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Deenkee 10 in 1 Pressure Instant Pot review

REVIEW – I can remember a time not too long ago when I would spend hours in the kitchen preparing that special meal for my wife, or for guests on occasion when I was in the mood to do the cooking. Some of the Caribbean dishes I would cook involve processes of preparing several individual ingredients prior to creating the main dish. On many occasions, just the thought of the long process and work would make me suggest eating out and saving myself the experience. These days, appliances have been invented that do the work of many processes in a simple and easy way. The Deenkee 10 in 1 Pressure Instant Pot is a good example of such an appliance.

What is it?

This DEENKEE 6Qt. Pressure Cooker is a programmable kitchen appliance that incorporates features like a large LED display and an easy to use interface to easily adjust cooking settings and pressure levels or to stop/cancel the cooking process at any time. It replaces 10 common kitchen appliances and cooks food up to 70% faster than traditional cooking methods. It also features a one-button pressure release, a detachable carrying handle and a glass lid for the inner pot. It is ETL, FCC, & FDA certified.

What’s in the box


1 x Deenkee 10 in 1 Pressure Instant Pot
1 x Spoon
1 x Ladle
1 x Measuring Cup
1 x Glass lid
1 x Sealing Ring
1 x User Manual
1 x Steam Rack
1 x Recipe Book

Design and features

Specifications:
Voltage: AC 220V / 50Hz
Rated Power: 1000W
Capacity: 6 qt (6 Liters)

Features:

  • 10-1 Muti-Function: Deenkee gives you the flexibility to manually input cooking times when required and you also have the pre-programmed smart programs already set for many dishes such as Oatmeal, Broth/Soup, Poultry, Yogurt, Egg, Beans/Chilli, Rice, Pressure Cook (Manual Setting), Meat/Stew, Cake. Slow Cook, Steam, Saute, Canning & Multi-Grain so all of your favorite dishes are as easy as pressing a button
  • Healthy and Built to last: Ceramic non-stick interior coating, plastic PTFE and PFOA free for even heat distribution, fully sealed environment seals in the flavors, nutrients and aromas within the food to Healthy, stainless steel (18/10) inner cooking pot made from food grade 304 ss, no chemical coating, 3-ply bottom for even heat distribution, fully sealed environment traps the flavors, nutrients and aromas within the food
  • Safety: Safety locking lid, Automatic pressure control, Electrical Current & Temperature fuse, Pressure regulation system, Smart locking sensors, Anti-Block shield, Automatic temperature control, Pressure protection system, Heat resistant cooking mitts, Temperature monitor.
  • Accessory Kit: Included is a tempered glass lid (perfect for slow cooking and sautéing) 2 egg racks/steaming trivets, ladle, rice paddle, cooking mitts, extra silicone sealing ring, stainless steel steaming basket, stainless steel inner cooking pot, and a measuring cup
    On the top of the Instant Pot, there is the lid handle with the red pressure release button partially underneath it, and the pressure release valve off to the side.

    On the back of the lid, there is the hinge.

Performance

This Instant Pot is well built with stainless steel around the middle and a heavy-duty plastic lid and base. The control panel on the front is easy to read and navigate.

Since it comes fully assembled, I will not get into describing some of the smaller parts under the lid, but that information is available in the manual.

The Instant Pot has a stainless steel removable inner pot where you place the ingredients to be cooked. The control panel has preset buttons that provide preset cooking times for specific dishes and ingredients. I am initially from the Caribbean, and most of the dishes we cook in my home have their own Caribbean twist and flair. So, when we first tried the Instant Pot we used the preset settings and once we determined how the dish turned out, we adjusted the cooking time to suit what we wanted.

Below are some before and after photos of one of our dishes. It is a version of baked chicken with BBQ sauce.



Below are the ingredients for a traditional Caribbean dish called Cook-Up.

Below you see the served dish of the meal prepared above.

What I like

  • The build quality
  • The versatility/cooking options
  • The end results

What I’d change

    • It does what it is designed to do

Final thoughts

The Deenkee 10 in 1 Pressure Instant Pot is a really great appliance that incorporates so much functionality that with practice you can prepare a large variety of meals. The reason I say practice, is that once you get the process down, you have to figure out the cooking times and which setting works best for the dish you are preparing. In my opinion, the preset times serve as a general reference time. This can only be perfected with frequent use and trial and error. The build quality is great and I am sure that barring any unforeseen issue, that this appliance will be in my kitchen for years. I give it a well done and two thumbs up!!

Price: $95.99
Where to buy: Amazon
Sample: The sample for this review was provided by Deenkee.

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Deenkee 10 in 1 Pressure Instant Pot review originally appeared on The Gadgeteer on July 19, 2019 at 10:00 am.

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Shake your way to a healthy campfire snack

NEWS – If smores give you a bellyache and fire-cooked hot dogs don’t please your palate, check out the Traditional Shake and Pop Outdoor Popcorn Popper from Wabash Valley Farms for your next campfire snack.

My son and co-reviewer, Mason, just like his grandfather, needs a daily dose of popcorn. In fact, these guys opt for popcorn over ice cream, which I never quite understood. 

Mason’s also an outdoorsy type who spends at least two weeks a year at summer camp forgoing comforts like indoor plumbing and electricity. 

We considered sending him to camp with a load of Jiffy Pop, but he wasn’t impressed with the disposable packaging, and I wasn’t thrilled about petroleum derivative TBHQ (tertiary butylhydroquinone).

That’s when we found the Shake and Pop for simple popcorn making without the extras. You just screw together the 18-inch-handle, add a little oil and your kernels, and like the name says, you shake it over the fire until it pops for a tasty treat! At less than 2 pounds, the light-weight aluminum isn’t cumbersome or difficult to maneuver.

And you don’t have to abandon civilization to enjoy it. This open-fire popper works just as well in the backyard firepit or even your fireplace.

As of writing this, the popcorn cooker had 4.4 stars out of 5 with 5,610 reviews on Amazon. The Shake and Pop Outdoor Popcorn Popper is available on Amazon for $17.91.

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Shake your way to a healthy campfire snack originally appeared on The Gadgeteer on July 12, 2019 at 8:00 am.

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Uten Barbecue Charcoal Grill review

REVIEW – Take your charcoal grill on the road! This week we’re checking out the Uten Barbecue Charcoal Grill, It’s a lightweight & portable design made for transporting to the campsite, the beach, or the park. How does it hold up to the testing? To the review!

What is it?

It’s an open-styule portable charcoal grill.

What’s in the box?

You’ll get the grill with a full-length charcoal basket, 2 grill grates, 1 griddle plate, 2 removable side baskets, and 4 detachable legs.

Hardware specs

  • Dual vent design
  • 14.65 pounds
  • 31.6” by 12.6” by 27” tall fully assembled

Design and features

The Uten Barbecue Charcoal Grill is a lightweight portable cooker. Weighing in at just under 15 pounds with detachable legs, the 31.6″ by 12.6″ by 6″ footprint (with the legs removed) is very packing friendly. You con’t find any assembly instructions, but you won’t need them. There are 10 total parts to the unit. You have 4 legs that use spring-tabs to pop into the leg brackets on each corner of the fire box:

A pair of wire side baskets hook into each side of the grill: 

Drop the aluminum charcoal tray into the fire box, and add your grill grates and/or griddle tray, and you’re in business. With about 2 minutes of work you’ll have almost 400 square inches of cooking area to work with. I’m estimating that to handle 8-10 burger patties, 8 decent sized boneless chicken breasts, or a whole heap of hot dogs.

There are some quality issues that come with grills on the cheaper end of the scale, and you’ll find them here. The shot below is from the underside of the firebox, which has a two-part floor. See how the two floor components don’t line up? It doesn’t impact performance, but it’s a bad bit of quality control.

Here’s another weird bit. The charcoal tray was covered with a blue film to protect it during shipping. It looks like that film was put on before finishing the seams of the tray, so you can’t completely peel it off. I got most of it with a knife, but had to burn the rest off before the first cook.

Despite those issues, it looks like a fairly solid camp grill. Let’s fire it up and see what happens!

Performance

So we moved the grill down to the patio to get cooking. Even though it’s a lightweight build, it’s surprisingly stable when set up. Those legs brackets with the spring post locking mechanisms are tight, and the legs are splayed slightly to add a bit of extra stability. Rubber feet on the bottom of the legs provide a bit of extra grip, too. I wouldn’t want the kiddos or pets running around it, but it’s stable enough for safe use on unstable surfaces like grass, sand & dirt.

The side baskets are useful for holding your assorted accessories, and the inclusion of two baskets is a nice touch. I really like that there are 6 hooks (3 on each side) for hanging tools and gloves.

We fired up a chimney of lump charcoal for purposes of our test. For those that don’t know, lump charcoal burns hotter and faster than composite briquettes. Our chimney gave us a thin layer of charcoal across the length of the fire basket.

For this cook we’re using the griddle to saute up some green beans & peppers marinated in olive oil, melted butter, and garlic. The griddle is firmly nestled in the firebox, so it’s not prone to slipping around during use. It’s also got a nice thickness to it, so it distributes the heat evenly. Note that the griddle does have ridges, so it’s not ideal for frying eggs or pancakes.

We grilled some chicken breasts dry-rubbed with a blackening spice on direct heat using the grill grates. The grill grates are aluminum, and typical of what you see in lower cost grills with respect to thickness. I think they’ll hold up just fine with proper care. They don’t lock in tightly like the griddle does, however, so you’ll want to be careful moving your food around, or the grill grate could slide on you a bit. I’d probably want to figure out a modification to fix this for long-term safety.

We finished things off with some toasted garlic bread over the coals, switching out the griddle for the other grill grate.

Here’s the finished product. While I only used one chimney of charcoal, the grill has nice venting on the sides to help maintain heat. The griddle side was plenty hot enough to provide a steady saute for 15-20 minutes to let the beans cook through without burning. We got good grill marks on the chicken on a relatively slow cook as well.

Once cooking was done, we took a look at how the grill held up. Cleaning is a problem because that two-piece bottom creates a big seam down the middle. I was able to get to a lot of it with my brush, but there’s no port to catch ashes. You’ll need to turn it over to get all the corners cleaned. The lack of a trap for collected grease (like what you’ll find when you do burgers) is also an issue. If the coals don’t catch it, it will be difficult to clean.

The charcoal insert is showing some discoloration after one grill session, but held up pretty good to one chimney of coals.

And the griddle held up surprisingly well. Not a burn mark or discoloration to be found.

Overall I am pretty happy with the Uten Barbecue Charcoal Grill as a light duty, occasional use grill. If you’re looking for something you can toss in the car for a weekend adventure I think you’ll find this be a great solution. But we do need to talk about the fact that it’s not designed for heavy use.

All of the materials in the build are relatively thin, and there’s no buffer between the charcoal chamber and the sidewalls. I’ve seen some reviews pointing to the paint on the firebox flaking off, as well as corrosion and warping. One particular review reported an incident where the leg brackets actually melted. Given their positioning next to the side vents, I could absolutely see this happening if you completely loaded the firebox end-to-end with charcoal. That would also make the side baskets unusable as well due to the intense heat.

It’s a light-duty cooker, and won’t take the intense heat. If you fill the thing with coals soaked with lighter fluid, you’ll kill it pretty quickly (you’re not using lighter fluid to light your grill anyway, right?). But if you’re putting a chimney or two in there and loading your coals with space for the vents, I think it will last a couple of seasons with care.

What I like

  • Easy to assemble
  • Stable
  • Nice baskets & hooks for accessories
  • Good for light duty use

What I’d change

  • Construction quality has some flaws
  • Grill grates can slide around a bit
  • Difficult to clean ashes & grease out of the firebox without a trap
  • Lightweight design will not hold up to heavy heat or extended use

Final thoughts

For an occasional use outdoor grill, the Uten Barbecue Charcoal Grill is a fine solution. It’s got decent cooking area, and some nice features with side baskets and hooks that benefit you when you’re at a location where table space is at a premium. The legs are well planted and stable for use on rough surfaces, too. Just keep in mind that the construction is lightweight and not designed for high heat or regular use like a backyard grill.

Price: $65.99
Where to buy: But it on Amazon.
Source: The sample of this product was provided by Uten.

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Uten Barbecue Charcoal Grill review originally appeared on The Gadgeteer on July 11, 2019 at 1:28 pm.

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Queal meal replacement shakes review

REVIEW – I’m on a new quest to find a healthy meal alternative in the form of a shake or a bar. There has to be a no-hassle way to mix it and consume it and of course, it has to be healthy. My usual go-to breakfast or lunch alternative is Nature Valley protein bars and they are just glorified candy bars with some extra protein thrown in to give them a slight edge over regular candy bars. Today’s meal replacement option that I want to tell you about is Queal meal replacement shakes and oatmeal. Let’s check them out.

What is it?

The Netherlands based Queal powered shake mixes and oatmeal mixes (they offer bars too but didn’t send me any samples of the bars to try #sad) are meal replacements options that are designed to be nutritionally complete with 27 vitamins and minerals. That means that they provide the calories and nutrients that a typical person needs for a meal.

Queal Ready Oats instant oatmeal mixes

Queal offers its Ready Oats oatmeal mixes in single-serve cups and in bulk bags that each make 10 meals. They sent me both flavors of the Ready Oats in the single-serve cup option. They offer a Berry Good flavor and a Carrot Cake flavor.

Each Queal Ready Oats vegan meal provides:

Berry Good / Carrot Break

  • 400 kcal
  • 26.6 g / 27.1 g protein
  • 6.6 g / 7.9 g fiber

You can click the image above to read the ingredients.


To prepare the Ready Oats, you’re supposed to add 200 milliliters of water (~6.8oz) to the cup. You can either add cold water and microwave the mixture for about 2 minutes or use boiling water. Then you stir, wait a minute or two, and eat. Note that the cup doesn’t have a water fill line, so you have to have a measuring cup if you want to get the right consistency.

I had high hopes for the Ready Oats because I love oatmeal and eat it several times a week. While the flavor of the Queal oats was ok, I didn’t like their consistency/texture which felt like I was eating paste. I couldn’t even finish one serving because it was just offputting to me. Of course, others might love it. But coming from someone like me who enjoys steel-cut oats, or old fashioned oats, the texture of the Ready Oats really didn’t do it for me.

Queal Steady powdered shake mixes

Queal offers 4 different types of Steady powdered shake mixes: Standard, Agile, Athletic, and Vegan. Each type has different calories, protein, and fiber totals, but each resealable bags contains 3 complete meals.  Of course, you can customize the calories and make each bag last longer by using less powder per shake.


The Standard mixes provide 700 calories, 35.2g of protein, and 11.7g of fiber. The Agile mixes provide 600 calories per meal, 30.1g of protein, and 13.4g of fiber. The Athletic mixes provide 767 calories, 49.5g of protein, and 13.3g of fiber. And finally, the Vegan mixes provide 700 calories, 30.9g of protein, and 11.9g of fiber.

Queal offers several flavors of each type of shake mix. Some of these flavors include Apple Pie, Cool Chocolate, Chocolate Hazel Nut, Vanilla, Strawberry, and many more.

Preparing a shake is easy. Just add the number of scoops you want (5 scoops is the full serving) and 350ml of cold water (about 12 ounces) in a shaker bottle, shake for 30 seconds, and then drink.

My favorite flavor of the shake mixes that they sent me to try is their chocolate hazelnut. I didn’t make the full 700 calorie shakes since I don’t eat that big of meals each day. I customized my shakes to cut the calories down to about 350-400 per meal. I used the full amount of water though and although the shakes were a bit thin if I drank them right away, the flavor was good. If I mixed a shake and put it in the fridge for several hours, the consistency was thicker and smoother. Either way, they have a very slightly gritty texture which reminds me of pea protein shakes although Queal doesn’t use pea protein.

Queal uses oats, whey and soy protein in their mixes along with a small amount of Sucralose for sweetener. I don’t like that Sucralose is used and wish they would offer unsweetened versions or use stevia.

I will say that the Queal shakes are better in some ways compared to the Huel meal replacement shakes that I have also reviewed. With Huel, it would give me gas and cause constipation problems if I drank too many of them because I don’t think they have enough fiber per meal. Yeah I know, TMI. But with Queal, I didn’t notice these issues.

What I like

  • Shakes have good flavor
  • Affordable per meal price of about $1.61 for a 400cal meal
  • Doesn’t cause gas (for me)

What I’d change

  • Use a natural sweetener instead of Sucralose
  • Need lower shipping prices

Final thoughts

I didn’t like the Queal Ready-Oats, but I liked the Steady shakes quite a bit. They are easy to mix and taste good. As long as you don’t mind whey, soy, and Sucralose, they are pretty healthy compared to eating most protein bars or fast food. The biggest issue with Queal isn’t what’s in them or the price of each meal which is pretty affordable. The biggest problem is the shipping fees to the US. Shipping is $22.59 for orders above $50.82 and for orders below $50.82 shipping is $56.47. Ouch! At one time I think they had a US distributor but it doesn’t appear to be the case now. Based solely on taste, nutrition, and price, I have no problem recommending Queal. But when you put their shipping prices in the mix, it makes it harder to do that.

Price: Ready Oats single serve cup $2.82/10-meal Bag $22.59, Steady shake mixes $7.91 – $8.47 per 3-meal bag
Where to buy: Queal.com
Source: The sample for this review was provided by Queal.

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Queal meal replacement shakes review originally appeared on The Gadgeteer on July 7, 2019 at 11:30 am.

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Hestan Cue Smart Induction Cooking System review

REVIEW – I’ve been curious about induction cooking ever since I saw a segment on a cooking show that lauded its benefits. I hadn’t really paid much attention to it but knew that it used magnets and electrical current to heat rather than using a traditional gas or electric burner as a heat source. The Hestan Cue Induction Cooking System has given me a great introduction to the process.

What is it?

The Hestan Cue is an induction “burner” with corresponding pots and pans with a wi-fi enabled cooking system that allows pre-loaded recipes to be made via step-by-step directions and video support on your connected smartphone.

What’s in the box?

  • Induction Burner
  • Instruction & Safety Manual
  • Induction Skillet
  • Instruction & Safety Manual

Design and features

The skillet and burner have a sleek modern design that fits perfectly into today’s kitchen, and especially ours with our stainless steel countertops. The skillet is stainless steel, while the burner has the plate surrounded by molded plastic. The skillet has a removable battery at the end of the handle, which also contains the wi-fi hub for communicating with the app on your smartphone. The burner connects via your standard electrical outlet and also communicates independently with the smart app.

Setup

Simply plug in the burner, download the Hestan Cue app and follow the instructions for connecting each piece to the app. Then select a recipe and start cooking.

Our first attempt was grilled chicken breasts. The app has you gather all ingredients first, then gives you step by step instructions for prepping the pan. Next, it preheats the pan to the required temperature and this doesn’t take more than 30 seconds to a minute.

As you hit “next step” it then starts cooking the dish at the required time and temperature.

It will tell you exactly when to flip the food, add more oil/seasoning/ingredients and then continue cooking.

Once complete, you remove the food and it gives you the option to make another batch and start the process all over. The chicken above came out moist and with a nice crust as well. Definitely an improvement on my grilled chicken attempts where I tend to dry it out, and without the strange texture I tend to get with my sous vide attempts. I definitely think this will be my new preferred chicken breast preparation method.

Performance

I was very happy with the overall performance of the Cue system on most everything we cooked outside of steak, where I just don’t think there’s much competition to how tender a sous vide system will get a steak. It came out overcooked and with too much of a crust for my taste. Another dish I tried and loved was their recipe for “Toad in the Hole”. Again it was a simple process of following the recipe and cooking instructions in the app, flipping once the app said to do so and then pulling from heat once done.

The eggs came out just a bit runny like we had selected and preferred and the crust on the bread was very tasty.

The only other thing I think needs to be mentioned in terms of performance is the clean-up phase of the meal. The skillet isn’t the easiest thing to get clean, as with any item where you leave food on it to cook for a fixed duration, you tend to get a lot of build-up on the pan during the cooking process even when you use oil and butter as indicated in the recipe. The manual says that it is dishwasher safe but recommends hand washing. it may be my paranoia about putting electronics in the dishwasher but I felt better about hand washing it with a soft bristle brush, so I have yet to put it in the dishwasher.

Finally, you are able to use the burner with other induction pans however you won’t be able to use the guided recipes and will need to manually adjust the temperature throughout the process to ensure proper cooking of your meal.

What I like

  • Guided cooking with great recipes
  • Fast heating, cooling, and precise temperature control
  • Ability to multi-task and not have to “watch” the pan as the app provides prompts
  • Speeds up cooking time, allowing for more family time.

What I’d change

  • More recipes in the app, it’s growing and has gotten better even in the month we’ve had it – but really want to explore more possibilities.
  • Clean-up of the skillet can be tough, but that may just come with the territory.

Final thoughts

The Hestan Cue system has opened up a new avenue for cooking quality and tasty meals in a quick time frame. Whether it’s chicken breasts, french toast, hashbrowns or bananas foster the pan was versatile and created near restaurant quality food safely and conveniently. It’s a great addition to the kitchen for anyone who wants to improve their culinary skills and make great food for their family. The price point for the skillet and burner combo is $399.99 and you can add an additional “Chef’s Pot” for $299.99 as well. It does fall on the higher end of kitchen products, but I feel the tradeoff is worth it considering the great food you’ll be able to make and the time it saves you in the kitchen overall.

Price: $399.99 for the Induction Burner and Skillet combo.
Where to buy: Hestan Cue’s Website or Amazon
Source: The sample of this product was provided by Hestan Cue.

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Hestan Cue Smart Induction Cooking System review originally appeared on The Gadgeteer on July 6, 2019 at 8:27 am.

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