Kitchen Gadgets!

[Squid Vicious]

Received a Magimix 3200 XL as a gift on the weekend which was a nice surprise as it's pretty much the last bit of kit that we needed for the kitchen and fits perfectly on the work surface under the cupboard (so no need to hideaway and much more likely to get used) and a much needed replacement for the last cheaper processor that I managed to trash....
Still going to keep my 10-15 year old cusinart mini prep plus though - it's perfect for chopping small quantities and easy to clean.

I still want sandwich toaster... I know it'll only get used once a year but there's just something indescribably delicious about a cheese and ham toastie, though will have to argue with the missus who will undoubtedly want something more suited for making stroopwafel

Now I need to either redesign the kitchen or move to a house with a bigger one - really not much space left for any more gadgets

 

[Raymond Lin]

Received a Magimix 3200 XL as a gift on the weekend which was a nice surprise as it's pretty much the last bit of kit that we needed for the kitchen and fits perfectly on the work surface under the cupboard (so no need to hideaway and much more likely to get used) and a much needed replacement for the last cheaper processor that I managed to trash....
Still going to keep my 10-15 year old cusinart mini prep plus though - it's perfect for chopping small quantities and easy to clean.

I still want sandwich toaster... I know it'll only get used once a year but there's just something indescribably delicious about a cheese and ham toastie, though will have to argue with the missus who will undoubtedly want something more suited for making stroopwafel

Now I need to either redesign the kitchen or move to a house with a bigger one - really not much space left for any more gadgets

Don't get a Sandwich toaster, instead, if you have a cast iron pan or a carbon steel pan, or any flat pan....use that and get a cast iron hand press.

All you need to do is to heat up the press and then when you put the bread down into the pan, put the press on. The weight of it will hold it down and toast it. You can then use any size bread you want and less gadget.

You can use the press on many other things like burgers or vegetables to get heat from both sides. Does the job better and more uses and will never break.

https://www.amazon.co.uk/Tablecraft...TPV9JPS7N7B&psc=1&refRID=79MN70SY4TPV9JPS7N7B

https://www.amazon.co.uk/dp/B01F4AB...t=&hvlocphy=1006790&hvtargid=pla-378625727486

 

[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.

 

[Squid Vicious]

Don't get a Sandwich toaster, instead, if you have a cast iron pan or a carbon steel pan, or any flat pan....use that and get a cast iron hand press.

Thanks Raymond, that is actually a much better idea and it should see a lot more use in the kitchen

I don't have any cast-iron stuff but seasoning and care sounds pretty straight-forward.

 

[Raymond Lin]

Thanks Raymond, that is actually a much better idea and it should see a lot more use in the kitchen

I don't have any cast-iron stuff but seasoning and care sounds pretty straight-forward.

The trick is to smear a bit of butter on the bottom of the press to stop it sticking .

Plus you can do this, cheese art.

 

[Merlin5]

Received my IR gun and Paul Hollywood tin. The tin is 8" by 3" deep, really solid and comes with a 20 year guarantee. Didn't cost much either.

The gun is easy enough to use though I'm never sure quite how far away from the target surface. Temps vary quite a bit depending on distance. That said, my new fridge has a digital display on the door set at 3c for fridge and -19c for freezer. Focusing on the fridge, the inside temp fairly consistently showed about 5c. Reducing the fridge display to 2c, the IR gun was showing closer to 3c. I'm assuming the gun is more precise.

Oven temps, again, not quite sure how close the gun should be, but it seemed fairly close to what my oven thermometer displayed. Not sure the gun will get that much use but, nice gadget!

 

[ElliorR]

Received my IR gun and Paul Hollywood tin. The tin is 8" by 3" deep, really solid and comes with a 20 year guarantee. Didn't cost much either.

The gun is easy enough to use though I'm never sure quite how far away from the target surface. Temps vary quite a bit depending on distance. That said, my new fridge has a digital display on the door set at 3c for fridge and -19c for freezer. Focusing on the fridge, the inside temp fairly consistently showed about 5c. Reducing the fridge display to 2c, the IR gun was showing closer to 3c. I'm assuming the gun is more precise.

Oven temps, again, not quite sure how close the gun should be, but it seemed fairly close to what my oven thermometer displayed. Not sure the gun will get that much use but, nice gadget!

The best tin I ever bought for brownies, and other things, is this.

https://www.amazon.co.uk/Alan-Silve...id=1549718534&sr=8-3&keywords=ALAN+SILVERWOOD

 

[jpaul]

I still want sandwich toaster...

sealing the edges, like they do, still gives you jam or mincemeat potential, or ham with chutney ... otherwise carbonized sugar leakage can hard to clean

 

[HazardO]

Received my IR gun and Paul Hollywood tin.

Those IR thermometers are a nice gadget, but they're only accurate when you point them at certain objects (like a carbon black body reference). Different surfaces/materials have different IR emmisivities. What I don't know off hand is how much they are off by when pointing at say a cake for instance.

 

[Steampunk]

Those IR thermometers are a nice gadget, but they're only accurate when you point them at certain objects (like a carbon black body reference). Different surfaces/materials have different IR emmisivities. What I don't know off hand is how much they are off by when pointing at say a cake for instance.

Surely for cooking you need a probe that you can stab into things to see if they are cooked in the middle ie cooked through? Just knowing the surface temp isn't a lot of use for cooking food.

 

[HazardO]

Surely for cooking you need a probe that you can stab into things to see if they are cooked in the middle ie cooked through? Just knowing the surface temp isn't a lot of use for cooking food.

I'd use a thermapen personally.

 

[Merlin5]

I just received a bunch of amazon gift vouchers, so now I can buy a thermapen 4! Tough one here guys, what colour to get? I'm drawn to red like pretty much everyone that has one from what I can tell.

I'm considering red, orange, marine blue, possibly purple. Hmm, decisions, decisions..

https://www.amazon.co.uk/ETI-SuperFast-Thermapen-thermometer-rotational/dp/B01MYQWP1I/ref=sr_1_1_sspa?crid=1K2MDP24V2Q9X&keywords=thermapen+mk4&qid=1558379365&s=gateway&sprefix=thermapen,aps,160&sr=8-1-spons&psc=1&smid=A3UFT4HUOFIA50


Also, I fancy an electric knife and scissors sharpener. What does anyone think of these? I don't own any expensive knives, but my anysharp manual sharpener doesn't really work very well.

https://www.amazon.co.uk/VonShef-El...s=gateway&sprefix=knife+sharpe,aps,153&sr=8-7

https://www.amazon.co.uk/Profession...=gateway&sprefix=knife+sharpe,aps,153&sr=8-23

 

[robj20]

My latest gadget, awesome bit of kit.

 

[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!

 

[ninezerofive]

Anyone can recommend me a nice Rice Cooker. Never been in a market for one. Not sure what's good, what's not.

 

[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.

 

[ninezerofive]

I'd say my attitude is: i rather spend more and buy it once

 

[Merlin5]

Haven't tried it yet. Bigger than I expected. Should be awesome. Reduced from £65 to £50 on Amazon for two colours, Marine Blue and Latte.

 

[bsoltan]

A heads up for anyone else wanting a Thermapen and ETI stuff, they have an official eBay store:
https://www.ebay.co.uk/usr/etiltd?_trksid=p2349526.m4383.c1
https://www.ebay.co.uk/sch/etiltd/m.html?_nkw=&_armrs=1&_ipg=&_from=

I got my instant read Thermapen and my ChefAlarm from there. You don't get all the colour choice but prices are decent. Great bits of kit.

 

[jpaul]

indeed ... £30 is more like it, for a pen,
the wired alarm we had from ETI lasted <3years before lcd screen gave up, they woudn't budge, I hope the pens are more enduring,
but there are a number of very similar pens less than £10 on amazon with good reviews and striking similarity on the stainless probe+design (i linked before)
... pattern matching between the branded product and others available more cheaply on amazon or aliexpress the way to go.

edit:

A recent hotuk 'deal' on an aeg variable temperature kettle (bad reviews) reminded me that I often boil a kettle of water, when I only needed 50-60C, for rinsing dishes say,
and for instant coffe usually have to turn it off prematurely .. so at similar price these seemed good
https://www.amazon.co.uk/Electric-Temperature-Function-Stainless-Protection/dp/B07RLWP7HW/