Kitchen Gadgets You Don't Need?

[dtremit]

On 6/8/2021 at 11:06 PM, JoNorvelleWalker said:

 

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

 

 

K-R has made multiple designs over the years — the newer ones work like this, and they're amazing:

 

I have lots of stuff from the Guardian article, of course:

 

1. Ice cream maker — found an old Simac at a thrift store for $15 (!) and I use it occasionally to good effect. I hated my "freeze the bowl" one that I had prior. The compressor is really necessary for me to be bothered with it, but I'm not entirely sure I'd spend the money on a new one. 
2. Honey dipper — ok, I don't use it much, but it's also one of the smallest and cheapest things in my kitchen -- who cares?
3. Popcorn machine — have one, but have mostly moved over to making my popcorn in a wok. So I guess this fails the test. If we made popcorn more often I'd get a whirly pop.
4. Coffee grinder — I classify this as a medical necessity because my brain does not work without it.
5. Bread maker — I unapologetically love mine. Great for sandwich bread on a weekday and great for dough when I want to do something fancier. 
6. Garlic press — someone mentioned on a Splendid Table episode recently that opposition to garlic presses is kind of a class thing in the UK, which I found fascinating. I use mine frequently but not exclusively. I have never gotten that side-of-the-chef's-knife garlic paste thing to work for me, though. As should be obvious from the image above, garlic getting stuck or wasted is not an issue with a well designed press; I have never seen one as useless looking as the one in the article.
7. Electric juicer — I suspect they mean the grinding sort, which I don't have, but I do have a citrus juicer. I like it, but don't really use it all that often. I should use it more!

 

 

[scubadoo97]

I admit to buying a spiralizer the short time when they were the rage.  It resides in a cabinet that houses the rarely if ever used but “might come in handy” gadgets 

[chromedome]

40 minutes ago, scubadoo97 said:

I admit to buying a spiralizer the short time when they were the rage.  It resides in a cabinet that houses the rarely if ever used but “might come in handy” gadgets 

I bought one knowing full well it would only be used a couple of times/year at most. It does, and I'm perfectly happy with that.

 

Primary uses are with raw beets for salads, and also potatoes for deep-frying into "nests." They're also good as a chip-like snack, though I haven't yet carried out my threat of adding Liquid Smoke to some salt and making DIY Hickory Sticks.

Edited December 21, 2021 by chromedome (log)

[Anna N]

1 hour ago, scubadoo97 said:

I admit to buying a spiralizer the short time when they were the rage.  It resides in a cabinet that houses the rarely if ever used but “might come in handy” gadgets 

You too, eh? So far cannot bring myself to part with it so it continues to cultivate its dust cover. 

[gfweb]

2 hours ago, scubadoo97 said:

I admit to buying a spiralizer the short time when they were the rage.  It resides in a cabinet that houses the rarely if ever used but “might come in handy” gadgets 

 I might have used it once.

Another eG-stimulated purchase.

[Margaret Pilgrim]

1 hour ago, gfweb said:

 

Another eG-stimulated purchase.

This would make an interesting eG thread.

[chromedome]

24 minutes ago, Margaret Pilgrim said:

This would make an interesting eG thread.

I think that has to happen.

I'm going to start the thread.

[lindag]

My most recent must-have is this, a three-in one slow cooker that will also sear.

I love slow cookers and now own four of them.

One of my favorite things is enjoying the cocktail hour while my dinner cooks itself.

[chromedome]

7 minutes ago, lindag said:

My most recent must-have is this, a three-in one slow cooker that will also sear.

I love slow cookers and now own four of them.

One of my favorite things is enjoying the cocktail hour while my dinner cooks itself.

My slow cooker is also a "three-in-one" of sorts, or at least was sold that way when I bought it several years back. It's solely a slow cooker, but it came with 2-quart, 4-quart and 6-quart inserts to allow for different batch sizes.

[EatingBen]

How can anyone come out with the statement dried pasta is best??

 

also, ive a coffee grinder i use 4 to 6 times a day (coffee for me and the other half) 

 

Does this person not understand how to use these tools? 

[gfweb]

13 minutes ago, EatingBen said:

How can anyone come out with the statement dried pasta is best??

 

also, ive a coffee grinder i use 4 to 6 times a day (coffee for me and the other half) 

 

Does this person not understand how to use these tools? 

 

Of whom do you speak?

[chromedome]

8 minutes ago, gfweb said:

 

Of whom do you speak?

It's in the Guardian article that's linked in the first post. In fairness, the speaker said that some shapes need to be extruded, and are better bought dry...a contention those with home extruders might disagree with. He was probably attempting to explain that the flat roller-type machine is no good for those shapes, but it doesn't come across that way in the article.

[EatingBen]

1 minute ago, chromedome said:

It's in the Guardian article that's linked in the first post. In fairness, the speaker said that some shapes need to be extruded, and are better bought dry...a contention those with home extruders might disagree with. He was probably attempting to explain that the flat roller-type machine is no good for those shapes, but it doesn't come across that way in the article.

Roller ones are good for tons of things, I wouldn’t give up my kitchen aid pasta attachment for anything it makes fantastic ramen noodles. Soba noodles, pasta sheets for lasagna. 

[chromedome]

2 minutes ago, EatingBen said:

Roller ones are good for tons of things, I wouldn’t give up my kitchen aid pasta attachment for anything it makes fantastic ramen noodles. Soba noodles, pasta sheets for lasagna. 

Yes, I cherish mine as well. I'd seen it sitting, marked down, on a shelf at my local hardware store for about 2 years. I offered the manager $90 for it (regular Canadian retail is...I dunno, $250 or thereabouts?) and he jumped on it so quickly I regretted not starting at $50 or $75.

Not gonna lie, I mostly read these articles for the laugh factor. I saw one a few weeks ago on Apartment Therapy or some such site: about two paragraphs in, the writer said "Let's face it, you probably don't really need five spatulas..." and at that point I closed the tab thinking "Let's face it, you seldom use your kitchen for anything other than coffee and smoothies..."

[cyalexa]

10 hours ago, chromedome said:

Yes, I cherish mine as well. I'd seen it sitting, marked down, on a shelf at my local hardware store for about 2 years. I offered the manager $90 for it (regular Canadian retail is...I dunno, $250 or thereabouts?) and he jumped on it so quickly I regretted not starting at $50 or $75.

Not gonna lie, I mostly read these articles for the laugh factor. I saw one a few weeks ago on Apartment Therapy or some such site: about two paragraphs in, the writer said "Let's face it, you probably don't really need five spatulas..." and at that point I closed the tab thinking "Let's face it, you seldom use your kitchen for anything other than coffee and smoothies..."

I'm a somewhat above average home cook. I have a half dozen spoonula-type doodads, six nylon spreaders, and 3 pair (not enough) good quality tongs. 

[chromedome]

10 minutes ago, cyalexa said:

I'm a somewhat above average home cook. I have a half dozen spoonula-type doodads, six nylon spreaders, and 3 pair (not enough) good quality tongs. 

My in-use assortment is similar, but I also have a Tupperware one that's contoured for their mixing bowls (I have none of those but it's great for getting the bottom of my KitchenAid bowl) and a regular silicone spreader-type that I cut down until it was roughly even with the end of the (wooden) handle. That makes it stiff enough to get stuff up from the bottoms of pans when things begin to stick. I have a few spares, and when my in-use ones get old and stained I toss 'em and break out a fresh one.

Of course, that doesn't include the "other" types of spatulas, like the egg-flipper variety (three each of slotted and not-slotted in nylon, plus one metal one from my restaurant - used on cast iron only - plus a smaller nylon one that's great for maneuvering little items and one in some kind of hard plastic that I use when I want more rigidity than the nylon ones give me) or the cake-decorating variety (one straight, one offset, one mini-offset).

[cyalexa]

21 minutes ago, chromedome said:

 regular silicone spreader-type that I cut down 

I have also modified some of my tools. When a silicone utensil develops a crack or nick that I think will accumulate bacteria or other junk, I cut that bit off. I have also sanded the edges of my nylon spreaders when they get roughed up. 

[Margaret Pilgrim]

12 hours ago, EatingBen said:

Roller ones are good for tons of things, I wouldn’t give up my kitchen aid pasta attachment for anything it makes fantastic ramen noodles. Soba noodles, pasta sheets for lasagna. 

And bread sticks! 

[Margaret Pilgrim]

12 hours ago, chromedome said:

Not gonna lie, I mostly read these articles for the laugh factor. I saw one a few weeks ago on Apartment Therapy or some such site: about two paragraphs in, the writer said "Let's face it, you probably don't really need five spatulas..." and at that point I closed the tab thinking "Let's face it, you seldom use your kitchen for anything other than coffee and smoothies..."

I usually close the tag realizing that here is one more person trying to make a living, word by word by word.   

[JeanneCake]

13 hours ago, chromedome said:

Not gonna lie, I mostly read these articles for the laugh factor. I saw one a few weeks ago on Apartment Therapy or some such site: about two paragraphs in, the writer said "Let's face it, you probably don't really need five spatulas..." and at that point I closed the tab thinking "Let's face it, you seldom use your kitchen for anything other than coffee and smoothies..."

 

Yeesh.   I have four round bins (repurposed buckets) on my counter (at home) for spatulas, etc - things with handles you need while cooking...  doesn't everyone?

[chromedome]

2 hours ago, Margaret Pilgrim said:

I usually close the tag realizing that here is one more person trying to make a living, word by word by word.   

Yeah, I'm one of them.

 

...and yeah, some of the sites hosting my articles allow comments. People disagree with mine, too.

[Tropicalsenior]

9 hours ago, JeanneCake said:

 

Yeesh.   I have four round bins (repurposed buckets) on my counter (at home) for spatulas, etc - things with handles you need while cooking...  doesn't everyone?

You just made my day because I do too. And they are jammed full.

[Margaret Pilgrim]

11 hours ago, chromedome said:

Yeah, I'm one of them.

 

...and yeah, some of the sites hosting my articles allow comments. People disagree with mine, too.

If you write elsewhere like you do here, you are not one I refer to.    I find your writing tight, concise and your thoughts worth sharing.   Writing with the hope of 100% agreement would be a fool's errand, the resulting content not worth reading.