Just read this Stuff article and I actually agree with the article.

Thoughts??

I do agree with the article and you Irene, but, oh heck - I'm guilty of owning 4 out of 9 of those.

I have a breadmaker - which I think does make good bread but it has fits and spurts of use I'm afraid, and I do love using it - I don't consider myself to be a bread maker (by hand) because of inexperience, lack of patience and time.

Mechanical chopper - I do have a food processor which I love using for all those big jobs of chopping.

TV Informercial kitchen gadgets - YES I bought one of those round knife sharpeners years ago, and guess what, you could get another thrown in, and for another $? they would include a set of dangerously sharp serrated-edged kitchen knives of all shapes and sizes which have never come out of their box because they are an absolute danger to the user, but if I used them a few times and managed to keep my fingers, I'd probably find they'd go blunt pretty quickly. One of the little round knife sharpeners has since disintegrated through over use probably, the other is at the bach and not used as much so is still in one piece. They were actually good knife sharpeners, but shed a bit of steel every time I used them.

A garlic press - my sister gave to me years ago and it is just a simple design and very effective.

Just last night my D-I-L dropped in to me an Ikon Airfryer 10L someone who didn't want theirs passed it on to her and she's offered it to me because she doesn't want it. I have yet to watch the video instructions and then turn it on and use it, so it will be interesting, but I suspect it will be another gadget which gathers dust sooner or later and I will see myself clear to passing it on to someone else in time maybe.

Gadgets are a bit like fad foods, they make you spend money on them and give you that feel good factor for a while and then you realise you are better off without them when they don't move from their last resting place for a long time!!
Regards,
Dawn.

We recently gave our breadmaker to the Hospice shop. However, I had good use out of it and liked trying out variations of bread. I occasionally make bread loaves or rolls by hand.
Mechanical choppers, I use my blender to make caster sugar and breadcrumbs when I need them. Also some purees.
I have an egg poaching pan which I use but it's metal. Depending on how many eggs needed at the same time I sometimes just poach in the usual way.
Once I owned a plastic roll-up chopping mat, I found it handy to be able to left each and and tip the chopped vegetables etc in to the bowl or saucepan. It must have got thrown out at some stage.
Banana container, I smile when I see those and don't own one.
A garlic crusher hides itself somewhere in a drawer, it took longer to empty out the left over bits and clean than it did to peel and chop/crush garlic by hand.
Once we had an electric condiment grinder, it has long gone. Now we grind it ourselves.
It isn't mentioned but I use one of those mesh splatter guards over a splattering/spitting pan.
I am not into Infomercial gadgets but my husband talks about an airfryer. Hah! That's he would use it once then hope the built-in cook would take over.

I love my Nutri-Bullet. It's used all summer long making smoothies extremely well and at other times I use it for crumbing bread crusts before drying them, making crumble topping in small amounts for instant fruit crumbles (invaluable to use up those feijoas!) and numerous other 'small' chopping chops that would just not be so efficient with a knife.

I also really enjoy creating 'one-pot' meals in my rice cooker. Things like biryani, curries, or anything that uses grains of all sorts: barley, rice, buckwheat, etc. I feel the same about my Crockpot which gets used for more than just making casseroles.

I have onsold or passed on my Kenwood mixer, the food processor, infra-red roaster and breadmaker. I am having difficulty even giving away, never mind selling, the Nicer-Dicer (which came 'free' with the Nutri-Bullet). I expect it will end up in one of our local Op-Shops with a host of other small hand-held kitchen gadgets/items that have languished in a box at the back of my cupboard for more years than I care to think about. I've even have difficulty getting rid of them when moving house - you never know when you're going to want them. Sure as eggs, the day after you dispose of them, you'll be wanting one of them!

On that list I only have a breadmaker and garlic press. The breadmaker used to get a lot of use, but not so much any more. I'll hang onto it though. I am not giving up the garlic press. I don't care if some gets stuck in it, I hate the mess of smashing garlic on a chopping board and I don't always want minced garlic.

If anyone is in the market for a new garlic press, I decided to splash out earlier this earlier this year and spend the money on this one. It is so very easy to clean, and being stainless steel (unlike my previous Zyliss presses), it can go in the dishwasher and not deteriorate. It it also angled very well, so that it doesn't take much effort at all to press the two handles together.

[www.amazon.com]

I don't have anything on that list.

Garlic I chop/crush with a knife, breadmaker was given away and I have never bothered with flimsy chopping boards or "wait theres more" products.

That doesn't mean I don't have superfluous kitchen things though as I know I do.

I wonder how my mother coped with one wooden board for everything (meat, veg - you name it, and we were healthy as), sharp knives, and her only appliance was a Mixmaster!!

Jenna, I forgot to mention my garlic press. It's as old as the hills, all metal but the sort that goes a darkish grey colour if you put it in the dishwasher. I only did this once - everything came out stinking of garlic! However, I can't get rid of it because it's got a cherry/olive pitter in the handles which makes it invaluable.

[dexam.co.uk]

I'm sure you will use the air fryer often as it uses so little oil
I've had 2 Tefal brand but they didn't last long and for the price I expected them to.
I'm not a fried food eater at all but did like potatoes done in the air fryer.

Although I make all my own bread (sourdough these days) I still get a lot of use out of my breadmaker as I use it to mix and knead the dough. My sourdough is quite artisany enough without me putting in the work.

The only thing on the list I have is a breadmaker, like Carolyn I use it for mixing and kneading, I never bake in it.

Despite my enormous collection of kitchen gadgets, I was so delighted to find that I only own ONE of the listed gadgets! I do love my garlic press and I find that the sheer convenience is worth the tiny amount of garlic that is wasted.



Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 07/10/2017 11:43AM by DK.

Completely agree with this I like my garlic press too!

I also bought the GARLIC zoom which minimises wasted garlic! It's so good

Instagram: @Notorious_Foodie

Like others, I wouldn't be without my garlic press or breadmaker - the latter is used mainly 'to dough stage' ie for pizza bases, ciabatta, rather than for the finished loaf.

Re egg poachers, I have an electric one with two inserts - one for boiling in shell and the other for poaching. I use it often. ...and like Lorna, I have a Nutribullet which I use mainly for smoothies but other blending jobs as well - a really useful piece of kit.

All of that said, I am also guilty of having bought over years, some totally useless and unnecessary gadgetry most of which has long since been disposed of, but I'm sure that there is still the odd thing lurking at the back of cupboards. Maybe time for another clean out!

Regards,

Barbara Anne



Edited 2 time(s). Last edit at 07/11/2017 01:54AM by Barbara Anne.

I would also like to add to the list

Potato peeler, Julienne grater and grater all in one


I saw this at a market - the lady was peeling up a storm...I bought 2....I've nearly cut all my fingers off twice and now I only peel carrots with it.....

Back to a good old fashioned peeler for me!

I don't have all of them, but I have started using sous vide to cook. It is just a fun way to waste time to cook like professional chefs. If you haven't seen it yet, just check Amazon for sous vide cooking.

Welcome back to FL Greg!

Rhik Samadeer's weekly column in The Guardian as always good fun. [www.theguardian.com]