Kitchen Gadgets You Don't Need?

[liuzhou]

10 kitchen gadgets you really don’t need – from garlic presses to spiralizers

 

This is an article in today's Guardian listing 10 kitchen gadgets which, according to the author, you don't need.

 

Views will, no doubt, differ. I guess I broadly agree as I possess only one of them and don't use it as intended by the manufacturer, but there are others I might add to the list.

I'm sure we all have our opinions. Do you agree completely or think the article is idiotic (or anything in between)?

Edited June 8, 2021 by liuzhou (log)

[palo]

Agree with the assessment with the exception of the Breadmaker - some times I have it do all the work, but most just produce the raw dough that I use variously.

 

I have a superautomatic espresso machine that grinds the beans automatically - I just add beans and water, press a button and I get espresso 😀

 

p

[Darienne]

I use both the breadmaker and the ice cream churner regularly.  So to me they are very useful.  However, we also have a lot of storage in our house, not conveniently in the kitchen, alas, and so this makes a huge difference in our ability to keep single use items.  We also have a lot of freezer space so that is a great help.  

 

The article is like most articles.  The writer needs to make a living.  

[chromedome]

18 minutes ago, Darienne said:

The article is like most articles.  The writer needs to make a living.  

As one of those writers...yes, exactly.

In this case a lot of the items singled out are ones I do use consistently. My coffee grinder gets exercised every day, sometimes more than once, and I use my bread machine every week (I don't bake in it, I just use it as a "fill and forget" mixer for the dough). My waffle irons get used infrequently but consistently, ditto my pasta roller. The spiralizer, well...that was always going to be a limited-use item and I bought it knowing this to be the case. My ice cream machine gets used in summer and ignored in winter (go figure).

The rationale for not grinding one's own coffee seems pretty thin, to me. Yes, I can buy it ground. I can buy most things prepared for me these days, but that's not the point. I like my coffee fresh-ground, and vacuum-sealing a bag of coffee after every use to keep it fresh would be a bigger PITA than grinding my coffee (and uses a bigger kitchen gadget, for that matter).

[Anna N]

On this I am with @Darienne  Some of the suggestions for avoiding a gadget are ridiculous. 
 

“You could even peel ribbons from your vegetable with an ordinary swivel-headed vegetable peeler, then, piling the ribbons neatly, cut them into strips. “With a good, sharp knife, you can do anything,” says Grainger.”

Or you could use a spiralalizer and do it in the blink of an eye. 
 

As for the ice cream made with condensed milk — no thank you.

[chromedome]

1 hour ago, Anna N said:

 

As for the ice cream made with condensed milk — no thank you.

Yes, I'd intended to mention that in my post as well. I tried it because it sounded interesting, and then tried it again in case the first recipe was just a dud.

Nope. Weird and unpleasant texture, every time.

[liuzhou]

The only one I possess is the coffee grinder, but I've never used it for coffee, either. Only for spices, the reason I bought it.

Edited June 8, 2021 by liuzhou (log)

[weinoo]

Quote

In a period of caffeine geekdom, Seal invested in an espresso machine and, for ultimate freshness, an electric grinder. “We could never get the burrs right or the grind fine enough. I got so annoyed that I couldn’t enjoy the coffee. In the end, we sold it and started buying bagged supermarket coffee.”

 

One of the more ridiculous things I've read so far today.

 

My guess - the wrong grinder, lousy beans, a crappy machine, operator error...or more likely...all of the above.

 

N.B. New Zealand eats more ice cream.

[gfweb]

At least there weren't amazon links to buy the gadget you don't need

[blue_dolphin]

Whether it's 10 best, 10 worst, 10 must-haves, 10 don't needs, I'll take a well written article over a listicle any time.  

Given their proliferation, I'm in the minority. 

 

And I have a burr grinder for coffee beans, a whirly blade coffee grinder for spices and a manual coffee grinder for power outages. 

 

[Anna N]

19 minutes ago, blue_dolphin said:

Whether it's 10 best, 10 worst, 10 must-haves, 10 don't needs, I'll take a well written article over a listicle any time.  

Given their proliferation, I'm in the minority. 

 

And I have a burr grinder for coffee beans, a whirly blade coffee grinder for spices and a manual coffee grinder for power outages. 

 

I agree with the well-written but still felt it beneath The Guardian’s usual standards. Unless, of course, it’s meant tongue-in-cheek and I’m missing the whole thing!

 

Love that you have three grinders. 

[kayb]

I have four of those:

 

1. The ice cream maker. I don't use it a lot, but it's nice to have when you want ice cream. The world would not end if I didn't have it; there's an excellent frozen custard shop down the street.

2. The honey dipper. It came with the pottery honey pot when I bought it at a studio in Georgia, so I used it. It works. So would a spoon.

3. Silicone egg-poacher thingies. I've honestly never tried to poach an egg without it, always tending toward over-easy for preparations that call for a cooked-but-runny-yolked egg. These work. I wouldn't die if I didn't have them.

4. Coffee grinder. I use a whirly-blade one that I have had for at least 20 years. I have a burr grinder in the pantry that is against the day the whirly-blade quits. I also have as a matter of last resort a spice grinder I could clean out and use if push came to shove. I ain't giving up my fresh-ground coffee.

 

[chromedome]

1 hour ago, blue_dolphin said:

And I have a burr grinder for coffee beans, a whirly blade coffee grinder for spices and a manual coffee grinder for power outages. 

 

 

I don't have the manual one yet, but I was pricing them a few days ago.

 

[weinoo]

1 hour ago, chromedome said:

 

I don't have the manual one yet, but I was pricing them a few days ago.

 

 

Be careful - using a manual one (Hario) on a trip with friends (so grinding coffee for four) led to rotator cuff surgery!

[Toliver]

Apparently the writer doesn't own an OXO Garlic Press. (eG-friendly Amazon.com link)

They come with a red-colored cleaner on the handle so the press is very easy to clean.

But we're still talking about the article so I guess the article worked as intended.

[Anna N]

3 minutes ago, Toliver said:

But we're still talking about the article so I guess the article worked as intended.

I suspect it was intended to increase The Guardian’s bottom line! Not sure we have any proof that it succeeded there. 

[blue_dolphin]

19 minutes ago, Anna N said:

I suspect it was intended to increase The Guardian’s bottom line! Not sure we have any proof that it succeeded there. 

No proof but a bunch of us clicked on the article.  Some of us clicked further to read some of the 1300 comments.  Such engagement helps generate ad revenues.

[heidih]

14 minutes ago, blue_dolphin said:

No proof but a bunch of us clicked on the article.  Some of us clicked further to read some of the 1300 comments. dg Such engagement helps generate ad revenues.

Good point. Plus The Guardian is never behind a paywall.  I hate list articles too, but nobody forces us to read. As to your 3 coffee grinders - hey that is contingency planning if one enjoys coffee. I don't have a bread machine but I don't have 5 children. First time I saw one in use was a busy mom who served us fresh rolls with lunch. I see the value for some. I use the garlic press I found in a drawer because my manual dexterity peeling/dealing with cloves is poor now and I consider garlic a basic food group. Step mother adores gadgets. They litter the shelves in the garage. But as a "vice" that is tame. I was able to shop out there when her coffeemaker died recently. Same with whirly blade grinders. 

[ElsieD]

7 hours ago, Toliver said:

Apparently the writer doesn't own an OXO Garlic Press. (eG-friendly Amazon.com link)

They come with a red-colored cleaner on the handle so the press is very easy to clean.

But we're still talking about the article so I guess the article worked as intended.

 

I have one of those but I never use the red thing.  The debris rinses right out.  Best garlic press I've ever had.

[MokaPot]

8 hours ago, Toliver said:

Apparently the writer doesn't own an OXO Garlic Press. (eG-friendly Amazon.com link)

They come with a red-colored cleaner on the handle so the press is very easy to clean.

But we're still talking about the article so I guess the article worked as intended.

 

I have the Kuhn Rikon garlic press. It looks very similar to that OXO but it doesn't have the red cleaner / unplugger thing. My garlic does tend to get stuck in the holes and I lose a couple of cloves to the press.

 

[JoNorvelleWalker]

41 minutes ago, MokaPot said:

 

I have the Kuhn Rikon garlic press. It looks very similar to that OXO but it doesn't have the red cleaner / unplugger thing. My garlic does tend to get stuck in the holes and I lose a couple of cloves to the press.

 

 

Mine is Kuhn Rikon.  I love it.  I have no problems with the cleaning.

 

[weinoo]

 I've taken to shaving garlic with a small microplane, when not treating it unkindly with a knife. I don't know that I've ever owned a garlic press. Now - a ginger grater is another story.

[Kerry Beal]

Zyliss garlic press for me - two sizes at home - have one in all my cooking locations. 

[Tropicalsenior]

Very interesting article. Going through the list I have, at one time or another, had all of them. I have given away or pitched all but three.

1. I love my cheap little Citrus Juicer. I think it cost me about $12.

2. I use my coffee grinder all the time, but I only use it for spices.

3. I have a pasta machine with attachments and probably the only reason that I keep it was that it was a gift from my daughter and I don't know anyone dumb enough to want it. I used it all the time when we couldn't buy good pasta here but now we can, and I don't.

I traded my bread machine for a KitchenAid stand mixer and now I get perfect bread all the time.

Before I buy any Appliance or Gadget now, I ask myself two questions. How many ways can I use it and where the heck am I going to put it. One or the other usually stops me dead in my tracks.

However, I saw one little Gadget the other day that was sure tempting. A beautiful little red toaster just for making hot dogs. It had two holes in the middle for the hot dogs, and bigger slots on each end for hot dog buns. Decided it wasn't practical for me because there are three of us. Then too, there is the fact that we don't eat hot dogs but it sure was a pretty red thing.

Edited June 10, 2021 by Tropicalsenior
Addition (log)

[Darienne]

On 6/10/2021 at 4:06 PM, Tropicalsenior said:

3. I have a pasta machine with attachments and probably the only reason that I keep it was that it was a gift from my daughter and I don't know anyone dumb enough to want it. I used it all the time when we couldn't buy good pasta here but now we can, and I don't.

 

Gave my pasta machine to a potter who uses it.  And I have two coffee grinders, one for spices and the other for dog supplements.