We have received some email expressing concerns about last month's
HearthKit raffle. We want to address these concerns on the list as other
subscribers may share them.
1) The favorable comments we made about the HearthKit were based on our
experience with it and were made long before there was any idea of a raffle.
2) We assume the reviews written by others on bread-bakers about the
HearthKit, both positive and negative, are similarly based on the
experiences of the reviewer. We cannot imagine that our position for or
against any product would influence any subscriber to post or not post a
review agreeing or disagreeing with our position.
3) We used the words "generous donation of two HearthKits" to describe the
actions of the makers of HearthKit. Of course, it is part of Hearth
Kitchen's publicity expenses. We don't know how many HearthKits were sold
as a result of the raffle and we don't know the Hearth Kitchen's costs, so
we can't know if the advertising paid for itself or not. Advertising
budgets are finite and we appreciate Hearth Kitchen allocating some of it
to help support us rather than directing it in other directions.
4) The financial support for bread-bakers from the raffle was welcome but
hardly crucial. We have always funded the list and web site from our
personal resources - we don't sell advertising or accept promotional fees -
and we intend to continue this way as long as possible.
We have received review copies of books and equipment. We don't get very
much of it and have been lucky in that nearly everything we have received
has been of good quality and useful so most of the reviews have been
positive. The reviews are based on our experiences, not whether the
equipment was purchased by us or not. It's unlikely we will ever receive
more than one piece of equipment from any one manufacturer, so being cut
off for writing a negative review is of no consequence.
5) We don't censor negative reviews posted by subscribers. We do edit some
posts for readability and sometimes cut off discussion of a topic that has
gone on too long or become too personal.
If anyone wants to discuss these or any other issues with us, please email
directly to us at <reggie@jeff-and-reggie.com>.
Thanks for your continued support,
Jeff & Reggie Dwork