought this one to replace that one, and it is everything I had hoped for, large capacity, easy to use, super quick and easy clean-up, fork ring. If my mother's old electric one (I have no idea who made it) is any indication, I'll be loving this for another 20 years! And even better, unlike that old one, this one is non-stick!!!! The electric Fondue is the way to go, aviod the nasty oily flame kind.

I just recieved the fondue pot and was so excited that I immediately put it to use. It was very easy to use as described. Plugged the temperature control into the pot and the other end into an outlet and it was cooking right away. Adjusting the temperature was quite easy: boil down to warm just required a turn of the control.

I liked that the fork ring was removeable so that I could put a lid (though not included, i just used one in the house) on the pot to speed up cooking. The instruction manual warned not to use a one, but I just found cooking with a lid faster. The heat resistant handles also served as a way to safely move the pot but also as a guard to accidentally touching it with your hands while cooking.

After a good meal, the non-stick interior makes cleanup a breeze.

One drawback, was that my set did not include an instruction manual (even though there was supposed to be one). But I just surfed onto westbend.com and the manual was there under specialty cookware.

The only other drawback I could tell was that there was no lid made specifically for the pot. Though cooking fondue does not require one, having one speeds up the cooking.

I would definitely recommend this item. It is easy to use and cleanup is a breeze.

I just purchased this item, and am happy to say I'm buying another one for my parents, at their request. In the times I've used it, the heating has always been consistent, the clean-up easy, and makes any gathering fun! Definitely something I would consider purchasing for a wedding, shower or any other gift. These were so popular in the 70's, and they're back now! Happy Fonduing!

If you are looking for a first or only fondue pot, this would be a very good choice. The advantage of an electric pot is the ability to control the temperature more precisely and easily, which is a big advantage. The design of this set, with the wider open mouth, does classic cheese or chocolate fondue as well as can be expected, and 8 people can easily use this set (fondue with a group requires teamwork, part of the fun). Usually the pots designed specifically for hot oil fondue have a fluted or more narrow opening, to reduce splattering. This set will work for hot oil also, but for only 3 or 4 people (with hot oil each person is leaving two forks in at a time, as opposed to dip & pull with cheese or chocolate), and with a little more clean up maybe.
The pot is easy to clean, and you can put it on the stove to get the contents started and up to temperature, then using the warmer to keep them at temp, a easier way to go. The big disadvantage on electric pots, somehow the cord must go from the center of the table down to the electirc outlet, which never really seems to be an issue. You can have a lot of fun with this reliable and good all around pot.

Electric fondue pots don't look as nice as the alcohol burners but they work a lot better. With this unit, you can get precise temperature control which ensures that you wont' burn your cheese or overheat your court boullion.

In addition, the non stick surface is very handy. I just wish that they had provide nylon coated (if that is possible) forks because it is somewhat easy to scrape off the non stick covering with the sharp prongs. A somewhat longer electric cord would have been helpful as well, so you may need an extension cord to reach the table comfortably. Size wise, this unit will comfortably service four people. (six or eight is too many)

My brother bought me this fondue pot for my birthday a few weeks ago, and I could not wait to use it! It heated up INSTANTLY!! The cheese fondue was great because it did not stick, due to the non stick surface. It cleaned up quick and easy, because I could stick it right in the sink. However, after cleaning, I noticed that the bottom of the pot was all scratched up. Be careful not to scrape the forks on the bottom of the pot and be careful when stirring....the bottom will scratch. Otherwise, this little pot is great!!!!

I am very pleased with my fondue pot. I took it to work and we all sat around eating fondue. It is very easy to use. It's great for setting temperatures. I can't wait to take it down to the ocean. It really brings everyone together.. even if you aren't family.

It is also a lot cheaper than eating out at a fondue house like the melting pot.

What more could the average family want? You get an electric, thermostatically controlled pot with 8 forks, and a splatter ring with fork notches for fried fondue.

PROS:
-electric with thermostat
-8 forks
-teflon coating makes it easy to clean

CONS:
-be careful with the cord on your table - this is not a limitation of this particular pot, but of any electric pot
-with four people cooking meat in an oil fondue, you have to be careful about the oil temperature. The pot isn't powerful enough to cook 8 pieces of meat at a time for an entire meal - space them out a little.

There really isn't anything to complain about. This pot is perfect and a good value for the money.