Bests & Worsts Reviews from Amazon

I update this review occasionally , I suggest you copy the permalink at the bottom of the review to find it again at a later date. Update 5/27/2015: a new version is coming out right now with a built in timer similar to the dual version of the product. Update 8/20/15: HB has come out with a Breakfast Burrito Maker it's essentially the same tech but large enough to take a tortilla.you put the tortilla in the bottom, scrambled egg mixture on the egg plate with cheese, vegatables, etc... on top cooks for 5 minutes. You drop the cooked egg and other ingredients and roll up the tottilla around it. You can also use it for omelettes. As with the original, I'm sure it's only limited by you imagination. HAVE YOU BURNT YOURSELF? don't do that! read Misc Tips below. Note: No. I do not work for the company. I just really like the unit. And want to help people get the most from it. Frankly, anyone that thinks I work for Hamilton Beach or anyone connected to this device, is an idiot. Note: Since I've been ridiculed for some of the things in the next two sections. Let me preface it with: I know that some of them are a stretch. What I was hoping you'd take away from them, is that it's more your mindset and not necessarily the device that makes it a 'only does one thing' appliance. Things are uni-taskers once you decide they are. Mini oven: In reality the unit is a mini 300 degree oven and you can bake things in it. 1) Pillsbury Grands Biscuits: preheat the unit, create a disk of crumpled aluminum foil about 1/8th inch thick using the rings as a guide, one side should be relatively smooth. Place it in the rings smooth side up, and spray with a little Pam. Pre-heat the unit and place the biscuit on the disk. Leave the egg plate in the open position (unless you want a flattened biscuit) and close the unit up. Give the biscuit about 10 minutes and check it, adjust your time as needed. The disc of aluminum foil will cause the time to fluctuate depending on the thickness etc.... But it's reusable. Frozen biscuits take a little longer. 2) Pillsbury Ready to Bake cookies. Use the disc, or a couple layers of foil, and place one cookie on it, flatten the cookie a bit if It would touch the bottom of the egg plate when the unit is closed. Adjust the time for the cookie a bit based on it being cooked at 300 degrees instead of the package temperature, the thinner the foil the faster the cookie will cook but it may burn the bottom as well. You can use the egg plate for a second cookie, but use a layer of foil in a 4 inch circle under the cookie, so when you slide the egg plate open to drop the cookie out, it doesn't get squished against the side of the ring. Hot cookies are soft. 3) Yes, I've made small pies in it with crescent roll dough, and a can of pie filling. I fashioned my own pie plate from layers of aluminum foil. The lid from like a peanut butter jar will give you the basic shape. Just don't cook the plastic lid. Bake the crust first. Also muffins / mini cakes using the just add water mini mixes and a clean tuna can. 11/17/14: these days I use a 3.5 inch ramekin I bought off Amazon instead of a tuna can for these little projects. Note: in the comments below another user suggests she gets good results using parchment paper in stead of foil, I haven't tried it yet but I agree it actually might work better for at least some of the uses. What else can you cook? 1) Rubens: Cut rye bread circles, using the rings as a cookie cutter, or I use a 4 inch plastic storage container. Put the pastrami on the egg plate during preheat. then carefully add the bread to the bottom section for the cook and drop the pastrami on top, put well drained sauerkraut on the egg plate give it about 3 minutes then add a slice of Swiss cheese on top of the sauerkraut and the top bread. Let it cook for another 2-3 minutes. You can Add the thousand island dressing on top of the meat just before dropping the sauerkraut and cheese then remove the sandwich, or remove the sandwich flip it over remove the bread and add the thousand island dressing and put the bread back on and flip it over again. 2) Tuna (or chicken) melts: mix your tuna ingredients, I like pickle relish tuna (and optionally raw egg. Don't make it too liquid.) Put in the bottom bread, put the tuna mix on the egg plate and let it cook, open the egg plate so it drops on the bread, put a layer of cheese onto the fallen tuna mix, leave the egg plate in the open position and close the unit back up. Let it cook an additional couple minutes to melt the cheese. 3) Hotdog sandwiches: Cut slits 3/4 of the way through 1 side of the hotdog, about 1/2-3/4 inch apart. The hotdog will then curl in a circle to fit on the egg plate. Let it cook for a minute or two before you add the other ingredients. You could, if you wish pour a scrambled egg in to the center. I do and then top it with chopped onion and green peppers, Cook it till firm. The hot dog will pretty much come to the top of the egg ring so the top bread, I use bagel thins, will just sit on top. I cook the hotdog and egg without the bread with the lid closed for most of the time and then at the end add the top bread to warm it up and toast it a bit. Makes a great sandwich. 4) all kinds of other things, there are at least two cookbooks out for it. Although, you'll probably not see my recipes😉 use you're imagination! S'mores would work, but they'd be a bit messy. 5) and of course for college kids, you can cook most canned goods in the can, on the bottom plate after all it gets to slightly over 300 degrees, open the can and let it heat up. I'd put down a layer of foil to catch any overflow and to protect the Teflon finish some what. But other than that, you've got hot spaghetti o's, or ravioli, hot water for coffee, hot chocolate, soups etc... Of course a lot of these things can be cooked in a microwave if they're allowed and one can afford it. If not this is a very compact cooking machine for just about every thing. You could even use a cleaned out tuna can, to bake a muffin/cake in. See mini oven above. Jiffy Muffin Mix, Blueberry, 7 Oz Use you imagination! And it's just $24 bucks. 6)Waffle Bacon &Egg: defrost walmart waffles so they're somewhat pliable. Put a waffle in each layer while the unit is pre- heating. After the unit is pre-heated, doesn't hurt to give it a minute or two longer, I nuke the precooked bacon on a paper towel for 40 seconds to make it crisper. Remove the waffles, and place the side that is less crisp down on the heating plate and add your bacon. Drop the egg section add your egg and place the less toasted 😥side of the waffle up. Let it cook 5 minutes remove the sandwich. Lift the egg and waffle off the top and add a small amount of maple syrup to the bottom and add the top again. Or just pour syrup over the top and use a knife and fork. ------ Egg Size: I did an experiment... I cooked a sandwich with a scrambled mixture of two large eggs with 1/4 cup diced potato and tomato. I gave the mixture 6 minutes to cook, I used bagel thins as the scrambled egg mixture pretty much filled the egg section. I let the egg cook by itself with the lid closed till it formed a skin on the top (about 3 min) before adding the top bagel piece. Since the top bagel piece has the full weight of the lid on it, it browns faster, so I started with the inside facing up for a minute or two until it was tosted and then flipped it over for the final minute... It came out great, too much egg for me, but fully cooked. Point is, people saying you can only use small eggs don't know what they're talking about. You can easily use a jumbo egg just give it a minute or two to set before adding the bread if you're worried about leakage. And if you want to add extra ingredients bagel thins give you lots of room. Adding milk and other fluids to the egg: you can add them to the egg to make an omelet patty, or I some times add Tiger Sauce to my egg. Use a separate container to mix up the egg and other ingredients, and pour it very slowly on to the plate so if it starts to leak you can stop quickly until the egg that's in there has time to set and effectively seal the egg plate to the side ring. Be sure to give the unit a good preheating time, wait a minute or two longer after the ready light comes on. Wouldn't hurt to put a piece of foil under the rings with the sides turned up to catch any runoff. Breads: I'm sure there are others, so far I've used the following breads with success. 1) Thomas English Muffins... The bottom section of the muffin seems to be larger. Use it on top of the egg and flip the sandwich when you remove it. 2) Bays English Muffins in the refrigerator section of the supermarket... Better fitting than Thomas and I think a better muffin. But if one side is larger use that side on the egg. 3) De Wafelbakkers frozen pancakes... Three flavors, fit just right, might be sold under Walmart's brand name also. A Mc Griddle. 4) Walmart frozen waffles... Fit snugly, I like them. 5) Thomas Bagel Thins fit snugly and leave good room for ingredients. 6) Lenders bagels in the refrigerator section fit ok thicker, but a little smaller in diameter, than the bagel thins. 7) A 4 inch plastic storage container ( Or the rings in a pinch) works well as a cookie cutter for most any other breads, I use rye and pumpernickel a lot. 8) if you experience burning (depends on the bread) use aluminum foil as a sheild, or delay adding the bread until the egg has set up somewhat. 9) Also if you put in the bread for the preheat the sides toward the top and bottom heating elements will toast somewhat. And then flip them over for the cooking cycle. 1/10/15: more breads that fit and work well... B&M canned Brown Bread, this is baked in the can from the same company that makes the Boston Baked Beans. It's a rich hearty Brown bread . Cut 1/2 - 3/4 inch slices. French bread loaves are easily found that are 4 inches or less in diameter also., you might also find corn bread ,or bran, muffins in the stores bakery that would make a good sandwich also. Fruits and vegetables: fruits are best added after cooking. vegetables have a lot of water, I will either nuke them first, or cook them on the egg plate before adding the egg. The water will seep out, naturally, so I put a square of aluminum foil under the rings with the edges lifted up to catch it. If you're cooking them mixed in with the egg, give the unit more time for everything to set. If you just want them crunchy/raw add them after you remove the sandwich, or lift the egg section partially before dropping the egg, and toss them in then. However, I regularly add diced green and red bell peppers to the egg and let them cook together Dried vegetables: since I live alone, it's not always easy to keep fresh vegatables in the house. I keep a supply of Harmony House dried vegatables on hand. I put a tablespoon of diced potatoes, a teaspoon of diced tomato, a teaspoon of bell peppers, and a teaspoon of onion in a small container. Add a small amount of water, and microwave a little over 30 seconds to reconstitute. Once it cools a little bit I stir in the egg, and pour the whole thing on to the egg plate. It comes out pretty darn tasty. I'm not against adding the diced jalapeños peppers to it either. Of course, they're also good for fortifying canned soups (especially for college kids) or just making your own quick soup on the fly. Check out: http://www.harmonyhousefoods.com Salsa: these work really well, nd give your sandwich a southwestern flavor. Drain two heaping tablespoons in a wire mesh strainer and stir into the egg in a smal container. Then pour in to the preheated egg section. I use the black bean & corn salsa an some cilantro for a pseudo Huevo Ranchero flavor, you can cut corn tacos to fit for the bread as well, or add a couple corn chips in the bottom on top of your muffin with the cheese. Droning the salsa is the key, the more liquid you get out of it the better. It wouldn't hurt, depending on the amount, you add, to give the unit n extra 30 seconds or so of cooking, just to make sure the egg-salsa mixture is set. Meats: Jimmy Dean sausage patties are shaped wrong cut them in half horizontally and layer the two pieces on instead. Jimmy Dean Sausage Crumbles work also, add them to the egg. Walmart brand frozen sausages, in 3 flavors, work well, I like the Spicy. I nuke the pre-cooked bacon for about 45 seconds wrapped in a paper towel, I like it crispy. Canadian Bacon or any Cold Cut works fine , no nuking. Make sure you thaw any frozen meat. All meats have to be pre-cooked. 11/28/14: Walmart has frozen beef fajita seasoned meat , defrost it first and in this case put the cheese on top of it as they are pieces and the melted cheese will help keep it on the sandwich. Makes a great steak egg and cheese sandwich. Cheese: if you place the cheese on top of a whole slice of meat and then drop the hot egg on it, there will be no place for the now liquid cheese to go. Except, out the sides and all over you, and maybe the counter tops also. If the meat is chunky and broken up that would help, but the hot egg will still make for a bit of a messy sandwich. You'll want it to cool down for a few minutes. American Cheese has one of the lowest melting points of the cheeses by design. if it melts too much for you, either add it after you're done cooking, it'll still melt, or use other cheeses. Whichever, for most sandwiches I recomend adding the cheese in the bottom section fully on and next to the bread and only one 1 oz slice. (If you want more cheese add it afterwards) So it melts into the bread and not all over the machine and your counter. If you add the cheese on top of the egg, you'll have a mess to clean when you take out the sandwich. Although I've added crumbled goat cheese (and many other things) in with the raw egg. Lately I've been using Sliced Smoked Goulda. Yum! Some like it hot: for a spicy alternative you can use pepper jack cheese, or diced jalapeño stored in with the egg, Franks hot sauce, tiger sauce work well too. Horseradish goes well to and gives you an interesting favor profile too. If you're not used to this kind of heat from chiles or horseradish be careful and use them sparingly at first. Misc Tips: 1) breads vary, if your bread burns too easily use a couple layers of foil to shield it, or add it a little later in the cooking process.2) open each section one at a time and the rings will stay in their grooved track in the hinge and not come out in your hand. 3) don't over fill the bottom section if you're using the egg plate in the closed position, as it will lift the rings out of their groove. 4) There is sideways play in the rings. You can set the egg section down on the egg plate hinge instead of on the bottom ring, and then the egg can seep out. Make sure the rings are firmly seated before adding the egg. 5)Always make sure the unit is thoroughly pre-heated in the closed position before adding an egg to the egg section. 6) A timer is essential for good reproducible results. Power: Need a power switch? I use this Belkin Conserve Power Switch Replacement ring assembly: http://www.hamiltonbeach.com/parts.html Type in 25475A as a model number and press search. It's here!: the Dual Breakfast Sandwich Maker http://www.hamiltonbeach.com/breakfast-sandwich-makers-dual-breakfast-sandwich-maker-25490.html Hamilton Beach 25490A Dual Breakfast Sandwich Maker