My favourite kitchen gadgets - what are yours?

A

Anonymous

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Being a 'gadget' man, I've bought lots of gadgets over time, most of which were disappointing and have gradually fallen into misuse. So, I'm left with a few items that I cannot do without which are (apart from kettle, toaster, microwave, cooker etc.)

IN
Flat stainless steel scraper - much easier & quicker than a knife to get stuff off the chopping board (sad I know!)
Set of really good kitchen knives - you get what you pay for & can be kept very sharp
Hand blender/chopper - for mayo, delumping badly made sauces etc. and all the other obvious things
Dehydrator - great for reducing food wastage and makes lovely meat or fish biltongs as snacks
Vacuum food sealer - for dehydrated food or sealing half-used stuff
Slow cooker (no ... not me!) - good for stewy, curry stuff & for multiple meals
Breadmaker - has the guts to knead doughs for lazy people (can't justify the expense of a Kenwood Chef!)
Large marble chopping board - food doesn't fly around the kitchen but don't drop it on your feet!
Frying basket - for occasional fry-ups, food crispy but not cremated
'er indoors' - to tidy up after me

OUT
Cheap food processor - don't makes cakes and useless for kneading
Deep fat fryer - gets to mucky and not very healthy
Mandolin - too many plasters & bandages
Kitchen devil knives - never need sharpening? (yeah, right) hacksaw is cheaper
'er indoors' - when I am cooking the kitchen is my territory
 
carty

carty

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Dish washer(aka husband)
CAROL
 
anna29

anna29

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carty said:
Dish washer(aka husband)
CAROL
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I echo this one - my hubby is a great gadget - 'Dishwasher' :wave:
 
K

Kat100

Guest
Little knife and chopping board but one day I am going to buy every kitchen gadget I like not need!!!!!!
 
A

another12

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Dislikes
Porridge
Speed peeler!! (stainless steel type) its brill for slicing spuds into crisps/peeling whatever/slicing cheese/slicing carrots and many of other uses. :D
 
Thommothebear

Thommothebear

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I love cooking, and my list is pretty much the same as the OP, except I chucked the breadmaker out years ago and replaced it with a kenwood chef, although I now make bread entirely by hand as it's better by hand. Decent knives, definitely the best investment you can make along with a proper japanese sharpening stone - I have Sabatiers, but I'm seriously considering replacing them with Global knives (shut eyes and sign the cheque while whistling job)..
 
A

Anonymous

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Thommothebear said:
I love cooking, and my list is pretty much the same as the OP, except I chucked the breadmaker out years ago and replaced it with a kenwood chef, although I now make bread entirely by hand as it's better by hand. Decent knives, definitely the best investment you can make along with a proper japanese sharpening stone - I have Sabatiers, but I'm seriously considering replacing them with Global knives (shut eyes and sign the cheque while whistling job)..
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I started my knife collection when I retired, spending the 'gift' money on Henckels knives. I wasn't sure whose names to engrave on the knives, but had some ideas!! I know they're sharp because I put one on the worktop, heard it crash to the floor and looked down to find my shin was cut from top to bottom. But it was a very clean cut!!! :D
 
Thommothebear

Thommothebear

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I think the Henckels are a bit better and a harder steel than the the Sabatiers I have which are OK but need constant sharpening which can be a pain (especially if Mrs Bear gets her mitts on them). I know a pro chef who showed me the Global knives, but they are around £80-£200 a pop so I'll be picking and choosing which ones to get (if any).

The other thing I am very tempted to invest in is a sous vide machine, mostly because I love decent southern US style barbecue food and it's a cheats way of geting the same results without having the barbecue lit for 20 hours, but that's another story.
 
A

Anonymous

Guest
Thommothebear said:
I think the Henckels are a bit better and a harder steel than the the Sabatiers I have which are OK but need constant sharpening which can be a pain (especially if Mrs Bear gets her mitts on them). I know a pro chef who showed me the Global knives, but they are around £80-£200 a pop so I'll be picking and choosing which ones to get (if any).

The other thing I am very tempted to invest in is a sous vide machine, mostly because I love decent southern US style barbecue food and it's a cheats way of geting the same results without having the barbecue lit for 20 hours, but that's another story.
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Now there's posh.. wish I could afford one. I've had a cheap JML food sealer for about 4 years but I think I let it suck too much liquid into the workings. So, I've gone for another cheap, OKish, but certainly not 'professional' as the name suggested. Let me know how it goes, if you do get one.
 
G

garythegob

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My favourite gadget has got to be my nuwave halogen cooker, it will cook a 4lb joint of pork, to perfection, STRAIGHT FROM THE FREEZER in 1hour 15 minutes, close behind in 2nd place is my magic bullet blender, will do everything from making smoothies to grinding coffee beans, will even turn full fat milk into cream just by blitzing it for 20 seconds

Sent from the Diabetes Forum App
 
A

Anonymous

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garythegob said:
My favourite gadget has got to be my nuwave halogen cooker, it will cook a 4lb joint of pork, to perfection, STRAIGHT FROM THE FREEZER in 1hour 15 minutes, close behind in 2nd place is my magic bullet blender, will do everything from making smoothies to grinding coffee beans, will even turn full fat milk into cream just by blitzing it for 20 seconds

Sent from the Diabetes Forum App
Click to expand...

We had a magic bullet for a few years. really useful and handy until I managed to burn the motor out ... not sure how/why! Probably the neighbour's cat got jammed in the works! 'She' wants me to get another and I notice they're still selling. They've been around for a long time now which is a good sign. Didn't know about the milk to cream bit. Is yours the JML one? I notice there are a few 'copies' around.
 
A

Anonymous

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gezzathorpe said:
garythegob said:
My favourite gadget has got to be my nuwave halogen cooker, it will cook a 4lb joint of pork, to perfection, STRAIGHT FROM THE FREEZER in 1hour 15 minutes, close behind in 2nd place is my magic bullet blender, will do everything from making smoothies to grinding coffee beans, will even turn full fat milk into cream just by blitzing it for 20 seconds

Sent from the Diabetes Forum App
Click to expand...

Not quite in the same league, but you reminded me about my trusty pressure cooker... fancy forgetting that. Some people are a bit 'fearful' of these but I can remember my parents using one when I was a kid (about 55ish years ago). Very quick for soups, stews, tagines and can convert 'cheap' cuts of meat into something edible. And it seconds as a large saucepan. They seem to be more popular abroad ... French hypermarkets are full of them.

We had a magic bullet for a few years. really useful and handy until I managed to burn the motor out ... not sure how/why! Probably the neighbour's cat got jammed in the works! 'She' wants me to get another and I notice they're still selling. They've been around for a long time now which is a good sign. Didn't know about the milk to cream bit. Is yours the JML one? I notice there are a few 'copies' around.
Click to expand...
 
G

garythegob

Well-Known Member
Messages
166
gezzathorpe said:
gezzathorpe said:
garythegob said:
My favourite gadget has got to be my nuwave halogen cooker, it will cook a 4lb joint of pork, to perfection, STRAIGHT FROM THE FREEZER in 1hour 15 minutes, close behind in 2nd place is my magic bullet blender, will do everything from making smoothies to grinding coffee beans, will even turn full fat milk into cream just by blitzing it for 20 seconds

Sent from the Diabetes Forum App
Click to expand...

Not quite in the same league, but you reminded me about my trusty pressure cooker... fancy forgetting that. Some people are a bit 'fearful' of these but I can remember my parents using one when I was a kid (about 55ish years ago). Very quick for soups, stews, tagines and can convert 'cheap' cuts of meat into something edible. And it seconds as a large saucepan. They seem to be more popular abroad ... French hypermarkets are full of them.

We had a magic bullet for a few years. really useful and handy until I managed to burn the motor out ... not sure how/why! Probably the neighbour's cat got jammed in the works! 'She' wants me to get another and I notice they're still selling. They've been around for a long time now which is a good sign. Didn't know about the milk to cream bit. Is yours the JML one? I notice there are a few 'copies' around.
Click to expand...
Click to expand...
no, mind is the genuine article, cost approx 100 quid if I remember correctly

Sent from the Diabetes Forum App
 
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