Must have kitchen gadgets

Becles

I use the George Foreman grill a lot as my normal grill is in the oven and you can't use both at the same time.

eg: last night I had potato wedges in the oven, and used the George Foreman grill for some chicken breasts.

Mustang

* = items on view.

My essential gadgets in my kitchen used every day:

* Commercial espresso machine
* Combi microwave
* Global and ceramic knives
Breadmakers - kept in cupboard, even when being used.
* Huge, soild butchers block-type cutting board
* LCD Tv ;-)
* 'Rocket' radio

Gadgets used quite often:

Smoker
* Dualit toaster
l'equip juicer
* Heavy-duty whizzer (smoothie-maker/ice-crusher thing)
Braun hand whisk
* My Grandma's ancient Belgian Waffle Iron
Steamer
Knife sharpener
Mandolin
Microplanes

Gadgets rarely used:

Ice cream machine
Pasta maker
Raclette
Blowtorch
* Equilibrium scales - but looks good on the worktop

kazd

I like this thread. Here is my list.

Obvious gadgets,

microwave
kettle
hand mixer

and the rest

sandwich maker - used several times a month
breadmaker - used every day, mines a panasonic and with this one yeast goes in first, followed by flour etc
stick blender - this is a bamix, cost a fortune and sits in the cupboard
jug blender - not used much
toaster - used almost daily
electric frying pan - excellent, used once or twice a month
Moulinex food processor complete with jug blender- used very rarely especially as I now have an independent jug blender.

my wish list

seriously considering a slow cooker, torn between the morphy richards with timer and without. Do you think I should pay the extra tenner for the one with the timer.
New pressure cooker - mine went in the bin last week complete with the burnt dinner - has been a bit on and off for a while

Galattia Ice Cream Maker

Kitchen Aid Mixer

moggins

I've just invested in a deep fat fryer, I've been wanting one for ages but kept putting it off and buying oven chips. We don't fry much but the family do love donuts and I had one of those old fashioned donut thingies given me ages ago.

It's got thermostatic control and Coolwall and it is green which is hard to find these days. Cost me £22 and I'm hoping it will have paid for itself within a few months. Nothing quite like homemade chips

Baglady_2

Breadmakers are easy. You do just chuck it all in, but in the right order. I adapted a recipe for white bread to include a bit of wholemeal flour, and also chuck in a mix of seeds, pumpkin, sunflower, linseed, so I get designer bread a lot cheaper than shop bought and it tastes good too.
I just rediscovered my pressure cooker as I have family staying and its been well worth it for speed and tasty tender food. Its earnt a more prominent shelf space. I had a slow cooker once that was wonderful to come to with lovely cooking smells. As for the toastie maker, I use mine in cycles so would not part with it.

greenlogo

I'm in a tiny tiny rented kitchen at the mo, so most of my kitchen stuff's in storage, but I've got:

A microwave (landlords, but v useful for reheating quickly)
Toaster (on top of micro..)
Kettle (on top of micro)
George grill (mine and my absolute fav gadget of all time... half my friends are convinced I'm on commission for them )

That's it and I cannot WAIT until I get my blender/juicer/jug , stick wand, griddle pan and good knives out of storage and you lot have had me drooling over slow cookers, so I've asked family to club together and get me that for house warming rather than wine

crana999

greenlogo, im in a very similar situation, I'm in university accommodation with a small bedroom and a minute kitchenette shared with 3 people.. and while I don't have lots of gadgets and stuff, I do have to keep most of my kitchen stuff in my room rather than in the kitchen (my pans, crockery, food, cooking instruments, kettle, cutlery, glasses, etc..) then carry them through to the kitchen when I want them.

Would that maybe work for you as you could at least use your stuff occasionally and just stash it somewhere in your room?

Curry_Queen

moggins wrote:

I've just invested in a deep fat fryer, I've been wanting one for ages but kept putting it off and buying oven chips. We don't fry much but the family do love donuts and I had one of those old fashioned donut thingies given me ages ago.

It's got thermostatic control and Coolwall and it is green which is hard to find these days. Cost me £22 and I'm hoping it will have paid for itself within a few months. Nothing quite like homemade chips

I got rid of my fryer and haven't deep-fryed anything in a very long time and, like you, always bought oven chips instead but I picked up on someone's tip (sorry, can't remember who/where I read it now) the other day about lightly spraying real potato chips with oil and baking them in the oven. Tried it the other night and they were absolutely yummy, but even better ... son loved them too

I found an old one-cal oil spray in the back of the cupboard, way back from WW days, which had gone off so I washed it out and re-filled it with veg oil, so even more money saved on buying another one

No more buying frozen chips for me now :A

kazd

Sin free chips, peel, slice, place in cold water and bring to the boil, drain (at this point you are supposed to leave them to cool but I never do). The spray with low cal spray and cook in oven for about 25 mins. Delicious.

Alternatively for you skinny ones, peel, slice and toss in olive oil, then sprinkle with 'Seasonall' and cook in oven for about 25 mins also delicious.

As for real chips, I just keep a bottle of veg oil in the cupboard and just heat it up in one of my regular pans (this is only occassionally as I use oven chips as well). However, I do have Circulon (Commercial range) pans which helps as they are very solid. That way when I have finished, cool off the oil and back it goes into the bottle.

moggins

I do cook my jacket wedges like that but the last time I tried making chips in the oven they came out rock hard

I haven't found a way of making donuts in the oven yet though.