Allotments 4 All
Produce => Recipes => Topic started by: Hyacinth on March 20, 2006, 21:02:01
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while we're waiting for Spring to spring upon us, and we've got some time, just wondered..
1. Which kitchen gadgets do you have and wouldn't be without?
2. Which kitchen gadgets do you have and have to keep for that once-a-year or so essential use?
3.Which kitchen gadgets do you have which are at the back of the cupboard after using just once?
;D Lishka
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1 = Breadmaker and Stick wizzy thing
2 = Coffee grinder for spices, Waffle Iron, but do use more than once a year!
3 = Mr Pinks! ;D ;D ;D Just kidding!!!!!!!!
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1. My stick whizzy blender jobee thingy, sugar thermometer and waffle maker as that is a saturday morning brekky regular!
2. Mandolin - perfect during courgette season for getting those fine shreds and for summer coleslaws, but it doesn't really see the light of day during the darker winter months.
3. Oh I have stacks! Hamburger press, donut mould, pastie presses to name but a few!
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1. Hand blender, mainly for soups, have been know to 'save' gravy with it. We are on our second, the first was simply worn out ! Also a grater, and my knives ... ( I have a diamond sharpener now :D)
2. With Emma mentioning the mandolin, I made a mandolin for producing tagliatelli, having seen something similar on an italian programme. It rarely gets used now, I must resurrect it ...
3. Any gadget that doesnt get used by me should be binned, but sadly it belongs to my wife, she collects gadgets !!!
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Being a bloke, I am by definition a gadget person and have dozens of the things. You're not counting knives, are you?
1. sharpener (http://static.flickr.com/44/115520258_0753d2adf8_m.jpg)
Garlic peeler(http://static.flickr.com/44/115520254_75fe6f08da_m.jpg)
salad spinner (for all veg prior to sautéeing or stir fry).
2.A proper cast iron mincer (from the 19th century) but once a month rather than once a year.
3. An electric multi cooker that's supposed to do everything from 'keep warm' to 'stir fry', none of which it does particularly well.
A standard garlic crusher.
Geoff.
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Just for a start!! Oh, & my steamer 'grid', of course.
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Oh Alishka,a knife as old as i can remember back, it is sharpend on a regular basis i just could not manage without it, old bone handle on it , brilliant veg knife.
A sponge ring tin, hole in the centre fancy cake tin for visitors rarely used, make a fruit cake instead.
A lovely steamer used about 3 times stacked away what a waste i will never use it.also a sandwich toaster takes to much time up cleaning it.
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Apart from favourite pots and knives, electric steamer and stick whizzer (which replaced the old faithful Magimix :'( of 25 years):
1. Ginger grater, easy peeler, salt pig, cup measure, cooking chopsticks, spaezle maker and razor-sharp veg/cheese/knuckle grater
(http://img95.imageshack.us/img95/8614/dscn08721wi.th.jpg) (http://img95.imageshack.us/my.php?image=dscn08721wi.jpg)
2. Jamie Oliver type pestle and mortar so heavy I can't lift it off the sideboard, floor-mounted electric grinding machine for Asian bean and grain recipes, electric coffee grinder for spices, broken so you have to hold it together whilst whizzing, microwave idli steamer
3. Deep fat fryer, over-engineered plastic sprouting tiered trays, old electric ice cream maker you have to fill with ice and salt, pasta making machine and tofu presses
:-[ :-[ :-[ ;D
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1. My kitchenaid blender, food processor, favourite kitchen knife and veggie peeler. Herb chopper tool, steamer
2. Went through a phase of juicing every day but use it more in the summer now, so in my cupboard. I have got lots of little plastic pastie makers and microwave containers that I got from better ware which I only use occasionally.
3. I got the Jamie Oliver Pestle and Mortar for Christmas too, from my brother, it is a big heavy stone thing which I have never used. Keep meaning too, but I have a small one that is much more manageable.
busy_lizzie
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3. .......... Have you tried his shakeituppything??
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No-one admitting to have a George Forman 'healthy living' grill, then? ;D
See that that stick wizz-thing's gotta be good as so many of you have them - and Curry on his second, too. Gotta be the sign of a good gadget when the first thing you do when one gives up the ghost, is to go out and buy another..
Euronerd, what make's your mincer - Spong?
From reading this section for quite a while, thought that you all were more hi-tech or plugged into the National Grid than you are (or admitting to?) ;)
No electric carving knives...no electric can openers...anyone else got a crock pot? I've got my Auntie Lily's...comes out every winter for slow cooking lentil dishes, etc...
My two essentials are 1) my knife which I use for everything - it's for left-handed peeps and I keep it lethally sharp (really shouldn't should I? ;D) and 2).......it's a cake tester....a really fine skewer topped by a circular piece of plastic with C A K E written on it. Can't test veggies for proper done-ness with anything else.Don't bake cakes these days. Take these 2 things with me when I go anywhere where I'm going to be expected to cook.
Don't have a toaster.Don't like the steamed bread smell you get before the bread starts to toast, so do mine on the cooker grill where it doesn't smell so offensive, but for toasting muffins on cold winter evenings I've got 2 toasting forks - one of them my m-in-law's old brass one and the second one of those telescopic wire ones from my childhood - remember those?
The gadget I replaced after the first died(bought in 1970, died-the-death 2003), is a Moulinex coffee grinder/blender.Make my mint sauce & soups in the blender part - and make coarse vermiculite into fine in the coffee part ;D
Lishka
modified to add...Sprout, a floor mounted electric grinding machine?
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:-[
Just bought a George grill!!!!!!
1.My knife is a chefs knife, really sharp and I take it with me "if I am expected to cook"
2.Huge oval plate my mother gave me, gets in the way in the cupboard all year til i have an "event" when its the perfect thing!
3.Pasta machine...went mad and made loads when i got it, have done nothing with it since!!
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Lishka, I didn't realise you wanted us to list everything! I could run to seven pages. ;D The mincer (below) is "The Enterprise Meat Chopper No 5. Pat June 5 '81". I do have a 'modern' Spong as well, from the fifties I think. Very similar pattern. Since you mention testing, there's a pic of my testing fork too (I just love old things, can you tell?). And how could I have left my Rima Grill off my original list? I haven't yet seen anything that will replace that when it dies. Like you, my knives do 90% of the work.
(http://static.flickr.com/47/116051170_8a6413b09c_o.jpg)
(http://static.flickr.com/56/116054281_0378e897c4_o.jpg)
Geoff.
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:-\
My mum used to have one of those mincers Geoff, and where is it now? I could spit....
;)
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Rima Grill, Geoff? Ringing faint bells..
Asked whether your old mincer was a Spong cos I had one, bought in the 70s and about 5 years ago gave it to a charity shop - design not changed much since yours, has it?........regretted its going ever since :(
Like you, love my old gadgets - don't have a camera (cos I can't be doin' with new-fangled stuff :o) or I'd post a pic of my iron corned beef can opener with bulls head on it....
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Katie doesn't it irk you when you think how much stuff you've thrown out over the years? Mine was originally my gran's but my mum probably used it for 40 years before I inherited it.
Lishka, the Spong has one improvement - three interchangeable plates with different sized holes but otherwise just different enough to avoid infringing patents lol. And do get a camera please. :D
Geoff.
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:o
Just remembered...Great Auntie Gwen died and the family were clearing the house out. She was the best pastry cook ever and when asked if I would like anything, I asked for her rolling pin, still have it and use it. Think it's at least 80 years old!
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Love this thread!
;D ;D ;D
Can't figure out three out of five in tim's photo ??? it's like one of those 1950s party games 'everyday objects photographed from an Unusual Angle' lol
Cake tester with 'cake' written on it ... what do we have to do to persuade you to get a camera lish?
katy, I have my maternal gran's rolling pin too! :D
Spong brings back happy memories of sitting at the kitchen table mincing strips of beef, raw liver, onions and brown bread (in that order, to leave it as clean as possible) for burgers in the 1960s. I loved the squishy sound it made as it minced, and fought to be the one of four kids who were 'allowed' to turn the handle.
A good friend of ours had a large Spong coffee grinder. I bought the small one which was useless and I gave it away. Years later I found the very grinder on a market stall in Ealing, and it's been a staple of kitchen life for morning coffee ever since. My old next door neighbour said he never needed his alarm clock since I mounted it on our party wall ;D ;D ;D
(http://img104.imageshack.us/img104/9868/dscn08743pa.jpg) (http://imageshack.us)
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Sprout! What's that tin lid of leather cleaner you've got and what do you clean with it? I use saddle soap and it comes in a rectangular block in a plastic-y container
And Tim...bottom left of his pic, looks like a cigarillo!? - reminds me of my smoking days - essential accompaniments to any cooking a f@g and a glass of vino..."what's your magic ingredient?" oh asked once.."everything always tstes so good"..."f*g ash" was my reply...
I confess to using the grinder of the Moulinex for grinding coffee beans - as well as vermiculite and spices, but hey! I wipe it round with tissue after use :-[..
I've three coffee machines, all used .1) standard mocha m/c for early morning kick start, 2) (love the shape of this)..nice old Swan Brand American-style percolator(not electric :))..water is forced up from the bottom, through the coffee basket, into a domed lid with a perspex 'nipple' in the top...the resulting 'pop' sound it makes as the coffee water hits the dome before sinking back has been my soothing background sound to many many writing exercises over the years and 3) Turkish/Greek coffee maker..small saucepan with a long handle. The coffee is lethally strong and is my 'luxury' drink.
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Envy for the Swan percolator and soothing glug glug plop sound effects, happy memories :)
The Spong coffee grinder didn't have a container for the coffee to fall into. I had just finished a tin of Propert's Saddle Soap (as you do, at the time I used it to clean leather goods) and it was a perfect fit, without the lid. Tadaaa!
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1. Loads - coffee machine, food processor, electric and assorted balloon whisks, liquidisers - stick and jug, assorted graters from nutmeg to cheese........
2. Ice cream machine with a bowl that has to go in the freezer - used more in summer for excess fruit and my pasta machine with electric motor which is waiting for the unit it lives on to be renovated and a juicer which comes out when fresh celery and carrots are plentiful and have some taste.
3. Was given a burger shaper thingy - useless. Also have an electric chip pan/deep fat fryer in need of a good home. And I was given a "designer" dooberry for stripping lemon zest in twirls for drinks. Never been used. I've given away my sausage making kit since we moved to Belgium as they are made with real meat and optional herbs and spices here and I no longer need it.
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Geoff - just LOVE that fork!
Lishka - a sharpener like Geoff's. Actually, for honing, I always use the Chantry.
And yes to the whizzer - with it's mini -chopper. Just did the cottage pie meat in it.
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1. pop corn maker
2. OH
3. OH
;D
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:o ;D ;D ;D Heldi
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Tim, there's a knife to go with it but it's, shall we say, troublesome to keep clean.
Geoff.
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1. Which kitchen gadgets do you have and wouldn't be without?
Beloved and much hinted for wedding pressie from Mum: Kenwood Major . Grew up with my mother's and a KitchenAid just sounded "wrong" as well as being a fraction of the horsepower and twice the price.
Food processor, had it for 10 years, nearly burnt out the motor on cookie dough and it's still kicking. Puts up with all sorts of abusive practices.
Bread machine (wedding pressie - god, what a useful occasion! Hee! ;D) - use it weekly.
Spiky carving tray thing that OH brought to the marital home - marvelous!
Knives, inherited from Mother. Carbon steel sabatier. Yum!
Oh, and lest I forget the be-all-and-end-all of our kitchen life (we cook ALOT): Rangemaster range cooker, 1200mm wide, 2 electric ovens (1 fan 1 fan/convection), grill, 6 gas burners including 2 bigguns for the wok cradle, griddle pan and tray drawer which can apprently be used for proving bread by those with wnough room in their kitchen to store their pans/etc elsewhere! We moved in and had 6 weeks with no method of cooking than a microwave/kettle/disposable bbq's. I love that machine more than I do the Kenwood. OH & I can cook side by side (awww!) The best bit: about £1k less than street value by buying online with the co-op. Marvelous. Can't recommend them enough.
2. Which kitchen gadgets do you have and have to keep for that once-a-year or so essential use?
25 year old Toastie maker inherited from my mother when I went to college and haven't given it back yet...
Salad spinner, only useful in summer with the cut'n'come-again
Ice cream maker (we always have arguments, that gadget & I, but the lure is strong...)
Deep fat fryer
3.Which kitchen gadgets do you have which are at the back of the cupboard after using just once?
Bloomin' waste of time julienne grater thingy! Shredded my fingers along with the carrots and if those strips of carrot are julienned then my ... Can't bring myself to throw it out as it's still use-able! Sad eh?
4. Most desired gadget?
Waste disposal unit
Mandoline
Cleaning lady
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HI Bennetsleg - I have one of those range cookers too but with 5 gas burners and an electric warming plate on top. never use a wok so didn't go for that option. It's wonderful and so much better than the previous Rosières thing "designed" by Paul Bocuse. He needs to stick to cooking.
I too would love a cleaner and have no use for a julienne thingy since stripping my finger and none either for a bread machine. We have an excellent baker up the road with a "death by chocolate" range of pains au chocolat and serious wholegrain breads and when I do make bread myself it's 'cos I need a good knead.
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I've got a cleaner 8)...
ner ner ner ner ner
So while I'm out doing the jobs peeps with gardens hate (weeding!)..Jilly's here doing the one I loathe - cleaning. (and still think that Dan should set the swear filter to blank out that word) ;D
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I've got a cleaner 8)...
ner ner ner ner ner
So while I'm out doing the jobs peeps with gardens hate (weeding!)..Jilly's here doing the one I loathe - cleaning. (and still think that Dan should set the swear filter to blank out that word) ;D
One can go off people... ;D
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P.S. my choices can be rearranged on any given day and at any given time.
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Hi Lishka - I've had cleaners but they've all had eccentric problems include a mad newly-converted-to-Buddhism-ex-husband who found another little buddhist he preferred so followed his wife around with a shotgun to frighten her away. That was scary. Another did not appreciate the value of some pieces of Venetian glass she put on the floor while she cleaned the window-sill and then stepped back and squished the lot. She was from Burundi and didn't understand about pale Belgian oak either and tried to clean it with some teak stain. The last was called Fatima - which I only mention because she was over 20 stone when she started but gradually faded away as the result of having her stomach clamped. The slimmer she got the more unreliable she became.
Kind of reluctant to get another but I would so much rather be gardening or doing almost anything else I might just have to try again, just for the downstairs.
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Can I ask what the stick whizzer thingy is, and where can I get one please?
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;D ;D ;D I have days like that too - well said! ;D ;D ;D
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I have 2 things I couldn't be without: -
A Tala Cook's Measure, see link
http://www.cooknkitchen.co.uk/index.html?lang=en-uk&target=p24.html
which my daughter has said she will take to uni as she too can't live without it, but bought her one today in Robert Dyas, real coincidence! It is definitely my most used item as I very rarely get my scales out, just use the cone for everything, a wedding present 27 years ago.
Also my food processor, I make all sorts of things in it and particularly like blending soup in it as my boys eat things they don't know are there, and OH come to think of it!
I have a Spong Coffee Grinder in the cupboard but only because the tiles are not yet grouted, then it will be back on the wall and in use, it is wonderful for grinding coffee and spices. Ok that's three things!
I gave my deep fat frier away 15 years ago but do have a yearning to make home made chips just once, my kids have never tasted them!
The thing I have and have never used is a set of shells for fish au gratin starters that I bought years ago but can't bring myself to eat off them.
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marjrie - like this??
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hey!thats our billy blender-brilliant!wouldnt be without him for soups and apple sauce!
(ours is orange and yellow tho!)
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moulinex do the whizzy stick things. B****d if I can remember what they call them :-[
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bah!
cant remember either-but i just looked-billy blender(yes,that really IS the name it was marketed under!!)is a 'phillips'-had it about 5 years-use it constantly ....
the other things i wouldn't be without is my tala measure(like tulippas and ...not sure if this is a gadget-spose it is-a sort of wire net spoon for lifting out boiled eggs!
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Ha ha I don't use kitchen gadgets! pete does the cooking! ;D ;D ;D ;D ;D
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but I've got lots mmmmmm ::)
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pete does the cooking
the best sort of gadget! ;)
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He's quite a tidy gadget and vintage too! :P
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Handblender! Broke the bowl attachment gadget, and really miss it for chopping up small quantities of onions and the like :-[
Marjrie, dont know if these are the cheapest but think this is what I would go for next time, and, they seem to last years!
http://www.amazon.co.uk/exec/obidos/ASIN/B000178TWI/qid=1143190338/sr=8-5/ref=sr_8_xs_ap_i5_xgl/026-2188187-4710808 (http://www.amazon.co.uk/exec/obidos/ASIN/B000178TWI/qid=1143190338/sr=8-5/ref=sr_8_xs_ap_i5_xgl/026-2188187-4710808)
Another gadget I couldn't be without that I forgot, well if it can be called a gadget, is my dishwasher, the house we are possibly moving to doesn't have one, and we are leaving ours here! :'(
Oh and my file like graters, Tim, what are those things called?? :)
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Microplane? But in many cases too fine for the job - like cheese (apart from Parmesan) - it goes to cotton wool?
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The gadget we could not do without is a slicing device like a mincer but used for slicing runner beans, ours was in herited from my gran many years ago, still not found a modern device that works as well.
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Thats it Tim, thank You, got one for parmesan, and a bigger chap for cheddar type cheese, which works well.
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I have loads: Kenwood Chef (heavily involved in producing Xmas cake and mincemeat), Food processor (soups and gratins) breadmaker (bread surprisingly enough!) a jelly pan for jam and a jam funnel and cooking thermometer, mandolin (for when I can't be bothered with the food processor), a whole variety of graters (see previous item) knives a-plenty, microwave (20 years old so should probably be replaced)dishwasher ( I'd rather be without a washing machine than a dishwasher now - everything handwashed seems so dirty by comparison), salad drier ( helps it to keep much longer in the fridge once washed) zester (as recommended by Delia) and many more.
I got rid of the yoghurt maker (not enough time) and the toastie maker ( a present that never got used)
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The gadget we could not do without is a slicing device like a mincer but used for slicing runner beans, ours was in herited from my gran many years ago, still not found a modern device that works as well.
Sounds identical to one my 80+yr old friend has - which I covet. If I ever saw one I'd surely buy it.
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The gadget we could not do without is a slicing device like a mincer but used for slicing runner beans, ours was in herited from my gran many years ago, still not found a modern device that works as well.
Sounds identical to one my 80+yr old friend has - which I covet. If I ever saw one I'd surely buy it.
AND sounds like the one my Gran had, she said she bought it at the Ideal Home Exhibition. I sadly did not inherit hers and have never seen another one like - but clearly they do still exist. probably all purchased at the same stall at IH ;D
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I just wondered if this Bean Slicer is any good? I am sure it is not as good as all your Grandparents' but I looked at it last year and plan to grow a lot more beans this year, so anybody used it?
http://www.lakelandlimited.co.uk/product.aspx/!3409
I have had the Lakeland apple corer/peeler/slicer for years as I have lots of apple trees so find it really useful although it wastes some I get a lot more apples in the freezer that way. Usually do it as a production line though as it is fiddly to wash and makes lots of mess in the kitchen!
http://www.lakelandlimited.co.uk/product.aspx/!3303
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Corkscrew,
bottle opener.
After that it's only knives that I use regularly, I find it's quicker to use a knife than clean a processor -I do have a chinese chopper though ;D
The Braun wizzy thing is good for smotthies, I'd use it more if Mrs D. didn't insist on it being kept out of site..
The Bread Maker is earning its keep.
The dishwasher -the other half insisted and I'm glad she did. Mind you she has an urge to dry stuff when it comes out, and clean it again -so far as I'm concerned it's clean and dry by definition -and I'm not going to let reality get in the way.
BTW we live in an unreconstructed '60s house, so when we moved in I bought a '60s oven and we've now inherited a 60s Kenwood -is oil supposed to come out? Should it smell of ozone?
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Ours did! Eventually. I got it for doing an RAF thing for a magazine - not allowed money so got the thing. £25 at the time.
Within 6 months, it fell off the trolley onto No2 son's head. Kept going for another 40 years!!!
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Mine smells of ozone and oil leaks out. Some of its most endearing features. ;)
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1) Cake stand ... have quite a collection and love them, but boy do they take up a lot of room.
2) Toaster & kettle are most used gadgets, but electric whisks and food processors are things I wouldn't want to be without.
3) pasta machine - unopened and in original packaging ! Will not part with it, because any day now I'm going to make my own pasta ... have had it for 6 years :o ...
Most wanted gadget: working cooker >:( waiting for plumber to come and move the stupid gas pipe that I've just had connected to the hob ... have had no cooker since October !!!!! still the rest of kitchen is taking shape finally ...
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Can you use the wizzy thing for mashing potatoes?
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Well, you could, and it might be worth a go just to see this happen. When potatoes are whizzed fast by machine, their starch is broken and reforms into long gluey strands, so you get glue mash :o!
Alas (or hooray if you're into kitchen therapy) the fluffy stage can only be achieved in a very slow mixer, or BY HAND ;D
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Supersprout, you have reminded me of another "can't be without" gadget, my potato ricer, makes "the best" mashed potatoes! ;D (cos we likes ours lump free!)
http://www.lakelandlimited.co.uk/product.aspx/!6532 (http://www.lakelandlimited.co.uk/product.aspx/!6532)
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I once did some potatoes in our food processor to mash them, ::) big mistake as you said SS they turned into one big mush of starch. We had a Japanese teacher staying with us at the time, and he must have got a horrible impression of mashed potatoes, English style. ;D busy_lizzie
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Within 6 months, it fell off the trolley onto No2 son's head. Kept going for another 40 years
well...lets hope tims no 2 son manages a few more years..oooooooh...i see-the gadget managed another 40 years...silly kitty..... ::)
my tatie masher comes with a beard and a strong right arm...he also makes a lovely chocolate cake! ;D
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I've got an old mouli with 3 different sized holes - one of my much-used, much-travelled things. :D
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Oh, just gotta get me one of kitty's tatie mashers!
;D ;D ;D