Legit kitchen appliances & accessories

[NoName 17103]

Just now, pops said:

I have a krups and for the 3 or 4 times a year I make waffles, it's fine. 

Was at my parents over Christmas and tasked with cranking out waffles Christmas morning. My mom has an all-clad and it's a beast. That being said, it has the most annoying fucking beeper in history. And you can't turn it off. Other than that, it's was pretty great. 

FYI, Emeril has a great waffle batter recipe. You whip the eggwhites separately and fold them in. 

this is absolutely the right way to do this. Kenji goes into it a ton in his book but he also touches on it here in what is, for my money, the best pancake recipe around

The Food Lab: How to Make the Best Light and Fluffy Pancakes

Relevant bits on egg whites specifically here

 

 

[luke duke 6445]

How is the non-stickiness compared to a well seasoned cast iron pan?  Can it cook an egg without sticking?  Even in butter, my best cast iron can't really cook eggs without sticking.  After watching The Devil We Know on Netflix about the issues with Teflon (F Dupont), I am ready to replace all of those for something let toxic.

You can cook an egg in just about anything if you add a spoonful of this first.

[Ten Bears 2499]

1 hour ago, luke duke said:

 

You can cook an egg in just about anything if you add a spoonful of this first.

 

Well, sure, if you are out of lard.

[Chopper 17429]

I was going to add in the $5 silicone garlic roller/peeler thing but someone got there first.

Then I was going to go with the pineapple corer but someone else got there first.

So I'll go with this slanted cutting board instead. Reversible, has a side for meat or fruit, and doesn't spill over with juices like the boards with reservoirs invariably do.

[DalTxHornFan 3130]

It seems so obvious, but we use the shit out of a garlic press like this:

 

Saves a bunch of time chopping garlic and easy to clean.  $15-$20 bucks well spent.

 

[tigol 2466]

I believe CeleryMan posted this in a similar thread.  Great $7 buy.  It rests and drains into the sink.  Simple.

https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B00DS3JPT8/ref=ppx_yo_dt_b_asin_title_o06_s00?ie=UTF8&psc=1

 

If you have a small kitchen, this is awesome.  I make coffee in a Chemex and this lets me rinse and drain it over the sink when I'm off to work.  I think I paid $10 when I bought it, so shop around.

https://www.amazon.com/Roll-Up-Dish-Drying-Rack-40cm/dp/B07CJLSX27/ref=sr_1_fkmr1_1?keywords=danny+dish+rack+roller&qid=1583213961&s=home-garden&sr=1-1-fkmr1

[Chopper 17429]

8 hours ago, tigol said:

If you have a small kitchen, this is awesome.  I make coffee in a Chemex and this lets me rinse and drain it over the sink when I'm off to work.  I think I paid $10 when I bought it, so shop around.

https://www.amazon.com/Roll-Up-Dish-Drying-Rack-40cm/dp/B07CJLSX27/ref=sr_1_fkmr1_1?keywords=danny+dish+rack+roller&qid=1583213961&s=home-garden&sr=1-1-fkmr1

Hmmm...

 

[NoName 17103]

8 hours ago, tigol said:

I believe CeleryMan posted this in a similar thread.  Great $7 buy.  It rests and drains into the sink.  Simple.

https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B00DS3JPT8/ref=ppx_yo_dt_b_asin_title_o06_s00?ie=UTF8&psc=1

the brush w/ hanger is excellent

[VABuckeye 2481]

It's as seen on TV but if you have to dice a couple dozen tomatoes to make a red sauce this thing is money.

[tigol 2466]

 

[VABuckeye 2481]

Breville Smart Oven Air.  You can cook a turkey in it.  This eleminated all the clutter on our countertop.

[next2naus 439]

2 hours ago, VABuckeye said:

Breville Smart Oven Air.  You can cook a turkey in it.  This eleminated all the clutter on our countertop.

can you make good wings in that?

[NWBuck 8619]

On 3/1/2020 at 3:13 PM, DalTxHornFan said:

I've gone with a couple of new carbon steel pans since I read a piece about them in the WSJ this past December.  I am very gruntled with them.  Once you get them seasoned, they are as slick as any of the "non-stick" pans plus you can use metal implements without worrying about damaging anything.

The other thing I purchased along with the carbon steel pans is a chain mail scrubber.  Works great on my carbon steel pans and my cast iron pieces. 

Those are great (grate?)... and if you buy a lot of them, you can storm a castle.

[SydneyCarton 49323]

On 2/24/2020 at 9:28 PM, pops said:

Breville toaster oven. I use it probably 4x to the standard oven and can easily cook enough for a family of 4. 

 

On 2/26/2020 at 11:32 AM, Johnny Sack said:

We bought one recently.  Love that thing.

 

5 hours ago, VABuckeye said:

Breville Smart Oven Air.  You can cook a turkey in it.  This eleminated all the clutter on our countertop.

In a similar vein, we recently purchased this one instead of getting an air fryer and so far we couldn't be happier:

https://www.amazon.com/Cuisinart-TOA-60-Fryer-Toaster-Silver/dp/B01K0W8LTE/ref=sr_1_3?crid=1NMY0W4JWGFZ7&keywords=air+fryer+and+convection+oven&qid=1583265771&sprefix=Air+Fryer+and+COnvection%2Caps%2C176&sr=8-3

 

Convection Ovens are wonderful. It's so much better than having to wait the extra 15 minutes or so to heat up the big oven, and it's been great for smaller meals for the wife and I, and for crisping up various nuggets/fries etc for the kiddo. 

[Carl Spackler 3610]

16 hours ago, Chopper said:

So I'll go with this slanted cutting board instead. Reversible, has a side for meat or fruit, and doesn't spill over with juices like the boards with reservoirs invariably do.

Username checks out.

[Jerry Callo 8952]

I hate most kitchen gadgets.  Specifically, anything that in some way performs the function of a knife.  About the only exception for me is a Mandoline slicer.

I went through two kitchen drawers the other day and filled a bag with handheld kitchen gadgets - most of which were purchased by my wife who doesn't cook.  A couple egg separators, avocado slicer, various corers, garlic presses, spoons, ladles, spatulas, something to cut apples, some-other-thing to cut oranges, etc.

My favorite kitchen appliance is a vacuum sealer.  I use that thing every day and much more than I thought I would.  

[DalTxHornFan 3130]

4 minutes ago, Jerry Callo said:

My favorite kitchen appliance is a vacuum sealer.  I use that thing every day and much more than I thought I would.  

Ditto on the vacuum sealer.  I use it to individually seal steaks before freezing them after we do a bulk purchase at Costco.  Also good for freezing portions from large batches.  My deep freeze has a couple of batches of venison chili and some Italian meat sauce sealed, frozen and at the ready.  Also pretty easy to reheat/defrost stuff in the bag using sous vide approach with warm/hot water.

[VABuckeye 2481]

17 minutes ago, Jerry Callo said:

I hate most kitchen gadgets.  Specifically, anything that in some way performs the function of a knife.  About the only exception for me is a Mandoline slicer.

I went through two kitchen drawers the other day and filled a bag with handheld kitchen gadgets - most of which were purchased by my wife who doesn't cook.  A couple egg separators, avocado slicer, various corers, garlic presses, spoons, ladles, spatulas, something to cut apples, some-other-thing to cut oranges, etc.

My favorite kitchen appliance is a vacuum sealer.  I use that thing every day and much more than I thought I would.  

I will never use a mandolin.  A buddy took off half his thumb on one. Nope. Not for me. 

[CooterBrown 18272]

Convection Ovens are wonderful. It's so much better than having to wait the extra 15 minutes or so to heat up the big oven, and it's been great for smaller meals for the wife and I, and for crisping up various nuggets/fries etc for the kiddo. 

For a regular oven, put fries and nuggets in right when you turn it on. When the preheating is done, so is the food or it’s just 1-2 minutes away. Also, it turns out more evenly cooked than when you put it in a hot oven.

[luke duke 6445]

I will never use a mandolin.  A buddy took off half his thumb on one. Nope. Not for me. 

Your buddy is a dumbass who wasn’t using the guard.

[dcbc 14641]

1 minute ago, luke duke said:

 

Your buddy is a dumbass who wasn’t using the guard.

 

We had one.  Using the guard made it a pretty clunky process.  With no guard, my wife scalloped her thumb a tad.  Tossed it recently.  Knives are more fun.

[Okie State 3887]

I'll call it an accessory.
Matfer-Bourgeat 11.xx" Carbon Steel pan.  Liked mine so much, I got the 8.5" version to cook omeletes on.  Absolute workhorses.
https://www.amazon.com/Matfer-Bourgeat-062005-Frying-8-Inch/dp/B000KENOTK

Yes. We just bought a few DeBuyer carbon steel pans and they're awesome. Should have done it years ago. They'll last a lifetime.

[C-Man 27684]

Your buddy is a dumbass who wasn’t using the guard.

I was using the guard and the onion got stuck and my hand kept going. Wound up at urgent care two mornings later because it wouldn’t stop bleeding. Doc said she gets multiple mandolin injuries a month. Still have a chunk missing from my thumb. Haven’t used it since even though I’ve been given a “cut-proof” glove.

[Chewbacca 7827]

I was using the guard and the onion got stuck and my hand kept going. Wound up at urgent care two mornings later because it wouldn’t stop bleeding. Doc said she gets multiple mandolin injuries a month. Still have a chunk missing from my thumb. Haven’t used it since even though I’ve been given a “cut-proof” glove.

Same thing happened to me with a potato. Fuck mandolins.

[Both Tacos 1827]

 

That's some funny stuff right there.

[tx 3 putt 78461]

7 hours ago, Jerry Callo said:

My favorite kitchen appliance is a vacuum sealer. 

correct, a vacuum sealer is awesome and damn handy to have 

[52-80 19378]

add:  the oversized silicone ice cube moulds.

get you a nice chunk of ice for a cocktail or softdrink. 

but more than that, its perfect sized for storing home made stock/broth.  (1 normal sized cube is way too small unless you reduced it to a demiglace).  and each just slides right out.  far better than when i was storing this in jars, zip lock bags, etc

[Jerry Callo 8952]

4 hours ago, 52-80 said:

add:  the oversized silicone ice cube moulds.

get you a nice chunk of ice for a cocktail or softdrink. 

but more than that, its perfect sized for storing home made stock/broth.  (1 normal sized cube is way too small unless you reduced it to a demiglace).  and each just slides right out.  far better than when i was storing this in jars, zip lock bags, etc

After our kids were past breast feeding, we had some milk bags left.  They work great for stock.

[Steel Shank 9533]

Ekco Kitchamajig. This bad boy does a lot of things, just as it says. Keep one of these on your cutting board along with a good knife, and the entire world is your oyster. I shit you not.

 

 

 

[NWBuck 8619]

On 3/3/2020 at 6:27 PM, C-Man said:

I was using the guard and the onion got stuck and my hand kept going. Wound up at urgent care two mornings later because it wouldn’t stop bleeding. Doc said she gets multiple mandolin injuries a month. Still have a chunk missing from my thumb. Haven’t used it since even though I’ve been given a “cut-proof” glove.

The main problem with mandolins is that they lead to bluegrass. And unless you've got a great recipe for 'shine, there's going to be some knife play at some point.

Edited March 5, 2020 by NWBuck

[Mack Tripper 703]

Pretty good deal on carbon steel pans


https://www.indiegogo.com/projects/the-misen-carbon-steel-pan--2?utm_campaign=contribution_receipt&utm_content=receipt-campaign_link&utm_medium=email&utm_source=lifecycle

[Mrs Whiggins 13050]

Agree on the mandolins; I had a couple of close calls over a decade ago, upped my knife skills and haven't missed it since. We have a rice cooker and slow cooker and one or the other is used every week so they're not going anywhere. The only other large countertop size appliances (besides the coffeemaker which stays out all the time) are the blender, mixer, and food processor.

Since I bake quite a bit, we do have various small pastry/bread gadgets--scraper, pie ring, etc but something has to be used often or I don't want it cluttering up the drawer. When my husband and I were first married, one of our apartment galley kitchens was so small, dark, and narrow that I decided early on the key to cooking happy was to streamline like I was preparing meals on a nuclear submarine. The temptation to sprawl when we bought our home was intense, but with small children when we moved in the messes made themselves and less stuff meant less mess. Now that everyone is older, we will begin handing down items as each child moves out.

[52-80 19378]

The benefit of mandolins come with scale.  I only cook for 2 most of the time, so while I dont dislike my mandolin, I just rarely ever need it.  It's great for making uniform size french fry potatoes though.

 

FYI the crowdfund price above for carbon pan is the same as street price for a DeBuyer pan...so more selection and you get traditional protection of returns, warranty, etc

[jimmyjazz 46965]

What are the pros/cons of carbon steel pans?  Oven safe, needs plastic utensils, etc.

[52-80 19378]

3 minutes ago, jimmyjazz said:

What are the pros/cons of carbon steel pans?  Oven safe, needs plastic utensils, etc.

All the pros of the cast iron with benefit of being slightly lighter, and plays nicer indoors like on a smooth cooktop because its not a rough-cast object.

 

The fragile components in a pot is plastic handle and nonstick coating.  That doesnt exist here, so theyre high-temp and oven safe.

 

 

[Okie State 3887]

Pretty similar to cast iron with maybe less maintenance. Retains heat well, takes a beating, naturally non-stick once seasoned. I've read that acidic foods can strip the seasoning and add a metallic taste to the food. Haven't tested that though.

Mine actually have an epoxy coating on the handles so they aren't oven safe at high temps. There are options without that though that would be fine in the oven.

[jimmyjazz 46965]

Might try one.  I use cast iron all the time, except for recipes with tomatoes.  Enameled cast iron works great there, though.  I'm just sick of seeing my idiot family take steel spatulas, forks, etc. to decent non-stick pans, so I pretty much just want to get them all out of the house (the pans, not the family, most days).  If the carbon steel pans are tough enough to take hard utensils but still season up to be reasonably non-stick, then good.

That brings up the question . . . can they handle an omelet?

[tigol 2466]

44 minutes ago, jimmyjazz said:

 

That brings up the question . . . can they handle an omelet?

If you season it correctly, yes.  Very thin layers of flax seed oil.

I used too much oil and created a sticky spot.  I haven't re-seasoned mine and I need to.

[tigol 2466]

 

[jimmyjazz 46965]

Gracias.

[Gene Parmesan 4062]

I'm intrigued by the toaster ovens.  I've never been around them, but it seems to make a lot of sense for kids foods or cooking smaller batches.  How fast do they heat up?

[Mack Tripper 703]

If you season it correctly, yes.  Very thin layers of flax seed oil.
I used too much oil and created a sticky spot.  I haven't re-seasoned mine and I need to.

Flaxseed oil creates what seems like a good layer of seasoning but it can peel or flake off, which happened to me.


https://www.seriouseats.com/2019/06/how-to-season-carbon-steel-pans.html

[Bateshorn 9989]

On 3/3/2020 at 4:52 PM, Jerry Callo said:

I hate most kitchen gadgets.  Specifically, anything that in some way performs the function of a knife.  About the only exception for me is a Mandoline slicer.

I went through two kitchen drawers the other day and filled a bag with handheld kitchen gadgets - most of which were purchased by my wife who doesn't cook.  A couple egg separators, avocado slicer, various corers, garlic presses, spoons, ladles, spatulas, something to cut apples, some-other-thing to cut oranges, etc.

 

This.  I very much come from the Mark Bittman school of minimizing single use kitchen implements in my small kitchen.

I love these, they are fantastically useful for a wide array of cooking.  Once you start using this to transfer your pasta shorts to the sauce pan, you'll grab your colander %80 less.

 

Edited March 10, 2020 by Bateshorn

[achooloco 1086]

The Salbree microwave popper. I suck at posting pics otherwise I would. Easy to clean, no oil needed, Cheap, no worries about bag chemicals, and I usually have less than 3 or 4 unpopped kernels. Also found that the kernels I can buy (Goya is the best I’ve found) at a normal supermarket “look” better than almost all the bag varieties. 

my family loved popcorn growing up so I have it often, once a week at least. I try to make it “healthier” by using 1tablespoon of olive oil per 2 oz of kernels and less salt but it still tastes bad ass. 

[ss13 1832]

^ This guy, I assume? 

https://www.amazon.com/Original-Salbree-Microwave-Silicone-Collapsible/dp/B01CMT8DFU

 

[52-80 19378]

we just started using the silicone popcorn thing and yeah its good.  in a way its superfluous but the nice thing is that it is a serving tray in itself, so theres 1 less large bowl to wash

[Chopper 17429]

2 hours ago, Gene Parmesan said:

I'm intrigued by the toaster ovens.  I've never been around them, but it seems to make a lot of sense for kids foods or cooking smaller batches.  How fast do they heat up?

My wife bought a large toaster oven by Breville a little over a year ago.  I believe it was top rated by wirecutter at the time. It preheats quickly compared to a range or wall oven, but not as immediate as you might want. It's large enough we rarely use our range anymore. I notice in the updated review, the cuisinart is ranked higher and one reason is it preheats faster.

[Loco 3754]

Just now, Chopper said:

My wife bought a large toaster oven by Breville a little over a year ago.  I believe it was top rated by wirecutter at the time. It preheats quickly compared to a range or wall oven, but not as immediate as you might want. It's large enough we rarely use our range anymore.

same

[achooloco 1086]

1 hour ago, ss13 said:

^ This guy, I assume? 

https://www.amazon.com/Original-Salbree-Microwave-Silicone-Collapsible/dp/B01CMT8DFU

 

That’s it. There are other similar products on amazon, no clue if they are just as good though. 

[achooloco 1086]

double

Edited March 10, 2020 by achooloco