Kitchen gadgets ...what is/is not essential

MrsMW

Well done on your adventure CQ, hope you recover soon.

squeaky

Curry_Queen wrote:

Oh, and going OT for a moment ... you're all gonna be so proud of me today!!! (well at least I am anyway ) cos I've been out this morning to the shops ... TWICE!!!!!

I woke up quite early and decided I was going to do some baking today (my new Be-Ro book arrived yesterday) but on checking the cupboards I found I was missing a couple of vital ingredients, including plain flour ... got loads of bread/wholeweat flour etc and and a bag of SR, but no plain flour :eek: (unusual for me to not to have plenty of supplies!) Then I remembered the free vouchers plus £5 of McDougall's products that I'd got off Hovis a while back, which I know DS won't be able to manage to choose the right products and use them, and as he's not here today anyway I had no choice but to go get them myself :eek:

I went to the Co-op just after they opened at 7am (not many people about then) but found they don't sell any Hovis/McDougall's products ... managed to pick up a few other things I needed though so all wasn't lost, but got myself stressed cos I didn't get everything. I then had to wait till 10am for Budgens to open (I knew they sold McDougall's flour at least) but I was more anxious going out so late as I knew everyone would be surfacing for morning papers etc and almost decided not to go, even though it's only a stone's throw away and not on the main road, and I'd managed to walk up the road earlier! Anyway, I managed to get there in the end and got everything I needed, and used my £5 voucher, and even managed to pick up some new baking sheets and a 12-hole deep muffin tin which will come in useful (and cheaper than Lakelands!!) so now I'm feeling exhausted but very pleased with myself

I better go do some baking soon after all that :rotfl:


OMG!!!! :eek: ... just realised I wrote so much

W O W ! ! !

C-Q that is SO-O-O great!!


That's a HUGE step.

I am so proud of you. Really

I've run out of fonts and colours to say it but gosh, welcome back

Magentasue

Hey,well done! You know what they say about the longest journey! Way to go!!!!

culpepper

I bought my first food processor about 12 years ago and it lasted 10 years with daily use.Ive had my second about 2 years now and its just as trusty.I use it to do nearly everything.
Worth it for the time saving alone.
My new one has a blender too which is never used.
The main tools I use are the chopping/mixing Blade and the plastic dough blade.Although the juicing thingy was very useful when I did Marmalade(much less messy than by hand) and the slicing plates were used then too.They are very good for grating .Mine has been through a dishwasher when we had one,with no problems re cracking .

catznine

Firstly CQ Well done on todays achievements as I can understand what that means to you. Today I finally got to our local farmers market which was great but it really took it out of me! Oh still finds this hard to understand as life with CFS is like a roller coaster - ups and downs but I did it and got some lovely strawberries as well. Yesterday my new ice cream maker turned up (thank you Elona for the recommendation) and the bowl has been in the freezer ready for an ice cream making session. So hopefully tomorrow I will manage to make some strawberry ice cream.

Lyndsay_21

i have a food processor that i juat 'had' to have and i have used it about 2 times in 6months wish i hadn't bought it now.
Aslo got a 'lean mean fat reducing grilling machine' by GF but that too is wasting away in the back of a cupboard with the cheese toastie maker.
However once i get rid of the big babies steriliser next month they'll be room for my gadgets so i can use them more....

Loadsabob

CQ, I've not been here very long, but long enough to feel very chuffed at you having been to the shops twice in one morening. That can be stressful enough for anyone!

Well...kitchen gadgets...most things have been said on weekend threads by the time I get to them on a Monday, but here goes!...

My rule of thumb is if a machine will live on the worktop, it's probably worth me getting it. If I keep it in a cupboard, it is unlikely ever to be used.

I wouldn't be without my breadmaker. Even if just for dough, it really makes me more inclined to make the bread, knowing I can just leave it be and get on with other things. I think it's paid for itself, too.

My blender is giving up the ghost (Anthony W-Breville, I wouldn't buy it again). I've used that frequently for milkshakes, smoothies, soups, all-in-one cake mixes, and making my old HM bread into breadcrumbs in seconds (I COULD grate, but never as finely, and it would take forever and I usually end up grating my nails!) However, I'm considering whether a stick blender would be better instead...or as well as!

I know I would never use a food processor. My Mum had one, and it was never used. I always found that by the time I got it out of the cupboard and assembled it, I could have chopped everything by hand (I'm pretty fast), and only had a board and knife to wash up - MUCH better for me!

I always wondered how I'd manage without a pressure cooker when I left my Mum's, but in four years I haven't missed it. I think it may be particularly helpful for meat...and Christmas puddings!! But I have a three tier hob-top steamer, and use that for potatoes, which was my main use of the pressure cooker.

I have an ice-cream maker. I think it is handy from the point of view of not having to re-stir partially frozen mixtures, as it just keeps it moving, keeping the air in the mixture until frozen. However, I've only used it twice!..in two years! I must get my act together on that!

I have a Kenwood mini-chefette or something, basically a mixer...£3 at a junk shop, it was in gleaming condition, and I remembered it from my 70s/80s childhood - perfect working order! It's just a bowl, stand and whisk, that can be used in any bowl. I love it! And it's quite compact

I DO have a microwave, but never cook in it. I use it for part-doing jackets before they go in the oven, re-heating, sometimes defrosting.

My kitchen is fairly large in terms of floor space, but poor on workspace!

I would LOVE a waffle maker...it's always on my wish-list! I would use it A LOT!!! (I got used to The Waffle House when I was at Uni, and I suffer terrible withdrawal from it!)

I wouldn't use a sandwich maker, my toasties get made under the grill, so does my toast.

My brother has a Brabantia corkscrew. It's very good! You need a small mortgage to get one, but they are utterly foolproof and effortless!

AussieLass

The only kitchen gadgets that I've consistently used over the years would be a electric knife that was given to me 20 years ago and my hand beaters.
I think you can end up with a lot of clutter that you just use once in a while if your not careful.
I do like my jaffle maker too.

tr3mor

I love my fake george foreman (actually an antony worrell thompson one) it has removable plates, that go in the dishwasher No scraping and scrubbing required!!!

Str4berr3

Loadsabob wrote:

My blender is giving up the ghost (Anthony W-Breville, I wouldn't buy it again). I've used that frequently for milkshakes, smoothies, soups, all-in-one cake mixes, and making my old HM bread into breadcrumbs in seconds (I COULD grate, but never as finely, and it would take forever and I usually end up grating my nails!) However, I'm considering whether a stick blender would be better instead...or as well as!

I thought that you would need a food processor for grating the bread into crumbs- so can a blender do the job?