Best Outdoor Cooking
REGISTER your product after purchase and RECEIVE EXTENDED 3 YEARS Warranty】 – Although the sensor probe is rigidly produced, after a long-time period of use, a few amount units could experience incorrect temperature readings problem caused by careless or improper use of sensor probe. Instant read meat thermometer with 6.5" food grade stainless steel probe features step-down tip design to get temperature more precisely and quickly.
Reviews
Find Best Price at Amazon"This very reasonably priced thermometer has all the bells and whistles and works great every time."
"Now find a set first temp a bit lower... so when it goes off I can do veggies and such and just reset for final temp for meat or casserole... love this gadget..."
"It does it's job...have used it in cooking turkeys, steaks, chicken and pork ...and all have come out cooked perfectly!"
"I've not had much luck in electronic meat thermometers lasting a long time, so we'll see how this one does..."
"After going through 3 other wireless thermometers that eventually broke, I spent a bit more money on this one and it's awesome."
"Saves time and your legs!"
"ThermoPro TP07 Remote Wireless Digital Kitchen Cooking Food Meat Thermometer with Timer for BBQ Smoker Grill Oven, 300 Feet Range Folks,buying this for a BBQ is sweet success at family eats !"
"The presets are based on the highest temp of the safe range, so to allow for meat that falls in the middle, I recommend pulling the meat off the moment the screen turns green, if not just slightly before."
Temperature Range: 32°F to 572°F (0°C to 300°C). Battery: 1 x AAA battery. Temperature Accuracy: ±1.8°F (±1°C) from 32 to 212°F (0 to 100°C). Resolution: 1°. Probe Length: 6.5" food grade stainless probe. Cable Length: 40" stainless steel mesh cable. LCD Display Size: 1.3 H×1.8 W inches (33 H×46 W mm). Dimensions: 2.9 H×2.6 W×0.8 D inches (73 H×65 W×20 D mm). Weight: 0.18 lbs. Package Contents: - 1 x AAA battery. - 1 x Meat Thermometer with stainless steel probe. REGISTER your product after purchase and RECEIVE EXTENDED 3 YEARS Warranty】 – Although the sensor probe is rigidly produced, after a long-time period of use, a few amount units could experience incorrect temperature readings problem caused by careless or improper use of sensor probe. Easy operation - Accurate oven meat cooking thermometer with 6.5" food grade STEP-DOWN tip design stainless steel probe to get temperature precisely and quickly.
Reviews
Find Best Price at Amazon"Between prep/cooking errors and lack of knowledge, it's more common at home than people acknowledge. Remotes and are good if you are walking away from the grill and can't hear the alarm (limited usefulness). It has a nice stainless steel base that sits near your stove or grill. Use the three rubberized buttons on top of the base to program in your desired temperature and the unit will beep when the meat is ready. Cons - There's magnet on the back can be used to anchor the unit to your range."
"Why I am giving them the high star rating is because they contacted us by email to tell us of the problem and when I called the provided number I got right through and they are sending out a replacement."
"I also use one when incubating chicken eggs, the temperature always seems to be very accurate and I can leave it on non stop for 3 weeks with the probe in the incubator, it is way easier to use than other types of thermometers and I had my best hatch yet when using it."
"It dings when it's done and no more pulling it out and inserting a hand held meat thermometer waiting for it to take an accurate reading and shoving it back into the oven becuase it's still not done."
"They sent me a new probe free of charge and it works once again."
"Never question your meat cooking again!"
"I checked the TP-10 against a digital infrared thermometer, and it displayed the same temperate within one-tenth of a degree."
"You can select different meat types and the TP-16 will preselect the temperature. Or, you can enter a temperature and the unit will sound an alert that informs you the temperature has been reached. So, after a dozen uses in my smoker, the unit failed."
Bear Paws have been named “Best BBQ Tool” by the National BBQ Association. THE ORIGINAL BEAR PAWS - The favorite BBQ accessory for years, Bear Paws are 100% made in the USA.
Reviews
Find Best Price at Amazon"Food-grade plastic is approved by the FDA, which matters to me."
"So, if he said I should have the claws so I bought them."
"These are GREAT!"
"I finished pulling the pork in half the time I had allotted."
"Before I totally procrastinated making pulled pork, because I couldn't easily pull all the meat apart."
"Christmas gift & the recipient was very please."
"He said that a few years ago, there were some Bear Paw meat forks where the tips did break off."
"They're shipped loosely in a small cardboard box- and when I opened the box, I noticed some of the ends of the claws had been slightly broken- but still attached by a sliver of plastic. 3)After shredding nothing more than chicken breasts in a stainless steel pot- I noticed the ends of the claws had some flat spots, as if they had been rubbed off/broken off during the shredding process. Possibly from the mixture of heat and the fact that they were striking against a stainless steel pot?"
Best Outdoor Cooking Fuel & Firestarters
This is a premium EXCLUSIVE mix of the most popular hardwoods used today. Enter your model number to make sure this fits.
Reviews
Find Best Price at Amazon"Pellets are great for brisket (very long smoke) and pulled pork (long smoke). The amount of ash is same as BBQ Delight pellets."
"Pellets are ok, I normally use GMG (green mountain grills) pellets and these seem to make A LOT more ash and not as much smoke."
"I've noticed it leaves slightly different flavor on different meats."
"Propane is a smudge cheaper but you just don't get the flavor and I was a diehard propane fan till I started cooking with pellets."
"Packed in a six inch tube it makes for perfect timing to do a batch of cheese ( 2-1/2 to 3 houres)."
"If I can get them to work, I'll change my review, but I'm having a hard time getting these things to provide smoke."
"Has good smoke flavor but I'm a little concerned that my last cook (12 hours) burned through an entire hopper of pellets even with a welders thermal blanket wrapped around my smoker."
"I think that the pellets tend to break up going from the hopper to the fire and that causes it to catch fire back up my tube."
Best Outdoor Grills
Perfect for breakfast, lunch and dinner - cook everything from eggs and pancakes to quesadillas and grilled cheese to steak and potatoes including Teppanyaki style foods and more. DURABILITY AND LONGEVITY - This Blackstone Grill is built to last with a powder coated black steel frame, stainless steel burners and thick cold rolled steel cooktop which is simple to clean making post-meal cleanup a breeze.
Reviews
Find Best Price at Amazon"I used a piece of 3/4 inch copper I had lying around, so I cut a piece at 1 1/4 inches long, then I filed a wedge into it to fit the bottom of the grease hole, then I used J-B Weld 8297 HighHeat 500 Degree Epoxy Putty - 2 oz to attach it since I don't have a welder and it worked out great! UPDATE 3/28/2017 - It is still working great, but since I am constantly moving mine in and out of the garage, I made the legs more stable!"
"Blackstone has a helpful 3 min assembly video you can watch either on Blackstone’s site or on youtube search for “Blackstone 36" Griddle Assembly”. The griddle top comes coated in a protective oil to prevent rust. For many griddle users, at this point they slap on some oil or bacon and immediately start cooking. Over time they build up the seasoning that helps protect the griddle surface from rusting and the food from sticking. For a methodical, long lasting seasoning of the griddle, you follow similar steps as you would with seasoning cast iron cookware. Blackstone has a youtube video called “Blackstone Griddle Top Recovery”. This video was made to show people how to restore a rusted griddle top; however, at 2min39sec into this video they cover the topic of seasoning. The Blackstone video agreed with several articles I read about seasoning cast iron cookware with flax oil. I did 6 coatings on my griddle and used just a little more than 3oz total of the oil. The seasoning coat/layer consisted of : 1. wiping on a thin layer of flax oil over the cooking surface (I applied with a paper towel). Even with a great seasoned cooking surface, I add a dash of oil with many of the things I cook (for example, eggs). Cleaning the griddle: Helped along by my well seasoned cooking surface, I find the griddle quick to clean."
"The size is great, not so big that it feels there's wasted space, not so small that you get cranky that you can't fit enough food on it (see pictures)."
"This is the best thing to ever happen to me."
"Great grill."
"Mostly posted a review as to the issue of 'cupping' ie the grill surface warping due to circular burners underneath instead of line burners."
Best Outdoor Cooking Replacement Parts
Catch Drippings That Smoke And Sizzle, Adding A Smoky Flavor To Food. Fits Spirit 300 Series (With Side-Mounted Control Panel), Spirit 700, Genesis Silver B/C, Genesis Gold B/C (2002 And Newer Models), Genesis Platinum B/C (2005 Model Year), And Weber 900 Gas Grills.
Reviews
Find Best Price at Amazon"The prices of the new grill "guided" my decision to repair my existing Weber grill."
"Just like having a new grill, very pleased."
"I bought the burner tube set, flavorizer bars and catch pan and installed them on my very old Weber barbecue."
"Great replacement for our old rusted out ones, however if you have that little extra go with the stainless steel."
"Unavailable locally or on Weber's web site."
"Perfect fit for my Weber which lasted 17 years before I changed the flavorizers out which were deteriorating from use.I expect another 17+ years, hopefully!"
"These are less expensive than in local store and are exactly the same thing."
"Perfect replacement to freshen up a trusty grill that lasted 5 years with original parts."
Best Outdoor Cooking Tools & Accessories
REGISTER your product after purchase and RECEIVE EXTENDED 3 YEARS Warranty】 – Although the sensor probe is rigidly produced, after a long-time period of use, a few amount units could experience incorrect temperature readings problem caused by careless or improper use of sensor probe. Instant read meat thermometer with 6.5" food grade stainless steel probe features step-down tip design to get temperature more precisely and quickly.
Reviews
Find Best Price at Amazon"This very reasonably priced thermometer has all the bells and whistles and works great every time."
"Didn't really think I would have a need for the remote feature, but chose the product for the price and probe guarantee."
"Now find a set first temp a bit lower... so when it goes off I can do veggies and such and just reset for final temp for meat or casserole... love this gadget..."
"Handy Gadget, no more guessing on meat temperature, long range between transmitter and receiver."
"It does it's job...have used it in cooking turkeys, steaks, chicken and pork ...and all have come out cooked perfectly!"
"I have only used it once in my smoker grill so I will be interested to see if I experience and problems with the probe."
"I've not had much luck in electronic meat thermometers lasting a long time, so we'll see how this one does..."
"After going through 3 other wireless thermometers that eventually broke, I spent a bit more money on this one and it's awesome."
Best Outdoor Fryers & Smokers
Redesigned front access drip pan, smoother operating wood chip loading system and side/top air damper.
Reviews
Find Best Price at Amazon"They are small plastic coaster type wheels, so don't expect to be rolling it over rough areas or for long distances. I like having the glass door on the front, but I do have to admit that once you get some smoke rolling, and if you have moisture in there (from the meat or if you add it in the pan), the door is going to smoke and steam up pretty quickly and you won't be able to see inside for long. (For instance I put apple juice in the pan with turkey breast to keep it moist.). To easily clean the glass, use Weber's grill cleaner and rinse after with water. With the included remote, you can check on your meat temps without ever leaving your chair. After a year of moderate use, the temperature set button is not working on our front panel. They do sell replacement panels for the front, but the problem is easily remedied by simply using the remote to set the temp. We usually keep the chips burning steady for the first part of cooking to add lots of smoke, and then let them die down near the end. Don't forget you will get fluctuations because there is air coming in from the chip tray and exiting out your vent. Take one of those rotisserie chickens from your local grocery and warm it up in the smoker, add some smoke, and get good smoked chicken in the time it takes you to warm it up."
"If you want to smoke Meats this is your machine keeps a very accurate temperature very easy to operate and the food is delicious."
"I ended up buying a (Yellow Jacket 2883 12/3 Heavy-Duty 15-Amp SJTW Contractor Extension Cord with Lighted Ends,25-Feet) bought on amazon and smoker heated up quick & worked it the way it was meant to work. 6 MONTH UPDATE 11/23/12. well after 6 months and 200+ hours of smoking time, this smoker still works great. the cover I bought for this smoker is the Veranda Square 30" Smoker Cover for Price: $29.00 bought on amazon its a great cover. I did buy the cold smoker adapter for it and that works GREAT, I don't put chips in the main smoker anymore. the cold smoker adapter holds a lot more chips about three good handfuls and produces longer and better smoke then just using chips in the main smoker. you can run the main smoker and the cold smoker at the same time even when using a extension cord in fact I can run the main smoker, cold smoker and my Weber rotisserie at the same time without any problems."
Best Outdoor Kitchen Appliances & Storage
How to use: Just open the probe and insert the temperature a couple of centimeter into the food you want to know the temperature of. -℉/℃ switchable. -Response Time:4-6seconds for meat and 4-20 seconds for liquid. -Large LCD display, easy to read. -Measurement range:58℉ to 572℉(-50-300℃). -Accuracy: ± 0.1℉ (between -4F to 392F). -Hold temperature function, it will "hold" the temperature reading until pressed again. -10 minutes Auto-off. -Food-safe ABS plastic case and stainless probe. It will "hold" the temperature reading. Perfect for Kitchen, Outdoor Cooking, BBQ, Liquid, Food, Meat, Candy, Coffee, Milk and Bath water temperature.
Reviews
Find Best Price at Amazon"At $12.99 with free prime shipping, this one more than exceeded my expectations, to my surprise, it's actually more accurate than my Thermapen, which rounds up or down to the nearest degree, while this one gives the temperature in decimal points."
"I also like that it registers higher temperatures than other thermometers I reviewed."
"I found that even when the thermometer is off, the sensor is soon at the ambient temperature of its surroundings, and that as soon as I turn it on, I can find out what the temp is. In both those cases I could see the sensor start to react to the change in temperature within a second or two of opening it, but that was long enough to see what the reading was."
"The only thing is if you're expecting "exact" temperature, then you may need to look elsewhere. I was using it for water temperature and as long as it didn't vary too much, I was OK."
"Bought this handy thermometer back in April 2016, enjoyed it so much at work (Broiler Chef) that I bought one for the casa weeks later because of the price and ease for the Mrs. Well, first one took a spazz on me and doesn't display/read temps anymore so I traded it out for the house one."
"This thermometer ensures that whatever he is grilling (steak, burgers, salmon) or cooking in the over (chicken, bread, casseroles) come out perfectly!"
"I have not used this as a meat thermometer yet, but my wife and I are finding lots of uses for this device."
"The auto shut off function is really nice, and I'm not constantly worrying about the battery draining."
Best Outdoor Décor
This large see-through bird feeder mounts on your window so that you can watch your favorite neighborhood birds up close! Three extra strong suction cups ensure your feeder remains secure to your window even in extreme weather. Drain holes in both the tray and main feeder prevent seed from staying wet and growing mold. TIP: To make this a squirrel proof bird feeder, mount high on a window away from jump-off points. When you order today, you are protected by a lifetime no-questions asked money back guarantee along with world class customer service!
Reviews
Find Best Price at Amazon"This is exactly what I wanted!"
"I have had the feeder up for a couple of weeks now, and I have one female cardinal in particular that loves it!"
"Some advice: - I'd put this on a window that has grass/mulch beneath it. I put it on a window over our deck first, and the deck was covered in sunflower shells and bird droppings."
"They use the side if the feeder to crack the sunflower seeds. I had to take it down recently for the power washer, and I know the suction cups will never release on their own. The shipment was prompt and the company has checked with me several times to make sure everything was okay."
"Took a few weeks, but the feeder has been regularly visited by Cardinals."
"I previously had a window mounted feeder that had a one way mirror so the birds didn't get spooked."
"The suction cups hold the unit securely against the window even when the squirrel leaps to it from a nearby railing. I also like that you can leave the suction cups in place if you decide you have to remove the entire unit for cleaning."
"I’m feeding black oil sunflower seeds and we’ve had many tufted titmice and chickadees, and so far just one female cardinal."
Best Outdoor Storage
Enter your model number to make sure this fits.
Reviews
Find Best Price at Amazon"Omg OK I am in love with this , at first I was skeptical because it is plastic but I just got it today and I am soo ready to buy a 2nd because its easy to put together, heavy duty plastic material , its a storage and a bench/table ..."
"I do not plan on putting this outside, it's a great different look for inside my home, I'm sure I will buy more in the future for outdoors."
"The lid required a little muscle but nothing major."
"I actually purchased it to use indoors as a table for an AeroGarden that I'm growing with my 3yo son, so I wanted something low at his height. It does have a bit of a slope to the "seat" - I expect so rainwater / melted snow will run off. Moreover, there are some rough, almost sharp plastic pieces on the edges and I feared that if I forced it, my hand would slip and get a cut/scrape."
"We have one storing BBQ tools near the grill and one as a seat on our front porch where packages can be left to prevent theft."
"I bought two of these."
"We needed a sitting area that served double duty as storage, this does the job."
"Wonderful because its an extra seat for the front patio, can store small items (such as several tabletop citronella torches, citronella fuel, paper towels, and an extension cord), has a neat appearance, made out of thick resin, weatherproof, and as an added bonus our mailman and UPS guy know to throw any packages that are too big for the mailbox in there on rainy days to keep them dry."
Best Outdoor Heating & Cooling
Style: Patio Heater |. Color: Havana Bronze. Havana Bronze Color--please note that while the product may appear Charcoal Grey in the shade, sunlight reveals the rich bronze texture.
Reviews
Find Best Price at Amazon"I bought this item as a Christmas gift for my parents, who love to sit outside, but typically do not do so in the late fall/winter time because it gets too cold."
"They supply a "toy"wrench but you will not be able to fully tighten the bolts using it. Do NOT tighten the 3 base bolts as suggested until completing step 4. The instructions say " remove the four small bolts and loch washers from the head assembly." St you want to add a washer from shrink pak to each of the 4 bolts. Make sure you use two wrenches and that you tighten the hose bolt tightly to the regular. it says in the instructions to turn the dial between high and low, then to press ignition. Hold the black dial in for 20 to 30 seconds to heat the thermo coupler which is required to keep it running on its own. After 20 to 30 seconds release the black dial and now turn it to the desired temp between HIGH and LOW."
"One word of caution- the blue protective film on the heat reflector is damn impossible to peel off if the metal is cold."
"Ninety minutes after pulling the parts out of the box + moving the propane tank over from the non-functioning Phoenix, and it's working like a champ, silently cranking out the BTUs."
Best Outdoor Power & Lawn Equipment
Power. Tailor the pressure output of the spray to your cleaning needs with Pressure Joe's five quick spray nozzles. 5 Quick-Connect spray tips (0º, 15º, 25º, 40º and soap) tackle light, medium and heavy duty cleaning tasks.
Reviews
Find Best Price at Amazon"Works great!"
"Unfortunately, after we disconnected everything and went to the backyard to reconnect it again the connector piece that connects the machine to the water hose wouldn't make a good seal. We were able to carefully tighten it and turn the water on and use it...sometimes the grip would hold for a minute or two but most of the time the hose shot off the machine spraying water everywhere. If you buy this machine, register it online and immediately (they won't send you the part if you don't register it) call the manufacturer and ask for the replacement connector."
"Snow Joe 2030 GPM TEST SPX3000. no tip .30 sec for 1gal. Hey remember they're advertisements for your eyeballs, and your finger to purchase with a click. Test details: Using a sacrificial rag over the nozzle which will have a hole blown through it by the nozzle pressure, inserting that into a shop vac hose, and then going into a funnel, that is going into an empty 1 gallon milk jug container. I dare anyone to take the high-pressure tip and stick it into an empty milk jug and pull the trigger, LOL! (Nice Pump). The SPX3000 unit rated pressure is 1450 from page 4 of the user manual. As a result of consumer testing, I believe the public, we will find that all the manufacturers have all tweaked the numbers and facts, so each competitor can look better than the other. I will highly recommend this unit on it's own merit, it is simply the best electric washer I have used so far, and has a 2 year warranty to back it up, I don't appreciate the deceptive numbers, enough said. I am going to update my test results, to also include the line pressure on each tip. Fluid filled pressure gauge with Quick Connect, should be here in about 2 weeks."
"Here are my experimental results without boring everyone with the math... 1.90 Gpm - ALL Soap low pressure nozzles. 1.15 Gpm - 2.0 Sun Joe high pressure nozzles. 1.35 Gpm - 2.7 Dusichin high pressure nozzles. 1.45 Gpm - 3.0 Twinkle Star high pressure nozzles. (No Data - 2.5 high pressure nozzles). The best performance was from either the 2.7 or 3.0 nozzles, with the most power from the 2.7 nozzles. PS I added a nozzle chart to the pics, if you see 2.5 Gpm nozzles, that means 2.5 Gpm at 4000psi, since this machine has a 2000psi max, you have to follow the chart down to 2000psi and look for the nozzles that match with our Sun Joe 1.76 Gpm, BOOM!"
"I did a lot of research when it came down to getting a electric pressure washer and hands down this thing did not disappoint."
Best Outdoor Generators & Portable Power
What You Get: Anker PowerCore+ mini (3350mAh Premium Aluminum Portable Charger), Micro USB cable, travel pouch, welcome guide, our fan-favorite 18-month warranty and friendly customer service.
Reviews
Find Best Price at Amazon"Not All Batteries Are Created Equal. ***NOTE***. This review contains technical observations which I have reported to Anker. The battery I opened was verified to contain a high quality Panasonic-Sanyo NCR18650BF Lithium Ion cell, which is one of the finest cells available on the market today. - 9.99USD at Time of Review for PowerCore+ Mini in Black. Nay: - Inconsistent Fulfillment, Frequent Product Updates/Changes May Result in Order Errors and Old Product. - Inconsistent Performance of Internal DC Boost Converter Between Batteries, Affects Output Current and Capacity, Actual Available Capacity Varies Between 8.5Wh and 9.5Wh. - Possible Inconsistent Quality Control - Based on my numbers Anker deemed 2 out of 4 batteries to be possibly defective and shipped replacements (not arrived at time of this writing). In order to minimize power loss in the USB cable during whole product testing I custom-built an extra-short USB cable using 22AWG conductors, meaning that all of my numbers will be best-case scenarios for each of the batteries I tested. This was the case for me when I ordered two PowerCore+ Mini's in Black last week, and two Astro Mini's in Black showed up, although they were so close to the PowerCore+ in appearance (in fact, they are identical in appearance) that I didn't even notice the error until a couple of days later when during testing I noticed that the tail cap of the battery had "Astro Mini" written on it. At time of this writing both the Astro Mini and the PowerCore+ Mini are listed as separate products on Anker's website, and share the same capacity ratings, but have some minor published differences. During testing of the Astro Mini's I observed some troubling discrepancies that prompted me to order additional batteries. Anker's packaging has always been efficient, easy-to open, and well-thought, and these batteries were no exception. Each battery came with a short Anker USB Micro cable, a tasteful carrying case, and a short and sweet support pamphlet that tells you how to get questions answered or stuff fixed. Each battery's USB port is also covered with a sticker to remind you that the battery automatically cuts power to the port to conserve energy when not in use, and that a quick tap of the small button in the corner is all you need to get the juice flowing. Well, just do a quick search for "Lithium Ion Fire" on YouTube sometime and you'll see quickly why the FAA restricts how much lithium you can carry on an aircraft in the form of batteries, and why most major couriers won't allow you to ship Lithium batteries via Air Mail unless you have a hazmat contract with them. Serial numbers on devices this cheap are the hallmark of a manufacturer that cares because while you are unlikely to file a police report for a stolen ten dollar battery, Anker certainly wants to know which manufacturing batches are having problems, if any. ***WARNING***. I don't pull punches with batteries or battery vendors, and I didn't intend to judge this battery by its casing alone. Eventually I was able to saw off the rest of the casing without putting a scratch on the battery cell itself, and was able to reveal a Panasonic-Sanyo NCR18650BF cell soldered to a small DC boost converter PCB and USB ports. The NCR18650BF cell is a beauty of a battery cell, and represents one of the highest capacity and quality cells available on the market today. Every battery cell has two capacities. What this means is that "12.06Wh" capacity that you see on the product is only true for a couple of weeks right after Panasonic made the battery cells. By the time those cells are stored, sold to Anker, then stored again, used in manufacturing, stored again, shipped to Amazon, stored again, and then eventually shipped to you, these cells have a usable capacity of around 11.52Wh to 11.70Wh, which is actually what is reflected in the official datasheet for the NCR18650BF. I ran the NCR18650BF cell just by itself against a load of .2C or .67A and a cut-off voltage of 2.50V, the same test that Panasonic uses to get their original rating, and got a capacity of 11.4834Wh, which is just slightly under the "Minimum" rating for the cell, but it's close enough that I can't fault Anker for it. This is the real-world, best-case, available capacity of the cell before it goes through any other losses, such as those introduced by the DC/DC conversion up to 5V, before the voltage drop in your USB cable, and before the conversion losses in your device as it charges the internal battery. The harder you run the battery, the lower the available capacity of the cell is. To determine how hard the USB circuit runs the battery and look for efficiency losses, I removed the battery and connected the circuit to the monitored output on the lab power supply. Using the electronic load I applied a 5V 1A load to the USB port and monitored current draw from the power supply: USB Load Battery Load DC Boost Efficiency. 5.000V @ 1A = 5.00W 1.349A @ 4.2V = 5.67W 88.2%. 4.991V @ 1A = 4.99W 1.637A @ 3.6V = 5.89W 84.7%. 4.988V @ 1A = 4.99W 1.825A @ 3.2V = 6.06W 82.3%. Anker claims 90% efficiency with their DC converters, but since they do not publish their testing process or procedure it is impossible to know under what ideal conditions they performed their tests. Based on conversations with Anker, they are constantly updating and making changes to their designs, which is great, but because these changes aren't publicly tracked and because the batteries are sealed, there is no simple way to know what the characteristics of your battery are. It bears noting that so far all of the tests that we have discussed were performed on a battery that was labeled as "Astro Mini" and it is possible that my battery was manufactured during the early stages of the production shift. That capacity will be lower when drained faster and as you can see above, in order to charge your device at 5V @ 1A, the drain on the battery cell is more than twice that. Since modern lithium cells have a stated nominal voltage of 3.6V, I used the current draw of 1.637A and cut-off voltage of 2.50V to re-assess the capacity of the bare NCR18650BF cell to determine the actual available capacity at the higher drain rate. At the end of the day, what really matters is how the customer will use the battery, so let's get to... [Real-World Capacity and Performance]. These tests were all performed with the batteries fully sealed, assembled, and as they came directly from Amazon. In total, I tested four batteries, two of which were marked as "Astro Mini", and two of which were marked "PowerCore+ Mini", all of which were marked 3350mAh/12.06Wh. They were all designated Units A through D. For the testing procedure, I charged each battery through the USB Micro port per the instructions from Anker until they were full. I then connected each battery to the electronic load and programmed the load for a constant current draw of 1.000A, and measured the output voltage ten times per second until the battery died. Item Received Item Model Available Capacity. Astro Mini (Black) (Unit A) A1105 8.769Wh. Astro Mini (Black) (Unit B) A1105 9.345Wh. PowerCore+ Mini (Silver) (Unit C) A1104 8.607Wh. PowerCore+ Mini (Black) (Unit D) A1104 9.578Wh. The difference in capacity between the best-performing battery and the worst-performing battery was over 11%!!! My notes regarding each unit tested are as follows: Astro Mini (Black) (Unit A): Discharge remained flat and stable until the battery was approximately 75% depleted, at which point the voltage became unstable and dropped significantly. Based on the erratic behavior of the drop I believe the boost circuit began to overheat as it tried to cope with the lower input voltage of the battery cell. Based on conversations with Anker this is likely due to Anker's "Voltage Boost" feature which provides a slightly higher output voltage in order to compensate for the loss in the USB cable. While this does provide a slightly faster charge, it also results in a slightly lower available battery capacity, although this small discrepancy alone does not account for the near 1Wh difference between Units C and D. PowerCore+ Mini (Black) (Unit D): Out of all four batteries, Unit D exhibited the best performance. The output was not only super-flat through the discharge cycle, the available capacity tipped the scales at 9.578Wh @ 1A draw, which was better than any other of the batteries that I tested. I would also like to make clear that charge rate and battery capacity are completely independent of each other. I ordered four of the same battery, and ended up with four batteries that performed completely differently, which brings me to... [Anker's Response]. On 11/23/2015 I forwarded my results to Anker Support along with relevant purchase dates, serial numbers, and other information they requested. It means you're potentially throwing away vast amounts of battery capacity in your external battery pack by using an inadequate cable."
"Friends, We are gathered here today to celebrate the life of our Anker PowerCore+. I noticed my phone was near dead and so I hooked up my trusty Anker and went about my day. #sadface. Anker is survived by his older brother (also a PowerCore+), who was purchased in September and is still going strong."
"Fully charged this will bring my HTC EVO 4G LTE up from grave to full pretty close to twice. It will charge a iempire 5s grave to full twice with a bit left over."
"I was thinking of ideas to protect these from water and debris in my pocket or backpack."
"See my images). - Comes with a nice little bag that can hold the battery as well as a cable. (Note that it comes with a USB > Micro USB cable to charge the battery but you need to use your USB > X cable where X is the type of connector your phone or electronic device uses. The competitor (Jackery® Mini Premium) has 4 lights to show the amount of battery left, but on the other hand it's square so it's harder to carry in your pocket and that's the reason I got the Anker®. See my images for more details:"
Best Gardening & Lawn Care
The BUG-A-SALT 2.0 is the most powerful, efficient BUG-A-SALT designed yet. Enter your model number to make sure this fits.
Reviews
Find Best Price at Amazon"Since we seem to be in short supply of bugs in the house during these cold winter months, my husband has also resorted to using this gun as a way to add salt to food while he's cooking."
"Bug a salt or slug a salt."
"So, we are currently in a Combat zone in the Middle East, with all kinds of modern weapons and high speed "tools of the trade", and yet, when this arrived I had my team members lining up to hunt down flys!!!!"
"Perfect for garbage pail cousins."
"I bought mine [version 1] in June of 2014, and it worked fine for a while, and broke shortly after my second salt filling. I've just taken it apart (as the 30 day warranty is over) and I've found that a plastic gear inside has broken, rendering the unit totally useless--see photos where I've circled the broken gears and the piece that fell off. There's a rattling noise when I shake the unit and I've found that's the little pieces of the gear. I urge you to be a careful buyer and read the reviews, especially the negative ones so you can see what you might expect."
"It kills flies dead (although if you're a poor shot it wounds them, causing them to feebly drag their half-dead carcasses around, and, depending upon the type of person you are, makes you feel bad for doing so). Eventually, no matter how bad you don't want it to happen, you will notice salt accumulating all over your window sills. After this churlish brute's inevitable demise, I kept the Bug-A-Salt for myself, and ordered another one for my Dad for Father's Day."
"My husband, neighbors, and myself. Have way too much fun with this gun."
"its low power enough that it will not hurt in a friendly fire incident (except please watch your eyes) adn will not leave a mess on your wall, but powerful enough that delicate wings and bug bodies are destroyed."
Best Snow Removal Tools
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Reviews
Find Best Price at Amazon"I moved to the NE and was not prepared for winter, so the first time my car iced over, things went a little sideways."
"Decent snow brush now that I've actually received a proper one."
"This has been a great snow brush and has held up better than other smaller ones I've purchased."
"Brush works great at removing snow (brush side) and scraping ice (smaller scraper)."
"Everything is ok but why does this product has a warning sticker on it that “it may cause cance or birth organ defects”....I don’t understand why that kind of warning on a regular brush."
"(2) The color of the product is RED - why does the product picture on Amazon show blue?"
"Sits in my wife's car trunk indefinitely until the summer when she notices it under some paper and says, "Oh, I was wondering where this was 6 months ago.""
"It hasn't snowed since it arrived, but this brush looks like it will do the job."
Best Patio Furniture & Accessories
Ideal BBQ and summer party accessory; Drain plug for easy clean up.
Reviews
Find Best Price at Amazon"I plan to outline the piece with painter's tape and spray-paint it with outdoor Rustoleum in oil-rubbed bronze to make it a little more attractive. I've attached a couple of photos to this review so prospective buyers know what to fully expect. EDIT: I've noticed that sometime after I posted my review, the stock photos have been changed and the silver piece is now visible in some of those photos."
"I get so many compliments on it :) The plug on the inside makes it easy to drain and the inside is large enough for many items."
"I previously purchased a Keter deck box and outdoor trash can at Costco, and have been very happy with them. It's perfect to put by a BBQ to set drinks and plates on while cooking, and can be loaded with ice when guests come over."
"I love this cooler!"
"Super fast delivery and simple assembly but mine is a lot darker brown than the picture."
"Easy to use, and the cooler area can be used as a secret stash instead of a cooler."
"I agree with the other review that there is a very visible silver piece in the middle that doesn't show on the item pictures, but it doesn't bother me that much."
"This thing is so neat and functional."
Best Pools, Hot Tubs & Supplies
Easy to operate digital control panel; automatic start/stop timer-controlled heating system.
Reviews
Find Best Price at Amazon"I’ve owned the hot tub for about a month now and can make some comments and recommendations others might find useful. I don't think the manual mentions it, but place the "insulation blanket" (which is essentially a sheet of heavy duty bubble wrap) with the bubble side face down under the hot tub (and obviously before you put water in it). This is a big time saver in that you don’t have to wait for the cold water taken from an outdoor spigot to warm up, especially if you’re chomping at the bit to use your new hot tub. The specs say the “filled weight” is 2701 lb but this probably incorporates four average people and is a useful design number. Therefore, if you have the temperature set at its max of 104 deg, you may find it running all the time with the heater on. The temperature setting is everything and I would suggest keeping it at 100 deg all the time (particularly if you live in a cold climate like I do) and if you know you’re going to use it later, crank it up to 104. ENERGY TIP: Putting some kind of blanket over it during the day will vastly reduce the amount of heat loss. I stitched together two moving blankets and have been laying them over the hot tub inflatable cover when I’m not using it. I need to figure out how to put the blankets in some sort of waterproof wrapping so they can be out there in the rain and snow. Another suggestion is to find some sort of insulation (preferably waterproof) below the hot tub. The supplied “bubble wrap” liner they give you to put under it probably isn’t sufficient. This is similar to the effect on bridges where they freeze before the roads do since their underbelly is exposed and cool off faster. As mentioned it pulls in cold outside air and pumps it up through the nice warm water. SOUND: It's very quiet when just the circulator pump and heater are running, like a low frequency hum. Educate yourself on the chemicals by reading about them online or going to a pool/hot tub store and speaking with someone who knows what they are talking about. I’m not a chemist, so correct me if I’m wrong, but I believe the chemicals that are added to the water work to (among other things) bind up oils. Also, rinse your bathing suit with fresh water before you get in as detergent is usually still in the fabric and will go right in the hot tub. When I was contemplating purchasing it, I wondered how people sat in it since there obviously weren’t built-in chairs like a real hot tub would have. The water height is about 3’, so a normal size person (I’m 5’ 10”) can sit in it and put their rest their arms over the side. I’d rate the tub 9.5/10 for value and only misses a perfect score because of the annoying feature described above."
"After seeing this Coleman steeply discounted on Black Friday at another retailer, I decided to give this inflatable a try. It contains the heater, a blower (which doubles as both inflator and bubble maker), and a membrane control panel. The dark LED segments show bright white while the red is dimly lit. Make sure you unlock it again ahead of time, otherwise you'll spend a minute trying to figure out why the heck it won't turn off and overinflate your pool! Although the instructions mentioned nothing of this pad, I faced the flat side down and put the pool on top of it. I couldn't find my sink adapter, so I just used whatever bitter cold water came out of the garden hose though. This is because you are physically restricted by the number of watts you can pull through a typical house plug. The bubbles are surprisingly large for just blowing air into a holed ring in the bottom. My tub is not at temperature yet (57F), but as it stands now, it turns off all heating in order to make bubbles. Obviously bubbles make a lot more noise, and there is a slight vacuum cleaner sound. The manual is completely useless and tells you to "go to a spa store" to learn about some "chemicals". Searching on the internet is not much help either, as it is full of snake oil additives, unsound science on forums, etc. Make sure you buy a pack of test strips, as blindly adding chemicals can be very dangerous. Read the directions, but typically one will add Sodium Bromide (granules) to bring the Bromine levels up to an initial value. I also noticed that it takes a lot of energy to maintain 104F (it runs 100% of the time), and you might be looking at $90 in electricity over the month! * however * I have discovered that simply lowering the temperature a couple degrees when you are not using it makes a huge difference. ** Update - 6 months later **. The inflatable vessel has developed some problems (leaks) and I have now engaged the warranty process. Eventually, a large section failed and it was hard to keep up with batching all of these holes as the hot tub slowly tore itself apart. I had to cut out the serial number from my tub (don't be scared) in order to get a full replacement. I also have a comment on temperature: while low temps create long duration of full heating cycles, I've consistently kept our tub at 102-104 in the 20F range."
"Once it was filled, we let it sit for the recommended 24hrs for the temperature to reach 104 degrees. Also, when both my husband and I got in, the water rose almost to the top wanting to spill over, so my husband got a bucket and took some of the water out."