What's New in Kitchen Gadgets?

[rotuts]

like it

[andiesenji]

The International Home and Housewares show apparently has quite a few "new" gadgets.

 

Including a glass rolling pin - Bodum Bistro Rolling Pin - intended to be filled with ice to keep pie pastry cool.

 

Someone should tell them, before they wax too loudly about the "unique" features of this gadget, that it is NOT A NEW IDEA.

 

In fact, the first GLASS rolling pins that could be filled with ice, were introduced in late Georgian times -  true antiques 18th century.

 

And in the 1920s and '30 were produced in milk glass, green and blue, decorated, and also in porcelain, pottery, etc.  And then again in the 1940s and in the '50s and there were even some made of aluminum with an interior chamber to hold ice. 

And there are people who collect them, write about them and who will probably be laughing their heads off when they seen the "news" about this "new" idea.

 

Collecting them>

[Toliver]

Andie, thanks for the link.

The OXO grape tomato slicer is just silly. Take two large-ish plastic storage container lids that are the same size. Place one lid on a kitchen counter, top side down so that the edge lip of the container lid is facing up. This provides containment for the next step. Place the grape tomatoes on the lid. Gently place the other lid on top of the tomatoes. Guide your sharp slicing knife through the tomatoes horizontally, using a light pressure on the top plastic lid to "hold" the tomatoes in place as you slice them.

Easy peasy and you just saved yourself twelve bucks.

 

[andiesenji]

Andie, thanks for the link.

The OXO grape tomato slicer is just silly. Take two large-ish plastic storage container lids that are the same size. Place one lid on a kitchen counter, top side down so that the edge lip of the container lid is facing up. This provides containment for the next step. Place the grape tomatoes on the lid. Gently place the other lid on top of the tomatoes. Guide your sharp slicing knife through the tomatoes horizontally, using a light pressure on the top plastic lid to "hold" the tomatoes in place as you slice them.

Easy peasy and you just saved yourself twelve bucks.

But then I wouldn't have another "oddity" for my collection of kitchen gadgets. 

[natasha1270]

This fusionbrands company seems to have a lot of ideas:

Grill Comb

[lindag]

I don't know just how new it is but I just ran across the Brod & Taylor folding bread proofing box.

What a great tool for home bread makers; especially if you're into sourdough baking.

It's a bit pricey and has a large footprint. See it here:

http://www.amazon.com/Folding-Bread-Proofer-Yogurt-Maker/dp/B005FCZMU6/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1397830955&sr=8-1&keywords=brod+%26+taylor+bread+proofer

[KitchenQueen]

I bought one of these weeks after it first became available.  I don't know how I ever lived without it.    I thought I baked great breads.   But after I got one I saw what a difference the exact proofing temp ( and humidity)  made. Now everything is consistent. Every time. And just plain better than before I bought it.

 

And I don't have to fiddle with covering with a tea towel and all that nonsense.

 

I had it for about a year before I tried making yoghurt in it.  Big mistake.   It turns out the best darned yoghurt you could ever hope for.

 

When you get to the point where you don't even bother folding it up and putting it away, then you'll realize how much you use it.

 

Buy one and never look back.     It's that good.

[Shalmanese]

Cranked to max, it also doubles as a really great plate warmer and a good place to stash a turkey/roast/ham for big meals like thanksgiving. They had some quality control issues when I first got mine and I ended up having to get it replaced 3 times but the one I have now appears to be working great.

[lindag]

Thanks for all the rave reviews on the bread proofer. I bought one from King Arthur (nowhere else had them in stock at the time). Love it! And I do leave mine set up (in the dining room so it doesn't take up kitchen counter space. I checked its temperature(s) with my Polder probe thermometer by laying the probe on the rack inside. Temps fluctuate minimally in what I think is a normal range.

I'm enjoying using it and have made several loaves and rolls with it.

How come I never thought to use it as a warmer???

[Kerry Beal]

Full disclosure - I was at the Toronto Gift show this weekend and was given this - a Staybowlizer!  I suspect that the kind fellow gave it to me because I gave him chocolate - but it could have just been my charming manner.

 

Promised the fellow I'd send pictures - seem to have misplaced his card - hope that the generic info@ address will get it to him.

 

 

 

Works a treat holding the bowl steady so you can stir one handed.  I'll be taking it along to the eggfest this weekend.

 

Apparently Lee Valley is one of the places that sell it as well as Amazon.  

 

[lesliec]

Not wishing to discourage you from giving chocolate to people, Kerry, but you get much the same result by rolling a teatowel in a tight circle round the bottom of your bowl!

[Anna N]

Not wishing to discourage you from giving chocolate to people, Kerry, but you get much the same result by rolling a teatowel in a tight circle round the bottom of your bowl!

But my man, you don't understand Kerry at the most basic level. A toy is a toy is a toy. A towel is NOT a toy.

[andiesenji]

I just use a piece of the thick, cushiony shelf and drawer liner (I buy the big rolls at Costco) which stops stuff from sliding on anything. 

All my trays are lined with it.  I use it in the van when things have to be stacked - stops sliding - and everywhere else appliances are liable to unwanted movement - as under the mixers, the Thermomix, the blenders &etc.

[culerydrammer]

A new gadget useful for me is the Fruit Spary Tool. see below:

http://www.tinydeal.com/2pcs-fruit-spray-juice-sprayer-kitchen-tools-px2gkgy-p-87470.html

http://www.amazon.com/Love-Cooking-Grapefruits-Tangerines-Satisfaction/dp/B00JK4I7HK/ref=sr_1_2?ie=UTF8&qid=1409566004&sr=8-2&keywords=orange+sprayer

http://www.ebay.com/itm/2pcs-Citrus-Spritzer-Fruit-Lemon-Lime-Mist-Sprinkling-Extractor-Juicer-Spray-/221463022262?pt=Kitchen_Tools_Gadgets&hash=item3390398ab6

Convenient to spray lemon or orange juice onto the food.

Made it much more delicilous.

[JoNorvelleWalker]

Most of the ten amazon reviews sound like they were written by the same person.  I would think one would have to use up the fruit very quickly before the juice goes bad.

[Anna N]

So I fully expect to be drummed out of eG almost anytime. Today while in a thrift store I found one of these:

http://www.amazon.com/Hamilton-Beach-25475A-Breakfast-Sandwich/dp/B00EI7DPOO

Please make note of the 1300+5 star reviews. It's says something about us as a society.f

Anyone who joined (virtually) Kerry Beal and me on our recent trip to Manitoulin will recall that we found one of these for sale in a store probably in Sudbury if I recall correctly. It is small and cute and right there the marketers almost have me. But it seemed gimmicky, I think it was around $30 and I had all my brain cells in a row. Not so much today! Now the price was somewhat less than eight dollars and who I ask you can turn down a toy for less than eight dollars? Apparently not me. So it found its way into my shopping cart along with two new rather nice plates from Denby that Kerry insists should be the drainage saucers for planters. I forgive her.

She was driving as usual so I asked her if we could stop at the supermarket on the way home and pick up the necessary ingredients to use my new toy. Armed with English muffins, eggs, and raw sausage rounds I thought I was all set. Not so. This machine will have no truck with raw sausage, raw bacon, or raw anything else except a raw egg. Right there it's usefulness began to evaporate in my eyes.

I'm sure there must be a source for cooked sausage rounds but I have never seen them for sale here in southern Ontario. Possibly because I've never looked for them! I am perfectly capable of cooking sausage rounds. Which of course is what I had to do.

Once that task was accomplished I was in business to create my very own egg McMuffin.

Aside from the fact that my muffin was substandard, my sausage patties tasteless and my egg welded to the underside of the top muffin half I had something vaguely resembling a breakfast sandwich. I also had burns on both hands and my forearm. This small little cute thing might well have been designed by the same people who designed medieval torture instruments.

So was it worth it? Damn right. A toy was never designed to be useful only to be fun and I had fun.

[andiesenji]

So I fully expect to be drummed out of eG almost anytime. Today while in a thrift store I found one of these:

http://www.amazon.com/Hamilton-Beach-25475A-Breakfast-Sandwich/dp/B00EI7DPOO

Please make note of the 1300+5 star reviews. It's says something about us as a society.f

Anyone who joined (virtually) Kerry Beal and me on our recent trip to Manitoulin will recall that we found one of these for sale in a store probably in Sudbury if I recall correctly. It is small and cute and right there the marketers almost have me. But it seemed gimmicky, I think it was around $30 and I had all my brain cells in a row. Not so much today! Now the price was somewhat less than eight dollars and who I ask you can turn down a toy for less than eight dollars? Apparently not me. So it found its way into my shopping cart along with two new rather nice plates from Denby that Kerry insists should be the drainage saucers for planters. I forgive her.

She was driving as usual so I asked her if we could stop at the supermarket on the way home and pick up the necessary ingredients to use my new toy. Armed with English muffins, eggs, and raw sausage rounds I thought I was all set. Not so. This machine will have no truck with raw sausage, raw bacon, or raw anything else except a raw egg. Right there it's usefulness began to evaporate in my eyes.

I'm sure there must be a source for cooked sausage rounds but I have never seen them for sale here in southern Ontario. Possibly because I've never looked for them! I am perfectly capable of cooking sausage rounds. Which of course is what I had to do.

Once that task was accomplished I was in business to create my very own egg McMuffin.

Aside from the fact that my muffin was substandard, my sausage patties tasteless and my egg welded to the underside of the top muffin half I had something vaguely resembling a breakfast sandwich. I also had burns on both hands and my forearm. This small little cute thing might well have been designed by the same people who designed medieval torture instruments.

So was it worth it? Damn right. A toy was never designed to be useful only to be fun and I had fun.

image.jpg

They show it with what we call "Canadian bacon" - fully cooked "bacon" rounds which need only reheating.

However you can make sausage patties - my method is detailed on my blog, much less shrinkage than regular frying - and they can be frozen, defrosted in the microwave and used in breakfast sandwiches.

 

It does look like fun but I am not tempted.  I cook the eggs in rings or in my "blini" pan that has 4 perfectly sized chambers. 

[Katie Meadow]

That contraption is beyond me, but then I've never had an Egg Mcmuffin. But what stood out from your post is that Kerry believes it is reasonable to pay for something specifically destined to be a drainage saucer for a potted plant. Well la-dee-dah!

[Anna N]

Kerry would be the last person to think that one should pay for something destined to be a plant saucer. She was making fun of my taste in dinner plates. I'm sorry if I didn't make that clear.

[pbear]

Another way to do the egg - and the easiest IMHO if making only one - is by microwave.  Indeed, I have a 3-1/2 inch (9 cm) ceramic tart dish for just this purpose.  Melt 1/2 tsp butter in dish (20 second in my machine); tilt to coat sides and entire bottom.  Crack in egg, pierce yolk with shell and spread out a bit.  Cover (a folded paper towel will do) and nuke 3 minutes at 30% power.  Let stand 1 minute before assembling sandwich.  (Generally I toast the muffin before cooking the egg and nuke the canadian bacon during the egg rest.)

[MelissaH]

As for cooked sausage rounds: On PBS, I caught a show (don't remember which one) where Cook's Illustrated tasted breakfast sausages. I don't remember the details, but I do remember that they said the precooked brown-and-serve versions were the tastiest. I wonder if something like that would work in the sandwich maker?

 

And for the eggs: one of our local watering holes cooks all their breakfast sandwich eggs in the microwave, using pbear's method from what I can see.

 

Do you have to pre-toast the muffin, or does the sandwich maker take care of that? I'm up to at least 3 (frying pan on stove, microwave, sandwich maker) and possibly 4 (toaster) for the number of appliances you'd need to make a sandwich with the new toy, Anna!

[Anna N]

As for cooked sausage rounds: On PBS, I caught a show (don't remember which one) where Cook's Illustrated tasted breakfast sausages. I don't remember the details, but I do remember that they said the precooked brown-and-serve versions were the tastiest. I wonder if something like that would work in the sandwich maker?

 

And for the eggs: one of our local watering holes cooks all their breakfast sandwich eggs in the microwave, using pbear's method from what I can see.

 

Do you have to pre-toast the muffin, or does the sandwich maker take care of that? I'm up to at least 3 (frying pan on stove, microwave, sandwich maker) and possibly 4 (toaster) for the number of appliances you'd need to make a sandwich with the new toy, Anna!

Because I had bought the muffins and pre-cooked the sausage rounds yesterday I felt obligated to have a sausage McMuffin for breakfast. I have to say that despite all the snickers, including my own, the thing does what it says it will do. It sorta toasts the outside of the muffin, it definitely cooks the egg, and the finished product is at least as good as what you can get under the arches.

With pre-cooked sausage rounds in the fridge or freezer one is only minutes away from a breakfast sandwich. Cleanup really amounts to little more than a good wipe down with a paper towel. It has a very tiny footprint compared to most appliances. I am not suggesting that everyone rush out and buy this but for an gadget to do what it says it's going to do it surely deserves a kudo or two.

[rotuts]

BTW   the ones TK liked  ( via their book )  are Farmland Fully Cooked Pork Links

 

cant say if they make sausage patties, Fully Cooked.

 

I guess they do :

 

http://www.farmlandfoods.com/products/fully_cooked_sausage_patties.html

 

have not tried them myself.

[Anna N]

BTW   the ones TK liked  ( via their book )  are Farmland Fully Cooked Pork Links

 

cant say if they make sausage patties, Fully Cooked.

 

I guess they do :

 

http://www.farmlandfoods.com/products/fully_cooked_sausage_patties.html

 

have not tried them myself.

Rather unlikely that any would be available in my part of Canada. I might look the next time I am down in Buffalo. Thank you.

[rotuts]

" nothing with in 200 miles of Buffalo "

 

their web site seems a bit primitive