Kitchen Gadgetaholics Anonymous
And that’s why I’m not allowed to watch any shopping channel unsupervised. Of course, I have all the shopping apps on my phone...
I LOVE wooden spoons and silicone spatulas. Along with my air fryer, Instant Pot and mini waffle maker. I have a special place in my heart for mini Tupperware containers and measuring implements too.
Is there a rehab for this?? I may need it.
And yet, with all my spatulas and spoons, I bought these a few weeks ago:
I did not go for the double offer.
Drummerboy, there’s a silicone set of those available on QVC. I’ve had my eye on them for a while.
This sounds like trouble to me.
https://www.qvc.com/Mad-Hungry-5-Piece-Multi-Use-Silicone-Spurtle-Set.product.K50483.html
ridski said:
What do you do with the stuff you already have?
It piles up.
I lost both my toaster oven and microwave to a power surge and haven’t replaced them yet. I’m actually considering the Galanz ToastWave. It is a toaster, air fryer, convection oven, and microwave in one unit. It takes up more countertop space than my old microwave, so I’m still debating if it’s worth it or not.
I am not sure you - or anyone? - should take gadget advice from drummerboy. He sounds like a gadget-aholic!!
A relative who enjoys cooking liked this commercial grade citrus juicer so much he bought it twice. I got to use it last week and it's unwieldy, enormous, heavy and makes excellent margaritas.
j_r said:
A relative who enjoys cooking liked this commercial grade citrus juicer so much he bought it twice. I got to use it last week and it's unwieldy, enormous, heavy and makes excellent margaritas.
Use’ta see these in local sweet shops
Almost forgot, I've got these too.
The electric one came in handy when I was going through a fresh orange juice phase.
I have one with a fancy reversible reamer for oranges and lemons. But the best is a depression glass juicer I bought at Bee & Thistle about 20 years ago.
I bought the one on the left, when I couldn’t find where, in the basement, I put the manual one.
drummerboy said:
It's got a microwave too?
Sexy!
Get it!
I would, but I don’t have the counter space. This picture is from the real estate listing because my kitchen is currently a disaster area and I’m too embarrassed to show it’s current condition. I have a dish drainer and a coffee maker to the left of the sink. If I put the ToastWave on the right of the stove it would be too close to the stovetop for safety due to its large footprint. It is bigger than a regular microwave.
Long term we plan on having the window moved higher and then having the counters wrap around, and moving the stove and the sink to different positions. But for now this is the amount of countertop space I have to work with.
I would move the fire extinguisher (if it's still there) and buy a cart or something, and put the oven on top of it in that space.
drummerboy said:
I would move the fire extinguisher (if it's still there) and buy a cart or something, and put the oven on top of it in that space.
That's a good idea. The fire extinguisher was placed there to get a CCO. There is no reason to keep it there if you are not selling (and even if you are, there are probably better places).
drummerboy said:
I have a problem.
It took all of my willpower to not buy this the other day:
A combination air-fryer/toaster oven/convection oven, with a special offer that included an instant pot (I already have an instant pot. and a toaster oven.) plus a whole slew of add-ons.
It was only 3 easy payments of $59.99 for the whole shebang.
I resisted.
But it was hard.
I have 3 boxes full of kitchen gadgets and other implements that I had to store away because they don't fit in my kitchen. Also, it turns out that I don't use them very much.
Somehow, I have about 20 wooden spoons. Not sure how that happened.
Anyone else in my boat?
Or, you can share your favorite gadget or appliance.
Personally, I'm a big fan of the silicone spatula, which I use instead of a wooden spoon unless I need something more sturdy. Big fan of tongs also.
I just got remarried last year and sold my house this year. I had a crap-ton of my own kitchen gadgets and moved into my husband's house who had a crap-ton of his (and his late wife's) kitchen gadgets. I love all my gadgets and it was hard to let any of them go. We re-did the kitchen and it accommodates my stuff as well as his. My favorite "gadget" is my Shun knives. If that doesn't count, I will say the Cuisinart garlic press. It's one piece and cleans really easily. Or maybe my Microplane. Oh, I can't decide! The right tool for the job, right?
The fire extinguisher has been moved, but that spot now holds our water dispenser, and next to it is our portable dishwasher. I was tempted to put it on toP of the dishwasher, but all it would take is one day of forgetting to unplug the ToastWave before moving the dishwasher to hook it up and it would end up crashing to the floor. I also have a small island (IKEA) in the middle of the room now since I have a TON of floor space in the kitchen but almost no counter or storage space, but it isn’t deep enough to hold it.
I bake. I don’t see the issue with using a one cup measuring scoop twice, or using a one cup and a 1/2 cup. But I guess someone out there must find it difficult since this is now a thing. Personally I think this is just more clutter
I've got one of these guys. This weekend was for knife sharpening. Does a great job, even on my serrated paring knives. The only bad thing is the extremely convoluted instructions.
marylago said:
...
The right tool for the job, right?
That's what it really comes down to for me. I've got tools for carpentry, plumbing, electrical work, etc. When I got into cooking in my twenties, it was a lot of fun to discover all the tools that were available for cooking. Finding a good tool is kind of hit and miss though. Things that look like they might be useful sometimes turn into not so much.
Before microplanes became a thing, (or before I knew about them anyway) I was using a carpenter's Surform plane to do do the same thing. I was glad when a food grade version came out.
drummerboy said:
I've got one of these guys. This weekend was for knife sharpening. Does a great job, even on my serrated paring knives. The only bad thing is the extremely convoluted instructions.
Got one of those... I often sharpen by hand anyway. And I agree about tools. I have more tools than anyone should have and that's after giving away a dumpsterful. But they come in handy...
I seem to be unable to walk by the kitchen gadget wall in any given store, but don't often buy anymore because seriously, there's a lot of stuff in the kitchen and more in the basement.
One truly great recent purchase though, was a second set of measuring cups (the plain old metal, 4-piece kind, i think they cost $1.79). I **love** not having to wash or wipe one when i used it for liquid and now i need it for dry stuff. And love not having to plan ahead for same.
Yes, I have an extra set of measuring cups too (actually, 3 sets altogether) They all hang on the same peg board so they don't take any extra space.
I have a problem.
It took all of my willpower to not buy this the other day:
https://nuwavebravo.com/
A combination air-fryer/toaster oven/convection oven, with a special offer that included an instant pot (I already have an instant pot. and a toaster oven.) plus a whole slew of add-ons.
It was only 3 easy payments of $59.99 for the whole shebang.
I resisted.
But it was hard.
I have 3 boxes full of kitchen gadgets and other implements that I had to store away because they don't fit in my kitchen. Also, it turns out that I don't use them very much.
Somehow, I have about 20 wooden spoons. Not sure how that happened.
Anyone else in my boat?
Or, you can share your favorite gadget or appliance.
Personally, I'm a big fan of the silicone spatula, which I use instead of a wooden spoon unless I need something more sturdy. Big fan of tongs also.