Appliance You've Purchased But You Use the Least (and probably don't need)

[weinoo]

Let's say over the last 2 - 3 years.

 

I'll start:

 

At this point, it has to be my Instant Pot. I just don't find much use for it. I prefer beans cooked on the stovetop. I prefer braises braised. I'm never rushing to put out a meal. And nowadays, even stock gets made on the stovetop.

[KennethT]

I haven't bought anything in the last few years that I don't use a lot, just because I've been so choosy about what to get.... With that said, I have made quite a few purchases in the past that I barely use - like my stovetop smoker - it works really well, but I almost never use it. Stick blender - if it's used 5x a year, it's a miracle.  That being said, it came in handy last night when I was making a puree of grated coconut and raw shrimp to put in a goan shrimp curry. 4 more to go.

[blue_dolphin]

I've had it for way more than 3 years but almost never use my stick blender.  The Blendtec gets used all the time. 

More recent purchases that I don't use are the vacuum sealer and the Phillips Avance grill.  I really need to find a handier storage location for the grill as I used it the other day and wondered why it's been so long. 

[gfweb]

Instant pot for sure. Used once in a race with my pressure cooker. It lost.

 

Stick blender gets rare use (but I use the miniprep a ton.)

[gfweb]

38 minutes ago, weinoo said:

. I prefer braises braised. I'm never rushing to put out a meal. And nowadays, even stock gets made on the stovetop.

Exactly. Whats the rush? So we eat a little later.

[weinoo]

25 minutes ago, gfweb said:

Exactly. Whats the rush? So we eat a little later.

 

Or start cooking a little earlier!

[weinoo]

I wonder if it's all about storage and/or where the appliance is located. 

 

I'd probably use the Cuisinart griddler more if it were on the countertop, but there's no room. However, on the countertop I have the Kitchen Aid mixer - which can go quite a while without being used; once I start using it, like for holiday cookies, I'm sure glad it's up and out.

 

@KennethT - that stovetop smoker you and I own - I don't really consider it an appliance, since it doesn't plug in! But it does take up some room.

 

And I may not use it a ton, but I'm sure glad I have a vacuum sealer. It really comes in handy, like when I bought a couple of pounds of Hatch chilies and I was able to seal up 1/4 lb. packs of them.

 

 

Edited November 22, 2020 by weinoo (log)

[gfweb]

Induction plate and panini  press are also unused things.

Edited November 22, 2020 by gfweb (log)

[weinoo]

3 minutes ago, gfweb said:

Induction plate and panini  press are also unused things.

 

Is your panini press similar to the Griddler? Or is that too personal?

[KennethT]

6 minutes ago, weinoo said:

I wonder if it's all about storage and/or where the appliance is located. 

 

I'd probably use the Cuisinart griddler more if it were on the countertop, but there's no room. However, on the countertop I have the Kitchen Aid mixer - which can go quite a while without being used; once I start using it, like for holiday cookies, I'm sure glad it's up and out.

 

@KennethT - that stovetop smoker you and I own - I don't really consider it an appliance, since it doesn't plug in! But it does take up some room.

 

And I may not use it a ton, but I'm sure glad I have a vacuum sealer. It really comes in handy, like when I bought a couple of pounds of Hatch chilies and I was able to seal up 1/4 lb. packs of them.

 

 

I definitely think location is a part of it.  That and cleanup.  My smoker is buried underneath a bunch of other stuff, so it's a real pita to dig it out. That, and after it's done, cleaning up the gunky residue is a pita also.  Since I currently have about 6 sq ft. of countertop space, very little is actually left out and ready to use.  I'll be happy when we move - I'll basically double my countertop space!!!

[IowaDee]

The air fryer for sure.  It sits on the counter, a large black egg, giving me the stink eye!  And the food processor is such a pain in the ass to get out of the cupboard that I just find a work around a lot of the time.  

[lindag]

4 minutes ago, IowaDee said:

The air fryer for sure.  It sits on the counter, a large black egg, giving me the stink eye!  And the food processor is such a pain in the ass to get out of the cupboard that I just find a work around a lot of the time.  

Ditto

[gfweb]

14 minutes ago, weinoo said:

 

Is your panini press similar to the Griddler? Or is that too personal?

Yes. Its the Breville one, so its better. 😉

[chromedome]

Hmmm. I've been pretty good about culling unused stuff of late, but little of that has actually been appliances.

I don't use my ice cream maker but once or twice a year, though that's mostly because the GF is always dieting and it's just not right to make it harder for her. It's in my storage locker, and I know where to find it when I need it. I'll use my slow cooker a lot over the next few months, then very little during the not-cold months, but that's a normal cycle.

 

My GF's little "mini-chopper" (petite food processor) is something I seldom use, partly because it's harder to clean than my full-sized Cuise and partly because I hate the sound it makes. She also owns a chocolate fountain that we've used exactly once in the 6 years we've been together (at her daughter's wedding). I suppose we really "don't need" that, but it's hers and she likes knowing she's got it if she feels the urge. (shrug) What's one cubic foot of our storage locker, if it makes her happy?

 

We also have a small Keurig machine down in storage, which one of her daughters left behind when moving away. It's the emergency backup, should her main Keurig ever kick the bucket. It's also handy on moving day, so as to have coffee available at each location. Not that I plan to move again anytime soon, but my plans sometimes don't figure into it...

[boudin noir]

Crock pot. Prefer standard braise. Bought 20 years ago. Used twice.

[Margaret Pilgrim]

Our habits are interesting.    I use my Cuisinart maybe twice a year, if that.   My reach-for is the Oster mini-food processor attachment  and my indispensable Bamix immersion blender that I use almost daily.   

I probably shouldn't have bought a Cuisinart steam convection oven.    So far, probably a year, I've used it for warming croissants and baking beets and potatoes.  One baguette effort.   Again, habits are hard to change.  

I love our panini grill but haven't used it in maybe a year since I moved it less convenient storage.

 

We don't have a crockpot, instantpot, air fryer, electric coffee pot.

[Katie Meadow]

We have two appliances we don't use, but one is a ghost and will haunt me to the grave, for no good reason. The first is one of those electric drip coffee makers which came free with something. It's large, like for a party. We used to have parties. Maybe we used it once or twice. Besides the fact that big parties are a thing of the past, our friends no longer drink coffee in the evening. And we have always had several other ways of making coffee, so who cares. It is still sitting up on an unreachable shelf that's basically a boring museum.

 

The second appliance, the ghost, is a sixties era crock pot. Avocado green or plaid; if it existed in this reality I could tell you. When I lived in NM during the late sixties and early seventies my best friend's father, who grew up in Taos, made the best beans ever in his old crockpot, and then the best red chile sauce to add to them. After I moved to CA I started to miss those crockpot pinto beans. What should I happen upon in my in-laws' garage but a sixties crockpot still in the box. My MIL didn't even know where it came from.  It promptly went into the basement of our own house and I forgot about it. Time passed. Lots of it. Then it surfaced, just when I was feeling nostalgic and bored with my own cooking. I was ecstatic! I Vintage! Still in the original box! I carried the box upstairs to the kitchen, opened it and grabbed the crock pot. It slipped and fell onto the tile floor. Faster than you can say @JoNorvelleWalkerit shattered like an old thermos. I think about it more than I should, like the fish that got away, but you've never eaten a fish before. Or the ice cream scoop that falls to the pavement when you take the first lick. Some things are meant to be buried, even if they require more than one burial. In this case, the third was charm. I've never wanted a replacement. I loved that one. Beans are a stovetop operation now and forever.

[weinoo]

1 hour ago, chromedome said:

it's harder to clean than my full-sized Cuise and partly because I hate the sound it makes.

 

They really do sound awful.

[weinoo]

4 minutes ago, Katie Meadow said:

friends no longer drink coffee in the evening.

 

Huge change...I remember, as a kid, no mishpucha meal ended without coffee. Cigarettes and cigars, too.

 

4 minutes ago, Katie Meadow said:

he best beans ever in his old crockpot, and then the best red chile sauce to add to them.

 

Now you're talking right up Significant Eater's alley.

[palo]

Breville Sous Chef food processer (with all the attachments) - too hard to clean 😞

 

p

[weinoo]

1 hour ago, weinoo said:

 

Is your panini press similar to the Griddler? Or is that too personal?

 

1 hour ago, gfweb said:

Yes. Its the Breville one, so its better. 😉

 

I think you need to start using it, just because it's better! (Does it come with multiple sets of plates, like the Griddler?)

 

Kinda brings up another point - why do we hang onto things we don't use????

[heidih]

I don't buy things, they just tend to be gifted, and then donated if useless. However I share my garage shelving with an "As seen on TV" addict who then never uses them - thus depriving me of accessible storage. Ggrrr.  I do use the crockpot when she hogs the stove. Really ya need all 4 burners AND the oven, but your food all tastes the same... The stick blender gets used all the time for veg soups that I like as snacks or breakfast. Acquired from sis who got as wedding gift but she lives in a different voltage zone. Braun going strong at 35 and there is a dupe on gadget woman's shelf space should it expire.

Edited November 22, 2020 by heidih (log)

[btbyrd]

The pasta attachments for my KitchenAid. I couldn't justify the expense myself, so put them on my Amazon wishlist a couple years ago with the intention of upping my ramen game as well as making ravioli on a semi-regular basis. It's all still in the box. On a related note, I also have a lovely brass pasta wheel and a gnocci paddle that have never been used.

 

Ooh! Also my high output wok burner, I'm sad to say.

[chromedome]

19 minutes ago, btbyrd said:

The pasta attachments for my KitchenAid. I couldn't justify the expense myself, so put them on my Amazon wishlist a couple years ago with the intention of upping my ramen game as well as making ravioli on a semi-regular basis. It's all still in the box. On a related note, I also have a lovely brass pasta wheel and a gnocci paddle that have never been used.

I got the full set of roller attachments, which IIRC retails for around $300 here in Canada, for $100. They'd been on clearance at one of my local stores for about 18 months without moving, so I made the manager an offer.

I use 'em pretty regularly, as long as my GF isn't keto-ing at the time. Most recently a couple of weeks ago for ricotta-filled ravioli, at her request.

[weinoo]

40 minutes ago, btbyrd said:

Ooh! Also my high output wok burner, I'm sad to say.

 

Wok Hei!