Must have kitchen gadgets

eastantrim4

So: We have...
Nespresso machine - used fairly regularly
Aeropress (for coffee) - used regularly, makes the best coffee ever!
Microwave - used all the time
Kettle/toaster - used all the time
Slow cooker - used weekly
Hand blender - used every now and then (for curry sauces etc)
Soup maker - used weekly
Rice cooker - used weekly

Think that's it.

popoma

REJP said:

Tiff, type the name and model of your bread maker into Google and look up recipe books.
remember you need to get proper bread making flour, quick rising yeast as well as salt and sugar.
most can be preset to switch on early morning to provide a fresh loaf by the time you get breakfast.
My bread maker has never failed in 40 years.
My breville sandwich maker has been in use for over 20 years with no problem.  Remember to butter the outside of the bread though.  The heat plates are removable for cleaning.
I personally don't like slow cookers.  I had friends who put their evening meal on slow before leaving for work in the mornings, but  had a power cut while out so had to cook something else.

Ever tried Thermos cooking? Ideal for soups and stews. Cook the stuff in liquid for long enough so that everything is heated through, typically 10-15 minutes. Then transfer to a pre-heated Thermos and leave it for several hours. You only need power for the 10-15 minutes that you're initially cooking it, then it continues cooking in its residual heat until you're ready to eat.

MrsStepford

My mother has a breadmaker and some of her bread tastes more like cake. Weird. Husband bakes his own bread and he likes the de-stressing kneading stuff. 

I bought a slow cooker and we have used it once. If we want to eat around 8pm, it has to go on at 8am for some things. Just not convenient.

I'm an ex-chef and my go-to gadgets are knives, whisks, pestle and mortar. Bought husband a Bosch stick blender, which he loves. 

Got a soupmaker which is good for blended soups but useless for chunky ones. If you're gluten-free or low carb, using a soupmaker means you can avoid flour. We use creme fraiche to thicken the soup. Also, you can let the thing get on with the soup while you prepare other stuff and afterwards it will wash itself while you are tucking into the soup. We've used that a lot. 

Don't buy a cheap toasted sandwich maker. We got one for £10 from Tesco and it didn't seal the edges properly, so the cheese leaked out. 

borollan

Tried breadmakers, weird lumps of stuff came out of them ... put them on trashnothing
Tried one of those George Foreman grills, not very impressed, just waiting for Charity shop to take donations and it will be gone.
Bought a slow cooker, loved it, used it till I could upgrade to the bigger Crockpot, which I use constantly, lentils, soups, casseroles, porridge and rice pud.
Asked for a Ninja blender for a gift, absolutely couldn't manage without it. Smoothies, peanut butter, hummus.
Recently invested in an AirFryer, brilliant gadget, this is in daily use ... I don't think the oven has been on since the airfryer arrived. Everything from homemade fries to cakes. Its also starting to replace the toaster 

missychrissy

I love my slow cooker. It will be going on in the morning with a chicken carcass, 500g bag of soup mix (lentils, barley, split peas etc), carrots, swede, spuds and onions..  Approx 8 good portions for under £1.50.  When my children were young I used a pressure cooker for the same things I now do in the slow cooker. I’ve had 3 slow cookers and my present one is my favourite. It’s Cookworks from Argos.
I have a toasted sandwich maker that never gets used.
My nutribullet is well used. It’s very good for whizzing things that children say they don’t like: cooked cauliflower that can be mixed into cheese sauce for mac n cheese; onions - whizz with tinned tomatoes for bolognese; mushrooms - also whizzed with tomatoes for bolognese type dishes as well as the usual smoothies.
I like my food processor: grating veg - I can make carrots and celery disappear into kid’s food as well as coleslaw; quickly doing short crust pastry.
I love my soup maker. I tend to do soup by colour: orange, red and green; ham and lentil; broccoli and Stilton; tomato (carrot, pepper, onion, basil and garlic); Brussels sprouts with any other greens, onion and garlic makes a surprisingly good soup; squash (can add carrot and pepper). I always add 3 garlic cloves, large onion, stock cube and salt and pepper to all soups. I have the bigger Salter Soup maker. I think it makes 1.6 litres. I usually have a jug of soup in the fridge and it’s great for using up veg that would otherwise go to waste.

I have a Tefal actifry. It sits on my utility room worktop because it’s quite large. It is brilliant for chips - much healthier and safer than a chip pan. My grandchildren love my chips and I also do chicken nuggets in it. 
I gave my bread maker away. I couldn’t get to grips with how to use it and wasn’t all that keen on the bread when I did use it. However, my youngest son is happily using it. He says it’s particularly good for pizza dough.