Kitchen Gadgets That You Love Or Hate

[StrawberryFields]

I have been thinking of paring down the stuff that I keep in the kitchen. I have things that I use all of the time and other things I just store.

I love to use my...

pressure cooker

electric frying pan (use it most of the time)

snow cone maker (electric)

heavy duty cookie sheets

heavy duty stainless mixing bowl sets with plastic lids

pots and pans with glass lids

13X9 glass dish with plastic lid and carrying case.

blender




Things I hardly use and thinking of getting rid of.

bread Maker (electric)

bundt pan

punch bowl



What about you...What are somethings that you use all the time?

[mom_of_jcchlsm]

pressure cooker - don't own one - I've always been a bit scared of them

electric frying pan - couldn't live without! Ours is huge - makes 8 grilled cheese at once

snow cone maker - we had a manual one - it was dusty - threw it out just a week ago while paring down for our move

heavy duty cookie sheets - yup!

heavy duty stainless mixing bowl sets with plastic lids - wish I had a nice set. motley assortment of big bowls, most without lids will have to do.

pots and pans with glass lids - yes! although I probably have more than I need

13X9 glass dish with plastic lid and carrying case - I own three. Indispensible

blender - currently broken, and I'm suffering

bread Maker (electric) - what? who needs it? baking bread the old-fashioned way is fun.

loaf pans - a must! I must make banana bread, pumpkin bread, apricot bread, or just plain regular bread, or meatloaf twice a week

bundt pan - hmmmm. I don't use it often (maybe once or twice a year?), but when I want it, no other shape will do.

punch bowl - you can always borrow one from the RS if you need it

deep cassarole dishes (7x11x4) - I really only need them for one recipe I can think of (Dutch Puff Babies), but there is no substitue - the high sides make the dish. I have two, since our family can devour four batches of puff babies at one sitting - make two, dish those up, then refill them and pop the next two in the oven to have them ready when we're hungry for more.

Electric steamer - ours holds four artichokes or three broccoli stalks (chopped) - you can make rice in it (but it doesn't hold enough rice for our family any more, so I use a pot on the stove for that now), steam tamales - yeah, indispensible!

Dehydrator - at one time, I used it a lot, but I haven't hauled it out in probably two years now. Could do without it, but I like knowing it's there in case I want it.

Egg timer - I have one of those really cool egg-shaped ones that goes in the pan with your eggs and changes color as it heats up

egg-beheader - I really had to search for this tool

speakerphone - perhaps not what most would consider a kitchen gadget, but that's the only place I need it - so I can work on making dinner while on the phone

[StrawberryFields]

Thanls for your reply mom.

pressure cooker - my mom used one of these when I was young and I have used one for over 20 years and never any problems except for when I let it boil dry. The whole house, including me, smelled like fire.

electric frying pan - couldn't live without! Ours is huge - makes 8 grilled cheese at once.That is a big one!!! I like using mine because it much easier to clean the my gas stove...

snow cone maker - the electric ones are great. They are around 30.00 and make wonderful cool treats.

bread Maker (electric) - wait you make bread from scratch.... I wished I would have learned that. I use Rhodes most of the time.

loaf pans - a must! I must make banana bread, pumpkin bread, apricot bread, or just plain regular bread, or meatloaf twice a week..... That is great!!! Have you ever done that "Friendship Bread" which requires a starter and gets passed around?


deep cassarole dishes (7x11x4) - I really only need them for one recipe I can think of (Dutch Puff Babies), but there is no substitue - the high sides make the dish. I have two, since our family can devour four batches of puff babies at one sitting - make two, dish those up, then refill them and pop the next two in the oven to have them ready when we're hungry for more. Tell me more about what these are...Maybe a recipe.

Electric steamer - ours holds four artichokes or three broccoli stalks (chopped) - you can make rice in it (but it doesn't hold enough rice for our family any more, so I use a pot on the stove for that now), steam tamales - yeah, indispensible! I had one of these but never used it.... never took it out of the box. I might want to ask for one for Mother's day.

Dehydrator - at one time, I used it a lot, but I haven't hauled it out in probably two years now. Could do without it, but I like knowing it's there in case I want it. I have used mine to make jerky from deer meat and hamburger (not mixed together).

Egg timer - I have one of those really cool egg-shaped ones that goes in the pan with your eggs and changes color as it heats up . I have never seen this, what color does it get when the eggs are done? Where did you get it?

egg-beheader - I really had to search for this tool. What is that and where did you find it? It sounds brutal.

speakerphone - perhaps not what most would consider a kitchen gadget, but that's the only place I need it - so I can work on making dinner while on the phone. Oh yes, a great kitchen gadget.


Other things I really like are

A pastry cutter for chopping veggies, it's easier the a knife for me.

My egg slicer, for perfect sliced eggs.

[Lindy]

egg-beheader - ROFL
I never heard of one..... so I'll just use my imagination......lol

Love the electic fry pan

Love cookie sheets

Love the microwave I have

........ and couldn't live without the little manual can opener

[mom_of_jcchlsm]

this is like my egg-timer, but mine is made by a different company:

http://www.grill-perfect.com/egg.html

- I don't know what an egg-beheader is really called. That's just what I call it. It fits down over the small end of a soft-boiled egg and slices off the top (through the shell, without getting shell crumbs into the egg) so you can scoop out the inside of the egg. I learned to eat eggs like that in Germany, but here in the States, you don't see it. The egg sits in a little cup. I can't find good egg cups here, either, so I found a set of napkin rings that are the right size if you set them on their sides.

- I have enjoyed Friendship Bread, many times.

- pastry cutter! Yes! My Mom taught me to cut in shortening/butter/lard using two knives slicing through the flour mixture. I'm so thankful to have discovered the pastry cutter. It works so much better.

Recipe for Dutch Puff Babies:
Use a large, very deep dish. Put ¼ cup of butter in the dish and place it in the oven while you mix up the rest of the ingredients. Set oven for 400° and turn it on. You want the dish very hot and the butter bubbly by the time the batter is ready.

Beat:
6 eggs

Add:
1 cup flour
1 cup milk
½ tsp. salt

Beat until smooth.

Tilt the hot dish all around to coat at least an inch or two up the sides with melted butter. Pour egg mixture into dish and return to oven immediately. Bake 25 min or until puffed and lightly browned. Serve immediately.
Top with syrup, fresh fruit and cream, warmed pie filling, or my favorite: powdered sugar and lemon juice.

As I indicated before, my family (two adults, two teens, four kids (plus a non-Puff-Baby-eating baby) goes through four of these for breakfast. I can just barely fit two in the oven side-by-side. Come to think of it, with only one in the oven it might cook a little faster. One batch can be cut into fourths for serving - it looks big, but it's mostly air, like a souffle.