Kitchen gadgets - what do you find useful?

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truthseeker

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Was having a bit of a cabinet re-organise last night (Im such a hoarder, never throw anything out!!), and I came across a dusty cheese slicer - never use it!!

It go tme thinking about kitchen gadgets. What do people actually get use from?

I have a blender/smoothie maker that gets rare use - usually in the summer time for smoothie type drinks.

I have a meat slicer that I use every week to slice meat for lunches during the week - I find it saves me a fortune compared to buying packet ham (for example).

I recently bought a hand mincer for making my own mince meat - I dont like beef mince and the butchers doesnt always have turkey or pork mince. Havent used it yet but plan to this weekend, if its good I plan to give it regular weekly use to make batches of mince to freeze.

I have a hand blender type thing that I do use occasionally for making pesto or whipping cream or making hummous.

What else do people have that they find worthwhile?
 
A Salad spinner - very useful.
Electric carving knife

On a separate note truth seeker myself & Mrs ninsaga were discussing the meat slicer stuff at the weekend - just as a matter of interest - what do you normally do ie. cook meat that covers next 2-3 days etc - we were wondering how long we can cook & store before it goes off.
 
ninsaga said:
On a separate note truth seeker myself & Mrs ninsaga were discussing the meat slicer stuff at the weekend - just as a matter of interest - what do you normally do ie. cook meat that covers next 2-3 days etc - we were wondering how long we can cook & store before it goes off.
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I got an Argos voucher a while back that was gathering dust itself which is how I came to buy one at all!!!

I boil a ham on a sunday, let it go completely cold, then slice it with the meat slicer, pack it into an airtight container in the fridge and it keeps til friday lunch. I used to just keep the sliced ham under cling film on a plate in the fridge but I find the airtight container much better - I picked one up for a fiver in Homestore recently - like a lunchbox.

Alternatively I use it for a boned and rolled chicken - not stuffed usually. But I find chicken only keeps til the Wednesday - its pretty dry by Thursday - mind you I havent tried it in the airtight box yet.
 
Used to have a cheese slicer which I found handy - depends on the type though - what I'm talking about had a metal 'roller' with a wire and it was shaped like a paintbrush. Having said that, haven't replaced it so it can't have been that handy.

Other than that, very little except a standard blender and hand blender - which I find useful for home made soup.

Couldn't live without my garlic crusher if that counts.
 
I love my hand blender, very handy for making soups, smoothies, pasta sauce, humous.
i was tempted to buy a bread machine but was afraid it's be a novelty for a while but i wouldn't actually get that much use from it, granted more down to me than the bread maker!
 
Graham_07 said:
Without a doubt, [broken link removed]kitchen gadget.
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Agreed. Or a rabbit one ( is that what they're called? )if you're feeling lazy.

I always wanted a potato ricer- anyone have one? Is it possible not to have to peel potatoes with this?

We use a crepe pan, wooden batter smoother and crepe thingy to turn them with a good bit.

Electronic scales that automatically take off the weight of the container- magic.

Hmmm, thinking of getting a meat slicer now too. ARe they easy to clean?
 
Vanilla said:
Hmmm, thinking of getting a meat slicer now too. ARe they easy to clean?
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Very easy. Just a wipe down with a sudsy cloth, then a rinse with warm water, then dry off with a bit of kitchen towel. Theres no bits where anthing gets stuck and you can tilt it in under the tap to rinse off while avoiding any electronic parts very easily.

The only trick is that the meat (or bread, Ive done that too) must be cold otherwise it starts getting torn up by the blade, it takes a few go's to get used to it.
 
truthseeker said:
I got an Argos voucher a while back that was gathering dust itself which is how I came to buy one at all!!!

I boil a ham on a sunday, let it go completely cold, then slice it with the meat slicer, pack it into an airtight container in the fridge and it keeps til friday lunch. I used to just keep the sliced ham under cling film on a plate in the fridge but I find the airtight container much better - I picked one up for a fiver in Homestore recently - like a lunchbox.

Alternatively I use it for a boned and rolled chicken - not stuffed usually. But I find chicken only keeps til the Wednesday - its pretty dry by Thursday - mind you I havent tried it in the airtight box yet.
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thanks truthseeker
 
My electric peeler (battery actually), potatoes, carrots, parsnips etc., even soft peels like tomatoes. Removes just the bare skin and in general follows the contours.
 
Truthseeker, where did you get your meat grinder/mincer? They are hard to come by in real life (as opposed to on th'internet)

Thanks!
Sprite
 
Watersprite - I bought it off ebay, 12.99 plus 4.99 delivery (sterling). I havent used it yet so the jury is still out, but I have assembled/de-assembled to see how easy itd be to clean and its very easy to take apart.

Heres a link to the very same one on Amazon:
http://www.amazon.co.uk/gp/product/...m=A3P5ROKL5A1OLE&pf_rd_r=1VRK5QSMQ6ENJJY7S6XA

I was going to go for one of the cast iron hand mincers, but I read the amazon reviews and this one had better reviews than most (the biggest complaint seems to be the suction cup but I have a ceramic hob and it sticks to that no problem) - got a cheaper deal on ebay though.

Chocks away - any chance of a link to your electric/battery peeler?
 
I agree that a good dishwasher is essential

Couldn't live without my hand blender (used almost daily, where as the big food processor that cost a fortune comes out very occasionally....such a pain to wash).

Fair play on cooking the ham/chicken etc - the cost of the packed, cooked meats is outragous. Got caught short for lunches the other day & it cost €3 for 5 small slices of minced, pressed, scraps of ham. Whem I'm buying a joint of meat, I always factor in some for leftovers (aka - "lunch")
 
sam h said:
Fair play on cooking the ham/chicken etc - the cost of the packed, cooked meats is outragous. Got caught short for lunches the other day & it cost €3 for 5 small slices of minced, pressed, scraps of ham. Whem I'm buying a joint of meat, I always factor in some for leftovers (aka - "lunch")
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Thats exactly why I started doing it. Himself used to cook 2 chicken fillets every evening to put into sandwiches the next day - was costing a 10 or 12 euro a week on chicken fillets alone, or he would end up buying a packet of ham that he would use in its entirety for just one lunch - the ultimate sin being bought sandwiches costing anything up to a fiver for just one lunch.

So I decided to step in with the slicing idea - its more than paid for itself at this stage, the ham I buy only costs ~6 euro for the whole week (depends on which one I buy and where).
The meat is much nicer than processed meat too.
 
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