That'll teach me... do any of you do this too?

thriftwizard

Some time ago I realised that I "needed" something to grind grains & beans with. So I saved up & bought a posh stainless-steel grinder half-price on sale from L*keland. It's fine, it does the job, it looks very stylish, BUT it's a lot of hard work to get any useful amount of, say, oatmeal from value rolled oats, so it spends a lot of time sitting in the top cupboard.

This morning I picked up a battered little old Spong mincer at our local market's car boot for 50p. I bought it home & during the process of cleaning it up for sale on my "vintage" stall at another market, realised that the previous owner had clearly been using it for grinding grains, going by the trapped debris. So when it was sparkling (-ish) I put a handful of oats through it... it took seconds, and just a few light turns of the handle to churn out a pile of lovely oatmeal! :j

As a diehard & longstanding devotee of "vintage" I'm always telling people that a lot of old tools are actually of far better quality, longer-lasting & more useful than their modern equivalents, though I do admit, it doesn't apply to all of them (Kay's "Practical" Embroiderer, anyone?!) So why didn't I think to apply my own advice? I have several Spong mincers, in different sizes & colours, out in the garage & could have saved myself a fair few pounds & a LOT of effort!

Please tell me that some of you have been equally daft from time to time...

Alison_Funnell

Oh yes. It was a close call a few years ago, nearly bought a smoothy maker! :eek::eek::eek:

Fortunately I 'remembered' the hand blender in time - works perfectly for all sorts of smoothies.

thriftwizard

The smoothy maker is one I've managed to resist so far, though I had a close call with a juicer before remembering I only like citrus juice, and I already have one of those little glass dishes with teeth which works just as well as it ever did, without 'leccy.

jpscloud

Yep I did exactly the same thing, bought a small grinder thinking it would be good for coffee beans, nuts and so on. Takes an age to grind anything and it doesn't grind evenly so was a complete waste of money

Minihauk

Thriftwizard - Lakeland customer service is second to none. Call them, tell them you bought it to grind oats and that it does not do it to your satisfaction, takes too long and that you have found something that fulfills your needs. They will probably refund you the money you paid. Certainly worth a try.
hth.

Stephen_Leak

Been there. Done that. Does anyone want a "masala dabba" spice container?

Scrapaholic

Juicer used once + now in the cupboard ,too much of a faff ! If I fancy buying something like this now , instead of buying it on a whim I think , do I really need it + will I use it . Thanks to this site , I find I don't , so it has saved me money .

[Deleted User]

I bought a mini grater from A*mazon last year and its been brilliant it does small amounts of cheese carrots etc and it saves me getting my big mixer out to grate things up.I think it had a 'Delia's cheat' sticker on the side its made by Kenwood and only cost me about £12.00.My DD keeps hoping I will forget to bring it back home with me on a Monday when I have stripped the joint and grated it all up for sheps pie No chance I never leave it anywhere I even took it on holiday last year Great for doing cheese helps extend a chunk of cheese for sandwiches instead of slicing them.

MandM90

Juicer here, too. Keep meaning to eBay. Used it for a few months while on the raw diet and making all sorts of 'green juices' (ugh - don't ask) and it's now retired. I hate how much veg/fruit it guzzles and I'm not sure what the benefits are of juice over actual fruit and veg with all the actual fibre!

rosie383

Juicer for me too! Ended up giving it to the in-laws who live abroad and use it every day with all the lovely seasonal fresh fruit and veg they can get for pennies. Just not worth it over here.
I have to say I am much less likely to make a mistake like that again because of this site, and now really do find myslef saying to dh, 'but do we actually need it?' I had to persuade him that we did not need to replace the aforementioned juicer as they are just not cost-effective in the UK. When I have stuff I need to juice (eg when dh was given a big bag of grapes which were just too much past their best to eat) I just whizz it in the FP, and strain out the juice over a bowl through a sieve. Does nearly the same job.

jfdi

One thing the juicer IS good for though (Yep! I've got that one too!) is prepping all the surplus fruit for wine & cider making! (from the must, if required).

It's still very messy but it's a heck of a lot quicker - did our 26kg homegrown grapes down in no time, and the pears & apples & plums!

Cider's been drunk already, but the wine's still coming along nicely!