Indispensable Kitchen Gadgets

[stillshimpy]

I've got this urge to get a waffle maker.

Any suggestions that fall in line with a social service salary.....

I've got a cuisinart Belgian Waffle maker and really like it.  I've had it for ages too.  

 

One thing to keep in mind, is that waffle makers tend to be thick on the ground at thrift, goodwill and Savers stores.  Just a frequently donated item and sometimes you can find things new in the box.  There are a lot of popular wedding presents that end up on those shelves, having never been used (but apparently un-returnable) .  

 

Just something to consider if price is going to dictate your choice a great deal, you can find higher end makers for less on both ebay and at thrift stores.  

[JTMacc99]

That's a really good idea!

 

On a different topic, my 15 year-old Weber gas grill was in need of several replacement parts at the end of last year. I needed to put in a new gas line, new grates, and I had to do a bunch of work to shore up the cart, which had started to fall apart on me. So I set aside some money by cheaping out on myself for Christmas and my birthday, and my brand new Weber grill was just delivered an hour ago. (I got the copper color, which matches my kettle grill. I'm Mr. Fancy pants with the matching grills now.)

 

I've been stockpiling meat in anticipation.  I'm also going to get some zucchini and some mushrooms and pretend it's mid-summer this weekend.

[ethalfrida]

Just got my set of ceramic knives. I have one I bought about three or four years ago and it was so sharp that in its old age it equals the shrpness of my older metal knives. So I thought I'd get a new one and found a set for the price of the single knife.

[stillhere1900]

I bought a spiralizer and I love this thing.  I have been making  'zoodles like crazy .This morning was the first time i've tried to spiralize egg plant. It just wouldn't work. :-(

 

Anyone else here use one ?

[auntlada]

What is it? Why would one use one?

[stillhere1900]

spiralizer.com.au

[KicksandGiggles]

LOL - I have one. It's still in the box.

One of these days I really will use all of the gadgets I am storing.

[stillhere1900]

I'm a vegetarian, so I'm always trying to find ways to make my fruits & veggies interesting. lol 

[KicksandGiggles]

Does any one have an Herb Saver Pod? Such as this:

http://www.surlatable.com/product/PRO-1524628/

I would love to be able to keep my fresh herbs longer, but would like to find out if anyone has/or would recommend this?

[Quof]

I've used a similar device, not that specific brand.  Not worth the expense in my experience.  Just wash and dry your herbs, wrap loosely in damp paper towel and put in an unsealed baggie.

[KicksandGiggles]

Thank you Quof. You saved me $29.95 + tax + S&H. :-)

[MargeGunderson]

Does any one have an Herb Saver Pod? Such as this:

http://www.surlatable.com/product/PRO-1524628/

I would love to be able to keep my fresh herbs longer, but would like to find out if anyone has/or would recommend this?

I like them; I think they do make my herbs last a longer. But I think the key is the water in the bottom, so you could probably rig up something similar with a jar with water in the bottom covered with a plastic bag.

[Bastet]

That's how I store asparagus -- in a little bit of water, with a plastic bag loosely covering.  Are these pod things pretty much airtight?  (I can't tell from looking at the picture.)  I would think that would create too much humidity.

[Maharincess]

Has anybody tried the Hamilton Beach Breakfast Sandwich Maker? I really want to get one. I love making sausage/egg muffins but it's so much work and I'm too lazy to do it for lunch too often.

It has decent reviews but I'm not sure yet, it's not too expensive so if I don't like it I guess it won't be too bad.

[mansonlamps]

Has anybody tried the Hamilton Beach Breakfast Sandwich Maker? I really want to get one. I love making sausage/egg muffins but it's so much work and I'm too lazy to do it for lunch too often.

It has decent reviews but I'm not sure yet, it's not too expensive so if I don't like it I guess it won't be too bad.

I also covet the Hamilton Beach breakfast sandwich maker. The main reason I don't buy it is I'm not sure if the English muffin actually gets toasted or just heated up. I used to own the West Bend breakfast sandwich toaster and it worked really great, but I melted it (don't ask). Now they only sell the four slice I think and it's not only too expensive but also looks pretty huge.

[kj4ever]

I thought I'd start a topic for our favorite kitchen gadgets and/or appliances.

I think my Kitchenaid tops the list because I just love to bake.  The other that I just couldn't live without is my Instant Pot.  I use it at least 4 times a week and the results are always fast and delicious!

[Spunkygal]

Scroll further down the FOOD page and you'll see a forum for Indispensible Kitchen Gadgets.

[JTMacc99]

I forgot about this thread. Interestingly one of my goals today is to get an ice cream scooper that is between the two I own. I've gotten really used to using them to make quick work of meatballs and cookies and want to fill in the gap. 

If you golf, it's a lot like having one wedge you hit 90 yards and one you hit 125. Life would be a lot easier if you get one that goes 105-110. 

[Athena]

4 hours ago, kj4ever said:

I thought I'd start a topic for our favorite kitchen gadgets and/or appliances.

I think my Kitchenaid tops the list because I just love to bake.  The other that I just couldn't live without is my Instant Pot.  I use it at least 4 times a week and the results are always fast and delicious!

Hi, I merged your topic with Indispensable Kitchen Gadgets. Enjoy!

[kj4ever]

1 hour ago, Athena said:

Hi, I merged your topic with Indispensable Kitchen Gadgets. Enjoy!

Thanks Athena, I didn't see it :)

[JTMacc99]

What's an Insant Pot @kj4ever?

[ShellSeeker]

@JTMacc99, an Instant Pot is primarily an electric pressure cooker, but you can use it as a slow cooker too, plus a bunch of other stuff. My husband got me one for Christmas and I absolutely love it. It took me a bit to overcome my fear of blowing up my kitchen, but now that I have, I use it at least once a week. It makes perfect rice. You can also cook dried beans in no time at all, and I did pulled pork in about 90 minutes, which usually takes all day in the crock pot. 

He also got me a fancy 360 Cookware Kitchen Cutter (here) which also a really cool thing that I use at least once a week. 

[JTMacc99]

Oh! I have a rice cooker, which rocks, and an ordinary stove top pressure cooker that I use to make chicken stock occasionally. 

I've looked at electric ones and think I would use it more often if I had one. 

[kj4ever]

I make some of the best Italian beef sandwiches I have ever had in my Instant Pot.  Love it for Polenta and it actually makes decent risotto minus the stirring.  

The banana nut bread I make in it is to die for!  Search Facebook for Instant Pot and they have a HUGE group with tons and tons of great recipes!

[JTMacc99]

@DeLurker carrying this over from the other thread, I like these from Doghouse Forge. There are less expensive places and lots and lots of more expensive ones.  My birthday present to myself is in the mail as we speak. 

[AimingforYoko]

Does anyone own or have an opinion on Air Fryers?

[ariel]

59 minutes ago, JTMacc99 said:

@DeLurker carrying this over from the other thread, I like these from Doghouse Forge. There are less expensive places and lots and lots of more expensive ones.  My birthday present to myself is in the mail as we speak. 

Those are beautiful knives.  Happy Birthday!

[rcc]

1 hour ago, AimingforYoko said:

Does anyone own or have an opinion on Air Fryers?

I'd like to hear about them too. They're all over the shopping channels and I don't know which one is the best and if they are worth the purchase.

[FormerMod-a1]

I have 2nd hand knowledge on Air Fryers.  2 of my friends have them and love them so much I have decided to buy one (I just haven't gotten around to it yet).

[Lisin]

On 2/24/2017 at 4:27 PM, AimingforYoko said:

Does anyone own or have an opinion on Air Fryers?

22 hours ago, rcc said:

I'd like to hear about them too. They're all over the shopping channels and I don't know which one is the best and if they are worth the purchase.

We were given one at Christmas and it does a really excellent job of heating up frozen fries, shrimp, mozzarella sticks, chicken fingers and that sort of thing. We have not used it for any homemade things yet and while I see tons of recipes for baking like, muffins or cakes in it I can't understand how that's easier than an oven. You can only fit like 3 muffins in it at a time so it seems tedious to me when I can make 48 in one go in the oven. But that being said it really does a great job "frying" things. You can't use anything battered though. Only breaded if that makes sense. 

 

[Lisin]

2 hours ago, forumfish said:

 Good to know about the battered vs breaded restriction. I'd guess that it heats the surface to crispiness faster than it cooks the inside, so battered items would still be gooey inside? Or maybe not, if it bakes cupcakes. Hmm … once I get over this allergy mess, I'll have to unbox ours and give it a good workout.

Sorry, I wasn't clear enough, I think if you had some frozen battered things that would work, but you can't do raw battered things like, funnel cake or beer battered or things or corn dogs etc. you make yourself because it doesn't cook the outside fast enough to give you a crust. Basically the batter would just all fall through basket. But now I'm wondering if I froze funnel cake batter if THAT would work... hmm... 

[annzeepark914]

I would say the two indispensable kitchen gadgets to me are my Cuisinart food processor and my Braun set (immersion blender, attachable whisk, and a very small processor with tiny blades (someone else mentioned theirs a few pages back).  Whenever I get these items out, I'm so appreciative that they were invented!

[Bastet]

4 hours ago, annzeepark914 said:

my Braun set (immersion blender, attachable whisk, and a very small processor with tiny blades

I have that, but I don't think I've ever used it as anything other than an immersion blender. 

[chessiegal]

My Community Outreach group makes breakfast casseroles for out local homeless shelter 3 times each winter - 6 banquet size pans each time. Each casserole requires 4 dozen beaten eggs. When I first started helping, we whipped the eggs in a KitchenAid stand mixer, and it took awhile to get them properly mixed. One day someone said - oh, use an immersion blender, and our lives have been changed forever. That puppy whips up 4 dozen eggs in nothing flat!

[larapu2000]

I love those citrus peel tools.  It really does get down to business and makes peeling an orange 100 times easier.  I often avoid buying oranges because they're such a pain, but between this thing and those easy peel Cuties, I'm back to obsessing over citrus.

Citrus Peeler

And hells to the yeah on the immersion blender.  I've also used it whip small amounts of cream instead of getting the ol' stand mixer dirty.  

[annzeepark914]

On 2/27/2017 at 4:28 PM, Bastet said:

I have that, but I don't think I've ever used it as anything other than an immersion blender. 

I recently used the whisk for the first time.  Needed to really whip up some egg yolks so I decided to try it.  Did a great job.  I love putting Italian parsley, cilantro, slivered almonds, some dressings, in the little processor.  No hauling out the heavy Cuisinart FP--so easy and quick.  My stepdaughter and I gave each other this set for Xmas quite a few years ago and we both love it. 

[Bastet]

8 hours ago, larapu2000 said:

Citrus Peeler

I have one like that, and we had one when I was a kid, so I've never peeled an orange any other way.  In fact, mine is from the '70s; my mom had two, so I stole one when I moved out: those reviews about "they don't make them like they used to" -- I must have one of the ones made how they used to.  It has certainly lasted a long time.  I use it to divide the peel into four sections, and then it's so easy to take off.

[Mittengirl]

Make sure you save the peels to make chocolate-covered candied orange peels.  Yum!

[JTMacc99]

So from my birthday, I've got a couple of $50 visa gift cards from my kids and a $100 check from my dad burning a hole in my pocket. As I mentioned earlier, I treated myself to a knife with my own money for my birthday, (it's really beautiful and razor sharp by the way) and now I'm thinking about doubling down on cooking stuff and adding a Weber Smokey Mountain Cooker Smoker to my home. I've been smoking things on my kettle grill for the last couple of years and have come up with methods that work pretty well, but require tinkering and often finishing up the last couple hours in the oven inside. Not that it isn't awesome to have my whole house smell like a roadside BBQ stand in southern Georgia, but it's not really ideal.

I've got a lot of positive reviews from my friends who own one of these suckers, I've seen them in heavy use at legitimate BBQ competitions, and the Amazon rating is something like 4.7/5.  So it's just a matter of which size do I get.  The big one is completely too large for my needs and thought I would want the 18.5 over the 14.5 inch model.  Just because it sounds right.  But I've been reading up on it, and it looks like you could cook a 10 pound piece of pork on the top shelf and two chickens on the bottom shelf of the 14.5 model. Given that I'm cooking for myself and maybe a couple other people, I generally don't cook more than 1 chicken at a time.  The only downside is that I might have to cut the slab of St. Louis ribs in half to fit it correctly.

The upside is that the 14.5 seems to work exactly as well as the 18.5, it uses less fuel, and is $199 versus $299.  So I think a decision has been made.

It's killing me to know that I'm going to go get this thing tomorrow morning and the weather for the weekend says highs of 24 and 27. Not only that, but for the next 15 days, just cold followed by more cold. That's crap. I'm going to need to read up on "Using your WSM cooker in cold weather" because I'm not waiting.

Edited March 10, 2017 by JTMacc99

[DeLurker]

I was just picking some stuff up at Home Depot or Lowe's and almost bought the Chargriller Akorn Kamado Jr. myself.  I've been waffling on that trying to decide if I should buy the jr or the regular sized one.  Or not buy one at all.  But I really really want one.

[JTMacc99]

1 hour ago, DeLurker said:

I was just picking some stuff up at Home Depot or Lowe's and almost bought the Chargriller Akorn Kamado Jr. myself.  I've been waffling on that trying to decide if I should buy the jr or the regular sized one.  Or not buy one at all.  But I really really want one.

My friends with kamado grills LOVE them. 

[theredhead77]

On 3/10/2017 at 8:23 AM, JTMacc99 said:

So from my birthday, I've got a couple of $50 visa gift cards from my kids and a $100 check from my dad burning a hole in my pocket. As I mentioned earlier, I treated myself to a knife with my own money for my birthday, (it's really beautiful and razor sharp by the way) and now I'm thinking about doubling down on cooking stuff and adding a Weber Smokey Mountain Cooker Smoker to my home. I've been smoking things on my kettle grill for the last couple of years and have come up with methods that work pretty well, but require tinkering and often finishing up the last couple hours in the oven inside. Not that it isn't awesome to have my whole house smell like a roadside BBQ stand in southern Georgia, but it's not really ideal.

SNIP

It's killing me to know that I'm going to go get this thing tomorrow morning and the weather for the weekend says highs of 24 and 27. Not only that, but for the next 15 days, just cold followed by more cold. That's crap. I'm going to need to read up on "Using your WSM cooker in cold weather" because I'm not waiting.

If you just used Amazon Prime and sent it to my place then purchased airfare you could be BBQing in 75ish degree weather.

[spiderpig]

On 3/10/2017 at 10:23 AM, JTMacc99 said:

So from my birthday, I've got a couple of $50 visa gift cards from my kids and a $100 check from my dad burning a hole in my pocket. As I mentioned earlier, I treated myself to a knife with my own money for my birthday, (it's really beautiful and razor sharp by the way) and now I'm thinking about doubling down on cooking stuff and adding a Weber Smokey Mountain Cooker Smoker to my home. I've been smoking things on my kettle grill for the last couple of years and have come up with methods that work pretty well, but require tinkering and often finishing up the last couple hours in the oven inside. Not that it isn't awesome to have my whole house smell like a roadside BBQ stand in southern Georgia, but it's not really ideal.

 

Wow - Mr. pig got a choice from a reward catalog for his 40th company anniversary.  We ordered something similar, but not a Weber.  We adore it!  I can't say I've used it personally, because I find it such fun to watch Mr. pig when he goes into mancave/hunter/provider mode.

We order stuff like quail and wild boar from D'Artagnan and he goes at it like he's splitting the atom.  I sit back with the dog and praise him excessively.

 

I'm prepared to endure the slings and arrows of fellow home chefs, but I love my Krups egg cooker, and you will have to pry it out of my cold dead hands.

I'm aware that humans have been cooking eggs since time immemorial, but I could never hard boil them without at least one cracking and oozing into the pot water.  

This little gem lets you hard-boil, soft-boil and poach perfectly.  I sent one to my extremely hard-to-please sister and she loves it like her luggage.

[JTMacc99]

@spiderpig I never considered smoking stuff like that. Given that the pig (no offense) is so readily available and delicious. 

I should take a photo of the box in my garage and the two feet of snow in the background to paint the picture of my dilemma right now. 

[Wings]

1 hour ago, spiderpig said:

I'm prepared to endure the slings and arrows of fellow home chefs, but I love my Krups egg cooker, and you will have to pry it out of my cold dead hands.

I'm aware that humans have been cooking eggs since time immemorial, but I could never hard boil them without at least one cracking and oozing into the pot water.  

This little gem lets you hard-boil, soft-boil and poach perfectly.  I sent one to my extremely hard-to-please sister and she loves it like her luggage.

LMAO @ loves it like her luggage!!!

[spiderpig]

3 minutes ago, JTMacc99 said:

@spiderpig I never considered smoking stuff like that. Given that the pig (no offense) is so readily available and delicious. 

I should take a photo of the box in my garage and the two feet of snow in the background to paint the picture of my dilemma right now. 

Aw - we're on the west coast and the temp is in the 70s (though we're both from back east and grew up with snow up to our yingyang).

We love to torture our families over the Christmas/New Year's holidays with descriptions of our succulent barbecues.

[MargeGunderson]

2 hours ago, spiderpig said:

I'm prepared to endure the slings and arrows of fellow home chefs, but I love my Krups egg cooker, and you will have to pry it out of my cold dead hands.

I'm aware that humans have been cooking eggs since time immemorial, but I could never hard boil them without at least one cracking and oozing into the pot water.  

This little gem lets you hard-boil, soft-boil and poach perfectly.  I sent one to my extremely hard-to-please sister and she loves it like her luggage.

I must check this out. I love eggs in all forms but am sometimes challenged when poaching and hard-boiling. (Bonus points for the Steel Magnolias reference!)

[JTMacc99]

Hard boiling I've got down pat. Put them in a covered saucepan. Cover with cold water. Heat to a rolling boil, at which point set the timer for two minutes. Turn off heat and set the timer for 15 minutes. Then drain them off cooling with some cold water. Done. 

Never even attempted poaching, and it's been a long, long time since I attempted a soft-boil, even though I like them that way. It's probably the way sometimes they are underdone and sometimes they are overdone, and both are super disappointing.  So I can see why a gadget that eliminates that problem would be loved.

And as long as I'm in this thread, I also finally broke down and bought a kitchen vacuum sealer. The final straw was when I pulled some ground beef out of my freezer, which had been properly wrapped in freezer paper by the way, and when I thawed it out it was still freezer burned and off. What a waste.

Edited March 16, 2017 by JTMacc99

[spiderpig]

1 hour ago, MargeGunderson said:

I must check this out. I love eggs in all forms but am sometimes challenged when poaching and hard-boiling. (Bonus points for the Steel Magnolias reference!)

Olympia Dukakis.  Love her!

[spiderpig]

8 minutes ago, JTMacc99 said:

Hard boiling I've got down pat. Put them in a covered saucepan. Cover with cold water. Heat to a rolling boil, at which point set the timer for two minutes. Turn off heat and set the timer for 15 minutes. Then drain them off

cooling with some cold water. Done. 

Show off!!!

Never even attempted poaching, and it's been a long, long time since I attempted a soft-boil, even though I like them that way. It's probably the way sometimes they are underdone and sometimes they are overdone, and both are super disappointing.  So I can see why a gadget that eliminates that problem would be loved.

And as long as I'm in this thread, I also finally broke down and bought a kitchen vacuum sealer. The final straw was when I pulled some ground beef out of my freezer, which had been properly wrapped in freezer paper by the way, and when I thawed it out it was still freezer burned and off. What a waste.

I've had one for years and it's more than paid for itself.  How many times have you gone searching through Zip-Lock bags in your freezer and asking yourself (in the words of the immortal George Carlin) "Is is meat or is it cake?"