Ikea's kitchen goods

[prasantrin]

I have also tried using hot water but it only melted the ice cube  .  I think the trays were a good idea but not really practical...

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Do you run the hot water over the backs of the trays or the tops? If tops, try running it over the backs--you don't even have to use hot water. Just lukewarm or even cold works (as long as it's not too cold). Just don't forget to put a hand under the icecubes, or they'll all end up in the sink!

[Tough Cookie]

I have also tried using hot water but it only melted the ice cube  .  I think the trays were a good idea but not really practical...

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Do you run the hot water over the backs of the trays or the tops? If tops, try running it over the backs--you don't even have to use hot water. Just lukewarm or even cold works (as long as it's not too cold). Just don't forget to put a hand under the icecubes, or they'll all end up in the sink!

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I had used hot water over the backs of the trays but the timing is tricky - too long, the ice cube melts and too short, you need some brute force to pluck the ice cubes out. The shapes are cute but too much work for a couple of ice cubes - the soft rubber is not meant to shape ice!

[oraklet]

the ikea 365+ pots and pans are not bad at all. just stay away from the non-stick.

they've lately started producing some enameled cast iron that looks nice. haven't tried it, though.

their end-grain cutting boards are very good.

"svalka" glasses are all right. so are storing boxes and mixing bowls.

what really sucks: their knives, their cheap cutting boards and their balloon whisks.

[_john]

I don't know if they still have them but IKEA used to sell these ceramic spice grinders that look like medicine capsules. They were either orange or beige on top and black on the bottom. They are great because they are really easy to grip and they have an adjustable grind. I imported mine to Japan, I like them that much.

[donbert]

I would agree with the responses above.  The only item I would advise to skip are the plastic "cute shapes" ice cube trays.  I have yet to get the ice cubes out without breaking my fingers - if anyone has a tip, please forward them on!

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I don't know about the "cute shapes" but I use the large blue ikea ice trays for making the perfect size cubes for cocktails. To get them out of the tray you just slide a dull butter knife along the sides then push on the bottom to pop them out.

[Rehovot]

I keep eyeing Ikea's kitchen stuff, but haven't bought anything, yet. I'm glad someone started this thread.

I do know that whenever I go to browse, the majority of the people in the returns line are holding pans and woks...minus handles.

[fifi]

The one thing, kitchen-wise, that I go to Ikea for is the stainless steel utensils. I have done this for my own kitchen and for gifts. The spatulas, whisks, spoons, etc. are high quality and really cheap. We are talking about $3-5 USD for things that would be $15-20 USD in other shops. The glasses that snowangel linked are another foavorite.

As to the kitchen stuff . . . The cabinets are tried and true. My builder would use them if he didn't do his own anyway. He actually has studied the Ikea choice of hardware and such to improve what he does. The cabinets are the best value going in the North American market.

[cocoagirl]

I re-did my kitchen in my condo with Ikea cabinets 7 years ago. They are beautiful and sturdy with great hardware. The guy who did my kitchen said they were a piece of work to put together though.

[torakris]

I am glad to hear about the cabinets. My husband and I spent some time looking at their kitchens as we are planning to build a house within the next 2 years. Japanese kitchens are incredibly expensive and I was quite surprised to see how low the price was at Ikea.

They would go quite nicely in the Sweden House we were looking at.

New question,

How often does Ikea bring in new things?

Since everyone seems to be commenting on many of the same things, these obviously are always there. Do they bring in a lot of seasonal stuff?

[fifi]

They seem to bring in a flurry of new things once a year about the time they publish the new catalog. Then they put in new things for the summer "outdoor" season and again for the holidays. The "old favorites" hang around forever . . . which is a good thing. I bought a Lack table for a guest room some years ago and would now like to have another. They still have it. I can count on them for the utensils, also.

They also have some enticing glassware that I fall for everytime. If they break . . . who cares. I also pick up cutting boards when I am there. When they warp or crack (usually after a couple of years) I just get more.

On the cabinets . . . We have a topic here somewhere where we discussed them in great detail. I did a lot of comparison shopping while the house was being designed. If my builder doesn't custom build (he has another company does that kind of work) he says that he would go with the Ikea. He likes them very much. For reasons I don't really understand, he uses the same type of construction as Ikea for cabinetry that he custom builds.

[Fat Guy]

What I love the most about IKEA's kitchen stuff is that it gives me so many little IKEA friends to talk to. Every morning when I walk through the kitchen I say hello to ALFONS, my favorite dining-room chair. ELLY and LYDIA, my dishtowels and placemats respectively, are always there for me. I love both big REDA and little REDA, two mixing bowls -- medium REDA went MIA after I took her to a party and she got left behind. There's my faithful trivet, SNILLRIK, and my cheap but beloved frying pan, the unfortunately named SKANKA. And I hope I never have to choose between my three favorite potholders: IRIS, AMALIA and LISBET.

[Gifted Gourmet]

Last summer, Ikea had a sale and my husband and I went shopping there .. he wanted, but never bought himself, something to hold his expanding tea collection ... I wanted glass bowls for my mis en place and a new knife... and this was the result:

Definitely worth our visit to Ikea! Their sales are wonderful!

[Chris Amirault]

What I love the most about IKEA's kitchen stuff is that it gives me so many little IKEA friends to talk to. Every morning when I walk through the kitchen I say hello to ALFONS, my favorite dining-room chair. ELLY and LYDIA, my dishtowels and placemats respectively, are always there for me. I love both big REDA and little REDA, two mixing bowls -- medium REDA went MIA after I took her to a party and she got left behind. There's my faithful trivet, SNILLRIK, and my cheap but beloved frying pan, the unfortunately named SKANKA. And I hope I never have to choose between my three favorite potholders: IRIS, AMALIA and LISBET.

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STOP YELLING!

[Dave Hatfield]

There's a whole kitchen thread that I started last year somewhere on the site, but I can't find it any more.

Anyway, the IKEA kitchen cabinet innards are great! A pain to put together until you figure out their cryptic diagrams, but easy once you do.

What we did was to use IKEA cabinets, BUT not their doors. We simply chose the cheapest doors, never unpacked them & took them back and got credit.

We had a local cabinet maker do doors to our specification. In our case solid oak with a simple pattern. We saved a ton of money compared to custom cabinets. Our guy said that he couldn't build cabinet bodies of that quality at anywhere near that price.

Here's couple of pictures of the result:

We also find that the glasses, paper napkins & bed linens are bargains.

[tomtom11]

I recently bought a big potatoe press (shaped as a x-large garlic press). Works fine with me, gives nice mashes.

Also the frying pan (heavy bottom) works very good. I rather use a cheaper mediocre one then a very good expensive one (because of way of handling and cleaning). Mixing bowls are fabulous.

The cheese knife is really bad. After 2-3 times in the dishwasher it turned into stainfull steel (rust).

Other knives are too light if u ask me.

I like the plates and stuff. I could spent hours buying this stuff. Don't know were to leave in my house though (and my wife would kill me if I would come home again with new kitchen stuff).

I also went for their dinner (fries with balls). I'll never do that again. What a disgusting food!

(The Netherlands)

Tom

[LBNoble]

I love IKEA-we're pretty close to one, & although I don't go as often as I used to, I still check in every 2-3 months. My favorites-multicolored plastic kids dishes that we've had forever, nonstick skillets, mixing bowls, odd shaped ceramic bowls & plates, tealights, rag rugs, small shelves & magazine holders, dishtowels, comforter covers & curtains...I guess I could go on & on, but you get the point. We also love to go to the cafe & get meatballs for lunch!

[Jensen]

The last time I was at Ikea, I picked up two spatulas. I thought they were silicone but now I'm not so sure.

I made some Dutch sugar bread before Christmas and grabbed one to loosen the sugary sides of the bread before turning them out of the pan. The heat of the sugar made bits of the rubber to fall off.

Yum! (not...LOL)

[BekkiM]

Ahhh... Ikea....

I spent Christmas in Michigan with the in-laws and one of the few redeeming points of the visit (with apologies to people from Michigan who actually *like* living somewhere grey and flat) was our visit to Ikea. Husband and 9-year-old son weren't nearly as enthralled as I was, so the visit was a bit hurried, but it was still wonderful. Yes, many items are not very durable, but I love the design, the quirkiness, the low prices, and the hidden gems.

I came home with a stainless steel mixing bowl (can never have too many of those and since husband tends to use them to water the dog after which I'm a little queasy about cooking in them, I always need a few more), a stainless steel tall collander, some lavender candles, and a meat-pounder (that will be used almost exclusively for crushing candy for cookies). I liked the 365+ dishware, but decided I could order that from home and let them package it for shipping, as well as the planters, lamps, and wineracks.

I haven't used the cabinets and am glad to hear that they hold up well. We've got a few places in the basement that could use built-in storage and I'm hoping I can find Ikea pieces to fit.

The good news is that Denver is scheduled to get an Ikea--the bad news is that it isn't until 2010 or some such. But I'm willing to wait. I just loooooove the place!

[Toliver]

Sorry to revive an old thread, but IKEA seems to have a problem with their stainless steel bowls:

"IKEA is investigating a claim that its stainless steel mixing bowls can light food on fire"

There's a short video in the article showing paper being lit on fire inside the bowl.

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IKEA is reportedly now investigating the claim that sunlight reflecting off the bowl's surface can start fires. 

"We take this information very seriously and will now investigate what happened," an Ikea spokesperson told Aftonbladet.

Hey, IKEA, it's called a "parabolic reflector". Just redesign the bowl with a matte finish inside the bowl and you should be good.

Or if anyone wants to make some home-made solar reflectors, start in the kitchen goods department at IKEA. 

[gulator]

Interesting post, Just saw the wall-mounted drying rack for the sausages !  Cool !

So, looked at the Ikea site and then found a (what i think is also a quality 'food' rack) for pasta and sausages  sturdy and stainless-steel wall mounted rack . So, still thinking about which one Being more expensive. But , then was just wondering about amazon in Japan ?  can you order over there ? i know for a fact that in europe it's no problem, but Japan? just asking the question

[lemniscate]

Well, I went to my local IKEA yesterday, specifically to obtain the BLANDA (parabolic reflector) bowls because I like to solar cook.   I thought I would experiment with the newly found capabilities.  However, the BLANDA bowls, in all sizes except the tiny ones were off the shelves and out-of-stock.   Either IKEA pulled them or like minded people like me bought them all, I don't know.  But they seem to be gone to the public at the moment.

 

[MSRadell]

On 6/24/2017 at 4:33 PM, lemniscate said:

Well, I went to my local IKEA yesterday, specifically to obtain the BLANDA (parabolic reflector) bowls because I like to solar cook.   I thought I would experiment with the newly found capabilities.  However, the BLANDA bowls, in all sizes except the tiny ones were off the shelves and out-of-stock.   Either IKEA pulled them or like minded people like me bought them all, I don't know.  But they seem to be gone to the public at the moment.

 

After reading your post I did a quick search to see what those bowls looked like. Interesting enough I found them on Amazon and they have availability of them in several sizes. Thought that might help you in your search. Ikea Blanda Blank Serving Bowl, 11-inch, Stainless Steel

Edited June 26, 2017 by Smithy
Adjusted link to be Amazon-friendly (log)

[Lisa Shock]

Ikea ran a sale on the bowls about a month ago, and I picked up some via mail order. (two each of 5", 8", 11" plus shipping was about $31) Like everything else, there were only 3 sizes available to purchase online. They used to have, or maybe they are only available in-store, tiny ones sold in a 4-pack, and a large one that's about 14" across the top. I would guess they have voluntarily pulled them, fire being fairly serious and all....

 

Now, I see many have found their way onto eBay, and at more than 3x the original price.

Edited June 26, 2017 by Lisa Shock (log)