Must have kitchen gadgets

Penelope_Penguin

Callie22 wrote: »

I'm not a huge fan of bread machines - I personally think that you're just bringing a (scaled down) version of a bread factory home and it's not really a 'home made' loaf (sorry if this is controversial!) If I had the option then I'd go for a decent mixer over a bread machine any day - it'll take the hard work out of kneading but then you're still able to give the dough a good long proving and you can control the bake much better. You also don't get loaves with holes in the bottom!!

BM bread isn;t quite as good as bread made fully by hand, but it's a great halfway house for making better-than-shop bread for those of us who are at work all day, and don;t have the luxury of all day to prove the bread

That said, I'll be lighting my Rayburn soon, so weekends of HM artisnal bread and soup will be here again :T

valk_scot

My No1 item just has to be my Kenwood chef. I inherited it from an old auntie and it has been fabulous. It has a liquidizer, mincer, shredder, pasta attachment, coffee/spice grinder, juicer...oh, lots of bits and bobs. It even makes sausages. And bread dough.

No2. Sewing machine. I've had one since my 11th birthday and used to make all my own clothes. Nowadays it's mostly for mending, curtains, cushions and fancy dress outfits for the kids though.

No3. Freezer. I've got a small chest one that belonged to my mum and which must be 30 years old. Still going strong though! I've got a second counter top one that I keep in the utility room for meat and allotment surplus. I'd like a bigger one but am going to wait until the chest one dies, I think.

What else? Oh, a jam pan. Bought this in a charity shop. Pressure cooker...housewarming gift from my mum 20+ years back. Doubles as stock pot. A really good casserole dish. (I collect second hand Le Creuset).

I've got tons of gardening equipment, mostly handed down or bought at jumble sales. Top new buy though was a double sized heated propagator. And a small greenhouse. Between the two of these I can add three months onto the growing season.

The allotment was definately a good OS "buy"! It costs me £30 per year in rent for an 80' x 40' plot.

I knit, I crochet, I spin. Lots of equipment for these but they're hardly first stop for everyone. You've got to look at what you're interested in, what you intend to do, what you can beg, borrow or buy second hand. No point in splashing out money on things you're unlikely to use, no matter how much one of us likes it. Who needs a spinning wheel unless they want to spin yarn after all?


Last suggestion. Get down to the local jumble sales and car boots. The jumble sale season is just beginning and you can get fabulous bargains there in OS equipment, especially old cooking equipment like jam pans, mincers, steamers, double boilers etc. Look out for blankets for curtain linings, fabric for cushions etc and you may even land lucky with a sewing machine. (Though check the electrics for signs of wear.) And old gardening equipment.

bramble1

zippychick wrote: »

Bramble - were my links any use?

they were indeed! my saturday afternoon is now sorted! going to sit a read through them all properly!

angeltreats

Another vote for a sewing machine. So much you can do with one, from covering your sofa to altering your clothes or doing freehand embroidery to make cool stuff I must have saved hundreds and hundreds of pounds over the years with mine. An older machine from a charity shop or boot sale is likely to be far better built than anything except very high end modern machines - the old machines had all metal gears whereas today they have a lot of plastic parts that wear out and they can't cope with heavy fabrics like denim. I have several machines but my favourite, and the most used, is a Bernina from 1961.

Apart from that, the three things I'd recommend would be:

1. Kenwood Chef (or similar) with a liquidiser attachment, K beater, whisk and dough hook.

2. Pressure cooker - preferably stainless steel (as opposed to aluminium) in the biggest size you can get. Doubles as a stockpot/jam pan.

3. Some sort of casserole or pan with lid that can go both on the hob and in the oven. Le Creuset is obviously very expensive but I have a lovely cast iron casserole from Aldi that cost a lot less and is absolutely fantastic. They are just so versatile.

bramble1

I like the idea of a kenwood chef type product, it seems as though that would get alot of use in our house hold.
I'd like a big caserole dish too, when we moved to our house there is a large workshop in our garden and its full of junk, we found some Le Creuset pots and ramekins in there but not big enough for anything more that small portions.

artybear

Pitlanepiglet wrote: »

Isn't there a list somewhere put together by Weezl and her gang with a list of "must have" items on a budget?

This is the list that Cheap Family Recipes came up with,http://www.cheap-family-recipes.org.uk/kit.html thats the basic things I would say you need to be able to function well in a kitchen.

HTH

Pitlanepiglet

artybear wrote: »

This is the list that Cheap Family Recipes came up with,http://www.cheap-family-recipes.org.uk/kit.html thats the basic things I would say you need to be able to function well in a kitchen.

HTH

Thanks Artybear, I thought there was a list somewhere.

Bramble, I have just read your other thread and as things are tough generally, I really wouldn't spend money on a gadget, use it to pay your overdraft or keep it in reserve as a small amount of emergency fund.

Buy bits and pieces from a boot sale or jumble sales if you need anything but a few quid in the bank is worth the piece of mind of a kenwood chef or the like.

alys_fowler

hmmm tricky i wouldnt be without my panny breadmaker or my food processor and my s/c, plus ive just recieved a sewing machine for my bday so im hoping that soon this will be on my list of gadgets

skyelark

bramble1 wrote: »

I like the idea of a kenwood chef type product, it seems as though that would get alot of use in our house hold.
I'd like a big caserole dish too, when we moved to our house there is a large workshop in our garden and its full of junk, we found some Le Creuset pots and ramekins in there but not big enough for anything more that small portions.

I have an old kenwwod chef I inherited, 2nd hand in 1988! Its amazing and I am in the process of trying to buy attachments for it.
You will use it lots believe me!

Plan_for_Chaos

I was thinking today that I'm a quite OS and rescourceful (tight) in comparison to some of my friends, though I've always believed "buy cheap, buy twice" with that in mind what items do you think it's worth spending a decent amount of money on?

I'm just about to move away from home and set myself up so I'm particularly interested in household items etc.