Whats the most useless kitchen item you`ve bought?

HOLsale

Ticklemouse wrote:

. I was tempted by a popcorn maker I found in a charity shop the other day, but then I make mine in a pyrex dish in the microwave, so no point. More £'s saved

.

can you please explain how to do your way of microwave popcorn?! One of the things i really miss from the states is the super cheap bags of microwave popcorn... i'd eat it more often if i could do it that way, the pans a bit of a palaver so it's for special occasions vs several times a week

Katinkka

SnowyOwl wrote:

in my quest to avoid doing anything remotely like housework i decided to take the above question literally and have done a rough tally. Apologies if I have missed anything, but it's roughly right.


Gosh, look at the breadmaker...1st runner up!

Yeah but how many of those are the panasonic breadmakers? I gave away my old MR cos it was so crap but you couldnt part me from my panasonic.

ivyleaf

HOLsale wrote:

i have one of those from lakeland and i love it! i use it for potatoes but also for onions and beetroot and it makes quick work for me and i find mine MUCH easier to clean than my food processor (if you put it to soak right away it comes clean very easily)

Maybe they've improved the design since the 1970s! (Or maybe because I was very young and newly-wed when I got it, it didn't occur to me that it would be easier to clean if I soaked it.... ) I'm glad you like yours anyway - hope if someone buys mine from the charity shop they'll be equally pleased! I suppose I stopped using it when oven chips came in - though I now usually do Delia's chunky HM ones.

ivyleaf xx

HOLsale

keren29 wrote:

=Breadmaker - love my bread, but this is sitting sadly in the cupbaord, plug nicked for something else,never really made anything edible
!

ok here's my tip for everyone with breadmakers tht don't like the bread that comes out of it...

i ONLY use mine for making the dough. i have had problems off and on with carpal tunnel for years. whilst i've learned how to avoid it pretty much in regards to typing by learning proper 'posture' and hand positions etc i have never been able to get past it causing me all kinds of grief when kneading dough so i use my dough setting

not so useful if you don't have one already but hey, if you want to make homemade bread but don't like how crusty and compact the loaves are and you've already got the machine you may as well use it!

i put the ingredients in set it to the dough setting and 1.5 hours later it's ready to go in my preheated oven. i can shape it how i like, add toppings etc takes about 20-30 minutes to bake and i cook other stuff in at the same time (or warm them up)

i'll give you my favourite bread machine recipe, this is for a medium loaf

1.5 cups lukewarm water
3 tablespoons olive oil (or veg oil)
3 cups flour
1tsp salt (bury in corner of flour)
1.5tsps dry yeast (in well in centre of flour)
seasonings of choice sprinkled over the top of the flour


this makes a lovely dough suitable for pizza bases, breadsticks (mmm add cheese and garlic granules!), rolls, or you can put it in a loaf tin and make a loaf of bread

very easy and i don't have to clean up the enormous mess that making bread by hand makes, plus no carpal tunnel

RacyRed

Most useless? Microwave. Took up loads of room and was used once every 6 months or so. Gone and forgotten now.

Juicer is still used to make veg juice rather than fruit juice but I am on my 3rd and they have ALL been a faff to clean. :rolleyes:

One of the most useful things I have is a flat metal chapati pan I use to dry heat/toast seeds, nuts, pitta bread and all sorts of other stuff. Not really a gadget, but an essential bit of kit for me

Ticklemouse

HOLsale wrote:

can you please explain how to do your way of microwave popcorn?! One of the things i really miss from the states is the super cheap bags of microwave popcorn... i'd eat it more often if i could do it that way, the pans a bit of a palaver so it's for special occasions vs several times a week

I use a lidded dish, can't remember how many litres is is, but it's about 7 inches across and quite deep - all I do is put a little bit of veg oil in the bottom of the dish, perhaps 1-2 tsps? Then I cover the bottom in the kernals, swish them around so they all have a very fine coating of oil and put the lid on. I then put it in the microwave for 5 minutes. I do sometimes take it out partway and give it a shake. I have a E rated (900watt) m/wave and have found that 5 mins is about right. I do find a fair few unpopped, but have been known to separate them and give them another 1 minute to see if they will pop. Too long will of course burn them.

It really is a case of trial and error with your own microwave. Don't forget that they will continue popping for a short while after they come out of the m/wave too

I like plain popcorn - very healthy, but have been known to add sugar or HM 'toffee' to it.

raeble

RacyRed wrote:

Most useless? Microwave. Took up loads of room and was used once every 6 months or so. Gone and forgotten now.

Juicer is still used to make veg juice rather than fruit juice but I am on my 3rd and they have ALL been a faff to clean. :rolleyes:

Ooh I wouldn't be without my microwave, I use it every day to cook my porridge in the morning and warm up my dinner in the evening.

I remember reading once that unless you got a juicer that cost over £100 and had steel innards, they were a blighter to clean.

calleyw

Can I count Husband. Only Joking I love him to bits. I know soppy moooooooo.

I suppose one has to be these cake cutters I have. I only use one which is the heart shaped one and that gets used once a year.

I suppose my blender as that rarely comes out. But it was cheap as I had some free vouchers. So paid about £10 for it about 5 years ago.

But at one stage we had use to have smoothies nearly everyday as used it make them.

Might have to start that again to count towards my 5 a day.

I love my slow cooker and my electric steamer. Might next time get a one for going on the hob. As it might last a bit longer.


Yours

Calley

SnowyOwl_2

Katinkka wrote:

Yeah but how many of those are the panasonic breadmakers? I gave away my old MR cos it was so crap but you couldnt part me from my panasonic.

Not many I should imagine Katinkka, the Panasonic seems to be the cream of the elite. I am quietly stunned by the sheer variety of kitchen utensils, gadgets and machines available out there...an egg topper!?...a teabag squeezer?!!...it is a jungle in those kitchen gadget shops. It is almost inevitable we make a few mistakes with our purchases as the shops are virtually ramming their wares down our necks telling us how fabulous this or that contraption is.

sophistica

My most useless item is a ravioli maker which comes with its own rolling pin and assumes you have the time to make the pasta dough and the filling - unthinkable. I had one and gave it away and then bought another one a few years back which I have NEVER used and today bought ANOTHER one for £1 in a charity shop! Mad or what?