From useless kitchen gadget to can't live without it necessity when you go Paleo...
KombuchaCat
Posts: 834 Member
I've been an avid home cook for many years but once you become more educated on what to avoid you need to make even more for yourself. Case in point for me, tortillas/taco shells. Even though my husband is not totally primal/paleo with me I just can't allow him to eat store bought tortillas or taco shells because they all have canola oil in them...every. single.brand. So I've been making my own (fav is the Zenbelly Plantain tortillas!). Well it's become tedious to roll them out each time so I've broke down and bought a tortilla press, wow so worth the aggravation saved! Is there any useless kitchen gadget that you can't imagine living without now that you're primal/paleo?
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My spiralizer, I used it so much last summer I broke the handle so will be getting a new one. Pressure cooker as well, I rarely used it and now I use it often. Oddly, kitchen scissors for cutting meat/de-boning- I never did that before!0
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I have a pasta pot that always boiled over when I had the pasta basket inserted. It was relegated to the garage for years. Now that I have bone broth on pretty much a daily basis, I've found that it makes an excellent broth pot.0
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I have three pairs of kitchen shears, and they're all perpetually in need of washing. ~5 years ago, I don't think I had even one pair... My knife block is also perpetually empty...
We've started making more use of the meat grinder attachment to our KitchenAide mixer.
I recently picked up a salad spinner. I have never in my life had one until about a month ago. Best cheap plastic tub ever (seriously, does wonders for increasing the life of lettuce).
Glass jars have invaded my kitchen!0 -
My spice grinder gets a lot of use nowadays...
Also, I just bought an immersion blender a few weeks ago for making BPC in the mornings - I use it for everything!
Soups, sauces, smoothies... it's works like a son-of-a-gun, and it's super easy to clean!0 -
the dishwasher...0
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Oh! My cast iron skillet, I sear meat on the stove and finish off in the oven.0
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FaylinaMeir wrote: »
LOL but its so true! Before Paleo I mostly ate take-out and drank beer!0 -
I am coming to love my food processor, that I hardly ever used for years. Cauliflower rice! And yesterday I finally made coconut butter that worked! (The secret was to use coconut flakes, not shredded coconut.)
I finally understand the people who say that they can eat coconut butter out of the jar by the spoonful.0 -
I like to make constant us of the dish sponge, dish soap and dish rack as I like to keep the sink free of dishes and everything washed between meals and prepping. And that's a lot of washing to keep up with!
Other than that Calphalon sautee pans, Calphalon pan lids and boiling pots, high quality knives and spatulas, deep soup spoons only available online or in Chinatown, two large cutting boards and two baking pans for baking fish and chicken and roasting vegetables.
Isn't Calphalon aluminum based? Or am I remembering wrong?
My mom suffered Alzheimers, which is supposedly tied to aluminum intake (at least in part), so I have eliminated as much aluminum (antiperspirants, aluminum foil, my fancy aluminum cookware that I gave away, etc) as possible from my lifestyle.
So far, so good. By the age I am now, she had lost a lot of mental capacity already.
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Kimberly_Harper wrote: »FaylinaMeir wrote: »
LOL but its so true! Before Paleo I mostly ate take-out and drank beer!
Love my dishwasher. We just moved into this house last fall, after living without a dishwasher for nearly 30 years in previous houses. Love it.0 -
bluefish86 wrote: »My spice grinder gets a lot of use nowadays...
Also, I just bought an immersion blender a few weeks ago for making BPC in the mornings - I use it for everything!
Soups, sauces, smoothies... it's works like a son-of-a-gun, and it's super easy to clean!
Oh, yes, the immersion blender! My mayo always turns out now, and I don't have to wash oil out of a plastic blender jar anymore.0 -
I started AIP paleo about three weeks ago. Top of the list for my essential tools for Paleo are: my smartphone -- group contact, recipes, and shopping lists; my kitchen scissors; glass containers for making and storing meals ahead; slow cooker; spiral cutter; slow juicer; good chef quality knives.0
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My robo-stirring. I only use it a few times a year. But anything that needs to be stirred constantly, I clean the kitchen while it stirs itself.0
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Spiralizer, immersion blender, crockpot!0
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Julienne peeler for courgetti. Just had 'spaghetti bolognese" - YUM0
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Yup, Paleo seems to require, or benefit, from lots of gadgets. I sort of enjoyed some of the cooking but I'm liking having more time for other pursuits too. The only gadgets that I'm still using are knives, scissors, crock pot, and very occasionally, the Instant Pot. I love not spending every single moment that I'm not at work cooking in the kitchen.
So if I return to Paleo (with vegetables) I'm going to keep everything VERY simple. I've wasted so much money on my Paleo lifestyle, and while it was temporarily enjoyed, I'm poorer for it... especially the cookbooks! Nobody here wants them and I have too many to take... off to the dump.
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It has been just the opposite for me Akimajuktug; I use a lot fewer kitchen tools now that I'm cooking primally. Then again I'm a fan of Alton Browns philosophy on kitchen gadgets. No unitaskers, all tools have to have more than one use to stay in the kitchen. The only thing I've been tempted to purchase just because I don't eat grains anymore is a spiralizer. I just haven't talked myself into it yet. Right now I just use spagetti squash for my sauces that used to go on pasta, or a mandolin or knife for prepping squash to act in the place of pasta.
Two or three pans, a couple nice knives, a shredder and wooden utensils are pretty much all I use on a daily basis.0 -
Akimajuktuq wrote: »Yup, Paleo seems to require, or benefit, from lots of gadgets. I sort of enjoyed some of the cooking but I'm liking having more time for other pursuits too. The only gadgets that I'm still using are knives, scissors, crock pot, and very occasionally, the Instant Pot. I love not spending every single moment that I'm not at work cooking in the kitchen.
So if I return to Paleo (with vegetables) I'm going to keep everything VERY simple. I've wasted so much money on my Paleo lifestyle, and while it was temporarily enjoyed, I'm poorer for it... especially the cookbooks! Nobody here wants them and I have too many to take... off to the dump.
ebay or amazon and you'll sell them very easy
oh and Jrosto .... *points to profile photo* Alton Brown is the man! LOL I admit to have lots of kitchen gadgets but I have scaled back over the years and haven't bought in a long time with the exception of a silicone pastry brush... that I use to slather coconut oil in my pancake pan
I actually use far LESS stuff cooking paleo then I did before. Although I DID invest in some glass food storage container but I've wanted those forever now
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My favorite kitchen tool is my ulu. It makes chopping so much easier.0
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No selling from eBay and Amazon isn't applicable to remote locations. I'm in Canada and in the Arctic lol. I am selling lots of stuff... but nobody here wants cookbooks and they cannot be shipped out at $5+ per pound cargo rate. I'm shipping a LOT of books unfortunately and unused cookbooks aren't going to make the cut.
Personally, I would recommend keeping things simple. Some of the gadgets were fun, some useless, but all told, a lot of wasted money. Even the Vitamix because, to be truly honest, smoothies aren't really that healthy for my child either.
Nutmeg: as expected, I keep an ulu handy with my knife collection. Artists make them locally. I have zero buyers remorse over my knives, they made my life much more pleasant in the kitchen!0 -
My Vegetable Spiralizer, Magic Bullet Blender, Food Processor for grating/slicing veggies & Immersion Blender for soups - mine are all just regular tools.
Id love to get a Waffle Iron (for paleo waffles for my son), an Icecream Maker (again, paleo icecream for my boy), a Dehydrator & a Mandolin .
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I just have a small crockpot and it is constantly in use especially now that my oven is broken.0
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Nutmeg I forgot about the ulu, it's amazing for herbs!
While I've added items to my kitchen collection they are basic and timeless and at the same time I've eliminated so many fad items (panini machine, rice steamer, pasta cookers etc.) I have a much more usable and efficient kitchen now and am so happy with it!0 -
I had to buy a bigger stock pot and a couple of fine-mesh strainers and cheesecloth for the bone broth. I use the meat grinder and the slicer add-ons to my KitchenAid stand mixer a lot more, too.
Silicon bowl covers and old Pyrex "refridgerator boxes" are priceless for reusable leftover storage too.
And ditto on the dishwasher, cast-iron (Lodge brand is my favorite), and mason jars.0 -
Another vote for the cast iron skillet. Since I started my 99% paleo, I use it twice a day, every day.0
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Veggie noodle maker!! I love zucchini noodles with spaghetti sauce. I was using jar spaghetti sauce for a while though- didn't reason the sugar overload. I'll be making my own next time.
Tools I want to get:
bamboo cutting board
avocado cutter thing
a thing that turns olive oil (or any oil) into a spray (ditch the cans)
nice glass container set
herb scissors
They are all relatively inexpensive. I'm just taking it slow on gathering my collection. Not to be negative, but I've started many different "lifestyles" only to stop and therefore waste money. I do have full intentions of seeing this one through though. If not for my weight loss- my face! (Finally clear after 15 years of acne).0 -
I have to look into this Ulu thing...0
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Veggie spiralizer for 'zoodles', immersion blender, micro-plane for citrus zest, a mini food processor for salad dressings and my beloved cast iron pans. Use many of these daily.0
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