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eG-Inspired Kitchen Gadget Purchases (aka The Enablers' Hall of Fame)


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My name is Nancy, and I have been enabled. Many times. Much of the credit / blame goes to @Shelby, @Kerry Beal, @rotuts, @gfweb and @btbyrd, in no particular order, but I'm probably forgetting some names that belong in the Enablers Hall of Fame.

  • 3 Instant Pots, different sizes and technologies (although one was a gift, so not my own purchase)
  • A handful of Thermoworks products: instant-read thermometers, IR thermometers, Smoke remote-read dual-probe system, pH meter. Everything but the pH meter is in pairs, at least: one for our trailer, and one for our house.
  • Ninja Creami
  • Anova circulator
  • Joule circulator
  • Immersion blender (I'm on my second one, now)
  • 2 Food Savers and a manual vacuum-packer

Are cooking pots "kitchen gadgets"? They were my gateway enablement, thanks to our late, lamented @fifi and our long-since retired @Wolfert. Put their names on the wall, too. And @andiesenji!

  • Le Creuset enameled cast iron pots of many different sizes 
  • clay pots of many different sizes and shapes
  • a Moroccan tagine

I think I already had a cookbook fetish before discovering eGullet, but the collection has expanded massively.

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Nancy Smith, aka "Smithy"
HosteG Forumsnsmith@egstaff.org

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"Every day should be filled with something delicious, because life is too short not to spoil yourself. " -- Ling (with permission)
"There comes a time in every project when you have to shoot the engineer and start production." -- author unknown

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1) Phillips Electric Grill - Runaway success.   Bought it to teach my middle son (9) to cook.   Loves it.   Wife loves it.

2) CSO - Also a runaway success.   In that I never took it out of the box and so should be able to flip it at a profit to one of you once yours breaks (I kid, I kid)

3) The red plastic spoon thing that someone posted a black plastic one of in the “cheap food gadgets you couldn’t live without” thread- beyond a runaway success.   Will probably be the time Mrs. Dr. Teeth and I fight over most when she finally throws me out due to:

4) More cookbooks than I can count- Love them but I will one day be able to build a shanty town out of extra cookbooks and:

5) A whole bunch of Japanese knives - I was fairly dedicated to German cooking knives prior to some threads by Octaveman back in the day.   May have been inevitable, so I’m not sure it’s fair to lay this at egullet feet.

6) Bentons Bacon and Broadbent ham (rotus) - like them but probably not a good thing for me to know about.

7) IP -swing and a miss for me.   Does a lot of things, none of them well

 

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13 minutes ago, gfweb said:

It is good for that, but after pressure, my fagor can be used to reduce the stock too

not that I'm a hater

I put the IP on either saute setting (if I'm in a hurry) or high slow cook (if I'm not) after pressure cooking stock and it reduces it just fine.  I also have the old school Fagor classic, which I love also.

 

Edit:  I am doing lobster shell stock in the IP with a reduction right now.

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13 minutes ago, gfweb said:

It is good for that, but after pressure, my fagor can be used to reduce the stock too

not that I'm a hater

 

Yes - I gave my beloved Fagor away to friends who spend a month or two skiing in Utah - she likes it to cooks beans at altitude.

 

But I decided that when I use a pressure cooker, it might as well be automated, otherwise I actually have to pay some sort of attention, and sometimes not paying attention gets me into trouble.

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Mitch Weinstein aka "weinoo"

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27 minutes ago, weinoo said:

 

Yes - I gave my beloved Fagor away to friends who spend a month or two skiing in Utah - she likes it to cooks beans at altitude.

 

But I decided that when I use a pressure cooker, it might as well be automated, otherwise I actually have to pay some sort of attention, and sometimes not paying attention gets me into trouble.

That was my reason for finally pulling the trigger on an IP, after years of not quite buying a conventional pressure cooker.

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I forgot to mention the air fryer I bought because of the gang of enablers here. In this case I'm looking at @Shelby (again) and @mgaretz...I knew I'd left someone out a few posts back!

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Nancy Smith, aka "Smithy"
HosteG Forumsnsmith@egstaff.org

Follow us on social media! Facebook; instagram.com/egulletx; twitter.com/egullet

"Every day should be filled with something delicious, because life is too short not to spoil yourself. " -- Ling (with permission)
"There comes a time in every project when you have to shoot the engineer and start production." -- author unknown

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3 hours ago, Smithy said:

I forgot to mention the air fryer I bought because of the gang of enablers here. In this case I'm looking at @Shelby (again) and @mgaretz...I knew I'd left someone out a few posts back!

 

And I think I am the "master enabler" of the Ninja Creami!

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5 hours ago, weinoo said:

 

Yes - I gave my beloved Fagor away to friends who spend a month or two skiing in Utah - she likes it to cooks beans at altitude.

 

But I decided that when I use a pressure cooker, it might as well be automated, otherwise I actually have to pay some sort of attention, and sometimes not paying attention gets me into trouble.

 

Could I recommend a Paragon?  When I pressure cook I put one of my Fisslers, usually the medium size one, on the Paragon, set the temperature and walk away.

 

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Cooking is cool.  And kitchen gear is even cooler.  -- Chad Ward

Whatever you crave, there's a dumpling for you. -- Hsiao-Ching Chou

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20 minutes ago, mgaretz said:

 

And I think I am the "master enabler" of the Ninja Creami!

 

You are so right! 😄

Nancy Smith, aka "Smithy"
HosteG Forumsnsmith@egstaff.org

Follow us on social media! Facebook; instagram.com/egulletx; twitter.com/egullet

"Every day should be filled with something delicious, because life is too short not to spoil yourself. " -- Ling (with permission)
"There comes a time in every project when you have to shoot the engineer and start production." -- author unknown

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40 minutes ago, JoNorvelleWalker said:

 

Could I recommend a Paragon?  When I pressure cook I put one of my Fisslers, usually the medium size one, on the Paragon, set the temperature and walk away.

 

what do you set it for?

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29 minutes ago, gfweb said:

what do you set it for?

 

Cooking beans.

 

More seriously, usually between 236F and 246F.  (For some strange reason the Paragon is the one heating appliance I have not switched to Celsius.)  Also, to save time, typically I will first set the Paragon to 260F till the Fissler reaches the pressure setting that I want.  The Fissler has a pressure setting adjustment.

 

 

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Cooking is cool.  And kitchen gear is even cooler.  -- Chad Ward

Whatever you crave, there's a dumpling for you. -- Hsiao-Ching Chou

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10 hours ago, weinoo said:

 

Yes - I gave my beloved Fagor away to friends who spend a month or two skiing in Utah - she likes it to cooks beans at altitude.

 

But I decided that when I use a pressure cooker, it might as well be automated, otherwise I actually have to pay some sort of attention, and sometimes not paying attention gets me into trouble.

I've thought about an IP for a long time, mostly for this reason... but when I make stock I make a lot in my giant, economy sized Kuhn Rikon so I don't have to do it very often.  I don't think they make an IP large enough for something like that.  Plus, now that I do everything on induction, even with my "cheap" induction hob, it's really easy to keep it at full pressure without going over.  Once I get the really good induction unit, I imagine it will be even easier, plus since my induction unit is 240V, I can use 3000W or so and get the big pot up to pressure in very little time.

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And I think I'm the EG "master enabler" of Darto pans (though the credit for me goes to ChefSteps).

 

I like having an IP and a stovetop cooker for those rare occasions when neither will suffice to make the amount of stock I require. This is usually a Thanksgiving problem. I'm often the turkey cook for two different Thanksgivings, which means I end up with two carcasses (and four wings). This overwhelms my 8 quart stovetop cooker and my 6 qt IP, but together they get the job done. I also like having the IP around to keep things warm to serve at big gatherings.

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1 hour ago, btbyrd said:

And I think I'm the EG "master enabler" of Darto pans

 

True. I have 4 tiny Darto pans which I have not even figured out how to season, let alone think of something to put in them! 🤣

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23 minutes ago, TdeV said:

 

True. I have 4 tiny Darto pans which I have not even figured out how to season, let alone think of something to put in them! 🤣

 

With much effort I carefully seasoned my collection of Darto pans.  With much less effort I warped the largest making a paella.  They are all now rusty.  Sadly stainless steel is more my speed.

 

My cast iron, Japan crafted "Chinese cooking vessel" (eg. wok) is still beautifully seasoned.  That is because I do not use it much.  However it brings exceeding pleasure to look at and to touch.

 

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Cooking is cool.  And kitchen gear is even cooler.  -- Chad Ward

Whatever you crave, there's a dumpling for you. -- Hsiao-Ching Chou

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