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Kitchen gadgets
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moty2000
17-01-2014
What gadget can you not do with out? Some of the ones I have got could be replaced by original methods but they make it possible to get stuff done without any standing around watching.

The ones I currently find indispensable are my rice cooker and soup maker.
henrywilliams58
17-01-2014
I bought a soup maker some weeks ago. Wonderful gadget which could have been replaced by a hand-mixer and pressure cooker which I already have.

I am not convinced by a rice cooker which I never have had. I prefer the lower starch method of washing the rice before and after cooking for 10 minutes in a microwave.

You've taken the kettle for granted. It is unheard of in Spain.
Toby LaRhone
17-01-2014
Originally Posted by moty2000:
“What gadget can you not do with out? Some of the ones I have got could be replaced by original methods but they make it possible to get stuff done without any standing around watching.

The ones I currently find indispensable are my rice cooker and soup maker.”

In terms of how much worktop/cupboard space they take up I'd say they were the least necessary
I make all sorts of soup by using my Bamix hand blender and a good old saucepan.
The two items I'd least want to give up are my slow cooker and my set of Robert Welch knives - and believe me I have "gadgets" - bread machine, deep fryer, food processor, food mixer, pasta machine, rice steamer, yoghurt maker, pressure cooker and, of course, a microwave.
I am a man of many cupboards
tendarah
18-01-2014
Originally Posted by henrywilliams58:
“I bought a soup maker some weeks ago. Wonderful gadget .....”

I also love my soup maker.... so easy.... just bung some veg in, press start and go n do something else then lush soup ready in about 20 mins
brangdon
18-01-2014
If I didn't have a bread maker I'd have to buy bread. I've not done that for nearly 15 years.

Nowadays I use my combined microwave oven as a convection oven, instead of using my conventional oven.

There are some things I've thought of buying but am not sure I'd get the use out of. A slow cooker is one. I don't have any good way to cook for a long time unattended. I sometimes do a stew for 3 hours on a hob, and I have to check on it from time to time and remember to take it off at the end.

Another minor gadget is a potato peeler. Does anyone those are worth having?
Toby LaRhone
18-01-2014
Originally Posted by brangdon:
“If I didn't have a bread maker I'd have to buy bread. I've not done that for nearly 15 years.

Nowadays I use my combined microwave oven as a convection oven, instead of using my conventional oven.

There are some things I've thought of buying but am not sure I'd get the use out of. A slow cooker is one. I don't have any good way to cook for a long time unattended. I sometimes do a stew for 3 hours on a hob, and I have to check on it from time to time and remember to take it off at the end.

Another minor gadget is a potato peeler. Does anyone those are worth having?”

Slow cookers are great for leaving unattended for hours and hours, even overnight.
Switch on before leaving in the morning and come home to a hot meal in the evening.
And they are quite cheap.
I have a great "speed" peeler - much better than a knife.
jazzyjazzy
18-01-2014
1- Electric Pressure cooker 2- Vitamix 3- Good Microwave Oven.

None electric - Turbo potato peeler and good knives.


When we went to live in Spain could not find a kettle anywhere and had a friend bring an electric one from UK
degsyhufc
18-01-2014
Originally Posted by Toby LaRhone:
“Slow cookers are great for leaving unattended for hours and hours, even overnight.
Switch on before leaving in the morning and come home to a hot meal in the evening.”

and if for whatever reason you are still unsure then use a timer plug with it.
Pumping Iron
18-01-2014
TBH I don't really use any gadgets, the only one I can think of off the top of my head that I use regularly is a garlic press, but I don't know if that even counts.
Toby LaRhone
18-01-2014
Originally Posted by jazzyjazzy:
“1- When we went to live in Spain could not find a kettle anywhere and had a friend bring an electric one from UK”

How do the Spaniards make a decent cup of tea?
LostFool
18-01-2014
Originally Posted by Toby LaRhone:
“How do the Spaniards make a decent cup of tea? ”

They don't. A "decent cup of tea" is an alien concept to them. When I'm abroad I stick to coffee unless I'm in a tea drinking country such as India.

As for my favourite gadget it would have to be my slow cooker.
henrywilliams58
18-01-2014
Originally Posted by LostFool:
“They don't. A "decent cup of tea" is an alien concept to them. When I'm abroad I stick to coffee unless I'm in a tea drinking country such as India.

As for my favourite gadget it would have to be my slow cooker.”

In a restaurant in Spain hot (not boiling) water comes out of the coffee machine, then transferred to a pot and served lukewarm with a tea bag on the table.

I avoid tea in Spain and coffee in Ireland.

At my mother-in-law's place I boil the water in the microwave so I sometimes ask for the water to be boiled in the restaurant's microwave.
LaceyLouelle3
18-01-2014
The only gadget I really use is a hand mixer and hand blender.
shmisk
19-01-2014
I only possess 2 gadgets, a coffee machine and a blender. I dont have a microwave

coffee machine is new but proving rather indispensible
indianwells
19-01-2014
My Magimix and my Mastrad meat thermometer.
Peter_CJ
19-01-2014
I've lost a lot of cupboard space to gadgets that never get used - quite often the time you save by using a machine is lost by the time taking to dismantle and clean the darn thing.

The things I don't regret buying are: a really good knife (not really a gadget but it does the work of many gadgets while being much easier to clean); Oven, and meat thermometers; Panasonic combi, and a milk frother - having ditched various coffee machines that take too long to clean.
brangdon
19-01-2014
It sounds like speed peelers are worth having, so I shall get one next time I'm in town.
Peter_CJ
19-01-2014
I hadn't thought of a peeler as a gadget, but I suppose it is.

At least they are easy to wash up.
Smokeychan1
19-01-2014
Originally Posted by tendarah:
“I also love my soup maker.... so easy.... just bung some veg in, press start and go n do something else then lush soup ready in about 20 mins ”

Does it chop the veg for you? If not, I fail to see how this is any different to making soup on the hob

(If it does do the chopping, I am getting one!).
Toby LaRhone
19-01-2014
Originally Posted by Peter_CJ:
“I hadn't thought of a peeler as a gadget, but I suppose it is.

At least they are easy to wash up.”

As is a knife really. And good ones are a joy to use.
When I first unpacked my (now old) Japanese knives I cut my finger on the heel of one just taking it out of the sheath.

I also once took the tips off three fingers using a mandoline without the food guard. I cant watch telly chefs use them as none of them use a food guard
henrywilliams58
19-01-2014
Originally Posted by Smokeychan1:
“Does it chop the veg for you? If not, I fail to see how this is any different to making soup on the hob

(If it does do the chopping, I am getting one!).”

A soup maker is basically an electric mixer and pressure cooker with three timed programmes.

You need to peel and chop to give it some help and to get the stuff in.

The big difference to a separate mixer and cooking is the times programming.

So peel carrots and chop; chop broccoli; peel potatoes and dice; add a stock cube dissolved in water perhaps; add water

Set the machine and go off Digtal Spy.

Done in 20 mins or so.
venusinflares
19-01-2014
I got a panini press for Christmas and it's proving very useful! We also use the Tassimo machine on a daily basis.
LostFool
19-01-2014
Originally Posted by Peter_CJ:
“I've lost a lot of cupboard space to gadgets that never get used - quite often the time you save by using a machine is lost by the time taking to dismantle and clean the darn thing.”

I recently went through my Cupboard of Discarded Kitchen Gadgetry and threw a load of stuff out. It was amazing the number of things that I had bought, used a few times then gave up on because they were too much of a hassle to clean.
noise747
19-01-2014
My favourite got to be my Gaggia classic Espresso machine, second would be my halogen oven, third is the air fryer, makes chips with a bit of oil.

My Kenwood chef would be up there as well if it was not failing.

The worse Kitchen gadget was the juicer, waste of time that was. Long gone now, but the amount of juice it produced for the amount of fruit I stuck in it was minimal.
IvanIV
19-01-2014
Originally Posted by Pumping Iron:
“TBH I don't really use any gadgets, the only one I can think of off the top of my head that I use regularly is a garlic press, but I don't know if that even counts.”

Same here, and even that garlic press can be easily avoided, but I use it for convenience.
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