Must have kitchen gadgets

suki1964

Look at what you actually do cook to see what it is you really need


My cant do without tool - the stick blender.


And I just treated myself to a food processor, mostly because fast cooking requires one - aka jamie Oliver

Otherwise I'm happy with sharp knives, a whisk and a selecton of boards, bowls, whisks and pans

Bread, I like to make my own, by hand, don't take forever

Jam, a thermometer and a drop in a saucer. Either way I make so little it's not worth buying a special item

Same as ice cream

And yoghurt

All nice things to make once or twice, then need to find storage as not used after the initial honeymoon period

Pitlanepiglet

I'm a bit prone to deciding I need a lifestyle change and so I HAVE to go and buy things to make that happen. It's taken me years to realise that my hobby was shopping and all I kept doing was finding different projects to go and shop for.

So for me "I want to be more OS" would lead me to going out and spending £300 on kitchen stuff that in my brain I was convinced would turn me into a domestic goddess! I doubt it's your crappy kitchen holding you back, it's the fact that you believe that you need more stuff to be able to live the dream that you have of an idyllic life.

I'd second (or third?) buying kitchen stuff at a car boot sale, most of my decent stuff is second hand, mixing bowls, old and heavy cake tins etc. There are always preserving pans at our local sale for very little money.

We use:

Breadmaker (two or three times a week)
Soya milk maker (weekly)
Stick blender (at least weekly)
Kenwood Chef (used in spurts when I have time to bake cakes)
Kenwood attachments - mincer, food slicer (mincer used less than it ought to be, food slicer used when I've got a glut of stuff to chop).
Slow cooker (weekly)
Food slicer (occasional use but it's 20 years old so owes me nothing and I do use it three or four times a year at least)

I don't use the food processor - it's a lovely Kenwod one that cost me £14 at a boot sale but it's quicker to chop things by hand.

Wouldn't bother with a jam maker, we have a steamer insert for the saucepan so no electric steamer. We have a very cheap "ping" microwave but as someone said above you may be better saving for a combination microwave/oven if your oven is poor.

debbym

Not a "couldn't live without" gadget but a "really glad I bought it" one. Treated myself to this first week of January with some extra money that I wasn't expecting.
Andrew James Food Slicer. During January it has already paid for itself when combined with my other 2 well used gadgets - my breadmaker and freezer (or will have when I use the frozen stockpile!). I have been buying boneless roasting joints when they are reduced for quick sale and freezing them - then when I need meat for sarnies for the week (packed lunches x 5 people) I roast the joint, leave it to cool and slice it and divide it into 100g packs. For example the last joint I did gave me 10 bags of roast pork for £3.90 (thanks MrA). Normal price in the supermarket between £2 and £2.50 per 100g (OH is a fussy one and doesn't like cheap sandwich stuff) used the oven with something else to minimise fuel costs so saved roughly £16-£22. It also slices bread so I have been baking bread and slicing it the next morning and freezing it instead of buying premium sliced bread - saves approx 50p per loaf gram for gram because OH likes the top brand taste. That's another £1 a week saved over the year. Do have to find somewhere to store it though!

good_advice

Morning all.

What kitchen gadgets deserve a space on your counter. Which items do you love and use the most?

My most loved and used are
= electric veg steamer. George grill, Morphy Richards one cup machine, kenwood food mixer and soda stream.

My most under used item on my counter is a Delonghi deep fat fryer. I have owned it just over a year. I am finding it takes up space in my small kitchen and is only used once a week.
So = yesterday, I cleaned it out. Today I am moving it (empty) To a new location off the counter.
Test = if we can get along with oven chips again it will hopefully go to a new home or bin.

I have 2 fruit containers on my work tops. One is a decorative glass bowl and the other is really a 2 tier cake stand. Both I love and get well used.

I have a kettle next to my one cup machine for flasks etc...

CupOfChai

Kettle, toaster, microwave, OH would say the most important gadget is the coffee machine.

I don't like to keep much stuff out on the side. My kitchen is about the size of a postage stamp so I can't fit any more on the worktop anyway.

angeltreats

There are already a couple of kitchen gadget threads and no doubt this will get merged with one of them, but I'd actually be quite interested to know what items live permanently on people's kitchen worktops (gadget or otherwise).

My kitchen is tiny, but without it looking too cluttered I always have the following:

Mint green cast iron cookbook stand
Microwave
Tiny (but powerful) bluetooth speaker on top of the microwave for watching Netflix/iPlayer on the iPad while cooking
Salt pig containing Maldon salt, also on top of the microwave
Nespresso machine
Kettle
Kenwood Chef
Toaster
Knife block (contains big chef knife, big pastry knife that I mostly use for bread, filleting knife, paring knife, steel)
Food processor
Sodastream

Then we also have a kitchen trolley with shelves that hold saucepans and the most often used baking trays, and on top of that live:

Bread bin
Actifry
2 x cast iron casseroles that get used constantly

BitterAndTwisted

A fridge/freezer (freezer doesn't work).

A bread-maker which I use a lot.

A microwave which I also use a lot.

A stick-blender used often

A hand-mixer used from time to time when I've got a baking-craze on.

That's it.

Erk! I forgot the filter coffee-maker and the kettle which I use every day.




I have no interest in owning George Forman grills, deep-fat fryers or any other one-use-only, once-in-blue-moon, dust-gathering flashes in the pan.

shell2001

I joke my kitchen is in a cupboard but to be honest i have seen people with bigger larders than it.

I have

Tassimo machine - gone off them so not used much, carasole with pods in.
Food mixer/processor
Actifry -used often n have even started using it for reheatin food by removing the blade (quicker n cheaper than putting oven on.

My red toaster
My red kettle

Slow cooker & bread machine liveother cupboard until needed as just no space for them

suki1964

On my work tops I have

Microwave
Toaster
Knife block
Magi mix
Chopping block
Kettle
Smoothie maker

They only stay out because they are used daily. Everything else is in a cupboard. I hate work top clutter. Not because I'm a neat freak,but because I'm such a messy cook

valerie57

Kettle, microwave and toaster for starters. Kitchen aid (it is just too heavy to get in and out of cupboards), and mini food processor which I use a lot. Fruit bowl, knife block. oil pourer, pretty cup measures, salt and pepper.
Things which have been on my bench but have been relegated because of infrequent use include food processor (I use the kitchen aid attachment, the mini processor or a stick blender), coffee maker, multi layered steamer (I use a basket over a pan) and a deep fat fryer (OH gets it out of a cupboard on the infrequent occasions we use it).
Love hearing what you all use most.