Kitchen Gadgets
Replies
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We are talking about kitchen appliances here! I love to cook!
My favorites are:
Crockpot: I use it at least once a week and often more often than that! I like to make main dishes that I can have enough leftovers so I don't have to cook the next day.
Food Processor: Everyone loves the cookies I make. I use the food processor a lot because the best cookies I make are made with oatmeal and I process the dry ingredients. I use it for many other recipes also.
Rice Cooker: My husband loves rice and rice dishes. Use the rice cooker even more often than my crockpot. This week I am making oriental turkey burgers over rice. Yesterday I made a stir-fry over rice and later this week I will make a chicken dish with rice. I have a pretty large rice cooker so I often make several rice dishes some weeks and make a big batch of rice for that week.
But my all time favorite is my Mickey Mouse waffle iron. It is my favorite because my grandchildren are so delighted to eat Mickey Mouse waffles.
I have a lot of other small specialty kitchen appliances, but my kitchen is very small and I have them packed away in the garage. Including pizza stones, blender, a ceramic press to make Scottish shortbread, a wok, an ice cream maker, and a small pizza oven. I really miss the large kitchen that I had before we moved!2 -
A device that I am thinking about buying but don't really need and shouldn't buy because I probably won't use it much is a sous vide immersion cooker that I just saw demonstrated on America's Test Kitchen.
Nice to be able to cook your food to a precise temp but for me it takes way too long and way too fussy a procedure.
Love strip steaks and they showed how you can cook a 1-1 5" thick 1# steak (which is how I cut my steaks) to a perfect med rare at 130 degrees F but it took 2 hrs to cook the meat and then they still had to pan fry it for appearance. I cook my steaks to a perfect med rare in a cast iron grill pan in just 10-12 mins. Why wait 2 hrs to do the same thing?
I also like poached eggs. They made some perfect looking poached eggs in 12 mins at 167 degrees but I can make a couple of poached eggs in just a few mins on the stovetop. Yeah, it's messier and they aren''t as pretty, but who wants to wait 12 mins? I can make 3 doz hard boiled eggs in a pot on the stovetop in just 10 mins.
So, I guess I've talked myself out of buying a sous vide device. LOL!
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I like my garlic press and my instant pot. I have one of these big, wide scrapey things that I use to scrape up all my diced onions and such to throw into my cooking pot, one they I always see people using in cooking videos lol. Because scraping them up with my knife takes too long. I like that little guy.
I can tell you my least favorite. It's the deep fryer. That thing is gross. I hate it. My husband brought it home one day and I've hated it ever since. We don't really have anywhere to put it either. It's in the same cabinet as the crock pot, and they don't fit in there together so that cabinet door just has to stay slightly ajar. LOL.1 -
My Instant pot is the most used gadget. I want a convection oven/air fryer but don't have a lot of space so I might get the Mealthy lid for my IP. Instant pot is worth it alone for dried unsealed beans and frozen chicken breasts! I also use my dehydrator on herbs this time of year.
Non electrical gadgets I use is my chef knife (about to buy a better one), Toddy for making cold brew coffee, and garlic press.0 -
My microwave died, so I replaced it with a microwave/convection oven...hoping this will get rid of a few of the extra gadgets in my kitchen (like the toaster oven and pressure cooker)...1
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I use my instant pot and rice cooker at least once a week, usually two to three times. They are both great for meal prepping.0
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I like my electric steamer for cooking rice as it's much easier to clean than the one rice cooker I have experience with. I prefer it over stovetop because I don't have to watch/remember as it has a timer. People who "don't understand" rice cookers are those who never melded a pot of rice and a pan into one being in their early forays into cookery.
I use my pressure cooker a lot in the winter for soups and stews, but tellingly a lot less just in general since I went veggie. I think its strengths lie with how it cooks meat.
Immersion blender also had for a long time and gets plenty of use.0 -
Wish i could put recipes and ingredients in myfitnesspal together!0
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just_Tomek wrote: »I like my garlic press and my instant pot. I have one of these big, wide scrapey things that I use to scrape up all my diced onions and such to throw into my cooking pot, one they I always see people using in cooking videos lol. Because scraping them up with my knife takes too long. I like that little guy.
I can tell you my least favorite. It's the deep fryer. That thing is gross. I hate it. My husband brought it home one day and I've hated it ever since. We don't really have anywhere to put it either. It's in the same cabinet as the crock pot, and they don't fit in there together so that cabinet door just has to stay slightly ajar. LOL.
I stopped using the garlic press a while back. Use a zester and just grate the garlic into whatever. Also works great on frozen ginger.
When I buy ginger I peel and slice thinly against the grain, then zap in a mini food processor and freeze in ice cube trays. I transfer the ginger cubes into ziplock bags once frozen. For me, an easy way to add ginger to stir fries. Will try the grate from frozen technique to test which is easier. Will probably try this on galangal which I freeze too.0 -
MelanieCN77 wrote: »I like my electric steamer for cooking rice as it's much easier to clean than the one rice cooker I have experience with. I prefer it over stovetop because I don't have to watch/remember as it has a timer. People who "don't understand" rice cookers are those who never melded a pot of rice and a pan into one being in their early forays into cookery.
I use my pressure cooker a lot in the winter for soups and stews, but tellingly a lot less just in general since I went veggie. I think its strengths lie with how it cooks meat.
Immersion blender also had for a long time and gets plenty of use.
To each their own but . . .
I've cooked rice on the stovetop and in a rice cooker and far prefer the rice cooker that I've been using 4 almost 30 yrs.
I have used pressure cookers and still have 1 that I should throw away because I never use it. What's the hurry? Low and slow cooking is the way to go IMO.1 -
just_Tomek wrote: »I like my garlic press and my instant pot. I have one of these big, wide scrapey things that I use to scrape up all my diced onions and such to throw into my cooking pot, one they I always see people using in cooking videos lol. Because scraping them up with my knife takes too long. I like that little guy.
I can tell you my least favorite. It's the deep fryer. That thing is gross. I hate it. My husband brought it home one day and I've hated it ever since. We don't really have anywhere to put it either. It's in the same cabinet as the crock pot, and they don't fit in there together so that cabinet door just has to stay slightly ajar. LOL.
I stopped using the garlic press a while back. Use a zester and just grate the garlic into whatever. Also works great on frozen ginger.
When I buy ginger I peel and slice thinly against the grain, then zap in a mini food processor and freeze in ice cube trays. I transfer the ginger cubes into ziplock bags once frozen. For me, an easy way to add ginger to stir fries. Will try the grate from frozen technique to test which is easier. Will probably try this on galangal which I freeze too.
I use a garlic press when lazy but the smash and double Chinese cleaver method makes mince meat of garlic very quickly.
As for ginger, I just cut off a piece I need, remove the skin w/a teaspoon and grate it on a Japanese wasabi grater or on a modern handled grater and it's freshly and quickly done.
Juilenning ginger is also eat to do w/a sharp knife and I keep all of my knives sharp.1 -
I think my brain is unable to process thinking about dinner while eating breakfast so my instant pot gets a LOT of use, so much so my husband has his mom get me a second one for Christmas last year and I frequently have both going at the same time for a meal. Cooks beautiful rice (well, one model does. The one that does it on low pressure, the other only has a high pressure setting and the bottom tends to burn). I had rice down pat with a certain brand, then I couldn’t find it anymore and the new stuff was much morenfinicky - it was either crunchy, gooey mush, or somehow both. And hard boiled eggs. Those two items alone are worth me having an IP (for my family of 6 I will do 4c uncooked rice and have little to none leftover).To each their own but . . .
I've cooked rice on the stovetop and in a rice cooker and far prefer the rice cooker that I've been using 4 almost 30 yrs.
I have used pressure cookers and still have 1 that I should throw away because I never use it. What's the hurry? Low and slow cooking is the way to go IMO.
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I use my crockpot more than any other gadget. I make a lot of soups, and low and slow is great for soups.
My best kitchen tool is a sharp set of knives. I use knives every day.0 -
I love my Ninja Foodi.... air fryer and electric pressure cooker in one. Also cooks food from frozen when I forget to take something out.1
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just_Tomek wrote: »I like my garlic press and my instant pot. I have one of these big, wide scrapey things that I use to scrape up all my diced onions and such to throw into my cooking pot, one they I always see people using in cooking videos lol. Because scraping them up with my knife takes too long. I like that little guy.
I can tell you my least favorite. It's the deep fryer. That thing is gross. I hate it. My husband brought it home one day and I've hated it ever since. We don't really have anywhere to put it either. It's in the same cabinet as the crock pot, and they don't fit in there together so that cabinet door just has to stay slightly ajar. LOL.
I stopped using the garlic press a while back. Use a zester and just grate the garlic into whatever. Also works great on frozen ginger.
I do that with ginger but I find it hard to get the whole garlic clove that way because I'm scared of skinning my finger into my food
Of course the garlic press doesn't get the whole garlic either, and garlic is cheap, so I'm not sure why I care. 0 -
just_Tomek wrote: »just_Tomek wrote: »I like my garlic press and my instant pot. I have one of these big, wide scrapey things that I use to scrape up all my diced onions and such to throw into my cooking pot, one they I always see people using in cooking videos lol. Because scraping them up with my knife takes too long. I like that little guy.
I can tell you my least favorite. It's the deep fryer. That thing is gross. I hate it. My husband brought it home one day and I've hated it ever since. We don't really have anywhere to put it either. It's in the same cabinet as the crock pot, and they don't fit in there together so that cabinet door just has to stay slightly ajar. LOL.
I stopped using the garlic press a while back. Use a zester and just grate the garlic into whatever. Also works great on frozen ginger.
When I buy ginger I peel and slice thinly against the grain, then zap in a mini food processor and freeze in ice cube trays. I transfer the ginger cubes into ziplock bags once frozen. For me, an easy way to add ginger to stir fries. Will try the grate from frozen technique to test which is easier. Will probably try this on galangal which I freeze too.
I freeze both along with lemon grass and lime leafs. The lemon grass also grates super easy into dishes with the zester.
I will try grating frozen lemongrass. I normally dice fine while still partially frozen.
What is your technique for dealing with frozen kaffir lime leaves? They only take a few minutes to defrost and I cut out the spines then roll the halved leaves into tiny cigars and cut to very fine julien with scissors. A technique I learned from a cooking class on a vacation in Cambodia. But I guess if you are using lime leaves for curries rather than garnishes you probably just use them whole.0 -
just_Tomek wrote: »I like my garlic press and my instant pot. I have one of these big, wide scrapey things that I use to scrape up all my diced onions and such to throw into my cooking pot, one they I always see people using in cooking videos lol. Because scraping them up with my knife takes too long. I like that little guy.
I can tell you my least favorite. It's the deep fryer. That thing is gross. I hate it. My husband brought it home one day and I've hated it ever since. We don't really have anywhere to put it either. It's in the same cabinet as the crock pot, and they don't fit in there together so that cabinet door just has to stay slightly ajar. LOL.
I stopped using the garlic press a while back. Use a zester and just grate the garlic into whatever. Also works great on frozen ginger.
When I buy ginger I peel and slice thinly against the grain, then zap in a mini food processor and freeze in ice cube trays. I transfer the ginger cubes into ziplock bags once frozen. For me, an easy way to add ginger to stir fries. Will try the grate from frozen technique to test which is easier. Will probably try this on galangal which I freeze too.
I use a garlic press when lazy but the smash and double Chinese cleaver method makes mince meat of garlic very quickly.
As for ginger, I just cut off a piece I need, remove the skin w/a teaspoon and grate it on a Japanese wasabi grater or on a modern handled grater and it's freshly and quickly done.
Juilenning ginger is also eat to do w/a sharp knife and I keep all of my knives sharp.
If I trek to the Asian supermarket I can buy ginger in any quantity that suits me. However the supermarkets near me package ginger in big bags forcing to buy a huge quantity relative to our two person household that cooks Asian maybe 2 days a week. I always end up having to freeze some of it.0 -
Love our instant pot & use it often, even husband who only cooked BBQ before cooks in it1
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just_Tomek wrote: »I like my garlic press and my instant pot. I have one of these big, wide scrapey things that I use to scrape up all my diced onions and such to throw into my cooking pot, one they I always see people using in cooking videos lol. Because scraping them up with my knife takes too long. I like that little guy.
I can tell you my least favorite. It's the deep fryer. That thing is gross. I hate it. My husband brought it home one day and I've hated it ever since. We don't really have anywhere to put it either. It's in the same cabinet as the crock pot, and they don't fit in there together so that cabinet door just has to stay slightly ajar. LOL.
I stopped using the garlic press a while back. Use a zester and just grate the garlic into whatever. Also works great on frozen ginger.
When I buy ginger I peel and slice thinly against the grain, then zap in a mini food processor and freeze in ice cube trays. I transfer the ginger cubes into ziplock bags once frozen. For me, an easy way to add ginger to stir fries. Will try the grate from frozen technique to test which is easier. Will probably try this on galangal which I freeze too.
I use a garlic press when lazy but the smash and double Chinese cleaver method makes mince meat of garlic very quickly.
As for ginger, I just cut off a piece I need, remove the skin w/a teaspoon and grate it on a Japanese wasabi grater or on a modern handled grater and it's freshly and quickly done.
Juilenning ginger is also eat to do w/a sharp knife and I keep all of my knives sharp.
If I trek to the Asian supermarket I can buy ginger in any quantity that suits me. However the supermarkets near me package ginger in big bags forcing to buy a huge quantity relative to our two person household that cooks Asian maybe 2 nights a week. I always end up having to freeze some of it.0 -
My steamer broke last night...so I made rice in the instant pot (pressure cooker) for the first time ever...it was so delicious and took half the time, now I no longer need a steamer!0
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CynthiaMargiotta wrote: »Wish i could put recipes and ingredients in myfitnesspal together!
What do you mean? You can create recipes and meals in MyFitnessPal.1 -
This gizmo from Amazon. I use it almost every day. It chops food with a few easy pulls of the “Chatty Cathy” doll type pull-string. Non electric and super easy to clean.
More pulls, the finer it dices. Makes fab chopped tomatoes for guacamole.
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BarbaraHelen2013 wrote: »I don't understand that someone disagrees with my appreciation of new rice cooker. Is it because the product is Chinese? I am not even American.
I didn’t click any buttons either, but my guess on the disagree would be down to rice cookers in general! I have never understood why they exist! 😂
They take up so much space and do a job that can be done in a standard saucepan 🤷♀️
The actual reason I’ve posted, though, is to ask the significance of the last line ‘I am not even American.’
Is there some push back in America about products made in China or something? 🤔
I didn't disagree with the rice cooker post either, but agree that rice can be cooked perfectly in a standard saucepan on either gas or electric stove.
IMO, simmering on electric is trickier than gas, but I have found I get perfect long grain white rice every time if I bring the water to boil, add the rice, stir, immediately turn down to the 10:30 position, and set the timer for 20 minutes. Then, remove from heat and sit for 5 min. Finally, fluff and serve.1 -
We've been making rice on the stove top for years, but I actually prefer the rice that comes out of the rice cooker which has more separation between the grains. But mainly it is the convenience of not having to set the timer, keeping an eye for when it comes to a boil which has made me want a rice cooker for years. In the asian household I grew up in we had one, and I always preferred the convenience, but just didn't like the way any of the appliances looked until my colleague recommended the Xiaomi. But since, I notice the one from Muji (a Japanese version of Target) does a really nice compact minimal looking rice cooker too. And the buttons and menus are available in English.0
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I've never heard of instant pot but I do have 2 stove top pressure cookers(never use them). What I do love is my crock pot. I can put a meal in there go to my daughters volleyball or softball games (depending on season) and have dinner when we get home. Also great in summer when it's too hot to cook. Just throw something in it and it doesn't heat the kitchen the way my stove would.
Yes, I don't care that my slow cookers are slow because I am multitasking while they are working - like sleeping or working
I work from home and this time of year often prep dinner at lunch time, throw it in the crock pot, and it's ready at dinner time. Next up: chicken cacciatore.
My overnight "recipes" are making stock from bones that I've saved in the freezer and cooking black beans (no presoaking required.)
When I was in Costa Rico I did use a traditional stove top pressure cooker, and liked it there, but did not feel the urge to get one when I returned to the US.
If someone were to give me a pressure cooker or Insta Pot, I'd definitely experiment with it, but feel no need at this time to go out and get one. That might change if I ever go back to commuting to work again.
For those of you with Insta Pot looking for recipes, allrecipes.com has plenty: https://www.allrecipes.com/recipes/11978/everyday-cooking/cookware-and-equipment/pressure-cooker/
I would personally start with ATK's cookbook though: Multicooker Perfection: Cook It Fast or Cook It Slow-You Decide1 -
The Muji rice cooker is damned cute too, but twice the price of the Xiaomi. I think I am okay with living with Chinese buttons and menus given the price difference.
https://www.muji.eu/pages/online.asp?Sec=8&Sub=62&PID=91881 -
I really love the Instant Pot. I use it both to cook general recipes but also to pressure cook beans for other recipes. I also like the Ninja for cutting up/food processing stuff.1
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I buy my wife every gadget/cooker she wants, but we still love the ole crockpot best!2
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kshama2001 wrote: »BarbaraHelen2013 wrote: »I don't understand that someone disagrees with my appreciation of new rice cooker. Is it because the product is Chinese? I am not even American.
I didn’t click any buttons either, but my guess on the disagree would be down to rice cookers in general! I have never understood why they exist! 😂
They take up so much space and do a job that can be done in a standard saucepan 🤷♀️
The actual reason I’ve posted, though, is to ask the significance of the last line ‘I am not even American.’
Is there some push back in America about products made in China or something? 🤔
I didn't disagree with the rice cooker post either, but agree that rice can be cooked perfectly in a standard saucepan on either gas or electric stove.
IMO, simmering on electric is trickier than gas, but I have found I get perfect long grain white rice every time if I bring the water to boil, add the rice, stir, immediately turn down to the 10:30 position, and set the timer for 20 minutes. Then, remove from heat and sit for 5 min. Finally, fluff and serve.
That sounds like the absorption method? I’ll use that for sticky rice/jasmine rice etc, but generally I just throw mine into a decent sized pot of boiling salted water, simmer until almost done (12-15 mins for white/basmati, maybe 25 for brown) drain in a sieve, return to the dry pan, cover with a clean tea towel and the lid so it finishes cooking in it’s own steam without condensation (towel absorbs steam) and it’s beautifully fluffy and separate grains. In all the 40 years I’ve been cooking rice I’ve possibly stuffed it up twice!
I do agree that it’s a lot easier on gas than electric hob though!0 -
BarbaraHelen2013 wrote: »kshama2001 wrote: »BarbaraHelen2013 wrote: »I don't understand that someone disagrees with my appreciation of new rice cooker. Is it because the product is Chinese? I am not even American.
I didn’t click any buttons either, but my guess on the disagree would be down to rice cookers in general! I have never understood why they exist! 😂
They take up so much space and do a job that can be done in a standard saucepan 🤷♀️
The actual reason I’ve posted, though, is to ask the significance of the last line ‘I am not even American.’
Is there some push back in America about products made in China or something? 🤔
I didn't disagree with the rice cooker post either, but agree that rice can be cooked perfectly in a standard saucepan on either gas or electric stove.
IMO, simmering on electric is trickier than gas, but I have found I get perfect long grain white rice every time if I bring the water to boil, add the rice, stir, immediately turn down to the 10:30 position, and set the timer for 20 minutes. Then, remove from heat and sit for 5 min. Finally, fluff and serve.
That sounds like the absorption method? I’ll use that for sticky rice/jasmine rice etc, but generally I just throw mine into a decent sized pot of boiling salted water, simmer until almost done (12-15 mins for white/basmati, maybe 25 for brown) drain in a sieve, return to the dry pan, cover with a clean tea towel and the lid so it finishes cooking in it’s own steam without condensation (towel absorbs steam) and it’s beautifully fluffy and separate grains. In all the 40 years I’ve been cooking rice I’ve possibly stuffed it up twice!
I do agree that it’s a lot easier on gas than electric hob though!
Huh, I have never heard of that method!0
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