Your worst kitchen purchase

Scam said:
My girlfriend's parents bought us a le creuset griddle pan on a whim because I was twittering about wanting one for steak. Now I much prefer doing my steak in a flat pan. The guilt :(
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I love my griddle pan, it is like in house BBQ! Can cook all sorts of meat on there, the best thing about it isn't the grill lines but the way heat is distributed across as it is cast iron. Use it to cook steaks, sausages, chicken and all sorts.
 
Salad spinner for washing lettuce. Don't think it was expensive but only been used a few times. We're just lazy and buy the ready chopped lettuce in bags.

I've inherited a fish kettle from clearing out my mum's house. Couldn't bring myself to throw it away, but I don't see me using it either.

Agree on the garlic presses, a sharp knife is so much easier - I always think of the prison cooking scene in Goodfellas when slicing garlic up. I can't watch that film without feeling hungry afterwards.
 
Slow cooker has been used once since I bought it 2 years ago. Everything else gets used at least once a week including the smoothie maker.

Garlic issue - I went to a foody festival and some guy was selling a plate with grooves in and you basically push the garlic around on the grooves until it becomes a mash of garlic ooze. Works ok but unless using gloves still makes your fingers stink
 
d_brennen said:
I keep falling for cheap garlic crushers that last ~1 year :(
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Get this one, heavy duty and easy to clean.

Liquid_Entity said:
Garlic issue - I went to a foody festival and some guy was selling a plate with grooves in and you basically push the garlic around on the grooves until it becomes a mash of garlic ooze. Works ok but unless using gloves still makes your fingers stink
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Been looking for a good one of these for ages - yes they are a pain but much easier than finely dicing and then making into a pulp with a knife.
 
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Hyburnate said:
Your inlaws read your twitter feed?
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Haha no. I don't even do twitter!

Raymond, it is a great pan and I should think of other uses for it.. But for steaks I much prefer a flat bottomed pan. In my opinion the more steak that is touching the pan the more flavour you can get. Its a decent heavy bottomed pan so gets just as hot as the le creuset anyway. Plus with a flat bottomed pan you can chuck in a knob of butter at the end to finish. Lush!

And what's with the hate for garlic presses? We have a great one where you don't even need to peel it. So quick and mess free.. I only ever chop garlic for stir fries..
 
boxman2000 said:
Been looking for a good one of these for ages - yes they are a pain but much easier than finely dicing and then making into a pulp with a knife.
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Yeah it also came with a rubbery hose thing where you put the whole clove in, rub it for about 20 seconds and it peels the garlic skins off effortlessly. genius
 
my wife wanted a bread maker a few years ago that got used a few times and its just cheaper to not bother now most supermarkets sell good bread baked instore.

i also have a 28cm royal dolton gordon ramsay saute pan that at the time was a replacement for a stella pan, ive used it a few times but it cost about £60 and its just too big to be practical and with it being all stainless steel its a git to clean too
 
For me I'd say the worst kitchen purchase has to be either:

* Le Creuset griddle pan - far too heavy for regular use and always cringe when using it on my electric hob due to weight

* Cheap kilner-type jars. Slowly changing them all for the real thing as I'm fedup of replacing the seals and trying to faff about with poor quality metal for the clips.

* Some of my expensive knife sets where I should have just bought individual ones
 
Scam said:
Raymond, it is a great pan and I should think of other uses for it.. But for steaks I much prefer a flat bottomed pan. In my opinion the more steak that is touching the pan the more flavour you can get. Its a decent heavy bottomed pan so gets just as hot as the le creuset anyway. Plus with a flat bottomed pan you can chuck in a knob of butter at the end to finish. Lush!

And what's with the hate for garlic presses? We have a great one where you don't even need to peel it. So quick and mess free.. I only ever chop garlic for stir fries..
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I like the grilled because all the fat and juices that comes out is separated from the meat so your meat isn't getting boiled with it, rather cooking from the heat instead....that's my theory anyway.

I've even cooked fish on it a couple of times. I wrap a piece of (seasoned) fish in tin foil and place on the grilled pan directly. You get REALLY nice semi grilled and semi steamed fish that is moist yet with a slight grilled flavour. I had to do this because my oven is broken and I was looking for the best way to cook fish with the minimal amount of washing up lol

p.s. I like Garlic presses, only the one that the bit comes out so easy to clean though !
 
One Christmas my mum bought me something for the kitchen (can't remember what right now) and it randomly came with a microwave egg poacher. Since I love poached eggs but sorting them out first thing in the morning is a faff I thought it would be great as a comprimise between quality and time. Tried it for the first time and it worked! And then I opened it and the egg exploded. Spent more time cleaning egg off the top cupboards than it takes to boil a pan of water. Now I just get up five minutes earlier.
 
Just thought of one more - those fancy nice looking chopping boards with mixed woods, total waste of time and can't even be washed.

Am now a fan of end grain boards and plastic ones after doing a cookery course and appreciating the ability to wash in a dishwasher!
 
Raymond Lin said:
I like the grilled because all the fat and juices that comes out is separated from the meat so your meat isn't getting boiled with it, rather cooking from the heat instead....that's my theory anyway.

I've even cooked fish on it a couple of times. I wrap a piece of (seasoned) fish in tin foil and place on the grilled pan directly. You get REALLY nice semi grilled and semi steamed fish that is moist yet with a slight grilled flavour. I had to do this because my oven is broken and I was looking for the best way to cook fish with the minimal amount of washing up lol

p.s. I like Garlic presses, only the one that the bit comes out so easy to clean though !
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Flat bottom is definitely superior for steaks to be honest. There are situations where griddling is nice though. Chicken burnt to a crisp and eaten with a bit of salad is nice for instance :p
 
Anything that takes up precious space in my kitchen yet gets little to no use. So at the minute a slow cooker which ive used twice and a huge glass jug blender which ive used zero times.
 
Our worst purchase was probably a blender. To be more accurate, we asked my in-laws to buy us one for Christmas, however it is cheap tat and can barely blend water let alone anything with substance. It lives in a box in the cupboard.

We use our slow cooker and pressure cooker all the time though!
 
FrenchTart said:
Flat bottom is definitely superior for steaks to be honest. There are situations where griddling is nice though. Chicken burnt to a crisp and eaten with a bit of salad is nice for instance :p
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Oh, I also have a marinate/dressing mixer/bottle thing I bought...pointless really as I don't make enough of them, if I do, I just mix the whole thing in a pestle and mortar anyway with the herbs grinded and then spoon drip it on the salad.

I think I may have thrown it away.

Re - blender. A proper blender I wouldn't use but I love my hand blender. It's small enough to throw in the cupboard and you can't really break it either. Easy to clean and I can even put it straight into the pan to blend soup. One of my better on the whim kitchen purchases.
 
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