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Post by fumobici on Sept 5, 2018 21:48:59 GMT
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Post by bixaorellana on Sept 5, 2018 22:08:56 GMT
Coincidentally, my mother & I recently had a fairly comprehensive discussion about stick/immersion blenders. (we're a deep family) This came about because of the many people who swear by them, one of whom gave my mother one. I believe I may have had one long, long ago, but don't remember. Anyway, our consensus was enhhh.
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Post by fumobici on Sept 5, 2018 22:24:02 GMT
I've never had one, and never had that "I need a stick blender gosh darn it!" moment. They seem to be a thing in Italy, that's for sure.
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Post by lagatta on Sept 6, 2018 0:07:04 GMT
Yes, for making pesto. I tend to start it off with a chef's knife, then cut it more with the little immersion or stick blender. No smoothies in my life!
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Post by bixaorellana on Sept 6, 2018 1:47:34 GMT
When I envision myself using an immersion blender, a clear picture forms of me throwing away the clothes I was wearing and then moving house to avoid having to clean the ruined kitchen.
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Post by bjd on Sept 6, 2018 7:40:45 GMT
I use an immersion blender for making tomato sauce. I used to use a normal blender but got fed up with washing all the various bits. I have both and use the big blender when I want food to be really smooth (like creamy soups).
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Post by lagatta on Sept 6, 2018 10:10:12 GMT
I have only the immersion blender.
Bixa, aprons.
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Post by kerouac2 on Sept 6, 2018 10:53:40 GMT
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Post by bjd on Sept 6, 2018 11:09:13 GMT
Well, don't buy a cheap one that doesn't come apart to be washed. Pain in the neck to clean if you can't put it in water completely.
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Post by Deleted on Sept 6, 2018 12:37:55 GMT
Ah, thank you fumobici.
No, I have no use for one. I'm an old school "whisker" when it comes to something that needs whipping up, including pesto which I much prefer to make "by hand".
I'm with Bixa on the mess making flying ingredients. An apron may protect me but not all my surroundings.
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Post by lagatta on Sept 6, 2018 13:07:51 GMT
I make pesto by hand but hummus is a bit of a challenge.
And if you have a regular blender you have no need for an immersion one. I do use my whisk for most things.
Odd, I am more than a bit of a klutz but have never experienced flying hummus or anything else with the immersion blender...
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Post by bixaorellana on Sept 6, 2018 16:34:28 GMT
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Post by Deleted on Sept 6, 2018 17:07:23 GMT
I remember many years ago when we were in Merida we went into a store that was like a hardware store but they also sold all manner of things.
What stood out was a gorgeous blender and also one of those machines that are used in ice cream parlors for milkshakes.
Anyway, both were that gorgeous shade of dark aqua.
They were real reasonably priced.
T. had to drag me out of that store as he saw the expression on my face of longing and he was saying "no C. NO!!".
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Post by Kimby on Sept 6, 2018 17:15:12 GMT
Maybe T was protecting you from your worst impulses!
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Post by fumobici on Sept 6, 2018 19:01:31 GMT
I've got an Osterizer that's probably from the sixties, weighs a ton. You can still get parts! For excellent pesto though, a mortar and pestle is sadly still obligatory. The link below echoes my experience. Lacking the proper tools, I can't make proper pesto at home. My blender pesto was OK, but a pale shadow of the real thing. www.seriouseats.com/2014/07/how-to-make-the-best-pesto.htmlI went to a proper genovese restaurant this Spring and a marble pestle filled with just-made pesto was brought to the table to dip the bread into. What a wonderful way to start a Ligurian meal!
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Post by bixaorellana on Sept 6, 2018 19:59:24 GMT
I think it depends on the blender, the power or the number of blades or all of the above. My blender has six blades & can make pesto. I have three mortars, but prefer the blender for pesto because of speed & less work. If ones blender isn't making the pesto fine enough, it's probably better to crush or pulverize the nuts first, using a grinder or mortar.
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Post by lagatta on Sept 6, 2018 22:09:51 GMT
I've made pesto with a mortar and pestle, and it remains the best, but I'm afraid that would hurt my hands too much now...
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Post by Deleted on Sept 7, 2018 12:16:56 GMT
I much prefer the hand made mortar and pestle version. It's the texture, not so pureed, that makes it so much more palatable to me.
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Post by kerouac2 on Sept 23, 2018 5:57:31 GMT
Even though I have long owned one of those lid gripping tools for recalcitrant jars, 98% of the time running hot water over the lid is sufficient to get it to loosen.
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Post by questa on Sept 25, 2018 5:45:33 GMT
I have one of those...came in handy for the occasional jar of pickles. Then I noticed I was using it for most screw-tops. As my wrist muscles are getting a bit weaker, I'm using it for bottles as well but those pickles are the limit. I now have to kneel on the jar to hold it still and use both hands to turn the lever.I also use the hot water method but a friend says that she goes through the supermarket check-out then asks some beefy bloke to just loosen the tops for her.
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Post by kerouac2 on Sept 25, 2018 5:58:11 GMT
I wonder why pickle jars are always the worst. There are jars of mayonnaise, jam, all sorts of other things, but pickles are always the most difficult. Maybe the vinegar does something?
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Post by onlyMark on Sept 25, 2018 6:56:13 GMT
Isn't it they way these things are manufactured? Don't you put pickles in the jar when they are still hot or something? Or re-heat them then put the top on? I use the back of a normal cutlery knife to tap all around the lid on the top corner. Not only does it loosen off the lid it adds a little more dents to grip on.
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Post by lagatta on Sept 25, 2018 21:26:00 GMT
The beefy bloke method is effective (especially as the requester gets on in years) but can be hazardous for those of us who stock up on our favourite jarred goods.
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Post by rikita on Oct 18, 2018 23:17:56 GMT
not a gadget, but still something for the kitchen - i finally got a proper spice rack as my birthday present, instead of having all our spices just standing around in the kitchen with the one i currently need always somehow having disappeared ...
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Post by Kimby on Oct 18, 2018 23:41:00 GMT
Happy for you, rikita. I need to figure out something to do with our spices in the Sanibel kitchen, as we have had the cabinet doors and drawer fronts replaced, which means the spice racks that used to line the backs of the doors are now gone. Makes me wish we had kept the rotating countertop spice rack that we’d given Mr. Kimby’s mom years ago. It held 20 spice jars. But we left it for the charity thrift shop when we cleared out her apartment, not imagining we might need it so soon.
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Post by kerouac2 on Oct 19, 2018 4:00:41 GMT
I cannot find a big enough spice rack.
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Post by questa on Oct 19, 2018 8:27:43 GMT
They are not hard to make. I can send you instructions on how I made mine.
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Post by cheerypeabrain on Oct 23, 2018 15:13:03 GMT
Not exactly gadgets...but of late I've been replacing my knackered tupperware and click box plastic storage containers with glass kilner jars. The plastic boxes were ancient and the food (rice, flour, dried pasta, lentils etc) seemed to take on a plasticky smell after a while. The plastic hasn't been chucked, OH has them for storing screws, nails, washers, nuts and bolts etc. AND the kilner jars look pretty. Sorted.
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Post by bixaorellana on Oct 23, 2018 22:03:23 GMT
THAT is what those jars are called?! I am thrilled to know this. I have a bunch of them & recently bought two more. I never knew if they even had a proper name. "Those glass jars that close with a wire thingy like the top of a Grolsch bottle" was the best I could do. Thank you for this valuable piece of information!
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Post by Kimby on Oct 23, 2018 22:19:32 GMT
I always called em French Canning jars....
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