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Kitchen Gadgets


Virginia

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I live in a rental home that was built in the 1960's. Its older than me. Its got its charms but the kitchen isn't one of them. Its got one of those early model stove tops and a small-ish wall unit oven, little counter space and cabinets that are just...ugh. Anyway, now that we've embarked on a healthy eating lifestyle I have gotten rid of a ton of kitchen gadget clutter and added a little color to the small space to make it a little cozier.

 

In place of all those unused pots and pans I ordered a Ninja 4 in 1 cooking system. This beauty steams, bakes (I wouldn't do cakes, etc in it) crock pot cooking and stove top cooking. I love it. The food taste so much better and I don't have to use other pots and pans (except for when hubby wants his rice). Its a red beauty and well worth the money.

 

I also purchased a Ninja blender for all the smoothies I make. Its powerful and gets the job done. Of course it's good for more than smoothies. I also got this in red!

 

Today my air fryer came and I can't wait to try it out. Its perfect for frying without the grease/oil needed. Most foods can also be cooked without the flour/batter needed. It does everything from french fries to steaks. And its also, you guessed it, red!

 

My next purchase will be a quality set of knives and a really large cutting board. When we finally purchase our own home, I still plan to have a large kitchen but I won't be using a bunch of pots and pans to clutter things up.

 

Any gadgets you can't live without?

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My Breville stick / hand blender. I had to replace my old one that had halted through exhaustion!  :D This new one comes with a chopper thingummybob. that I have found really useful too. 

 

The only other thing that I would hate to be without (aside from my brightly coloured mixing bowls) is a large rounded shaped hard plastic scraper that I use for scraping from bowls and off boards. I also use it to  scrape soft 'gumf' from saucepans before washing them (porridge, cheese sauce). 

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Definitely my freestanding Kenwood mixer.  It was a Christmas present a few years ago, and since I only really bake in the kitchen (OH cooks most of our meals), it's absolutely my favourite thing in the kitchen.

 

I'd also have to say, similar to Chrissy, my flexible plastic spatula which allows you to scrape all the cake mix out of the bowl so you don't waste any is one of the things I'm most pleased about buying over the last few years ... although it's a double edged sword as it means I don't get the perk of licking the bowl out, which is half the reason you bake your own cakes in the first place! :lol:

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 although it's a double edged sword as it means I don't get the perk of licking the bowl out, which is half the reason you bake your own cakes in the first place! :lol:

 

But surely the spatula enables you to efficiently gather the bowl contents, thus enabling a quicker 'disposal' via licking?  :D

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I have an air fryer too!  Aren't they wonderful inventions?  None of the mess that you get with a huge pan of oil.  So far I've only used it for chips/fries.  It's supposed to be able to handle liquid ingredients too, but I tested that theory, and it leaked, so no thank you.

 

Virginia, your Ninja 4 in 1 sounds awesome.  

 

I couldn't be without my kitchen carousel, which is a round table-top storage rack that spins 360.  I keep all of my herbs, spices and condiments on it.

 

I also have a very nice mortar and pestle, made of marble.  Since I don't currently own a food processor, it comes in ever so handy for grinding down nuts for veggie recipes.

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  • 5 months later...

Does anyone have a NutriBullet?  A chef I follow on Instagram has been recommending it recently, and I've started drinking a lot more fresh juices when I'm out and wouldn't mind being able to make some more fresh juices and smoothies when I'm at home and wondering if anyone has one and thinks they're worth the money?  And if so, which model would you recommend, or are there other makes you'd recommend instead?

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Thanks Michelle.  The reason I'm tempted by the NutriBullet is they are apparently excellent at making things really smooth, so there's no hint of seeds or texture from the raw veg or fruit at all, which are always what puts me off smoothies in general.

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  • 1 month later...

Our kitchen is very small, so I don't get to buy gadgets these days. There just isn't room for them. That is probably just as well, so I used to be one of those people who would buy the latest kitchen gadget, which would then sit in a cupboard, unused. I don't know why, as I'm not usually a "latest gadget" kind of person. It did occur to me a few weeks ago that the money that I used to spend on stuff that got used once or twice and then gathered cobwebs, would be better spent on a quality set of knives.  

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  • 4 weeks later...

My answer will sound strange and funny, but I think my air fryer is the tool, without which I can't imagine my kitchen:rolol: The matter is that I don't have lots time for cooking, but I very often have home parties with my friends. So air fryer saves me in it and my guests are always happy to be by me:D I bought mine not so long time ago after reading this review about different air fryers. 
If someone loves parties with beer and fried potatoes, I do recommend this tool;)

Edited by Athena
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On 10/30/2017 at 2:24 PM, AmberLarson said:

My answer will sound strange and funny, but I think my air fryer is the tool, without which I can't imagine my kitchen:rolol: The matter is that I don't have lots time for cooking, but I very often have home parties with my friends. So air fryer saves me in it and my guests are always happy to be by me:D I bought mine not so long time ago after reading this review about different air fryers. 
If someone loves parties with beer and fried potatoes, I do recommend this tool;)

 

Ha ha:D I can't imagine my kitchen without air-fryer either. I love fried potatoes:wub:

Edited by chesilbeach
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I hate to be without my little Vitronox serrated paring knives. I use them all the time. I have two in case one's in the dishwasher or a can't find one because it's buried under dishes or something. I gave one of them to my daughter-in-law recently and just had to buy another one to replace it. You just have to be careful when you first get a new one because they're so incredibly sharp, they'd have your finger off in no time if you slipped, or at least give you a nasty laceration!

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  • 5 months later...
On 25/07/2017 at 4:37 PM, chesilbeach said:

Does anyone have a NutriBullet?  A chef I follow on Instagram has been recommending it recently, and I've started drinking a lot more fresh juices when I'm out and wouldn't mind being able to make some more fresh juices and smoothies when I'm at home and wondering if anyone has one and thinks they're worth the money?  And if so, which model would you recommend, or are there other makes you'd recommend instead?

 

I bought one a couple of years ago when I found it half price. I use it mostly for whizzing up tomatoes, fresh and tinned. I rarely make smoothies. But it looks impressive!

 

The gadget I couldn't do without is the kettle.

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