Which Kitchen Gadgets Do You Actually Use?

[sunflower64]

I have 2 crock pots too! Great when having parties.

Funny about the egg slicer ... on the same note. I do a cookie baking day at xmas with a bunch of friends at my house. One of my friends asked me for an egg separator. Told them I didn't have one and had to show them how to separate an egg.

[mizbear]

I have never used an egg slicer to slice an egg, but have used it to slice mushrooms- my grandmother used to tell me my slices were sloppy- then I discovered the 8 inch chef's knife! I very rarely keep my avocado in pieces- I love guacamole and green gazpacho- but I occasionally slice some up with a knife for burgers or sandwiches.
Never take a 7qt cockpot to a chili cook off unless you have someone else to carry it for you- I had to carry a full 7 qt crockpot 3 blocks to a chili cook off- I won my division, but I had an asthma attack carrying the crockpot from my car! I only have my big one right now- I killed my smaller ones from overuse.

[merryheart]

I have tons of gadgets courtesy of DMIL. But the ones I use either daily or weekly

coffeemaker, toaster, microwave
chef knife
roatary grater
stovetop/oven
immersion blender
manual juicer
blender
George Foreman
crock pots

lots of other stuff that is rarely used but if not available to be pulled out when DMIL comes over, I would be in Trouble!

[daisylu]

CROCKPOTS

I love my large oval crock, but my mom bought me the 3 pot buffet from Christmas. LOVE.

[regina24601]

Feb 21, 2011 18:55:34 GMT -5 sunshinegal1981 said:

Egg slicer? Why not just use a knife? I never understood this.... enlighten me please!!!

DH showed me the benefits of the egg slicer, and now I love ours! It makes it super easy to get nice, even egg slices for our salads. And, if you make egg salad, you just slice each egg twice (do it the regular way, then turn it 90 degrees and do it again) and POOF - you have nice little bits of egg.

Alright, so my life wouldn't end if I didn't have this contraption, but I think it cost us $5 and takes up almost no space, so it works for us!

[Clever Username]

Feb 21, 2011 21:12:44 GMT -5 sunflower64 said:

Funny about the egg slicer ...

One of my friends asked me for an egg separator. Told them I didn't have one and had to show them how to separate an egg.

I just like using the egg slicer for this. You can get the slices more uniform and thinner than with a knife.
What I like most is that you stand the sliced, unseparated avacado on the plate, slight pressure ontop and it fans out beautifully.
If I'm going for a more freeform look, feel free to forgo the knife and just spoon it out of the skin.
Close enough for government work.

My wife won an egg separator at some kitchen party.
I tried using that thing and I'm absolutely confounded how that thing's supposed to be helpful.
I watched a single cooking show with Jaque Pepin and Julia Child together and they separated two dozen eggs in less than a minute.
Crack, flip, flop, done. It's really that easy.

[mizbear]

clever- You have to love Jacques and Julia.

[mizbear]

You know I would have to say that my all time favorite kitchen weapon is my cookbook collection- none of the other stuff would mean a thing without the cookbooks. We ate out when my parents were married (even though they were both excellent cooks) because they both worked FT amongst other reasons and when they divorced and we moved back to my grandparents, I wasn't allowed in the kitchen, my focus was on school. When I got married the first time at 18- I couldn't cook. I didn't learn how to really cook until I was in my late 20s. I felt so sorry for my late DGF because he gladly tried anything I cooked for him.

[8 Bit WWBG]

Why the hate against salad spinners? I use mine at least 3x/week, sometimes 8 or more.

I have a nice belgian waffle maker that gets used from time to time. I've been using my stand mixer every 2 or 3 weeks. I have a Vita-mix blender that gets used almost daily.

I want an espresso machine, but they are just not where I need them to be yet. Right now I have a good quality french press and that makes good coffee.

I had an immersion blender, but a piece broke. I hate hate HATE when perfectly good whole appliances become unusable due to one small cheaply made part. I might be able to fix it if I can find a substitute for the small connector that broke.

[shanendoah]

Reading this, I realized that we have a lot of kitchen gadgets that we use pretty regularly.
Our kitchen is tiny, so counter space is at a premium. The three things that are almost never put away are:
Rice Cooker
Electric Kettle
George Foreman

In addition, we regularly use:
mandolin slicer
french fry slicer (never for french fries, but to get evenly sized small potato slices for chowders)
immersion blender
crock pot
hand mixer

used less often:
blender (smoothies in the summer)
stand mixer (I love it for cheesecakes, but its so big it has to live on our basement, so it rarely gets hauled up. Still, DOM paid $15 for it at a garage sale, no way I'm getting rid of it)
fry baby (home made cream cheese wantons, meatballs)
toaster (not even certain where in the cupboards it is)

never used:
Ice cream maker (Its buried somewhere in the basement. Haven't seen it since we moved 6 years ago)

[mizbear]

Gowron- I have found with immersion blenders, that unless you own a cuisinart or brand like that, which usually has a nice warranty to go with it, it is often just as cheap to replace the item as find the part. I break things in my kitchen. Lots of things.
If you have an outlet store near you, look for your espresso machine there. My cousin wanted one and my grandmother and I found one for her for about half of the regular price in the outlet store- perfectly good condition, just not the newest model.
I love my salad spinner- and I spin herbs in it too.

[8 Bit WWBG]

...:::"that unless you own a cuisinart or brand like that, which usually has a nice warranty to go with it, it is often just as cheap to replace the item as find the part":::...

Mine is a cuisinart. Does it have a lifetime warranty? I'd love to get it fixed rather than replace or throw out.

[The Home 6]

I don't think I could survive without my Kitchenaid. It gets used at least 4 times a week baking cookies and other goodies. Coffeemaker gets used daily, of course. And one of the smallest things it my kitchen that I couldn't live without~ a garlic press. Because garlic goes in just about everything around here.

[mizbear]

Gowron- If you still have your warranty papers, I would check and see if the broken part is warrantied. I have binder with sleeves that has all of my warranties and instruction manuals in it. I can purge it as things go out of warranty or get tossed (or can include the instructions with things I give away or donate). You can go to cuisinart.com and click on parts and accessories then hand blenders. Click on your model and look for the part. If the replacement part is available, it will tell you the cost- some parts are available with free S&H. HTH

[pauletteg]

French press. Bean grinder. Peppermill. Mini-chopper. Kitchen-Aid Stand Mixer. Oster Blender. Garlic Press. Microwave.
Kitchen timer!

I should use the slow cooker more frequently, but that takes planning.

[Honeylioness]

As some know I LOVE to cook and bake .... and can ... and pickle etc etc etc ... the "gadgets" or tools I use the most often would be, in no particular order:

* Coffee maker
* Lemon reamer
* A heavy whisk
* Wooden spoons and spatulas
* Good set of knives (various sizes and blade types)
* Stand mixer
* Stick blender
* box grater
* Rasp
* Waffle Iron (cast iron plates, originally belonged to my grandfather)
* Sturdy corkscrew
* Cast Iron pots and pans
* professional grade baking/roasting sheets

[Clever Username]

Honey, your list reminded me of more that I use often.

Plane citrus zestor.
Duck billed cork puller.

Like my oddly opinionated listing of my egg slicer, I'm going to add another: I love using my foil cutter!

A specialized tool to cut through the wrapping on a single product.
It's the pinacle of specialization.
I could do the job with my own grubby fingernails!
But I love it still the same.

[mizbear]

As many times as I have sliced myself instead of the intended foil, plastic wrap, etc- it's no wonder I use scissors on the parchment paper and generally use reusables whenever possible for anything else. Those metal teeth on those boxes are horrible.