My favourite kitchen gadgets - what are yours?

What model is it and what can it do? (I know.... 'blend'! ... derrrrr!)

 

My perfect little (cheap) gadget is a coffee frother from Ikea. It does the job, as I can't afford one of those sooper-dooper coffee machines. I have a standard coffee machine and the frother makes an ordinary cup of coffee into a delicious drink, and much nicer and cheaper than those you buy from those tax-dodgers at an exorbitant price!

I'm going to buy another two when I visit the store next time......

Not exactly a gadget per se, but I love those microwave cook-in-the-bags for vegetables. So easy and quick, and the veg is lovely and keeps its colour too. I buy them cheaply, so not an extravagance.

 

Is it one of those whizzy things with batteries (if you'll pardon the description). Ahhhh ... memories of hot days in Corfu with iced, frothy coffee!!

 

That's the thing! Cheap n' cheerful, but it works!

 

Blimey! You could probably have made a killing on 'Flog It'.

 

I have a wide-topped vacuum flask that I use to make yoghurt (has the 'h' disappeared now?) in bulk. I can make about 2 litres from a small pot of 'live' yoghurt. Used to have an electric yoghurt maker, but the flask works just as well.

Also, a pineapple corer, which I never expected to work at all, but it does the job really well, and far less messy than peeling and slicing the pineapple manually. You just chop off one end of the pineapple then twist the cutter through like a corkscrew. Easy to remove pineapple flash, core, and to clean.

 

How disappointing. I was looking at the Hinari reviews on Amazon, which were very mixed. Quite a few people broke theirs soon after purchase, and, apparently, it's hard to get spares. Things like leaking seals, worn cogs etc. And spares come as complete 'units' rather than individual parts, so you end up collecting more 'set's of accessories. Some people seemed very happy, so it's strange that the same product can vary so much.

Re bullets in general (I had the JML one) tend to 'mash' everything, but that may be personal technique. The instruction book refers to 'pulsing' to avoid overchopping.

At the moment, I use an old Moulinex coffee grinder for nuts etc. and a Philips hand blender/chopper with a variable speed for 'gentler' chopping (LIDL often do a cheaper version), which seem to work OK, but these two things take up more space.

Veggies etc. I just use a knife. I find doing this manually is part of the enjoyment of cooking, except that I am very accident-prone with knives.

 

All you need now is a potato peeler and an automatic milk and butter dispenser then all you need is an on/off switch! :lol:

 

People seem to be raving on about the Tefal shredder (between about £40-80 ish) depending on the model. I have one of those manual ones, where you insert the appropriate drum and turn the handle, but the pieces of food need to be short. Search for something like Tefal shredder and you should find it. Mandolins are useful but deadly, but an option if you are brave and confident.

The best and quickest way to deal with garlic is to lean on it with the side of large knife blade and you will find the skin comes off dead easily. Then just chop it with a knife to size. Takes seconds and no clearing out the garlic press.

 

Those knives look really smart and good quality. I use Henckels which have wooden, rivetted blades and aren't dishwasher friendly. However, I always wipe them and stick them back in the rack after use. I saved money by not bothering with the carving knife and fork (1) we don't have roasts at home (2) the other knives work fine. I do make sure I wash the handles as well as the blades though, as a greasy handle is safe. It's a good job our kitchen has red tiles!!!