Happy Kitchen Additions 2015

[Porthos]

I have added two items to my kitchen this year that I am especially pleased with. 1) I bought a Thermopen. I love that I finally have an "instant read" thermometer that actually is instant read.  2) I bought one of the Thermoworks large and loud timers. At last a timer partially-deaf me can here when I'm not in the kitchen itself.

 

What have you added this year that has pleased you?

[Chris Hennes]

I got a new cleaver. It's a beast. And it was like $15.

[boilsover]

A friend gifted me an Aeropress coffee "syringe"--it's a great way to make 1-2 cups/time.

I was also given a wall-mount frenchfry cutter--works great but hasn't gotten a ton of use.

I bought for myself a vintage triple-blade kraut cutter--vast improvement over my FPs and mandolines.

I added a large vintage Green's Gripstand mixing bowl--these really are fantastic.

 

I have a Searz-All and one of the new Thermopen contact-probe models on order.

[Shelby]

Instant Pot!!!!  Love my IP!

[Porthos]

6 minutes ago, boilsover said:

I added a large vintage Green's Gripstand mixing bowl--these really are fantastic.

 

My younger adult daughter had been going gangbusters baking bread. Kerry and Anna mentioned Gripspan bowls so I bought my daughter one from a thrift store. She lost interest in baking before ever using it and for the moment it's a fruit bowl instead.

[blue_dolphin]

My Cuisi-steam oven and the Instant-Pot.  Both eG-facilitated small appliances with their own threads!

[boilsover]

3 minutes ago, Porthos said:

 

My younger adult daughter had been going gangbusters baking bread. Kerry and Anna mentioned Gripspan bowls so I bought my daughter one from a thrift store. She lost interest in baking before ever using it and for the moment it's a fruit bowl instead.

 

I only noticed recently that one of the few kitchen tools the Two Fat Ladies used in almost every episode was the same Gripstand bowl.

[Okanagancook]

2 hours ago, boilsover said:

one of the new Thermopen contact-probe models on order.

I purchased two, one for me and one for my brother.  I really like the sturdiness of the probe, the case and the price is very reasonable.

 

2 hours ago, blue_dolphin said:

My Cuisi-steam oven and the Instant-Pot.  Both eG-facilitated small appliances with their own threads!

Sheesh.  Another Instant-Pot purchase!  I succumbed to the Cuisi oven after many weeks of looking at the comments on that thread......BUT I AM NOT EVEN LOOKING AT THE INSTANT-POT THREAD

[cyalexa]

3 hours ago, blue_dolphin said:

My Cuisi-steam oven and the Instant-Pot.  Both eG-facilitated small appliances with their own threads!

Me too! Exactly.

[kayb]

My Anova and my Instant Pot.

 

[Shelby]

2 hours ago, Okanagancook said:

I purchased two, one for me and one for my brother.  I really like the sturdiness of the probe, the case and the price is very reasonable.

 

Sheesh.  Another Instant-Pot purchase!  I succumbed to the Cuisi oven after many weeks of looking at the comments on that thread......BUT I AM NOT EVEN LOOKING AT THE INSTANT-POT THREAD

Oh come, look...just take a look.....one smalllllll look lol.

 

<---------------me being sneaky

[JoNorvelleWalker]

My Biospec 1285 BioHomogenizer!

[Smithy]

Two Thermapens - one for the house, then when I found how much I liked it another for the trailer - and a better IR thermometer than I had before.  Whether that last is really valuable remains to be seen, but it's fun to point at things and see how hot they are.  It'll be useful for campfire cooking in a couple of months.
 

@Okanagancook, that IP topic is a really good read. You can probably afford to take a peek or three.  I haven't succumbed. Yet.

[Anna N]

My Instant Pot. Hours of harmless fun. 

[MisterKrazee]

Vacmaster VP112S, Anova Wifi, Oliso SmartHub, Tatung Induction HOB, Kitchenaid Pro 600 with stainless meat grinder attachment, Breville Smart Oven Pro, ThermoWorks Dot with submersible probe and I think that's about it. When working all together my belly sure is happy. 

[Okanagancook]

I bought a really thin-bladed Japanese knife.  Lord knows, I have plenty of good knives but this one is fantastic for slicing and dicing soft vegetables.

 

 

[stckciv]

This year was pretty mild. Cuisinart CSO-300 Steam Oven, Instant Pot and an Immersion Blender. 

 

I'm thinking next year will be a few good knives and that's all.

[gfweb]

I electrified part of the knife block.

 

Now my wife can only abuse certain knives. No more breaking down a butternut with a delicate knife.

[liuzhou]

 

"If I Had A Hammer"

Well, I do now. I haven't been able to find a meat pounder/mallet anywhere in China, but settled for this rubber headed mallet. I mainly use it for flattening chicken breasts or escallops.

 

I used to use the base of pan or even my olive oil bottle, but felt the need for a dedicated tool. I'm off now to thump another chicken.

 

[rotuts]

I use an empty wine bottle for the above.  always plenty around

[Anna N]

I keep a similar one in my kitchen but use it with an old knife to get through bones or really hard squash.  

[liuzhou]

On 19/12/2015 at 2:51 PM, liuzhou said:

 

"If I Had A Hammer"

Well, I do now. I haven't been able to find a meat pounder/mallet anywhere in China, but settled for this rubber headed mallet. I mainly use it for flattening chicken breasts or escallops.

 

I used to use the base of pan or even my olive oil bottle, but felt the need for a dedicated tool. I'm off now to thump another chicken.

 

 

Of course, within days of proclaiming that meat tenderising hammers aren't available, I find one in a shop two minutes from my front door!

 

Edited December 23, 2015 by liuzhou
added image (log)

[Thanks for the Crepes]

My favorite and I think only addition to the kitchen equipment this year was very humble compared to everyone else's. It was a Faberware Pro slotted nylon turner in red, most likely discontinued. It's sort of similar to the one in the following link, but differs in that mine has a smaller chrome/stainless nameplate in the center of the handle and also includes a chrome/stainless cap on the end of the handle that completely covers the hanging hole too. I couldn't find one exactly like it pictured online, but this one is close, except I can't tell from the picture on Amazon if it's offset. Mine definitely is. I found it for $2.99 at Ollie's outlet, which is a discount outlet like Big Lot's. It was replacing a 99 cent one I got at a dollar store that was branded Betty Crocker, but Betty would roll in her grave over that one because every time I would use it in a non-stick pan at low temp like for eggs, the material would melt.

 

I also have two good Kitchen Aid spatula/turners, but they live in a cabinet in the dining room part of the kitchen because the handles are too fat to play nice with the other essential untensils kept by the stove in a copper saucier. They're also pretty inflexible, but because of this they get pulled out for lifting big twice-baked potatoes to plates after the final bake, because the handier ones bend under the weight.

 

So nothing expensive or earthshaking to most people, but I love my new Faberware turner  .

[boilsover]

A late entrant, still eligible for an Academy Award:  A Zassenhaus manual coffee mill.  It totally kicks the ass of my fancy Braun conical electric.

[kbjesq]

On 12/17/2015 at 5:08 PM, Porthos said:

 

My younger adult daughter had been going gangbusters baking bread. Kerry and Anna mentioned Gripspan bowls so I bought my daughter one from a thrift store. She lost interest in baking before ever using it and for the moment it's a fruit bowl instead.

Now you've got me on the hunt for these bowls. They're sold "new" on Amazon but quite pricey &  not made in England, necessarily. Some reviewers complain about the quality being sub-par. eBay has "used" Gripspan bowls but I'm finding it hard to pull the trigger on these used items without checking them out in person -  and even the used ones are pricey!