Favourite Kitchen Gadgets!

[Lorelei]

This includes guys too

what are your favourite kitchen gadgets? Mine is my wonderful Kitchen Aid stand mixer

Oh I love my mixer and DH loves it too for all the wonderful goodies it produces for him ( brownies, cinamon buns, bread, etc!)

I love it more than anything else in my kitchen and still get excited at the prospect of using it!! I enjoy baking when I have time and this is my perfect partner. Are there any more Kitchen Aid addicts on PS? Does anyone have anything new and exciting? (still dreaming of JQ''S outdoor kitchen - sigh

)

 

[ame]

My awesome red mixer is still in its awesome box. heh.

One of my favorite gadgets is my toaster oven. I like that I don''t have to heat up the whole house in 95 degree humid weather to make pizza.

I also really dig my OXO measuring cups with angled read.

 

[Lorelei]

oh Ame - thanks for introducing me to that website and all their lovely things!! I wouldn''t mind some of those cups myself

When is your awesome red mixer going to escape from it''s box?

My toaster oven broke

 

[AsscherGirl]

I can''t wait to have my own house (still live w/mom & dad) so that I can have a fancy Kitchen-Aid Mixer. I don''t know how I''ll ever choose a color though! I always wanted pink & it was a bonus that it donated money to breast cancer research, but I''m not sure how the BF feels about pink

.

The OXO tilted measuring cups are the BEST too!

But I have to say my favorite item is my 20 Quart All-Clad stock pot. It is huge & I almost need to stand on a stool to see over the top of it - but I have yet to make too much food that it didn''t fit in there.

 

[teebee]

I think my favorite ''gadget'' (if you can call it that) is my lime squeezer. I guess I just use a lot of limes/lime juice so it comes in very handy - simple to use & just about zero physical effort required. I got my first one at a Mexican grocery store for $2, then a second one at Williams Sonoma for like $15. Couldn''t live without it, seriously...

I do like my toaster oven as well... wonderful to have during the summer & it doesn''t take a 1/2 hour to preheat like my big oven.

 

[Mara]

Oh I am a total kitchen gadget whore. I don''t even remember we HAVE half of them so some don''t even get used...but I like the idea of them.

I think one of my faves is the WS cheese grater where you turn the crank and it grates the cheese. Of course one of my fave cheeses is Monterey Jack and that sticks horribly to it, making it a pain for Greg to clean...so we don''t use it that often. I just buy grated cheese.

Oh and the potato/avocaodo masher is SO necessary for mashed potatoes and/or guacamole. Love it.

Also we got that grill that goes on the burners and it''s AWESOME because one side is a griddle and the other is a grill and I can make 8 small pancakes on the griddle side, which is all we need for the 2 of us for breakfast and it takes all of 7 minutes total!! Love it. We also use the grill side alot for doing quick fish grills during the weeknights. Again this thing is kind of a pain to clean though.

My girlfriend just gave us our new blender we wanted from our wedding registry (she had the gift for a year!) so we may try it out this weekend, it looks sweet!

On my list, current gadgets to buy are: avocado slicer from WS; tortilla press from WS; and the tomato slicer from WS. I''m sure there''s something else I am missing.

 

[jorman]

I have been so out of the loop with this California move and the Internet isn''t going to be set up at home until TOMORROW. We''ve been here 2 weeks...

I love kitchen goodies. I could spend hours looking at everything in William Sonoma, Crate and Barrel and little boutique kitchen shops.

I love Kitchen Aid Mixers, although I currently don''t have one and I covet anyone who has one. I am a HUGE giver and usually will give something that is my favorite before I get to buying one myself. My mom has a red Kitchen Aid I gave her for Christmas 3 years ago, along with the toaster, food processor, etc. I''m an ONLY child- I''m supposed to be the spoiled one!

I would also say I love ramekins- all colors, all sizes- I LOVE THEM! But as for a gadget- I love the garlic press, the apple corer, and my crock pot (as corny as that is). I love to simmer pot roast for 8 hours in that sucker until the meat is falling apart and ready to smother in mushroom gravy and serve up with cream whipped mashed potatoes. YUM!

The coffee pot is another favourite, especially after drivign 1400 miles to California...

 

[ame]

Date: 8/5/2005 9:30:32 AM
Author: Lorelei
When is your awesome red mixer going to escape from it''s box?

My toaster oven broke

When I know what it does... haha

I don''t have anywhere to put it right now. We have so little kitchen space that it''s on a shelf right now.

Besides that, I don''t know how to actually "bake".

 

[eks6426]

My favorite kitchen gadget is the chopper. I had a Pampered Chef one that I wore out so last night I bought a Zyliss one from Bed Bath & Beyond. Since Zyliss makes the Pampered Chef one I''m hoping they are similar.

I have to ask teebee--what is a lime squeezer?

 

[teebee]

ID - I love my chopper too, mines getting worn out so I will have to replace it soon. I use it a lot for chopping jalepenos & Thai chili peppers (really small & very HOT, too small to chop w/ knife effectively).

This is the lime squeezer, only WS calls it a citrus press & has a larger yellow press for lemons, and a smaller green press for limes. It''s an outstanding little tool if you use lime or lemon juice a lot like me (salsa, pico de gallo, salads dressings, soups, beer

). Our favorite thing to do on a Saturday evening is to get out our big huge margarita glasses, salt the rims, then squeeze some lime juice into the glass along with an icy cold Corona or Tecate...

especially during the summer... I might need one tonight!!

 

[Kamuelamom]

Lorelei, what a fun thread!

Unfortunately I have too many to list as a "favorite" candidate...but off the top of my head, I''d have to say (at least for today anyway

) it is my small cookie scooper from Pampered Chef. It makes the perfect size/shape cookie, and it doubles as a meat baller.

 

[Blue824]

In my house we can''t live with out the microplane graters from Williams-Sonoma. For some reason they''re just so much better than any of the other graters we''ve had. They are especially GREAT for zesting and for hard cheeses. This past holiday season we got them for a couple of my aunts & uncles who cook a lot, and every time my aunt uses hers she calls to thank us. She opened that part of her present and was sort of like oooh, um, thanks, and now she can''t live with out it either

It makes the whole process effortless. They say they''re internet only however but my W-S carries them...
Williams-Sonoma | Catalog

 

[Lorelei]

Date: 8/5/2005 2:35:48 PM
Author: ame

Date: 8/5/2005 9:30:32 AM
Author: Lorelei
When is your awesome red mixer going to escape from it''s box?

My toaster oven broke

When I know what it does... haha

I don''t have anywhere to put it right now. We have so little kitchen space that it''s on a shelf right now.

Besides that, I don''t know how to actually ''bake''.

Ame when you start baking you will be hooked!!!! Brownies are great to begin with - I have the BEST and easiest recipe - so when you unpack your mixer give me a shout! Everyone has such neat kitchen stuff it''s giving me ideas

 

[IrishEyes]

Hmmm, I will ask my husband, he''s the cook!!!!

He cooks, I clean. But I know he''s in love with our red kitchen aid mixer. the one that was like 300 dollars.

Does coffee maker count?!

 

[eks6426]

teebee--that lime press looks really useful. I squeeze lots of limes too. Where did you get it?

 

[teebee]

I got my newest one at Williams Sonoma - I think it was like $15? I have another one that I got at a little Mexican grocery store for about $3. I had to get 2 because I would use the one I had then stick it in the dishwasher, then need it again later that day or the next before I''d run the dishwasher... I probably need another - I have this strange love of limes or something & think everything could be better w/ a little lime juice!! But seriously, once I started using these presses, I can''t figure out why anyone uses those little ''reamer'' kind of juicers - I''ve used those and this lime press is SO MUCH MORE EFFECTIVE & much easier to use as well.

 

[sjz]

My two favorites are both from pampered chef. One is my round pizza stone thingy. I love that. Bake everything on it, and it''s awesome for frozen pizza. The other one is my jar opener. I can get ANY jar open in a snap with that thing.

 

[drk]

I love my Panasonic fuzzy-logic rice cooker my brother and his wife got us for our wedding. It makes perfect rice every time, and there''s nothing left sticking to the pot at the end! I think it can even work as a slow cooker and for porridge etc...

 

[Kamuelamom]

My standing favorite is my henkel knife set. I've never owned a good set before I received these for Christmas (as a gift from DH to celebrate my new kitchen

) and I am in love with them. It "cuts" my labor time in half.

 

[onedrop]

SJZ: I love my Pampered Chef bottle opener also! Now I don''t have to struggle and curse under my breath trying to open a jar or bottle! Since I love coffee I would have to say that one of my other favorites is my CuisinArt coffee bean grinder.