Kitchen Gadgets.. The brilliant and the useless

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fatfrank44
fatfrank44 Posts: 11 Member
in Food and Nutrition
I'm really intrigued as to what gadgets and supplements the MFP community have found actually worth it in trying to lead a healthier lifestyle.. and what terrible expensive mistakes we've made!

In my experience:
  • The Good - My 99p Ebay spiralizer, My far too expensive but adored nutribullet & 5Hp (natural seretonin supplement)
  • The Bad - My Juicer, I love it but it wastes so much and its horrible to clean. Spiruliana - makes you feel ace but turns everything to pond water
  • The Ugly - Vegan protein powder - EVERYTHING IS SADNESS AND LUMPS

Whats yours? x
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Replies

  • andrikosDE
    andrikosDE Posts: 383 Member
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    catscats222 wrote: »
    the worst = kitchen aid mixer
    things to make in it include white flour, sugar, butter, etc, etc
    every house that I walk into and they have this, the person is obese.

    This reminds me of the (secretly gay) anti-gay people who blame them for earthquakes and tsunamis.
    What's the matter? Are you scared a bit of butter frosting will taste delicious?

  • WinoGelato
    WinoGelato Posts: 13,454 Member
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    catscats222 wrote: »
    the worst = kitchen aid mixer
    things to make in it include white flour, sugar, butter, etc, etc
    every house that I walk into and they have this, the person is obese.
    the good - a mixer like vitamix to make healthy soups and green drinks.

    Now I have heard it all. It is the kitchenaid mixer's fault that a person is obese? Also nothing wrong with sugar, butter, and white flour, or the delicious combinations you can make with them, in moderation.

  • earlnabby
    earlnabby Posts: 8,171 Member
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    Are you asking about gadgets or appliances, or both?

    The best gadgets:
    measuring spoons
    good can opener
    pincers
    spatula
    vegetable peeler

    The worst gadgets:
    all of those that clutter up the drawer so I can't get to the ones I need

    The best appliances:
    crock pot
    Kitchen Aid stand mixer (and no, I am not obese)
    Microwave
    SodaStream

    The worst:
    Bread machine
    anything that slices and dices or spirals


  • WinoGelato
    WinoGelato Posts: 13,454 Member
    edited September 2015
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    We are in the middle of a big kitchen project and one of my tasks was to go through and clean out the cabinets and drawers. It was amazing the things I found that I either had forgotten I had or that I never use (hey fondue pots I'm looking at you).

    I love my panini press andy crockpots... I want to love my immersion blender and hope to use it more this fall/winter.

    Less used because they are bulky but still handy are my food processor and my apparently evil kitchen aid stand mixer.

    I'm scared of my mandoline and never use it...

    Smaller gadgets: I have a three in one vegetable peeler that does julienne, regular peel, and something else that I never use. I haven't needed a spiralizer.
  • ilovecereal1982
    ilovecereal1982 Posts: 1,194 Member
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    I use my vitamix to make mass quantities of butter that I then melt onto my grilled steak which is sitting on a bed of mashed potatoes mixed with more butter, bacon and ranch thanks to my vitamix!!!! LOVE my vitamix!!!
  • Francl27
    Francl27 Posts: 26,371 Member
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    Best

    Food scale
    George Foreman grill
    Crockpot once in a while (for soups, chili, pulled pork. Don't like the texture of meat in the crockpot otherwise)


    Worse

    Vegetti. Yup, I know people love it, it's a pain in the butt to use and a pain to clean. I hate it now. Better just sautee some zucchini slices!

    I have a kitchen aid that was gifted to us second hand but I have no idea how it works, lol.
  • andrikosDE
    andrikosDE Posts: 383 Member
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    WinoGelato wrote: »
    ..

    I'm scared of my mandoline and never use it...

    Kevlar glove is your friend.
    food-handling-cut-glove.jpg

  • fatfrank44
    fatfrank44 Posts: 11 Member
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    Haha! I am so alone in my spiralizer love!
    I also love my George Foreman.. but must remember is for quick oil free veggies not delicious delicious halloumi...
  • DeguelloTex
    DeguelloTex Posts: 6,652 Member
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    I like the Vitamix and the Kitchen-Aid mixer. We've gotten rid of the useless stuff, except maybe the pineapple corer, which the daughters like more than using a knife.
  • lulucitron
    lulucitron Posts: 366 Member
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    The good
    • citrus peeler
    • hand held grater (grating citrus, nutmeg, etc.)
    • pampered chef juicer (gets every bit of juice out of citrus)
    • little tool that gets the tops off of strawberries

      I don't have any bads. I use my juicer occasionally but agree it's a pain to clean. I want to buy a kitchenaid to make bread dough. I currently make them by hand.
  • Queenmunchy
    Queenmunchy Posts: 3,380 Member
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    The best - spiralizer, crockpot, food processor, box grater

    I don't think I have anything that I don't like. I just toss it.
  • Kalikel
    Kalikel Posts: 9,626 Member
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    Non-electric stuff:

    Knives and my big-*kitten* cutting board would be the most used, most expensive and most loved.
    Rachael Ray dough cutter - not good for cutting, but has edges, so nice for moving things from the cutting board to the stove
    Egg slicer
    Salad spinner
    Steamer basket
    King Arthur bread pans - worth their weight in gold, those things!
    The 5-wheeled cutter (I don't know what it is called) is my favorite gadget that I don't need. Since I got that, all of my crackers are the same size. :smiley:
    Tervis tumblers for ice water

    Electric stuff:

    -Thermometer - love that thing
    -microwave
    -spice grinder
    -food processor
    -stick blender (not sure if that's the right name, but it love that thing!)
    -stand mixer, which mixes and kneads bread dough and makes pasta, with the pasta attachment


    Don't need:
    -mandoline - thought I'd use it, but don't care about perfection, so almost always just use the knife
    -Garlic press. Tried it once, chopping is easier and better
    -The thing that pokes holes in eggs
    -Stainless steel plate that's supposed to rid your hands of stinkiness
    -Many stupid things designed to alert you when water boils
    -Fancy-schmancy oil bottles
    -all the other gadgets that sit in a drawer. I should just throw them out.

    The tortilla maker, ice cream maker and waffle iron get little use these days. :(
  • 1shauna1
    1shauna1 Posts: 993 Member
    edited September 2015
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    I love my vegetable julienne slicer, my olive oil mister and my Starfrit garlic press! I've had that thing for years and it's so easy to grind the garlic, plus easily cleans up. I don't think there's anything I have that I don't like, as of now. But I'm keeping in mind some of the things mentioned here!
    EDIT: I'd love to have a KitchenAid mixer! But I have a tiny kitchen.
  • Need2Exerc1se
    Need2Exerc1se Posts: 13,575 Member
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    I don't think any of my gadgets have helped with weight loss, though I have some that I like.

    food processor for hummus.
    immersion blender to make my soups smooth and creamy.
    electric wine opener is the most useless gadget that I use regularly and love.
    Kitchenaid mixer (I've never been obese) is used for grinding meat.
    meat thermometer is indespensible and used regularly
    mandolin is used occasionally to make vegetable chips

    Gadgets I thought I'd like but rarely use are my blender and spiralizer.

    My favorite thing in the kitchen isn't a gadget but my island, on which the entire surface is butcher block cutting board.
  • CooCooPuff
    CooCooPuff Posts: 4,374 Member
    edited September 2015
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    andrikosDE wrote: »
    WinoGelato wrote: »
    ..

    I'm scared of my mandoline and never use it...

    Kevlar glove is your friend.
    food-handling-cut-glove.jpg
    As clumsy as I am, this might become my new favorite kitchen gadget.

    The most useless gadget was a Slapchop someone bought me a while back. It didn't do jack.
  • WinoGelato
    WinoGelato Posts: 13,454 Member
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    andrikosDE wrote: »
    WinoGelato wrote: »
    ..

    I'm scared of my mandoline and never use it...

    Kevlar glove is your friend.
    food-handling-cut-glove.jpg

    I have one LOL. One. Two hands though. ;). I need to use it more. I would probably be less scared of it if I used it.

  • gramarye
    gramarye Posts: 586 Member
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    WinoGelato wrote: »
    catscats222 wrote: »
    the worst = kitchen aid mixer
    things to make in it include white flour, sugar, butter, etc, etc
    every house that I walk into and they have this, the person is obese.
    the good - a mixer like vitamix to make healthy soups and green drinks.

    Now I have heard it all. It is the kitchenaid mixer's fault that a person is obese? Also nothing wrong with sugar, butter, and white flour, or the delicious combinations you can make with them, in moderation.

    You know, come to think of it, when I no longer had a Kitchenaid, I did lose weight...

    But that has a lot more to do with my ex-husband getting the mixer in the divorce (my biggest mistake!) and me having space to explore my relationship with food guilt-free. I actually bake more and in greater variety now. I just do it without the stand mixer.

    ***

    ON TOPIC:

    Food scale: by far the best thing added to my kitchen, both for weight loss, recipe accuracy, and funsies.
    Food processor: a Christmas gift that I will cherish basically forever.

    I actually find the immersion blender pretty useless. Maybe it's just the one my roommates own, but I find it makes more a mess and gets clogged more often than it helps. Or maybe I'm just using it wrong.
  • Badger_Girl99
    Badger_Girl99 Posts: 2,220 Member
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    Herb scissors - you'll thank me in the summer.
  • NewMeSM75
    NewMeSM75 Posts: 971 Member
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    Favorites: pressure cooker, crockpot, pineapple corer, small food chopper with immersion blender attachment - use chopper part for salsa, hummus, etc and the immersion attachment is a plus for soups.

    Not so favorite: juicer (agree with other person - waste plus big and bulky); large food processor

    So so: spiralizer. It's pretty cool but after newness wore off I didn't use as much. Meat grinder attachment to kitchen aid. I really like it but time consuming.

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