~ A cute little fondue set~
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There is something about the very idea of making a home made chocolate fondue and eating all sorts of yummy goodies that have been dipped into melted gooey chocolate that is very mouth watering and whilst the process of melting the chocolate and chopping up various fruits and other items to dip into the warm chocolate sauce is fun at first, I have found that over time the shine does wear off just a little (although that is no reflection on the items within this set). The fondue set I have is a Kitchen Craft product which had everything in it when it was give to me as a gift that I needed in oder to use it except the food items and on the whole I have found it to be an easy to use set.

The set was nicely boxed in an unfussy way and everything was safely packed inside with no cracks or breaks to the ceramic parts of the fondue set. I found that all the little lightly spiked fondue forks looked to be in usable condition when I got them out of the box and the single tea light was ready to be popped into place once the items has been lightly rinsed and set up ready for use. My initial thoughts when I received the set was that it looked quite nice and was something that I was pleased to be given and looked forwards to using.


~Ease of use/ quality of the set~
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The fondue set that I have comprises of the top part of the fondue maker (which is where the chocolate pieces are placed ready to be melted) and a matching base piece which allows the top section to sit comfortably on top reasonably safely and securely. The base of the set has a space inside which is there for you to place your tea light into ready for lighting, which is what you use to heat up your choccy pieces and melt them. Both parts of my fondue set that make up the actual fondue stand are in a simple white finished ceramic material and they have been used, washed and dried a number of times with no cracking or chipping that I can see so far.

The fondue forks that came with my set are not all that big which I feel is fine as they are easy to store away when not needed in a cutlery draw along with other items. The handles on the little forks are made from a simple plasticy type of material and each one has the benefit of having a different coloured end to it which makes it easy to identify who is using which fork once the fondue is up and running. The little tea light that came with the set is long gone as it was used within the first few uses and since then I have found that any old tea light will burn just as well and last just as long as the one that came with the set.

I feel that the quality of the little fondue set is fine for what it is and I thought it was well packed and presented when I was given it as a gift. In use the ceramic parts of my set have remained in good condition and I have been able to rinse them off then place them into the dishwasher for a proper clean after each use with no ill effects. The little fondue forks have also been fine when in use and can easily be rinsed when needed either by hand (being mindful of the pointy prongs on them) or by placing them into a dishwasher.


~Summary, rating and price~
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Over all I have enjoyed having this set and I feel it made a nice little gift that I have been pleased with. I have used the set on a good number of occasions and I have found it easy to set up and use although some types of chocolate have turned out to be easier to melt and make a good fondue from than others. I have tried this fondue with both white and dark chocolate as well as milk chocolate and on the whole the better result has been with darker chocolate which gives a nice consistency when mixed with a little cream. You can add a little honey to your chocolate to give it a different taste too and I have also tried mixing in a little maple syrup which changes the tone completely.

When it comes to picking items to dip into your fondue you can chop up all manner of food stuffs, from strawberries, bananas, pineapple, cake pieces cut into cubes, marshmallows and even cookies. Once the whole thing is set up and ready to use it makes a nice centerpiece on a dinner table and is far less messy or labour intensive to set up than a chocolate fountain. As you only need a small amount of chocolate to fill up the top of the fondue container you don't tend to get any wastage at all which is a plus point and if you get fed up with chocolate you can always use this to heat a cheese sauce and use it as a savory fondue set.

As I didn't buy my set I had to check prices for it and at the moment it looks like you can buy this for just £6 on line which I feel is fair value. My rating for this product is a fair 4 stars as it works as it should with minimum fuss.