Ozeri ceramic non-stick wok/pans: a lot of 5 star reviews seem to be from shills--just one or a handful of reviews. Anyone else notice this?
1009754
Same feeling here. I have never seen a product with 93 5-star reviews and only 1 one negative, 1-star. Nothing in-between. Seriously??? Plus a number of people have mainly Ozeri reviews.Plus all these reviews are extremely frequent: one every few days. What are the chances???
1009755
You and the comments just saved me a lot of time and future stress by deciding to keep on shopping for my pan needs! Thank you to all of you!
1009756
Thanks for pointing this out! A check on some of the reviewers' profiles suggest you are right!
1009757
Starting to agree with the shill theory here, this pan didn't last 6 months for us.
1009758
I'm glad Amazon has transparency factors, such as "verified purchase" and "see my other reviews" to help discern legitimate reviews from possible phony reviews. If you peek under the covers, many of these stellar reviews appear suspicious.
1009759
I have dealt with company rep of Ozeri. Based on my experience, I would NOT do business with them again, under any circumstances.
1009760
First, did you notice that ever since you posted this the FAKE reviewers started posting reviews of various stars because you pointed out a flaw in their obvious plan to flood this market with fake reviews?! Also, there is no mention of where the pan comes from but it seems like China with all the fake Asian reviewers on here. Why doesn't Amazon look into this and get rid of their products? I wouldn't trust their products or their company for anything!
1009761
I agree. I was just going through all the reviews and the majority got it for free or were not Verified Purchases. With that in mind, I am now skeptical of all of their products. Companies should realize that this whole paid review process can backfire.
1009762
I am a real person and I have owned and used this pan heavily for two years now and it is still extremely non-stick. After purchasing this pan, I went on to buy two frying pans for myself and one for a housewarming gift for a friend and all are holding up great. I am not a shill.
1009763
Same feeling here. I have never seen a product with 93 5-star reviews and only 1 one negative, 1-star. Nothing in-between. Seriously??? Plus a number of people have mainly Ozeri reviews. Plus all these reviews are extremely frequent: one every few days. What are the chances???
807603
I didn't and still love ours. Use it all the time. It is showing some signs of wear but less than other high quality non-stick pans.
1258831
You are correct! By following the simple use and care instructions, the ceramic coating should give you a long return on your investment. I purchased a few new spatula's for use with my new Ozeri pans but several of my old ones still work fine. ALL non-stick cookware requires special handling and this is no different. I am Very Please with Both of my Ozeri Pans and will soon be completing my set... Hope this helps - Roger
1468541
From reading through more of the comments, it seems pretty clear that the positive reviews were based on RiMei razors, but that at least some vendors are substituting significantly worse products ("Major components are plastic!"). Unfortunately, at this point, I don't know how someone would reliably get a decent razor through this product listing. I'd try to find one that actually says RiMei (or Edwin Jagger, Merkur, Lord, etc.).
1690482
This is only a wild guess, but I imagine it's the labor that goes into the finish. I bought the less expensive for my husband last Christmas (he loves to cook) and have been very satisfied. We use Barkeeper's Friend to polish it up now and then and it looks great. He has a few pieces of the more expensive type, but other than a small difference in weight, I can't tell any difference in the cooking ability. If you are a real gourmet chef, you probably won't be happy with any but the most expensive cookware. However, if you are like most of us, the less expensive will serve you well for many years. :)
2032597
I've been using the wok since August 2012. It is really non-stick. The wok is big enough to make soup in it and light enough for me to lift it. Unfortunately, the coated is scratched. I don't know how it happened. I probably will need to replace it.
1457987
I have a ceramic topped stove and we just received this pan so I haven't used it. There are several warnings in the pamphlet included with the pan regarding ceramic topped stoves. It states that "overheating or allowing (porcelain enamel) to boil dry can make these pans fuse to the surface of the glass top ranges, requiring the replacement of the glass cook top". My husband says to "go for it", but I do worry about the heat required to stir fry. The pan rated highly, but I am a little worried.
989680
I think that claim is total crap. If you overcook or use too much heat, the thing is going to brown and blacken period. The laws of physics don't cease to exist simply because of the toffee-colored finish. However, the pans I am using do a pretty good job so far and seem to be of decent enough quality. Hope this helps.
1031502
If you are able - invest in metal utensils for the wok. I got them because my wok had some kind of treated bumpy finish. I don't like them myself, when stir frying it is the policy to scoop and flip and move them food around especially when you start with meat. These are not thin enough to get under the food properly so it makes the cooking actually harder.
2110157
I think you are right in that they are trying to keep costs down. But they are already pretty cheap when compared to the "non-stick" pans you can buy now. You'd think there would be plenty of people who wouldn't mind paying the extra cost.
737660
I checked a few of the reviewers posting histories. While the ones who have only a single record of reviewing any product might be cause for suspicion, there are many other reviewers whose records appear to be legitimate. I'd suggest that this is not a case of a manufactured conspiracy, but simply a case of poor manufacturing quality control. The buyers who got good units were very satisfied. The buyers who got less-than-good-units were not very satisfied. BTW, this product is currently on sale at a daily-deal website for $69.99 delivered. Your review (and others complaining of poor quality) convinced me to purchase this product ONLY if covered by a "satisfaction guaranteed" warranty.
1858924
Thank you for bringing this to our attention. I was just ready to pay good money for a product that is not as attractive, with apparently less capacity due to the indented bottom, and handles that appear to be less generous and that slant downward instead of being straight. Then I saw your comment and compared photos of the two side by side, and they are not the same. They must have changed the original vendor to a cheap Chinese vendor, and this is what you get. Wouldn't be surprised if this "porcelain" dish also cracks and shatters. Chinese products cannot be trusted. If anyone knows where to get the original pan recommended by Cooks/America's Test Kitchen, please let us know, because this is NOT the same pan. I have to wonder if all of these great reviews were for the original pan BEFORE they switched to the Chinese vendor and the apparently inferior product. UPDATE: I saw this pan in person at Kithen Kapers and do not know how Americas Test Kitchen could ever believe that lasagna can be cooked in this pan. It is small and shallow. Potatoes under the broiler? Yes, but enough for only 4 servings. Perplexed and disappointed.
1160571
I would be interested to know this as well. I have had 2 different ceramic cooktops stoves and have never had a pan stick to it. I am wondering if the reviewer who made this comment had something on the cooktop that caused the pan to stick to it.
853631
I don't think you could have been reading all the reviews. . . . There are many, many by people who are only replacing their Faberware perkers because they finally gave out -- after 25 years. I've had mine for about 15 years, now shopping for one for my daughter who's moving into her first apartment. I hate turning on the stove in the morning unnecessarily, so I stick to electric. Seriously, you seem to have had a string of bad luck, but I've been recommending Faberware machines to friends for years and have never heard a complaint about them in return.
1534098
When I bought it I would have thought it was non-stick due to the high quality look and price. Unfortunately it really isn't. I use a trick by not cooking at to high of a temp and it seems to help. They are really high quality pots and pans, just the downfall food seems to burn into the bottom of them. Ive bought non stick pans from Walmart that I would prefer over these honestly.
1531460
Well ,I don't know if most of the good reviews are from bloggers.Yes they send me a product.If is not good i tel you.I give to other ozeri products 3 stars because i don't like them.Doesn't matter if they give us the product for free.I don't have any problem with my fan.
1981248
The non stick coatings are different on the Ozeri GreenEarth/StoneEarth. The main difference is the green one uses a ceramic based coating (similar to green pan et al) this one uses a "Stonehenge" coating. Both coatings are made by Greblon (a German company). Some more minor differences are the shape of the pan, handle style, 2/3 rivets, and the green is advertised as PTFE free but this one doesn't so I don't know.To further confuse things their SteelEarth pans use a third coating.I can't answer which is "better" but this one is quite good.