Favorite Kitchen Gizmo

[andiesenji]

Today I spent a lot of time with my Thermomix.

Early this morning made oatmeal (steel cut "pinhead") which cooked on its own, needing no attention from me.

 

Mid morning the bowl came out of the dishwasher - made sure it was totally dry and ground some coffee (my coffee mill is apparently wandering because I couldn't find it today).

 

Washed and dried the TM and cooked some pumpkin puree until it was very thick and suitable for some tarts (to bake tomorrow).

Rinsed it out and have it loaded to cook a batch of mushroom and artichoke risotto, which I will start when the roast guinea hen that is currently in the Sharp oven is almost done. 

 

I could get along without the TM but I don't want to.  I don't use it near as much as the folks on ForumThermomix do (mostly in Australia) but I find that when I do need it, it saves me a log of time and effort.

 

Today I published a page on my blog about the mundane kitchen utensils that we use every day without much thought.  The ones in the photos are all "vintage" and some have seen better days, but they are still functional. 

[Martin Fisher]

This is difficult...I've thought about this for several days....there are many potential favorites but if I had to whittle it down to just one I'd pick my big granite mortar and pestle....an extremely versatile, yet simple (I like that), piece of equipment.

[Okanagancook]

Smithy, I found one of those ever wear juicer in a local flee market. Works amazingly well. I gave the $50 juicer I bought to the local Value Village,

[janeer]

My refrigerator/freezer.  Cause it keeps stuff cold and supplies me with ice.

Definitely the freezer. My son calls me the Freezer Queen. And my mini food processor. Yay more use than my big one.

[liuzhou]

It was a toss up between my Dali marble mortar and pestle (Dali being a town in Yunnan province of China famous for marble*, and not the Spanish surrealist (unfortunately)) and my hand held cooking thermometer.

 

Unfortunately, yesterday evening, I dropped the latter into a wok full of oil for deep frying and melted the readout display.

 

So Dali wins. Until I can replace the thermometer.

 

 

*So much so that the Chinese for 'marble' is literally 'Dali stone' - 大理石 dà lǐ shí

 

 

Edited May 6, 2014 by liuzhou (log)

[Hassouni]

A sharp knife. I have a lot of kitchen gear and love a lot of it (especially my pressure cooker, circulator, and chamber vacuum) but since pretty much everything that is done in the kitchen depends on the ability to cut easily and cleanly, you can't get far without a nice, sharp chef's knife. For most tasks I use a Global G2 and keep it sharp with waterstones and a MAC ceramic hone.

 

Yep. My gyutou is my favorite.

[gfweb]

OK. I still love the Breville and the ice maker.

 

But my 8" F. Dick chef's knife is critical.....and the digital fast-read thermometer...and a few choice pans.

 

The SV stuff is right behind...and the cuisinart miniprep

[rotuts]

OK   everybody is having 2d and 3d thoughts:

 

refrigerators, freezers, stoves  do not count

 

its easier that way.  in some areas they have to be supplied w the House or the Apartment.  good luck changing that !

 

Soo ....

 

after the BV-XL   ( F.D. : I have yet not managed to try the Cuisi-SteamBoy, its on Reserve )

 

Thermapen, and the Edge-Pro.  w/o the EP my global knives were so-so, difficult to sharpen on the various stones I have 'by hand'

 

now they are razor sharp and a joy to use.  I might add Very Sharp Knives

 

nor my espresso set up : AlexiaPID and K3 doserless grinder, w home roasting set up.

[lindag]

Yeah, I forgot about my two upright freezers; how would I survive without those?

And, of course, I love my little Braun automatic citrus juicer that I bought in 2004. I use a lot of lemons and limes and it's a real timesaver.

[Crouton]

My warming drawer will maintain a constant 250F without heating my kitchen or occupying my main oven. It's the ULTIMATE slow cooker. Everything from braises to roasts to stocks go in there. 

Edited May 6, 2014 by Crouton (log)