Elgento 30 cm Non-Stick Electric Wok with Glass Lid and Adjustable Thermostat - 1400 W, Black

So this replaces a 50 year old heavy as hell electric frying pan which suddenly shorted. Taking apart where you plug the cord in revealed that it had come unsoldered. Unfortunately, in taking it apart, the socket fell to pieces, and so finally, poor mom needed a replacement, which we thought, would be a dramatic improvement, a half a century of technological innovation right?WRONG. This can't do the one thing it's needed most for, frying. She doesn't have space in her kitchen, her hob is useless and the electric frying pan of old has been the primary tool of choice, and sure, it took a lot longer to reach heat than this new one, but when it did (and it was in farenheit, not just numbers, although the manual points out what temps the numbers refer to, though it's of zero use in practice) it kept that heat without going way too cold and then having to stay way too long bringing back to heat and destroying the contents of the pan.Excitement was big initially, after a few seconds, smoke starting billowing from the bottom, so of course we turned it off immediately and investigated. It wasn't the label as we suspected, we could see nothing it could have been. Tentatively we switched it back on, and there was a little more smoke and then the smoke abated, that was the last time it did that, thankfully. Initial impressions were good, it was the same size as mom's old one, and without the giant handle sticking out, would take a little less space in storage too, though with a near flat glass lid, she won't be putting whole chickens in it like she could the old one, not that she needed to, the oven works fine.The machine reached heat (lvl 3 we chose at first) in moments, and we were excited that this new, lightweight fryer was going to be everything she wanted and more. In with 6 rashers of bacon, sizzling away. For a brief moment. The sizzling noises quickly abated (and you expect the noise to reduce a bit as the heat goes down a bit and the bacon starts cooking) and as we eagerly awaited the noise to increase, we just all stood and watched. And watched. And watched. Absolutely nothing happened for a good minute after all semblance of any frying had stopped, then finally, the light came back on and the sizzling started up again. And continued. And continued and then, once finally it decided it had reached heat, off it went, and again, went off for FAR too long, again all sounds and visible signs of frying long gone before it finally comes back on. More power we decided, but even at maximum setting, it's the same story. According to the manual, setting 5 is 465 degrees fahrenheit, and it might well be for a few seconds, but once it gets to temperature, it's off for AGES before coming back on. By this point, the bacon had been in there forever, and it still wasn't crispy, just burned.The next test was with making a full fledged curry, and for this, it worked reasonably ok, since once the contents were at heat, they kept themselves hot since they couldn't shed it like open cooking the bacon could. If you are filling this thing up, depending on what you are cooking, it's reasonably ok. It did however require a lot of manual adjustment of the temperature, hardly ideal, especially since it's supposed to be able to control its own temperature automatically.So, having decided it was TOTALLY useless, bacon and eggs time came, and sure enough, it required manual adjustments the ENTIRE time and still took far longer than using an ordinary frying pan, or indeed going out in the garden with a magnifying glass. In the old pan, she used to turn down the temp to 300, crack an egg over the back corner and it'd be done without burning, making the yolk hard or any other issues in no time flat. Turned this machine down to 2 (it loses heat so fast, it was safe to put the egg in moments after adjusting the heat) and put the egg in the back left corner. Nothing. Even when the heat came back on, only the part of the egg that had reached the element started to cook. Made sure the next egg was in the middle, and this is where we decided, despite being called an electric "frying pan", it absolutely couldn't be used to fry anything. Once the heat decided to come back on, it annihilated the egg near the middle, since it's SO hot when bringing back to temperature, whatever is near the element is destroyed. The only way to fry an egg, was to literally turn the heat up so that it'd come on, and after a few seconds turn it down so it went off, and rinse and repeat. At 2, we had to turn it to below 1, even though it'd only just come back on for a few seconds. In order to get it to come back on, we'd have to turn it up to nearly 4, and again, when getting it to go off, it'd have to go down to 3 or even 2. An absolute nightmare to use, and after one final go, making a spicy dish with ground beef, the ground beef turned out awful, simply because the machine goes too hot, then too cold. Useless.Oh, it was, mercifully, easy to clean though. Returned.TL;DRGreat size, really nice and light and easy to clean, non stick worked great. Thermostat is useless, destroys food as it brings back up to temperature, and let's it go stone cold before it decides it needs to get back up to temperature. The on cycle is too long, because the off cycle is INCREDIBLY long, so long that any frying or simmering stops COMPLETELY. Absolutely is unable to fry anything at all unless you nursemaid it the entire time, and even then, things have to be in the correct area, because the heat is not well distributed (I expect the corners to be less hot, but because it cannot maintain a good temperature at any setting, the corners are MUCH MUCH cooler).

This pan is quite large but they all seem to be that size - smaller and they turn into omelette makers! It is worth measuring on your work surface before buying. It is a good strong build and the non-stick surface seems of excellent quality. The lid on mine does have a little vent but it still steams up. The thermostat is a bit difficult to read as it is tucked under a handle but you can set it and it will turn itself on and off to maintain temperature. BUT I switched mine on tonight and checked the light was on before popping off to do something else. When I came back it was still stone cold. The thermostat, which plugs in on the right, had budged a tiny amount and was therefore not connected. I had plugged it into a socket to the left which had caused a little tension and, clearly, it needs to be plugged in on its own side. Having said that, it is a classy item and I intend to use it for more than just frying - making a quick prawn curry? I have also used it to make fried potato slices instead of buying oven chips. I hope to save money in the long run.Update: it does fry steak and onions quickly and evenly, giving them an appetising brown in no time. I shall definitely use it to sauté onions, meat etc before making a casserole in my slow cooker, a step I sometimes skip but which, despite Jamie Oliver's saying it isn't necessary, does make a difference.

A small metal washer used to assemble the lid was missing from a sealed pack. I telephoned Elegento Parts Service Department only 30 minutes after receiving the Electric Frying Pan to report the omission but they didn't want to know and referred me to Amazon to report this probably 1p value missing item. As a retired engineer, instead, I used a steel washer from my toolbox and resolved the problem, no thanks to Elegento. Be warned if you have a bigger issue.

I think this is going to be a useful addition to the kitchen. So far I've tried minced beef with mushrooms etc. & bacon and fried bread; both cooked well & quickly, but it's necessary to keep an eye on things so they don't burn. The thermostat plugs into the unit under the handle & is easily removed for storage. The unit is thermostatically controlled, so it turns on & off during the cooking process. Unfortunately there are no suggested recipes or cooking times in the instruction manual; just a broad guide as to what to cook on each temperature setting. The lid does get hot during use, so it's important to have something heat proof to put it in when removing during & at the end of cooking. Very easy to clean; just wipe out with kitchen paper & a wipe round with a soapy cloth before drying. Update - reduced to 3* as the coating on the underside has started to peel away!!

We used the Elegento Wok first for stir frying. It was brilliant, easy to control and the stir fry came out crisp. It warms up very quickly and was easy to clean.We used it next to fry some bacon. It performed less well as, even on the highest setting, it cut out frequently and it took far longer than a conventional frying pan on a hob.As we stir fry regularly it is a great addition to our cooking equipment, especially for our caravan. We no longer use it for frying.

Nice unit, well packed.We had a sunbeam version of this years ago and I seem to recall that it was much more expensive even then.This is exactly the same and apart from the initial smell of factory finishes and solvents used but it soon burns off but don't cook on it until you put it on at 4 or 5 for five minutes or so, let cool and run a damp cloth around the inside and then wipe on some oil. Heat that up then wipe out. It will be ready then. The non stick coating is quite thick and the inside is textured with small diamond shapes not smooth. This allows the non stick base to remain scuff free but still use wooden or silicone tools. Pancakes are Easy once the heat is set ( about 2-3 ) and left to stabilise for a few minutes. The tiniest bit of oil helps but not essential.