Kitchen Gadgets!

[Avenged7Fold]

I will start by saying that a absolutely love a new kitchen gadget.

Black Friday is near and I love me an excuse to buy a new gadget. I started this thread to ask you guys what top gadgets you guys have and use in the kitchen fairly regularly and what sets it apart from just the standard blender/cooker.

At the moment the gadgets that are regularly used are:

Phillips Airfry - The original airfryer. Cooks in minimal time and crisps up food perfectly with no oil. Bought it to try one two years ago and have used it nearly daily since. These have become so popular you can grab a cheap brand one for 1/4 of the price now!

Pressure King Pro - A electric pressure cooker that has a million functions. Steam cook, pressure cook, slow cook, sear, frying - it can do it all. The pressure cook function has to be my favorite, can smash out meals you would normally slow cook in 4/5 hours in about 25-30 minutes.

Sistema Microwave rice cooker - Yes it is just a bit of Tupperware but don't knock it! Has a little internal drip try that collects the steam and keeps most of the moisture in the container as well as stops the mixture boiling rice froth into the microwave. Perfect steamed rice with no mess.


What's you guys' go to gadgets?

 

[Avenged7Fold]

That is a clever board!

Definitely buying that!

I like the juice/crumb collector.

 

[Avenged7Fold]

(deep frying that is) will it do rice too ?
I would like a dedicated Zojirushi rice cooker, that keep all the vapour in, and keeps it warm;
I find microwaving rice unpredictable, especially for the long cooking brown rice, I typically use.

How does overnight porridge work too, yes a timer to get it ready for breakfast would be good, but if you premix the night before it will be soggy.

I mean shallow frying, mainly used to just brown meats and sweat onions before pressure cooking or slow cooking with the PKP.

Microwaving rice is unpredictable due to the steam and how moisture is removed when it can bubble out of the container. The microwave container prevents most moisture escaping and anything from bubbling out but you do need to undo the lid with 10 minutes of it cooking to prevent the rice overcooking. I use to use a dedicated rice cooker but Tbh i could use the pressure king pro the same way as my rice cooker using the rice function. Once finished it does keep things warm. Brown rice cooks well in it too. The timings are all super quick as the pressure allows you to steam at higher than boiling.

I have never done the overnight porridge but i imagine you would just mix it up in the morning and tell the cooker to blitz it, as it is build to make long slow cooks super quick.

 

[Avenged7Fold]

A lot of this stuff sound great, especially the pressure king pro, but at some point doesn't it get a bit silly with thing like egg boilers and omelette makers? A pot is an egg boiler and a pan is an omelette maker!

Yes, it does get silly with space but it depends of you can justify it. My pressure king pro does slow cooking, steaming, pressure cooking and so arguably it is something that is used all the time and takes up the same amount of room as a rice cooker, steamer or slow cooker while doing all those functions.

The airfryer is discrete and can be tucked away in the corner or some where but i use it instead of my oven for the vast majority of quick things.

In the end you need to balance space and convenience. For me an egg boiler isn't that convenient but it sounds like i don't go anywhere near as many eggs as krooton.

 

[Avenged7Fold]

Also small kitchen so space limited.

Like the sound of the pressure cooker thing - can you do baked spuds in it ?

I have not tried but I imagine so. You can cook the vast majority of things in one. I would imagine you would pour some water in, insert the steam try and then put the potatoes raw on the tray and then cook for 15-20 mins

 

[Avenged7Fold]

I eat a lot of tuna and the best strainer is an almost completely open tin lid.

My impulse buy waffle maker from years ago is out and being used daily. I whip up a batch of Waffles using Myprotein Pancake mix (in a thicker consistency).

 

[Avenged7Fold]

waffles are sacrosant with butter+eggs/maple syrup ... does a protein version conserve taste
]

I think you will be hard pressed to call the protein pancake mix pancake mix let alone waffle mix. That said, it lets me hit my goals and is both filling and quick.

Something like 186kCal per serving with 34g of protein.

 

[Avenged7Fold]

Saw a super cheesy (literately) American advert on youtube and bought it online for a few quid.

Thought it would make BBQ season that extra bit better with some silly sized stuffed burgers. Novelty aside, i actually love it!

It actually is a fair bit easier to use than the guy in the video shows. Had some tasty blue cheese burgers, spicy Mexican cheese burgers and had a go at making vegetarian burgers with quorn mince (need to work on how to get it to bind).

This gadget is no game changer and obviously a bit of a gimmick, that said, i feel it was well worth the few quid!

 

[Avenged7Fold]

How much do you want to spend?

I am of the attitude that cheaper rice cookers are not worth spending money on and that the Sistema microwave bowl does as good or better job cooking most rice types but unfortunately does not keep it warm.

There are quite big differences between a good one and a cheap one. I have owned a few myself and will say that the decent ones do all the work for you, whereas the cheap ones are essentially like a slow cooker that gets to temperature quickly.

Worth a read if you are considering splashing out an amount for one:

https://lifehacker.com/why-some-rice-cookers-are-20-and-others-are-200-1783235798

I will add that I have not used a rice cooker in years and now use the Sistema bowl or stove and for when i do large batches of rice i need to keep warm for long periods of time i use my electric pressure cookers rice/warm function.