We are pleased to announce that on March 4, 2025, an updated Rich Text Editor will be introduced in the MyFitnessPal Community. To learn more about the upcoming changes, please click here. We look forward to sharing this new feature with you!

Gadgets

GreenEyedMonster
GreenEyedMonster Posts: 803
edited September 2024 in Food and Nutrition
Chrissyh inspired this thread. Being a guy I'm always looking for gadgets be it electronics or cooking stuff so I decided we can share ideas of cooking gadgets you've used to make your cooking easier:

- NuWave Oven (cooks meats even frozen usually in around 10 min/lb and lots more)
- Pasta N More (if for no other reason than I can nuke spaghetti in about 20 min, waiting for water to boil sucks)
- Garlic Press (handling garlic with your fingers stinks... literally and for a long long time)
- Potato Ricer (for those who hate lumpy taters)

Replies

  • zebras
    zebras Posts: 600
    I just got a set of Le Creuset measuring bowls. They are the silicone kind that you can heat up to rediculous temperatures and freeze and bend and flex, etc. So, when I want to measure and eat that perfect little 1/2 cup of something I can measure then eat right out of the bowl without feeling like I'm eating out of a measuring cup!
  • sjmay
    sjmay Posts: 386 Member
    I had not even heard of the nuwave oven until now... are they good?
  • chrissyh
    chrissyh Posts: 8,235 Member
    what's a potato ricer??
  • JJs25th
    JJs25th Posts: 204 Member
    The FoodSaver Vacum sealer. Best small appliance I have ever bought. I am on my second one. I seal fresh blueberries in a canning jar and they keep for two weeks.
  • GreenEyedMonster
    GreenEyedMonster Posts: 803
    I had not even heard of the nuwave oven until now... are they good?

    I cook everything in the nuwave. It's easy to clean, cooks fast, and usually better at making sure internal temperature reaches the necessary temp. Perfect for the Foster Farms Seasoned Whole chickens.
  • sjmay
    sjmay Posts: 386 Member
    what's a potato ricer??

    my hubby has one and loves it. Imagine like a little "spaghetti press". Or, an oversized garlic press .You put your potatoes in and then it comes out in like, spagetti. I guess I am not very good at explaining it. When we use it, it kinda reminds me of a toy I had as a kid with play doh LOL :laugh: But, it works great! And there are NEVER lumps!

    Pics of potato ricer:
    http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/File:Potato-ricer.jpg
  • GreenEyedMonster
    GreenEyedMonster Posts: 803
    what's a potato ricer??

    Similar to a garlic press on a larger scale. Boil yer taters like you normally would but put them in the ricer and squish it through the different sized hole attachments.

    http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Potato_ricer

    Edit: I got beat. :smile:
  • mommared53
    mommared53 Posts: 9,543 Member
    Magic bullet.
  • JoyousMaximus
    JoyousMaximus Posts: 9,285 Member
    Rice cooker and Digital scale. I :heart: both!
  • JoyousMaximus
    JoyousMaximus Posts: 9,285 Member
    Oh and a crockpot. I'm so lazy. I love throwing a bunch of stuff in it and having it be ready to eat when I get home.

    I know mine are pretty standard but they are awesome!
  • barbarella
    barbarella Posts: 609 Member
    Rice Cookers Rock! :drinker:
    I've used one for years.......

    Brown Rice
    Millet
    Quinoa

    Any grain is easy cooking:
    2:1 measure, water to grain
    plug it in and wait for the ding! it's done! :love:
  • bwilton77
    bwilton77 Posts: 93 Member
    O couldn't live without my george forman grill. I have the one with the detatchable plates which makes it easy to clean and I can cook anything in it frozen, thawed it doesn't matter and the food tastes great. I've even made pizza pockets in it.
  • 21alpine
    21alpine Posts: 41
    Pineapple cutter, corer. I just got mine and love it. Now cutting up fresh pineapple isn't such a hassle and isn't as messy !
    http://www.pineapplecutterfactory.com/
  • JoyousMaximus
    JoyousMaximus Posts: 9,285 Member
    O couldn't live without my george forman grill. I have the one with the detatchable plates which makes it easy to clean and I can cook anything in it frozen, thawed it doesn't matter and the food tastes great. I've even made pizza pockets in it.

    I :heart: mine too!
  • BrendaLee
    BrendaLee Posts: 4,463 Member
    The potato ricer looks like fun, but I never mash my potatoes...I love those little round baby potatoes with the skin on.

    I saw a great pot on Rachel Ray the other day- it's oblong like a large turkey roaster made especially to fit spaghetti.

    It's rather sexy:

    http://www.kitchencontraptions.com/pictures/41Fq4NnG-TL._SS500_.jpg
  • astridfeline
    astridfeline Posts: 1,200 Member
    I like the pasta pentola--it's basically a strainer that fits inside a large pot. The other day I made the 7 vegetable salad that someone posted here, it called for several kinds of blanched vegies. I only had to boil one pot of water for all the vegies b/c you just pull the strainer out of the pot of boiling water, transfer your blanched vegies to another dish, put the strainer back in the pot w/ the next batch of vegies, etc. Basically, you can keep reusing the same pot of boiling water instead of dumping the whole thing out to strain it. This turned into a long ramble but really it's a time/water saver! Link to pic below.

    http://www.chefscatalog.com/img/products/285x285/98490_285.jpg
  • July24Lioness
    July24Lioness Posts: 2,399 Member
    I had not even heard of the nuwave oven until now... are they good?

    My aunt has one and she loves it.

    She cooks turkeys, whole chickens, steaks, pork chops, pizza, etc in it and everything turns out good and in the summer it doesn't heat up your kitchen at all.
  • almond13
    almond13 Posts: 77
    I like the pasta pentola--it's basically a strainer that fits inside a large pot. The other day I made the 7 vegetable salad that someone posted here, it called for several kinds of blanched vegies. I only had to boil one pot of water for all the vegies b/c you just pull the strainer out of the pot of boiling water, transfer your blanched vegies to another dish, put the strainer back in the pot w/ the next batch of vegies, etc. Basically, you can keep reusing the same pot of boiling water instead of dumping the whole thing out to strain it. This turned into a long ramble but really it's a time/water saver! Link to pic below.

    http://www.chefscatalog.com/img/products/285x285/98490_285.jpg

    ohhh... i want this for sure! thanks!!! :bigsmile:
  • RecliningFigure
    RecliningFigure Posts: 214 Member
    Chrissyh inspired this thread. Being a guy I'm always looking for gadgets be it electronics or cooking stuff so I decided we can share ideas of cooking gadgets you've used to make your cooking easier:

    - NuWave Oven (cooks meats even frozen usually in around 10 min/lb and lots more)
    - Pasta N More (if for no other reason than I can nuke spaghetti in about 20 min, waiting for water to boil sucks)
    - Garlic Press (handling garlic with your fingers stinks... literally and for a long long time)
    - Potato Ricer (for those who hate lumpy taters)

    I used to be a big gadget fiend, but since we live in an older, smaller house now (apparently people in the 1920s didn't have a lot of stuff to store) I've been on a cleanse of gadgets.
    Here are the gadgets that I don't use, but you might:
    milk frother (simulates frothed milk without the machine)
    Mandoline (slices very thinly - I'm too lazy to get it out and set it up. Easier to just use my chef's knife)
    Italian stove top espresso pot (very cute and makes excellent coffee, but for me too inconvenient).
    Automatic bread machine (ok, so I do use this sometimes, but since I've been trying to stay away from carbs, I'm not really using it anymore). I have to say, it was great waking up to fresh baked organic bread in the morning.
    Knife sharpener: (I use the big long rod, that works fine for me and didn't need this extra sharpener that says it's better).
    bottle opener: doesn't work any better. I have strong hands, and when it's impossible, I whack the lid with the back end of the knife, it works.
    Garlic Press: my hands get more stinky when I have to clean this gadget. It much faster to simply take the flat end of my chef's knife, whack the cloves, pull off the skin, and chop with minimal touching of the garlic itself. I can do this in about 7 seconds and clean the knife and cutting board which I’m probably already using. It takes me at least 30-45 seconds to deal with the garlic press and clean it.
    wine saver: ok, this is a good idea, but we drink the whole bottle, so we really don't need it.
    Cherry pitter: used it once when I was making homemade, home grown organic cherry jam.
    Kitchen Aid: used to use it a lot, but since it mostly makes foods on the no no temptation list, and it’s very heavy, I don’t really use it any more.

    I totally understand the gadget pull, I was there until recently.
  • RecliningFigure
    RecliningFigure Posts: 214 Member
    I like the pasta pentola--it's basically a strainer that fits inside a large pot. The other day I made the 7 vegetable salad that someone posted here, it called for several kinds of blanched vegies. I only had to boil one pot of water for all the vegies b/c you just pull the strainer out of the pot of boiling water, transfer your blanched vegies to another dish, put the strainer back in the pot w/ the next batch of vegies, etc. Basically, you can keep reusing the same pot of boiling water instead of dumping the whole thing out to strain it. This turned into a long ramble but really it's a time/water saver! Link to pic below.

    http://www.chefscatalog.com/img/products/285x285/98490_285.jpg

    I like and use the pasta pentola. There is also the Chinese bamboo steam baskets (you can stack them on top of one another and steam at the same time).
This discussion has been closed.

Categories