Tersano lotus LBU100 Sanitizing System
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Tool information: Manufacturer: Tersano lotus Model: LBU100 Product features:
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Price List for Tersano lotus LBU100 Sanitizing System
| New | New Usually ships in 1-2 business days | $199.99 | ||
| Used | Used Usually ships in 1-2 business days | $128.96 |
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Tools and Hardware Reviews of the Tersano lotus LBU100 Sanitizing System
Tool Review: love it, but a few things you might want to know first
Summary: 5 Stars
I first learned of the Tersano Sanitizer in the January 2008 issue of "Fine Cooking", in a review of this and other ozone-based cleaners by the respected scientist and author Robert Wolke. Since I eat a lot of raw fruit and salads I was interested because of all the news stories about contaminated produce (and in our industrialized food chain, a contaminated batch from one farm infects a huge amount of food). So intrigued but not in a rush to spend $150, I read thru all the posted reviews (and comments to reviews, since a company spokesman leaves comments - especially on negative reviews). So why am I adding another to the pile? There are a few things nobody else has mentioned that I think are worth knowing before buying this unit.
The most important thing, of course, is does it work? I'm not a biologist so I can't offer a professional opinion as to germ killing, but it clearly to me seems to be doing something plain water doesn't. For example, after a dinner with wine if the glasses dry out there is a red film left that water and even soap don't easily remove. But a spray of the Tersano-treated water and it dissolves away. It also seems to kill mold and dissolves grease splattered on the stove.
But you've read about cleaning elsewhere. Here are the new observations. First, if you're planning on using this, figure its going to take some extra time. For example, you come home with some fruit, some lettuce and salad fixings. The Tersano comes with a large bowl for cleaning food, but it might hold 6 or 7 apples. So wash those, then repeat with the next fruit, then the lettuce stuff. Each cycle takes 2-3 minutes to prepare the bowl water and then its supposed to sit for 2 more minutes, then drain/dry and put the items away. Each cycle takes me 5-6 minutes, so I can spend 15 minutes just getting stuff cleaned and put away. Granted its now clean and wasn't before so that's valuable, but you should ask yourself if you're going to commit this time each time you bring home groceries. To me it's worth it.
Also while cleaning food its easy to end up with a bunch of bowls on your counter. The Tersano unit will tell you if the water isn't clean at the end of the cycle, so you really need to rinse lettuce, parsley, etc. well before using the unit. Its an eye-opener to find out how much dirt is in stuff that looks clean and that you've just run under the tap (which is how I used to clean greens before); I find I need to dunk it in a bowl of water and swirl, often 2 bowls worth, before the food is really clean. And you'll probably want a salad spinner out too so you can dry the lettuce before putting it away, otherwise it'll get moldy. So that's another bowl on the counter in addition to the Tersano unit. Bottom line is the unit really does sanitize food and you're putting it away clean, but its taking some time and effort.
As for cleaning, I really LIKE that I can spray it around my kitchen and not worry about splattering any knives or things in the drying rack, or on the sink in my bathroom without having to first move toothbrushes and so on. Read the label on cleaners and you'll understand why splatter isn't a good idea with chemical spray cleaners. But again, there's a catch. The bottle of 409 isn't that big and is right there under the sink. With the Tersano the ozone water only keeps for 15 minutes, so you need a fresh bottle each time you're going to use it. It only takes the unit about a minute to prepare the spray bottle, which is faster than the food bowl. But the Tersano isn't small, so be sure your kitchen has room letting you put it somewhere where you can get to it quickly. If you have to unstack and move a bunch of things, you may be less willing to pull it out when you should be using it.
One bonus not mentioned in the literature is that the water seems to be purified by the machine so it doesn't leave spots when it dries. I was spraying my sink and was quickly getting tired of drying the chrome faucet, so I decided to just let it go. To my surprise when the mist dried the chrome didn't have spots. I'm just using ordinary tap water that usually leaves spots, so I'm curious to hear if other people are getting spot-free drying also.
While the literature says it can replace harsher cleaners, I tried it and it doesn't always work. On some dirt spots the treated water didn't really allow them to come that clean even with some scrubbing, but when I hit it with 409 the spots dissolved right away. This has only been in a few places, most others the Tersano water does a great job, but I wouldn't throw away all your other cleaners until you've found out whats going to work for you.
Lastly, if you look at the pictures on the amazon site they show it with a mesh holding the fruit under the water. You need it because apples and other fruit tend to float, lettuce bobs above the surface, etc. That mesh is NOT included with the unit you buy. Since I read thru the reviews, I knew the company would send me one free if I called and they were really nice and did just that.
To sum up, I'm glad I got this. I use it a lot. I'm happy to be using it when I can instead of harsher chemicals.