Kitchen Gadgets

[lagatta]

I don't have a microwave - no place for that and a fair-sized "toaster oven" and I use the latter a lot - great for baking portions of fish, chicken etc for one person and many other uses. If I did, I'd get one of those and I might buy one as a gag present for a friend - yes, she'd use it, in the same way as kerouac.

[Kimby]

Kitchen gadgets are sold as labor-saving devices, but often it takes longer to get the contraption out of its storage place, remove it from its box, re-assemble it, use it, dis-assemble it, wash the various pieces, dry it thoroughly so it won't rust in storage, and replace it in its storage place, than it would have to just manually chop up or mix the ingredients in the first place.

[Deleted]

That's why I like the egg poacher -- so simple. Even though I love traditional egg slicers, I rarely use mine, just because cleaning takes longer than slicing the egg.

[Deleted]

Those yolks look weird Kerouac

[Deleted]

I rarely use mine, just because cleaning takes longer than slicing the egg.

And that's what I find with a lot of kitchen gadgets. Sometimes it's easier and takes less time to just not use them.

[Deleted]

Apr 20, 2010 19:52:40 GMT casimira said:

Those yolks look weird Kerouac

We don't always cook the yolk completely. It's much nicer that way.

[cristina]

An entertaining little Andy Rooney segment on kitchen gadgets:



I suspect all of us have been in these shoes at one time or another.

[lagatta]

That is an oeuf mollet, non?

[Deleted]

Absolutely. Most North Americans would toss it instantly due to the salmonella obsession.

Moving on, I would say that one of the first relatively primitive kitchen gadgets which was a godsend was the rotary grater (whether horizontal or vertical) as an alternative to the flat grater.

[Deleted]

Am I allowed to say that I consider the electric can opener to be a ridiculous gadget? If I had to open 35 cans in a row, maybe I would find it useful. But it is a rare moment when I have to open more that one can of something to prepare a meal. Why on earth would I need an electric machine to do this for me?

[bixaorellana]

I feel about electric can openers the way I feel about automatic transmission automobiles: they're great if you have some physical disability that would keep you from using the regular model.

Just went & looked at my stuff. I'm fairly pure! I don't have a microwave, so no special items for that appliance. My gadgets:

can opener -- manual Swing-a-Way
4-sided grater, smallish -- mostly used to grate nutmeg
flame spreader
molcajete & tejolote -- two of each
lime squeezer
molinillos, two


I also have metal and wooden cooking implements, plus some regular-sized forks and spoons that are only for kitchen use, and some cutting boards.

Electric stuff:

hand-held mixer
citrus juicer
blender
food processor

[Deleted]

So that 4th item is what a lot of us would call 'mortar and pestle'? I have never owned one, although I would enjoy using it.

[bixaorellana]

Yes, except that I used the Mexican words for it because they specifically refer to the lava rock versions, with their particular shapes for the bowl and mortar. Come to think of it, if we call it a mortar and pestle, then I have three of each. I have a very fine, classic scientific laboratory one that I no longer use because the lava kind are so much more efficient.
www.rubylane.com/shops/1packrat2another/item/422IaP-7a
very like mine, except I only have the larger one, & the # on it is 6 (or 8) 2233

[lagatta]

I have a white French one in heavy porcelain (I inherited this when a friend died). I use that more for spices.

I do have a couple of the microplane-type flat graters as well as a box grater, the latter also small. I do a lot of salads with grated vegetables.

There are also fancy electric corkscrews that can be used with one hand. This could be valuable for a) a person with one arm, or some motor handicap or b) a hospitality worker who has to uncork a SHIPLOAD of wine bottles. I find the waiter corkscrew the most efficient for normal use. Mine do have a cute little joint that does facilitate opening bottles with very long corks (like some old Bordeaux bottles, as if that were my "daily wine").

I'm sure I must have some useless gadgets, as that is a hazard of garage sailing and church bizarring.

[bixaorellana]

Yeah, I'd be tons worse if there were yard sales & the like around here. Which reminds me of something I forgot to list, my coffee/spice grinder, bought (new) at a yard sale maybe 20 years ago. Also a little knife sharpener (non-electric) with the $1 yard sale price still on it. I never use the damned thing, but did schlep it here from the US.

[Deleted]

They're not gadgets, but I need to throw away some old cutting boards.

[spindrift]

the only gadgets I use regularly are: 4 sided grater, citrus squeezer, garlic press, whisk, blender.....

[lagatta]

I gave away my garlic press, a heavy cast metal one from Italy - also picked up at a garage sale. Much prefer chopping it fine with a knife. Is a whisk really a gadget? I view that as a tool as essential as wooden spoons. My blender is one of those immersible ones (a Braun).

I gave away or threw away the plastic cutting boards. (Used things like that tend to be acquired by new immigrants who have nothing). Prefer the wooden ones.

Bixa, do you get your knives sharpened by a guy who passes by in a little truck or on a bicycle? I can have them sharpened at a restaurant supply shop very close by, but there is also a guy who passes by in a little truck, ringing a bell. His father did the same on a bicycle with a honing wheel.

One gadget I really like is a silicone brush (it is bright red) that can be used to spread small quantities of oil on hot pans or to glaze foods in the oven. Much better than that crap and wasteful cooking spray, if you want to limit fat consumption.

[bixaorellana]

LaGatta, yes, the bicycle sharpening guy passes by. You can always tell when one is passing, because they use those slide whistles to announce their presence. Mostly I keep my knives sharp by using the tejolote as a honer.

Haven't tried the silicone brush. One of my sisters puts olive oil in a pump sprayer as a way of limiting how much she uses.

The mention of cutting boards reminded me of this blog I saw the other day. Talk about irritating! For one thing, I can't see that what she's doing is so innovative. For another (this is where the gadget part comes in), she's so thrilled with herself for using the pastry scraper to transfer chopped items to the stove. Why isn't she using a cutting board??! It would be easier to clean and could be simply lifted over to the stove.

You don't have to play the video -- you can see from the still what I mean.
www.measurefreehippiecook.com/2010/04/flash-cookings-where-its-at-2/

[lagatta]

She seems most annoying. Doubt I'll bookmark that cooking blog. And the end result just looks like wokked vegetables I make almost every day.

I just happened to get the silicone brush, and can use it with different oils. But a pump sprayer could work to, though oil tends to clog them. I have two coffee mills, both bought at garage sales (one for coffee, one for spices, linseeds etc).

The gadget I use least is the chestnut cutter...

[Deleted]

I should buy a knife sharpener, but would I ever use it?

[Don Cuevas]

Oh, I don't have anything special to do today, so here's a sample listing of my kitchen gadgets:

Exprimidor para limones (like Bixa's); plastic egg piercer with embedded pin; two silicone cake spatula/cutters; a lemon juice extractor (looks like a ridged toy top); a small numeg grater; a Microplane; a metal Mouli hard cheese grater; does a pastry blender cont as a gadget?; a hand held knife sharpener pus a sharpener that mounts on the edge of a kitchen drawer; a molinillo like Bixa's; garlic press; a small plastic lemon zester, a molcajete and tejolote like Bixa's, except this one is very shallow; and last and nearly useless, and extremely small, dolhouse-sized rubber spatula. Undoubtedly there's more, but I don't want to disrupt the kitchen too much.

Most useless gadget ever received as a gift: wooden hook things intended to pull hot pans out of the oven. Ve bakers haff our vays uff doink dot mitout gadgets.

[bixaorellana]

Apr 28, 2010 14:47:52 GMT kerouac2 said:

I should buy a knife sharpener, but would I ever use it?

This is what you need:
anyportinastorm.proboards.com/index.cgi?action=display&board=pictures&thread=3937

[Deleted]

I love that you have someone come by on a bicycle to sharpen your knives Bixa. We used to have a gentleman come by and do all ours including my garden secateurs,lopers etc. but he retired. Now I do mostly myself,T. has a good honing kit he uses and I have a hand held sharpener I use in a pinch.
I need to take a pic of all the citrus juicers,zesters etc. I've been given over the years,only two of which I find very useful. I must have about ten or so...and every year acquire a few more.
I also have a small collection of old hand forged hand choppers that when properly sharpened are wonderful to chop stuff with in a wooden bowl.
We acquired so many knives as wedding gifts because both T. and I told people that that was what we needed. More knives than we could ever possibly use in a lifetime let alone a 25 year plus marriage... We laugh about it quite a bit.

[Don Cuevas]

Kitchen Gadget? Or Indispenable Appliance?

What about this item, just received in an email?
www.amazon.com/Back-Basics-CM300BR-Cocoa-Latte-Hot-Drink/dp/B0002TUVQM/ref=pe_73570_15207300_as_img_8/



I don't know how I've managed thus far without one, to mix my chocolate and instant coffee.
I especially like the brand name, "Back to Basics".

[onlymark]

Made me laugh to see that there are "35 recipes" with that thing. So you've got cocoa, coffee, cappuccino, cider ... errrr....... coffee and cider? Coffee and chocolate? Chocolate and coffee? Cappucino and coffee? Cider and.......?

I also see it heats up to 167 degrees F and then switches off. I definitely know that's not hot enough for me.

[bixaorellana]

That Back to Basics CM300BR Cocoa-Latte Chrome 32-Ounce Hot-Drink Maker is the sort of thing you see being carried out in droves from Target, Wal-Mart, etc. at Christmastime. Sometimes you'll see people with carts piled with several of that particular season's dumb appliance. If you're going to waste money buying a poorly thought-out gift for a relative, wouldn't a tie or crocheted bed jacket be a better choice? They're so much easier to stash in a drawer.

I have sort of wanted one of those bread baking machines, but am somewhat ashamed of that impulse.

[lagatta]

I hurt my shoulder some years back (what they call "frozen shoulder", painful and debilitating) and the rehab had me kneading some putty similar to plasticene. Figured I might as well knead bread dough...

[bixaorellana]

Oh, that's interesting, LaGatta. Besides the physical aspect, bread making is rather a contemplative activity in its rhythm and discipline.

[Jazz]

My kitchen gadgets are very basic. No microwave or toaster oven. Once I received a microwave as a gift and gave it away. I work with a blender, coffee grinder, manual can opener, whisk, corkscrew, grater, French Press for coffee, hand held knife sharpener(love) and 5 great knives.
My blender is about 20 years old and most of the time I don't use it. Hand choppping is very satisfying.

That's a good idea about the silicone brush, Lagatta, I'll look for one. Do you have Pier One Imports in Montreal? A few weeks ago I spotted a glass that looked very close to the Duralex-Cigogne that you love with a similar shape and size. It was cheap, but glass, not a kind of plastic.

Speaking of 'basic' gadgets to give your friends, what about this winecooler?

Designed by Porsche for Veuve-Clicquot, it's made of brushed steel and each compartment has its own temperature control. Only 15 were made and they retail for 70,000 USD(50,000E)each.