What is your most valuable kitchen appliance?

[MSRadell]

12 hours ago, Duvel said:

I'd second the knives. Then maybe my Microplane grater, followed by my scale.

I take it by having a scale so high on your list you do a lot of baking? This we do very little baking and mostly conventional cooking we hardly ever use a scale for anything.

[liuzhou]

5 minutes ago, MSRadell said:

I take it by having a scale so high on your list you do a lot of baking? This we do very little baking and mostly conventional cooking we hardly ever use a scale for anything.

 

I very seldom bake but my scales live on the kitchen counter and get used a lot. For an explanation as to why, see The Kitchen Scale Manifesto.

Edited September 3, 2017 by liuzhou (log)

[gfweb]

9 minutes ago, MSRadell said:

I take it by having a scale so high on your list you do a lot of baking? This we do very little baking and mostly conventional cooking we hardly ever use a scale for anything.

Me too.  I tend to cook by the seat of my pants and only measure when I'm baking. 

[nickrey]

12 hours ago, lindag said:

So I'm intrigued with the Thermomix.  What do you use it for mostly?

What you'd normally use a food processor for (pureeing, chopping) plus things that are possible from the power of the machine such as flours, spice grinding, and powdering ingredients.

 

Hot sauce making (mornay, hollandaise, etc.) as well as making yoghurt and cultured butter.

 

Polenta (again heating and stirring). I use the dough function for making pasta and bread doughs.

 

I don't really use the Varoma function for steaming but that is more related to my preference for alternate methods of cooking such as sous vide, pressure cooking, etc. If I steam I do it over a pot of boiling water with a strainer on top and a plate as a cover. The machine can do a lot more but much of what it can do creates food that I rarely, if ever, eat.

[nickrey]

12 hours ago, Victor said:

You wanna share a reason why you wouldn't use a convection toaster oven? 

I have an oven that has convection and a grill (broiler). I don't even use the oven that much as I cook sous vide, fry, use dutch ovens or pressure cookers, or grill on coals. I only bake very occasionally. Why take up more bench top real estate with something that, for me at least, is redundant?

 

As you can see by my earlier list I have many items that lots of people would consider esoteric but that I use all the time. 

[Paul Bacino]

Pressure cooker/Vacuum sealer/ grinder

[Duvel]

12 hours ago, MSRadell said:

I take it by having a scale so high on your list you do a lot of baking? This we do very little baking and mostly conventional cooking we hardly ever use a scale for anything.

I do quite some baking, but for curing, brining, making pates and terrines - anything where seasoning and salt have to be precise and not "to taste" or you can't judge from the initial formulation the final taste I prefer to weight my ingredients. and it's safe to say that I use the scale every day ...

[andiesenji]

I had to think about this for awhile.

I do not consider my knives an "appliance" - they are a tool, a utensil, an extension of my hand.  I don't consider my Thermapen an appliance but it is always in my pocket when I am in the kitchen.

 

The appliances I use most and is essential because of the way I do things are my microwaves.  

During the past 48 hours:

I started a batch of yogurt last evening and heated the milk (actually half & half) to 186°F in the microwave because there is no chance of scorching it and ruining half a gallon of dairy as has happened on the stove top.

Then heated a quart of heavy cream to 90°F. to make a batch of sour cream. 

Reheated food that I had cooked the previous day.

I heated the cream for my coffee and the syrup for my waffles at breakfast.

I warmed extra-large tortillas so they would be more flexible to wrap burritos.

I "blanched" a tomato so the skin would slip off easily. 

I melted a stick of butter to add to a batch of bread.

I defrosted a frozen chicken that had been in the fridge for two days and was still solid in the center so I couldn't extract the bag with the giblets and neck.

I softened an 8 oz block of butter that had been in the freezer so I could use some on my waffles. 

I reheated my tea about three times because I kept forgetting to drink it while it was hot.

Ditto my morning coffee.

I "softened" some large raisins (home dried) that were a bit too dry to add to the bread that is currently being processed in the bread machine.

(tablespoon of water in bottom of a measuring cup - fill with dried out raisins or any other dried fruit - cover tightly with plastic wrap or I use the silicone storage covers that seal tightly - microwave for 20 seconds, allow to sit for ten minutes then test.  If still too hard, repeat.  

 

[lindag]

15 hours ago, andiesenji said:

I had to think about this for awhile.

I do not consider my knives an "appliance" - they are a tool, a utensil, an extension of my hand.  I don't consider my Thermapen an appliance but it is always in my pocket when I am in the kitchen.

 

The appliances I use most and is essential because of the way I do things are my microwaves.  

During the past 48 hours:

I started a batch of yogurt last evening and heated the milk (actually half & half) to 186°F in the microwave because there is no chance of scorching it and ruining half a gallon of dairy as has happened on the stove top.

Then heated a quart of heavy cream to 90°F. to make a batch of sour cream. 

Reheated food that I had cooked the previous day.

I heated the cream for my coffee and the syrup for my waffles at breakfast.

I warmed extra-large tortillas so they would be more flexible to wrap burritos.

I "blanched" a tomato so the skin would slip off easily. 

I melted a stick of butter to add to a batch of bread.

I defrosted a frozen chicken that had been in the fridge for two days and was still solid in the center so I couldn't extract the bag with the giblets and neck.

I softened an 8 oz block of butter that had been in the freezer so I could use some on my waffles. 

I reheated my tea about three times because I kept forgetting to drink it while it was hot.

Ditto my morning coffee.

I "softened" some large raisins (home dried) that were a bit too dry to add to the bread that is currently being processed in the bread machine.

(tablespoon of water in bottom of a measuring cup - fill with dried out raisins or any other dried fruit - cover tightly with plastic wrap or I use the silicone storage covers that seal tightly - microwave for 20 seconds, allow to sit for ten minutes then test.  If still too hard, repeat.  

 

 

You need one of these.  Coffee doesn't taste very good re-heated.

the chickens I get no longer have the innards in bags, they're jut stuffed inside loose.

you get lots of use out of your m/w!!!

 

Edited September 5, 2017 by lesliec
Added eG-friendly Amazon link (log)

[Anna N]

@andiesenji  of all the appliances I know that you have owned or still own I would have least expected the microwave to play such a huge part in your life.  That is by no means a judgment but rather a sense of wonder at how you manage to use the appliance to do the things that it tends to do best!  

Edited September 4, 2017 by Anna N (log)

[heidih]

I'm with Andie on the microwave though the little toaster oven runs neck to neck with it.  

[andiesenji]

57 minutes ago, lindag said:

 

You need one of these.  Coffee doesn't taste very good re-heated.

the chickens I get no longer have the innards in bags, they're jut stuffed inside loose.

you get lots of use out of your m/w!!!

 

I only reheat the coffee in my mug.  I brew each mug individually with fresh ground coffee in either my Senseo or in my Ninja Coffee Bar.  And I reheat it using the low power - takes longer but it does not "boil" the coffee in my mug.  

 

I use the low-power setting a lot when reheating foods because I have learned that they heat more evenly and one is not surprised with a lava-like temp in one part and stone cold in another.

Take for instance the dish with rice, meat and beans that I reheated to use as burrito filling along with some fresh salsa.

It was already in a glass storage dish with the "locking" lid, which I unlocked but left in place.  The volume was about 20 ounces.

I set the time for 15 minutes on power level 2 - 20%.

I always check the temp of such foods with my Thermapen and at various spots and depths in the dish, the temp was at 145°F.  Perfect for me.

 

I have been using a microwave oven since 1968 when we got an Amana RadarRange, so I have had a great deal of experience with them during the past near-50 years.
 

[Anna N]

7 minutes ago, heidih said:

I'm with Andie on the microwave though the little toaster oven runs neck to neck with it.  

Of all the appliances in my house it is the microwave I would miss the least. I hold onto it only because it is the only way to reheat the warming pads that I need when I have orphan kittens!   I despise coffee reheated in the microwave, always manage to melt the butter I'm trying to soften, occasionally I am successful in reheating a meal of some sort. 

[Anna N]

2 minutes ago, andiesenji said:

I have been using a microwave oven since 1968 when we got an Amana RadarRange, so I have had a great deal of experience with them during the past near-50 years.

 About the same time we acquired our enormous Litton microwave bought  as a deal at the Canadian National Exhibition.  I never really adapted to it. 

[lindag]

18 minutes ago, andiesenji said:

I only reheat the coffee in my mug.  I brew each mug individually with fresh ground coffee in either my Senseo or in my Ninja Coffee Bar.  And I reheat it using the low power - takes longer but it does not "boil" the coffee in my mug.  

 

I use the low-power setting a lot when reheating foods because I have learned that they heat more evenly and one is not surprised with a lava-like temp in one part and stone cold in another.

Take for instance the dish with rice, meat and beans that I reheated to use as burrito filling along with some fresh salsa.

It was already in a glass storage dish with the "locking" lid, which I unlocked but left in place.  The volume was about 20 ounces.

I set the time for 15 minutes on power level 2 - 20%.

I always check the temp of such foods with my Thermapen and at various spots and depths in the dish, the temp was at 145°F.  Perfect for me.

 

I have been using a microwave oven since 1968 when we got an Amana RadarRange, so I have had a great deal of experience with them during the past near-50 years.
 

 

From what I've learned about you on this forum There's no way I would question your skills!

the mug was only a suggestion.

BTW, I had the same RadarRange bought in the mid 70s.  

[andiesenji]

41 minutes ago, Anna N said:

 About the same time we acquired our enormous Litton microwave bought  as a deal at the Canadian National Exhibition.  I never really adapted to it. 

In 1968, Amana delivered the RadarRange and a technician spend a minimum of an hour teaching buyers how to use it and how not to use certain things in it.  The woman who did the prolonged demo was very nice and very knowledgeable.  What I found most annoying was having to rotate the stuff by hand.  I mentioned that they should have built a turntable into it, like that on my record player.  

She agreed but it was Nordic ware that developed the accessory micro-go-round that was first sold in 1980.

And ovens with integral turntables appeared a few years later when manufacturers FINALLY got the idea that it was important.  Sales really took off then. 

[palo]

3 hours ago, andiesenji said:

  

She agreed but it was Nordic ware that developed the accessory micro-go-round that was first sold in 1980.. 

Had one of those!

 

p

[Thanks for the Crepes]

@andiesenji,

 

I also started out with Amanas first is the early seventies at my aunts home where I managed to turn a frozen hamburger into a grey and leathery inedible puck. I kept going trying to get it to brown. Not gonna happen.  We never had a nice, helpful sales rep come out.

 

Then a boyfriend who lived with me later had an Amana that was very large, but I never really learned to use it for much of anything useful. It had a detachable temperature probe and the manual that came with it swore you could cook a Thanksgiving turkey in it. 

 

Since then, through reading a lot and just experimenting, I have found my current microwave very useful. I rarely use it on full power except for boiling water for a cup of tea. I've found several vegetables can be cooked to good effect in it. I melt butter on the stove on low heat after an explosion on my first try in the microwave. I'm sure it would work better with reduced power, but it's easier to clean a little Revere Ware pot than exploded butter all over the interior of the microwave. I don't care for it for defrosting much either. Even on reduced power, it tends to cook wing tips or other thin portions of meats.

 

It's good for reheating leftovers sometimes, depending on how fast you want them. Tonight when reheating a frozen and thawed vegetable curry to be served over pasta, I opted to heat the curry slowly in that little Revere Ware pot on the stove top. I like hot foods hot to the core, and my microwave would've taken just as much time as the stove top method with reduced power. I often burn my mouth with my love for screaming hot foods, but it hasn't deterred me since childhood. With a microwave, you can boil the liquid/sauce around your food, but it takes some time for that heat to be absorbed into chunks of meat or vegetables. I know how to wait for the heat to penetrate at this point, but it's really no faster than stove top.

 

Now for frozen lasagna, say, I thaw it in the microwave slowly and then bake it if I have a working oven. 

 

The microwave certainly has its place in the kitchen when I want something like water heated as quickly as possible. I wouldn't be without one if I have a choice. I'm very thankful for mine.

[Lisa Shock]

I have lived without a microwave since 2010. I only miss the quick baked potatoes. I have a Japanese water kettle for tea, and I just heat leftovers up on the stove. Right now, my kitchen is pretty small. Until I remodel, I can't see carving out space for a microwave.

 

Most valuable appliance is my refrigerator. Without it, meals would be a lot more boring.

[Tropicalsenior]

What a question! What is my favorite appliance and what could I not live without? To answer that, I reviewed my day. I got up at 5:30 and made coffee in my coffee maker, then I used the toaster to make toast for an egg sandwich and cooked the eggs on the stove. Later I used my instant pot to cook potatoes and boiled eggs for potato salad, (both at the same time). I took some frozen tuna from the freezer and cooked it in the instant pot for tuna salad. I used my microwave to cook some chicken livers for liver pate and used my mini processor to puree it, then I put it in the refrigerator to cool. I used my bread maker to mix up some french bread which I later baked in my countertop convection oven. I used my coffee maker to make iced tea for dinner. The two appliances that I would not want to do without are my refrigerator and my microwave but I suppose that my favorite appliance is always the new toy in the kitchen, which, right now, is my instant pot. I love it because it is so versatile. It does just about everything but feed the cat.

[flippant]

It's so hard to say. If you start from the bottom up, then sure, a good knife and cutting board. But if you've grown into your toolkit over time, picking up bits here and there and incorporating all of them into your overall cooking philosophy/methodology, then it becomes hard to separate out what's valuable and what's not. It becomes more a question of what has a specialised use, and what doesn't – neither of which is a value proposition.

 

I've had the same chef's knife for nearly 15 years, and have used it for most meals. However, I have a chamber vacuum which is very specialised but immensely practical in that it has allowed me to portion and preserve things I've cooked for longer than would otherwise be possible, in doing so opening up new possibilities and scales of cooking. I have a pressure cooker, which allows me to make stocks and tenderise tough cuts of meat quickly; I have an immersion circulator, which lets me make gentle stocks and tenderise tough cuts of meat slowly.

 

I have a syphon, which lets me pressure infuse aromatic ingredients into oil, water or alcohol, or lets me create a wonderful tempura batter. Or pressure inject brine into meat for smoking. Or carbonate grapes. Or make whipped cream (or so I'm told). Specialised uses, to be sure, but impossible/hard to approach without it.

 

I have a 5kg tank of co2 sitting by my couch that I use to carbonate anything from 1-3 litres of sparkling water every day. Big, bulky, (sort of) single use. With that said, I wouldn't want to be without it, and in many ways it's the most consistently used piece of kitchen equipment I have when summer rolls around.*

 

*and paired with the centrifuge(!) magic can happen.

 

I have a blowtorch/searzall, which is a fancy way of applying huge amounts of localised heat. Most meals/ingredients don't need it, but for those that do, it's a godsend.

 

I have a thermal mixer, which makes a large amount of tedious stirring a hands-off affair, and much less annoying cases where splatter is expected. It also blends things like a MFer.

 

Etc.

 

All of these pieces of equipment and the techniques they enable are a natural part of my cooking these days. It's a privilege to be able to cook knowing they're all at my disposal; I know I'm not using them all to their utmost potential, but that's on me.

 

Most valuable in the end is, I suppose, knowing the proper application of heat, knife skills and the ability to season well by taste. I enjoy cooking as much with my entire kitchen at my disposal as I do out in the middle of nowhere with nothing but a pocket knife and a camp stove.