It's getting too easy. Kitchen Gadgets

[Holly Moore]

I have always felt a drop or two of sweat from a cook's brow adds a bit of soul and flavor to any dish. But the gadget manufacturers seem determined to remove all the actual labor from the kitchen.

Two recent cases in point.

The electric jar opener. No more rapping the side of a jar or trying to twist a top with wet or greasy hands. Just push a button and "psst" the most tenacious of jars pops open.

The electric grater. Say goodby to scraped knuckles, sore wrists. There is now a power driven grater that runs cheese or carrots back and forth, back and forth.

Coming soon, I'm sure, a kitchen robot programed to stir custards, separate eggs and scrub pots.

[winesonoma]

I have always felt a drop or two of sweat from a cook's brow adds a bit of soul and flavor to any dish.  But the gadget manufacturers seem determined to remove all the actual labor from the kitchen.

Two recent cases in point. 

The electric jar opener.  No more rapping the side of a jar or trying to twist a top with wet or greasy hands.  Just push a button and "psst" the most tenacious of jars pops open.

The electric grater.  Say goodby to scraped knuckles, sore wrists.  There is now a power driven grater that runs cheese or carrots back and forth, back and forth.

Coming soon, I'm sure, a kitchen robot programed to stir custards, separate eggs and scrub pots.

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You forget the electric pot stirrer. http://www.seefred.com/cgi-local/shop.pl/page=potstirrer.htm

[ladyyoung98]

ok maybe its just me but i for one have no regrets for the coming of the electric jar opener frankly...when it comes to opening a jar...i admit it im a weakling ...

i think there has been some major overkill when the lids were screwed on and tightened at the factory....no matter how hard i try i just cant seem to get the darn lids open on my own and for me its very frustrating...my fiance isnt around all the time to open the stupid jar for me

so lo and behold i went out and actually found some little gadgets that would help me open the damn lids on these killer jars...... they are not electric but they do work and now that there is something else on the market i can also use...im sure it will find its lovely way into my kitchen

an extra reason for the degree of satisfaction i find at knowing this help is out there is that several years ago at thanksgiving...i got a particulary tough pickle jar that just refused to budge no matter what i did

the water trick didnt work...beating it on the bottom didnt work..and for some godawful reason i couldnt even wedge the tip of a knife under the cap to pop the seal.....but what did wind up happening is that the jar wound up getting broke when it slipped out of my hands and hit the floor leaving a trail of shattered glass and dill pickles all over the place

so do i feel any pity or any kind of remorse at the loss of doing it the hard way......OH HELL NO........

and winesonoma...i did check out the site you posted....and while i will never ever puirchase one of those things...i have to admit the mans sense of humor and his gutsiness got me laughing..........

Edited December 5, 2004 by ladyyoung98 (log)

[Moopheus]

I have to say I laugh when I see these sorts of commercials that make it look like grating cheese or whatever is the most difficult task in the world.

I think Cook's Illustrated actually tested that stirrer and decided it wasn't really worth the money.

[winesonoma]

Go to the local hardware store and purchase a strap wrench and open anything.

[JAZ]

I have always felt a drop or two of sweat from a cook's brow adds a bit of soul and flavor to any dish.  But the gadget manufacturers seem determined to remove all the actual labor from the kitchen.

Two recent cases in point. 

The electric jar opener.  No more rapping the side of a jar or trying to twist a top with wet or greasy hands.  Just push a button and "psst" the most tenacious of jars pops open.

The electric grater.  Say goodby to scraped knuckles, sore wrists.  There is now a power driven grater that runs cheese or carrots back and forth, back and forth.

Coming soon, I'm sure, a kitchen robot programed to stir custards, separate eggs and scrub pots.

←

We get regular requests at the store for battery operated pepper mills, sifters and cheese graters. We carry the first two, but not the third.

My first thought was that they were silly. But 98 percent of the people who ask for them want them for elderly parents with arthritis. When you consider that, they don't seem so silly.

[hillvalley]

Jaz makes the beginning of a very good point. Those tools and gadgets that you think make cooking too easy allow those who need extra help in the kitchen gain freedoms you take for granted.

A lot of this is covered in the EGCI course Cooking with a Disability. Day One discusses how a fellow eG member has learned to make adaptations, using some of the tools your are complaining about, that allow her to continue to cook. The second part of Day Two discusses how people with cognitive and physical disabilities can learn how to cook. It also includes pictures of some utensils.

Yes, these gadgets make cooking much easier. And yes, some of them such as the automotic pepper grinder seem silly. Don't like it, then don't use them. But then don't use the escalator or remote control.

Sure, many of us around here love to chop our own garlic, grate our own cheese, etc. But, as has been said before, we are an anomaly. We live in an era where easier is better. Everything requires less work than it used to. Sure those who are able bodied don't have to work as hard, but those who face challenges you do not now have ways to make daily tasks that used to be impossible possible.

Lecture over. I now return you to your regularly scheduled thread.

[andiesenji]

I have one of the Stir-Chef things.

I bought it specifically for making lemon curd.

I am often involved in numerous things in the kitchen at the same time and since I can no longer stand and walk about constantly I can't jump back and forth the way I used to.

This contraption fits in my large double boiler and it stirs the lemon curd just enough to keep it from lumping up as it slowly thickens.

I like the kind that stays fairly creamy, instead of the stuff that sets like a lemon meringue pie.

I think it is nicer to spoon onto scones, etc.

It requires slow heating and much stirring.

Of course I am a major gadgeteer - I love gadgets just for the sake of the thoughtful and sometimes weird ideas that conceived them and I buy interesting or unusual ones even if I never use them.

I don't spend my money on cigarettes and not a lot on booze because I don't drink and I am not a big candy eater and I loathe most perfume so I spend my money on gadgets (and a few other interests).

I too believe that the more things that are available that make cooking and housekeeping easier for people with disabilities, the better the world will be.

My locksmith used to be a lineman with the power service but lost part of his arm in an accident on the job.

He has several attachments for his prothsesis, including a power tool that looks like it is out of Star Wars.

He has joked about inventing an automatic flapjack flipper that he can fit into the shaft because gripping some of the "ergonomic" handles on utensils doesn't work so well with the gripper he has. (I gave him one of my "vintage" spatulas, with a heavy wrapped wire handle, made in the 30s and it works perfectly and he can grip it firmly without it cracking as the plastic handles do.)

I told him that if he will build it, there will probably be people who will buy it. There just needs to be more universally available information about specialized utensils. It is better with the internet, but it could be better.

Edited December 5, 2004 by andiesenji (log)

[Mottmott]

Jaz makes the beginning of a very good point.  Those tools and gadgets that you think make cooking too easy allow those who need extra help in the kitchen gain freedoms you take for granted.

A lot of this is covered in the EGCI course Cooking with a Disability.  Day One discusses how a fellow eG member has learned to make adaptations, using some of the tools your are complaining about, that allow her to continue to cook.  The second part of Day Two discusses how people with cognitive and physical disabilities can learn how to cook.  It also includes pictures of some utensils.

Yes, these gadgets make cooking much easier.  And yes, some of them such as the automotic pepper grinder seem silly.  Don't like it, then don't use them. But then don't use the escalator or remote control. 

Sure, many of us around here love to chop our own garlic, grate our own cheese, etc.  But, as has been said before, we are an anomaly.  We live in an era where easier is better.  Everything requires less work than it used to.  Sure those who are able bodied don't have to work as hard, but those who face challenges you do not now have ways to make daily tasks that used to be impossible possible.

Lecture over.  I now return you to your regularly scheduled thread.

←

Ditto what you said. Some say, "If a thing's worth doing, it's worth doing well." I say, "If a thing's worth doing, it's worth doing any way you can - when the option is not doing it."

For many of us, the hand work, the prep work may be a source of pleasure in itself. And for some, doing it by hand may even be as quick as doing it by machine. It's not fair, though, to imply that those who don't do it that way are lazy, gadget obsessed, or somehow cheating the process. Everyone's situation is different.

My preference is do kitchen work by hand, but as my back and joints begin to have other preferences, I find compromises in order. Sure I can whip up a pint of cream or couple eggs as fast as the KA, but anything that can be done more quickly by the processor or KA not only get a nod from my back but from my shoulder. If I did it all by hand now, I'd do less cooking probably. I've even begun to use stainless stoveware (which I don't really like) because it is lighter and easier to clean than some other materials.

Aside from that, there's the time factor. If I can cuiz grate or mince something faster than do it by hand, that allows me to do something else that the machine simply won't do as well. In my case the time is not so much an issue, but a working mother of small children may have a better back than I do but not the time.

[andiesenji]

Sometimes doing a job a different way results in a better end product.

For many years I sliced cucumbers for my bread and butter pickles on the mandoline (Bron).

Then one year I had a problem with my right elbow and right shoulder after doing something stupid.

There was no way I could even hold my arm out away from my body, much less grasp and push a cucumber across the mandoline.

So I put the thin slicing blade in the big Cuisinart and, wow! was that fast. I had 12 quarts of slices in hardly any time at all. The only chore was dumping the full processor bowl into the bucket with the salt and the ice.

The slices were much thinner.

Everyone loved the pickles made this way, still do, wondered why I hadn't done this years before. The pickles are easier to add to sandwiches, they stick to the filling instead of sliding out.

It was serendipity.

[Dani Mc]

With the exception of the biggies (food processor, blender, standmixer, mandoline, etc.), I don't really go for gadgets. As I've only been serious about cooking for 3 years or so, there is still much for me to learn, especially technique. I like to do things by hand until I feel I understand the process, and can produce consistently good results. Knife skills, especially. Once I have it down, I'll use the processor or the mandoline to save time.

I also have to consider the size of my kitchen. Unfortunately, I don't have the space for a ton of stuff, so what I do buy has to be absolutely necessary.

I'm not against gadgets, I think they're neat, and I understand that they make cooking possible for people who might otherwise have trouble in the kitchen, I just personally wouldn't use most of them.

[NulloModo]

Hmmm, I use an electric peppermill. I didn't specifially seek it out, but it was $5 at a local Mikasa going out of business sale, making it the cheapest peppermill I could find. I would prefer a manual one that I could get more ground pepper out of faster, but it works, and for $5 I won't complain.

[Moopheus]

My first thought was that they were silly. But 98 percent of the people who ask for them want them for elderly parents with arthritis. When you consider that, they don't seem so silly.

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Actually, I get that there are probably people who genuinely benefit from these things, for various reasons. It's just they they're marketed that strikes me as absurd. They're trying to convince everyone who sees the ad that these functions are just intrinsically really difficult.

[lovebenton0]

There are many things I used to do strictly by hand that I can no longer handle on lots of days. When I can I do, when I can't I either have had to find an alternative way, including gadgets, and utilizing specific tools for new purposes, or not be able to cook what I wanted to. Hey, when you think about it most people don't really need a pizza cutter either! But it sure makes it easier and better to use one. I've adapted that to use for thick slicing vegetables and potatatoes. Not an option on my food processor, thin is great there. But when I can't safely use a knife the old pizza wheel comes in handy.

I don't have a KA or any kind of mixer -- wish I did, but I don't right now -- so I still mix and knead bread by hand. But more power to anyone that uses the dough hook available to them! Can you imagine what it would take for your fav restaurant with a baker/pastry chef (or your fav bakery) to hand mix and knead all the dough for everything they need to produce? It just wouldn't be happening. No complaint there, though, eh?

So, as one with disabilities, I have to say yeah! for the gadgets that I need to use. As far as marketing goes -- consider the awkwardness of prefacing ads with "If you are a person with disabilities, just don't have time to do it "right," or could care less about the process . . . " Get the idea?

[Andrew Fenton]

I'm sitting here with a belly full of fettucine that I made using the Kitchenaid pasta roller that arrived in the mail yesterday. Sure, I could have made it by hand (I've done that) and I could have made it in a hand-cranked pasta roller (I've done that too). But this is way is markedly easier and faster than either of those ways; it makes a better product than I could get by hand; and, unlike the hand-cranked machine, it only takes two hands, not three, so I can do it by myself.

[snowangel]

So, as one with disabilities, I have to say yeah! for the gadgets that I need to use. As far as marketing goes -- consider the awkwardness of prefacing ads with "If you are a person with disabilities, just don't have time to do it "right," or could care less about the process . . . " Get the idea?

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I can do just about everything I need to do by hand. I am strong, I have good hands, a good back, good vision, good hearing, no aches and pains. I also have a 10 year old toddler, and things in the kitchen, given that I only have two hands, are not always easy to handle. Bring on the easy gadgets. It makes it easier for me to be a parent of a profoundly mentally retarded child, and it makes it safer for Heidi. The end result is the same. So what if the process is easier and safer?

[jgarner53]

While I can see the value of these gadgets for people with disabilities, I still have to question the electric grater. Why? A food processor will do that, plus a hundred other things that an electric grater couldn't. I don't have a lot of gadgets that do just one thing because I'm blessed with good health and reasonable strength, and I don't have a lot of room for storing things either. So when I evaluate a new gadget, one of the main questions I have to ask is, "What else could it do? Do I have something else that could work at least as well?"

[lovebenton0]

Coming soon, I'm sure, a kitchen robot programed to stir custards, separate eggs and scrub pots.

I don't think many chefs are scrubbing pots these days! But damn, man! I'll take one of those pot scrubbers!

[cakewalk]

I think there is a lot of benefit in doing things by hand at least once. I mean in terms of learning what it takes for foods to "change form." For example, whipping egg whites by hand can take a while, but it does give a certain appreciation of what is happening that doesn't necessarily come when whipping egg whites with "electronic help." HOWEVER, once is enough! I mean, once you get it, then you get it. Thereafter, I'm all for the electronic help.

[jgm]

Okay, I'd like to hear some opinions on an appliance I saw at Target this morning. It's a mashed potato maker. I think the box says you can also steam other vegetables in it.

You still have to peel and slice the potatoes. You still have to add water. But this appliance steams the potatoes and apparently then whips them with some beaters I believe I saw in the picture on the box.

The only appliance I can think of that is stupider than this is the hotdog maker. You put hotdogs in certain slots and buns in other slots, and in a minute or so you have a heated hot dog and bun. The only reason I can think of to have this around, is if you have children who are hungry when they get home from school ... it'll be an hour or so before there's an adult in the house... and you don't want the kids using the stove and you don't have a microwave.

Weigh in on this weighty matter, eGulleters.

[andiesenji]

I had a hotdogger when my kids were at home because at that time I had a Garland range and I didn't want them using it when I wasn't around until they got old enough to understand how to use it safely.

I had several electric appliances that the kids could use safely without burning the house down and while it may have appeared stupid, it worked and they thought it was fun to use and even cleaned up after themselves!

Even better, they all became interested in preparing food and became excellent cooks in their own right (as well as a few of their friends from the neighborhood whose mothers were not very handy in the kitchen).

Sometimes it takes just a little nudge to get a young person interested in cooking and in my opinion, anything that keeps kids occupied and out of trouble, is worth every penny spent on it.

[jgm]

I'm glad to hear there is a good reason for having some of these things around. But other than having them used by children, they just seem to be another way for people not to learn to cook.

I am a gadget person myself, but I try to evaluate the usefulness of the items before I buy them. I do have a battery-operated pepper grinder, for example, but I also have arthritis in my hands and there are times it's just a godsend. But the little light that comes on, so that you can see how much pepper you've used, turns a useful item into one that's also really cool. I can understand, though, why people who have healthy, strong hands would consider it to be utterly ridiculous.