Kitchen toys which one is the most useful?

[fortyfeetunder]

This is not "who has the most toys wins" but "which toy could you not live without"?

I'll start first, to kick off my next thousand posts.

It would have to be my 15YO Cuisinart DLC-11 food processor, I have made all kinds of recipes with it. I can't see buying a new one. I have all the disks, used every one of them, and it still works like a champ....

[NMDemDist2]

1. happy 1000... my favorite gadget is my Mouli grater

seems that thing gets used all the time

and my veggie steamer/rice cooker

[Stinky The Clown]

2. A Thousand Congratulations! ... This is a hard question for a

gadgethead to answer. I guess if I have to choose *just* one, then it would have to be my Kitchenaid stand mixer. I have had one for more than 30 years, although I recently gave my old one to my son and got a new one for us. I chose this over all my "other gadgets" because it is, in many ways .... all my "other gadgets"! Besides its basic duties as a mixer, it is a pasta maker (both extruded and rolled) a sorbet and ice cream maker, a sausage stuffer, a meat grinder, a cheese grater, a vegetable slicer, and on and on. This, our toaster, and our espresso maker are the only gadgets that live on our kitchen counters and stay plugged in.

And they last forever because they come from a strong lineage.

Here's the larger of the Kitchenaid versions, a 6-Qt (they also make 4.5 Qt and 5-Qt models):



Here's the smallest commercial Hobart - a 5 Qt N-50 (notice the similarity)



And here's one of the larger (60 Qt) floor model Hobarts (they make even bigger ones):



The Kitchenaids are a scaled down version of the Hobart professional mixers, although Kitchenaid is no longer owned or made by Hobart. To be sure, Kitchenaid is and always was made to a lighter standard (more plastic internal parts vs metal in the commercial models, etc.) than the Hobart items. But the design is essentially the same. A Hobart in home use would probably *never* wear out, while a Kitchen in home use would probably have the same life as a Hobart in commercial use. I design commercial kitchens and have seen fully functioning Hobart mixers that were made in the late 1940's! Remarkably, the accessories for those mixers will fit the current models, even though the old ones look quite a bit different (outwardly) than the new ones (more "mechanical"/less "streamlined"). Like the home models, the commercial models also have many accessories that fit the power hub at the top front, although the Kitchenaid models have many more accessory choices.

If I had to be limited to only one gadget but could have all the accessories, this would be it.

[eyesroll]

3. I agree with you about the Kitchenaid.

I have very minimal counter space. My toaster and mixer stay on my portable dishwasher. My coffee maker stays on a little shelf in the dining room (I really like that setup). I have a microwave cart that fits the microwave and nothing else. Everything else that plugs in is stored until I need it.

I live alone and I still use the mixer frequently.

[NashVegas]

6. I Love My Kitchen-Aid Mixer

Got it almost a year ago and love it to death. I have the yellow 6qt pro model.

But, I did live without it for many many, many years.

I gotta go with my little Cuisinart Little Pro +. It's gotten tons of use over the years for everything from chopping, sauce/condiment prep, to juicing.

[fortyfeetunder]

8. Yes, I love my mixer too.

I bought a Kitchen Aid mixer about 3 years ago. And I am kicking myself for not having bought it long ago. It comes in great for whipping egg whites and whipping cream. And I love mixing meatloaf in it. But I wouldn't ditch my food processor though.

[WritersBlock]

24. I chose one of these over a KitchenAid to my regret

It won out because it has the food processor attachment, which is very useful, and a juicer (not in the picture) and a couple other attachments I can't remember off the top of my head. But this thing cost a few hundred pounds 5 years ago, and I'm sorry to say it's not very useful to me as a mixer. Maybe I'm doing something wrong, but the mixer whisk thingies don't reach the bottom and insides of the bowl, so I have to keep stopping it and scraping the dry ingredients into the mix. The bread hooks have something of the same problem, and get really mucky with dough inside the attachment.

But, in fairness, this thing's 5 years old, and maybe Bosch have fixed these problems by now. Still, though, with hindsight, I wish we had spent pretty much the same amount of money on a Kitchenaid mixer and a regular food processor.

[grasswire]

4. french press

What a great way to make coffee -- oh, and the coffee grinder, of course.

Incidentally, I have a Kitchenaid stand mixer that is an early model and I use it all the time. I found it at an estate sale -- it's from the 1940s. It's fabulous. Of course, if I ever break the bowl, I'll have some trouble finding one.

[Stinky The Clown]

5. Is this your mixer?

[grasswire]

14. not quite

Mine is plain white, the bowl is not quite as rounded, and no chrome. Model 3-C.

[NMDemDist2]

30. the bowls come up on e-bay regularly

maybe you could get a "back up"

[Lugnut]

7. Though question

Although I use my Kitchen-Aid food processor a lot I actually use my mini chopper more frequently.

After reading all the responses I might have to seriously reconsider my decision to not get a 6 qt. Kitchen-Aid stand mixer. I've talked myself out of it since hubby and I are the only ones left here at home. I keep wondering if I'll use it enough to warrant the outlay. Since my daughter brought hers here to make Christmas cookies I've had some doubts. There is no way I can mix stiff cookie batters by hand and that mixer kicked butt. What to do....what to do......

[Stinky The Clown]

9. Hehehehehe

Buy it! (said the devil on her shoulder:evilgrin:)

We have the 6 Qt model. Got it only a few years ago after almost 30 years with the tilt head model (which one of our sons now has). We're just two people at home now, too. And yeah .... we use it a lot.

[Lugnut]

12. You are so cute, H2S

And such a kind devil, too. :D

I'm really leaning toward buying one. I think I would go with the 6 qt. model because of the versatility and added capacity. I'm going to crunch my budget numbers. Thanks for the shove. ;)

[Phentex]

10. I have a thunderstick and use it all the time....

I make soups and need to puree right in the pot. It crushes ice. It chops. It makes smoothies. It's so easy to clean. I think I use the coffee maker more, but this is a close second.

[wildeyed]

11. I use my electric kettle the most.

I make my morning coffee in a french press and use it to heat the water fast. I brew and re-brew my green tea all afternoon, so I end up using it off and on most of the day.

After that, probably rice steamer and Kitchen Aid food processor. My food processor has a small bowl and a large bowl, so it is great for all jobs.

I have a Kitchen Aid stand mixer, but somehow never took to it, so it doesn't get used very much. I would have liked a larger size, though. I got the smallest and I find that it is often too small if I want to double cookie recipes, etc.

[merci_me]

13. I'm easy............

I absolutely love my bamboo steamers. I have one I use for veggies or dumplings and one I use for steaming fish and seafood. It works like a charm. Lay some leaf or Romaine lettuce in the bottom, add the seafood or dumplings or veggies if they need something too hold them and steam away.

Mary

[grasswire]

15. how do you clean yours?

I had to throw a set of steamers away because they got kind of funky. Maybe they should air dry somewhere before storing?

Oh, I use mine for tamale making and for stuffed grape leaves, too.

[merci_me]

16. Depending on how much you use them

......I scrub them in hot soapy water, using a dobie pad. I air dry them and I store them by hanging them on the wall, not in a cabinet, so that may help some.


If I'm using them a lot, I toss them and buy new. We have tons of Asian supermarkets around here (with fantastic veggie prices), so I can get them cheap and in any size. I also use leaf lettuce to line them for a lot of things I make, so that makes clean up easier.


How do you do tamales in yours? Just lay them on the wood slats or do you put something under them? I've never made tamales but I would think you could use extra corn husks to line the bottom of the steamer. You could probably also put the steamer outside in the sun to get baked dry. I know Heloise has said many times that putting old cabinets and trunks out in the sun gets rid of any musty odors. But truthfully, I've never tried to save a steamer.

Mary

[eleny]

17. Splatter screens!

I use my blender a lot as well as other gadgets. But it dawned on me today that I couldn't do without my splatter screens. We don't have a range hood and the screens help a lot. And I'd be blistered from hot splashes without them. I buy the cheap ones when they have dollar days at the supermarket.

[NMDemDist2]

28. don't know if you noticed the red on the pot rack, but they were my

spatter shields LOL I have them hanging by their size appropriate skillet hehehehe

[politicat]

18. my mezzeluna and cutting board with the breadmaker in 2nd place.

With those two, I can cook complete meals (with the stove and basic pans, of course.)

Everything else, I can do without, even the stove. I know how to cook over an open fire and how to build a brick oven/grill.

Pcat

[NMDemDist2]

19. my breadmaker broke yesterday

:cry:

[politicat]

20. What happened?? Some parts are replaceable.

My old welbuilt had a belt that stretched, and we were able to get a replacement belt from the manufacturer. When the heating element went, I could have gotten one for it, too, but then DH saw one that does everything but eat it for you on sale and he bought it before I had a chance to replace the heating element.

Check the manufacturer's website and send them an email. You should be able to troubleshoot it by taking off the bottom plate and looking around inside.

Pcat

[NMDemDist2]

21. the liquid crystal display went all weird, then it shut itself off

( i tried it three times :cry: )

[Stinky The Clown]

22. Could be a few things

Bad circuit board (probably too expensive to fix), could be some sort of sensor (could be cheap enuff to fix), could be a bad display (least likely cause, but also very expensive)

[NMDemDist2]

23. well, since I have the pot rack now, I have room to rearrange and getf

a Mix Master. As long as it has a dough hook, for as often as I make bread I should be OK

esp since I'll be able to knead the dough and punch it down instead of letting the machine have all the fun LOL

[Stinky The Clown]

25. Bread making by hand is much more satisfying

It is fun. It is hands on. It is tactile. It is visceral. It requires thought. It provides a sense of accomplishment that simply cannot be matched by pouring stuff in a hole and pushing a button.

I have often enjoyed bread machine bread at our neighbor's and very much am on the side of convenience and repeatability, but for me, bread by hand is where its at.

[NMDemDist2]

26. I agree, the auto maker has lots of points for ease and simplicity

but the bread doesn't taste the same. And I twitch every time I deal with the little "hole" the kneading arm leaves. It just isn't the right size or shape loaf either :shrug:

[NMDemDist2]

27. update after I read the FAQ's on Oster's website

I think it was too hot in the kitchen. The unit turns off if the room is 85 or higher

it was warm that day and I had the windows open

I'll test again when it's cooler (or when the A/C kicks on)

[NMDemDist2]

29. i just looked at the pics of my kitchen and realized I didn't mention

the "toy" I use the most...



I slide it all over the counter where ever I need it, it's big and reversible

this chopping block ROCKS!!