Kitchen Gadgets/Tools - Good & Bad

L1011

Said I'd post this a while ago and something reminded me of it tonight

I buy a lot of random kitchen gadgets / tools, recommended by friends or by celeb chefs or whatever. Some of them have been absolutely transformational and some of them a complete waste of money. Would love to know what other stuff people have and use that I'm missing - or totally not missing if its useless

The single most useful thing I've bought was a 12" pizza peel - you can get them for a tenner online. Can assemble pizzas and drop them on to the pizza stone in one movement, ditto taking them off. No distortion of the pizza, no risk of getting yourself burned faffing around. I have no idea how I ever made pizzas without it now and if it vanished I just wouldn't even try til I got another one.

Other things I find incredibly important - instant read probe thermometer, high power immersion blender + its small chopper bowl attachment, small rice cooker, basic knife sharpening kit. A spice grinder doesn't get used often but when it is it makes a huge difference.

The item that probably still owes me the most is a mandoline slicer, which I like the idea of but have used twice - and cut my fingers on once.

The least useful item is a full Kenwood food processor. It is probably coming up on five years since it was even touched; and if I didn't have such large difficult to access cupboards to stow it in it'd have been dumped by now.

Shenshen

I have a feeling that the recommendations will be closely linked to what and how people cook.

For me, the Kenwood food processor/mixer is easily the single most useful item I've got. It gets used nearly daily.

Another highly useful little thing is something I got as a gift from friends in India. It's a manual chopper, very similar to this. I love it because I can easily chop things like onions or tomatoes really finely, but it also works well for making smooth curry pastes.

The most useless item I own is a julienne peeler. The idea sounded great, but I find that the thing just cannot get a good enough grip on most things (but mostly carrots) to actually slice off nice strips. I've gone back to using the normal peeler, then slicing the ribbons to strips instead.

Gloomtastic!

My current favourite gadget is my plastic dough scraper. It’s perfect for getting dough out of the mixing bowl and portioning/cutting.

I use our Kenwood food processor for making breadcrumbs mostly but it is useful to have to hand for fine chopping really messy stuff.

My Ikea Garlic Crusher has stood the test of time where others have failed miserably.

I can’t even look at someone using a mandolin let alone try one myself!

PhoenixParker

I have the previous version of this yoke:

https://www.braunhousehold.com/nordic/all-products/food-preparation/hand-mixers/multiquick-system-hand-mixer-m1050-4-in-1-0x81260898

Got rid of a giant all singing, all dancing food processor in its favor and it’s great.
It tucks nicely into the press, is light to pull in and out, easy to clean and does what I need it to do (chop an onion, make bread crumbs, whip cream, make a cake, purée something).

Can’t recommend it highly enough.

Loveinapril

Gloomtastic! wrote: »

My Ikea Garlic Crusher has stood the test of time where others have failed miserably.

The Ikea garlic crusher is brilliant, although I find their kitchen stuff great. Their knives are great and they have a brilliant little paring knife for about .80c that I use daily.

I have a small little blender that I use most days. Its great for small jobs like sauces, breadcrumbs, mincing chicken etc.

The Nal

+1 for a garlic crusher and Kenwood mini processor. I've never used a mandolin, too awkward. Very mid 90s shopping network product.

12" pizza peel. Interesting. Will look for that.

Smiles35

Easylife GENIUS ONE TOUCH CAN OPENER

Not sure if they sell this anymore. Variations on the design are on Amazon. But this is great. Powerful motor and battery that lasts a long time. I've never had any issue with this. But as I said, they don't seem to sell this model anymore, I'd be very wary of another brand, it's that good.

L1011

Not something I'd have a need for (yet) but a similar device has been essential for my mother who has severe arthritis in her wrists.

As for the yet, it seems to be hereditary but has only hit my knees so far, she's on twin replamcents for those!

Tree

My mandolin gets a fair bit of use, even just for finely slicing onions to shower on pizza. Highly recommend getting the anti-cut gloves to go with it, makes a huge difference.

Gadgets I love: stick blender, lemon squeezer (that lever style one that turns the lemon inside out), potato ricer, instant pot

Gadgets that seemed like a good idea at the time but now well...: chocolate melter (i should have bought a professional one, i'm back to just melting things in a bowl over water), waffle iron (used religiously for three weeks, now in its box for at least three years), novetly cake pans (do they get used more than once??)

SteelyDanJalapeno

Knive sharpener rod, simple but so useful

L1011

Bouncing my own old thread as this probably suits it... and its not *that* old

I bought a box grater with a box on it - there are also ones that just have a snap on plastic sheet instead - that keeps what you are grating inside it. It also has measurements but that's only really useful for the fine grating options.

Kitchen cleanliness wise this has been transformative. The counters aren't covered in overspill, and if you want to grate 'straight in' to a pan you're not grating in steam. I could always have used a bowl or something to grate in to in that case, but there'd still be overspill.


I also have to apologise to the food processor, which has been used rather a lot more than twice a decade since Lockdown started, for soups (not enough to use the stick blender in, too much for its attachment canister), making breadcrumb, mixing sausage-style meat and rough dough formation.

The mandoline has had more uses as there's more meals at home but its still at a fairly high cost-per-use if you think of it that way. Nothing new has made its way to the currently-deemed-useless pile, though.

Tree

I *finally* bought a food processor and I love it and I still haven't made half the things I planned to in it. I've been shredding spuds for hashbrowns in it plenty. I love them.

New gadgets I got over lockdown:
- Silcone garlic peeler - just one more thing to wash and depending on the clove you have to peel them by hand anyway *Verdict* kinda ****e
- Le Creuset red wine aerator - seems good, but I'm figuring it's only needed for some wines *Verdict* good but hard to find
- food processor - i love it i love it i love it. Hummous whenever i fancy. Hashbrowns easy. Making pizza sauce out of all the tomatoes in the greenhouse. *Verdict* I should have got one years ago

L1011

Smack a garlic clove under your knife blade and it basically peels itself + the root section may even come off. Sorted, surely?

con747

I got the silicon peeler in a set like this before lock down as a gift https://www.amazon.co.uk/Garlic-Grater-garlic-grater-silicone/dp/B003NT71O8
I find it's ok for bigger cloves and does a good job. The ceramic dish is great for garlic and ginger and a quick rinse and it's clean. I always just used the knife squash but find this as quick.

Tree

L1011 wrote: »

Smack a garlic clove under your knife blade and it basically peels itself + the root section may even come off. Sorted, surely?

In theory... but there's always that light papery garlic skin that refuses to come off.

Crybabygeeks

Tree wrote: »

I *finally* bought a food processor and I love it and I still haven't made half the things I planned to in it. I've been shredding spuds for hashbrowns in it plenty. I love them.

New gadgets I got over lockdown:
- Silcone garlic peeler - just one more thing to wash and depending on the clove you have to peel them by hand anyway *Verdict* kinda ****e
- Le Creuset red wine aerator - seems good, but I'm figuring it's only needed for some wines *Verdict* good but hard to find
- food processor - i love it i love it i love it. Hummous whenever i fancy. Hashbrowns easy. Making pizza sauce out of all the tomatoes in the greenhouse. *Verdict* I should have got one years ago

Same. I bought a magimix in March and have used it almost every day. Love it.. keep it on the counter so it's visible and within reach.

Love an instant read thermometer too,so handy. Also a microplane..... Crappy graters gone!

Dial Hard

I'm generally not a fan of single-function appliances or gadgets. My friend moved in with me earlier this year and mother of god, she had so much of this crap. Crepe maker. Doughnut maker. Electric juicer. Rice cooker. Ice cream maker. I had to tell her there wasn't room in the kitchen for it.

She fancied a toastie for lunch the other day and starts pulling out the toaster. I was like "What are you doing, that's cheese on toast, not a toastie?!" and she went "Yeah but how do you make a toastie without the machine?" I was like "In the pan or on the grill, woman!"

38 years of age and she genuinely had no idea you could make a toastie without a sandwich maker...

Patsy167

Hand Stick blender for soups coming into the winter is the most used item in our house

Muahahaha

Dial Hard wrote: »

I'm generally not a fan of single-function appliances or gadgets. My friend moved in with me earlier this year and mother of god, she had so much of this crap. Crepe maker. Doughnut maker. Electric juicer. Rice cooker. Ice cream maker. I had to tell her there wasn't room in the kitchen for it.

She fancied a toastie for lunch the other day and starts pulling out the toaster. I was like "What are you doing, that's cheese on toast, not a toastie?!" and she went "Yeah but how do you make a toastie without the machine?" I was like "In the pan or on the grill, woman!"

38 years of age and she genuinely had no idea you could make a toastie without a sandwich maker...

I blame Lidl & Aldi for all that single use stuff, it seems ubiquitous in their middle aisles. In the last 2 weeks alone Ive seen a soup maker and a waffle maker, before that it was a crepe maker. Its farcical really.

On toasties I bought a Dualit toaster last year second hand on ebay. They're known for their longevity and parts are easy to come by if it ever breaks down. Its got three slots, two for regular toast and one for toasted sandwiches which come out great in it as the timer is precise and I prefer my cheese to be just melted rather than turned to molten. Its the same as this one here
https://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/Beautiful-professionally-refurbished-Dualit-3-slice-wideslot-toaster-S-Cage/184491939756?hash=item2af49397ac:g:2Y4AAOSw0Ktfir-U

Ive also been cooking a few different Mexican recipes lately which means a lot of lime squuezing. Got a product similar to this one and its pretty decent in that you get a fair bit more juice out of the lime than just doing it by hand. Lime juice doesnt get on your fingers either which is another advantage over doing it by hand
https://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/Kitchen-Lemon-Lime-Squeezer-Premium-Metal-Juice-Manual-Citrus-Press-Juicer-New/124288717949?hash=item1cf02f547d:g:XEEAAOSwk8ReX21R

L1011

Tree wrote: »

In theory... but there's always that light papery garlic skin that refuses to come off.

I can honestly say that doesn't happen to me, but I nearly always buy my veg from a specific greengrocer who has larger slightly purple skinned garlic and not the smaller white garlic that's normal in supermarkets. May be just easier to peel

Dial Hard

Muahahaha wrote: »

Ive also been cooking a few different Mexican recipes lately which means a lot of lime squuezing. Got a product similar to this one and its pretty decent in that you get a fair bit more juice out of the lime than just doing it by hand. Lime juice doesnt get on your fingers either which is another advantage over doing it by hand
https://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/Kitchen-Lemon-Lime-Squeezer-Premium-Metal-Juice-Manual-Citrus-Press-Juicer-New/124288717949?hash=item1cf02f547d:g:XEEAAOSwk8ReX21R

I do a *lot* of Mexican cooking too and just use an ancient Pyrex thing to juice mine, it's basically a ribbed egg on a saucer with a guard to catch the seeds, I'm pretty sure it actually came from my grandparents' house.

Her yoke (she insisted on keeping it) is a monster of a thing, it's genuinely the size of a medium air-fryer.

Muahahaha

Dial Hard wrote: »

I do a *lot* of Mexican cooking too and just use an ancient Pyrex thing to juice mine, it's basically a ribbed egg on a saucer with a guard to catch the seeds, I'm pretty sure it actually came from my grandparents' house.

Her yoke (she insisted on keeping it) is a monster of a thing, it's genuinely the size of a medium air-fryer.

yeah I was going to get one of those ribbed ones but when I went looking the ones with the long handle seem to avoid the problem of getting lime juice where you dont want it. Its trivial anyway.

Do you have any Mexican recipes you'd recommend? So far Ive made carnitas a couple of times and cochinta pibil too which I liked a lot. Did it with picked onions and guac, it was delicious.

Dial Hard

Muahahaha wrote: »

Do you have any Mexican recipes you'd recommend? So far Ive made carnitas a couple of times and cochinta pibil too which I liked a lot. Did it with picked onions and guac, it was delicious.

I have many! Will share some tomorrow/over the next few days in a new thread.

phormium

Depends i suppose how much you use those 'one use' things, I use my ice cream maker a lot, use the juice squeezer thingy (quite small, not a huge one) a good bit in batches, I usually zest and juice about 20 lemons at a time, kind of hard on the hands and you definitely get more juice with the power! Same with oranges, do maybe dozen at a time (fruit cakes and the like)

Rice makers I do consider a waste of time but it's amazing how many people can't cook rice! Don't have a sandwich maker, always fry them, can't beat one of those heavy ribbed weights for popping on top. I do have a tiny donut maker, makes mini ones, kids love them and takes minutes, much easier than turning on an oven, got it in Argos mind you not a lidl/aldi jobby

Have a waffle maker that I bought in UK maybe 30 odd yrs ago, height of fancy at the time, I love them but can't make them too often as you have to have syrup and cream!

The 'gadget' if you'd call it that I use most is the halogen oven, loads of uses, slow cooker gets a good bit of use too.

Big juicer when Jason Vale was all the rage was the only truly useless thing I bought and never really used.

rubadub

Tree wrote: »

In theory... but there's always that light papery garlic skin that refuses to come off.

I have been using a tin can or jam jar, saw the trick on youtube. I cut the bottoms and tips off and then you rattle it like crazy and the skins all fall off or are very much loosened.

Some do not bother cutting the bits off but its less likely to work and I do not want the base bit in most stuff.

Muahahaha

Dial Hard wrote: »

I have many! Will share some tomorrow/over the next few days in a new thread.

That would be great, Ive always loved eating out for Mexican food but have only got into cooking it lately and want to try out a few more recipes

Cork Boy

Country music and a cluttered kitchen are two things I just cannot abide.

Which means the only unitasker I possess is a pasta roller and a ravioli form. The ravioli form is hands down one of the best €30 I ever spent:

tangy

Oh we got the same ravioli mould Ebay. Used it once; lot of potch; effort:reward ratio not good.

Yours look great though. Any tips?

Cork Boy

tangy wrote: »

Oh we got the same ravioli mould Ebay. Used it once; lot of potch; effort:reward ratio not good.

Yours look great though. Any tips?

Not sure what potch means?

All I can say is make sure you fold over the pasta for the first few width settings on the pasta roller and roll again.

With the mould, make sure everything is well floured or you'll get sticking issues!

What went wrong specifically for you?

tangy

Thanks.

Potch: a lot of finicky, fiddly work to get a result. Probably ends in a mess
Potch: a bodge, a lash-up
Potching about: messing around trying to do a job and not trying hard enough
Collins dictionary says, "inferior quality opal used in jewellery for mounting precious opals".

We were rolling the pasta by hand, so probably didn't get it thin enough. Maybe we used OO flour, maybe not.

I can't remember exactly what was wrong, just not good results for too much effort. I saw your phote and recognised the mould, and was impressed by your results

tickingclock

I was in Aldi yesterday and they'd an egg cooker. Has noone ever heard of a saucepan. Someone posted about a sandwich maker. I absolutely loved toasted sambos from the sandwich maker and not under the grill.
Don't have many gadgets. Hand blender in soup season is my most used my a mile