A Kitchen Gadget Meme

[akirlu]

Picked up from malkingrey. Bold the ones you have and use at least once a year, italicize the ones you have and don't use, strike through the ones you have had but got rid of. As suggested by both of them, there are additions.

I wonder how many pasta machines (1), breadmakers, juicers, blenders, deep fat fryers, egg boilers, melon ballers, sandwich makers, pastry brushes, cheese knives, electric woks, miniature salad spinners, griddle pans, jam funnels, meat thermometers, filleting knives, egg poachers, cake stands, garlic crushers, martini glasses, tea strainers, bamboo steamers, pizza stones, coffee grinders, milk frothers, piping bags, banana stands, fluted pastry wheels, tagine dishes, conical strainers, rice cookers, steam cookers, pressure cookers, slow cookers, spaetzle makers, cookie presses, gravy strainers, double boilers (bains marie), sukiyaki stoves, ice cream makers, fondue sets, healthy-grills, home smokers, tempura sets, tortilla presses, electric whisks (2), cherry stoners, sugar thermometers, food processors, bacon presses, mouli mills, cake testers, ETA: hand crank meat slicers, mechanical egg beaters, canning tongs, flour sifters, canning/lobster pots, shaped loaf baking tubes, magnetic knife blocks or French balloon whisks languish dustily at the back of the nation's cupboards.

(1) I plead special circumstances for the pasta machine -- I bought it as a tool for polymer clay, and it's never been used for anything else. I just haven't gotten around to getting the re-wiring and stuff down at the downstairs workbench to make clay and jewelry work plausible, so all the tools are languishing.

(2) The electric whisk / immersion blender would get more use if the accessories could be successfully re-united with the body. I did finally get rid of the old power unit whose accessories went AWOL with a box of miscellaneous stuff taken from the consuite at a Loscon years ago. I once had visions of getting a replacement set of bits from Braun, but let it go far too long and they've since redesigned the model. Indeed the "new" one is also a Braun.

There are also some gadgets I don't have and wish I did. I keep meaning to get a pie bird or two, against the year when I actually manage to spray the apple trees with neem oil and get a less wormy crop, fit for pies. I'd really like to have decent meat and candy thermometers, especially the latter to continue wrestling with the problem of proper fudge without the marshmallow cream cheat. Most of the gadgets I do have but seldom use are pretty small ones that aren't a big storage nightmare. The conical strainer is admittedly a pain, but I'm not sure what I'd replace it with for the filtering stage of making cordial. The milk frother is part of a coffee/espresso maker combo that we truly never use and currently lurks in the basement. That I really should sell or donate to someone who might actually use it, wedding present or not. The Foreman grill could probably just go, as well.

ETA: I also have a stone mortar I don't use because the pestle has gone walkabout. I wish it were possible to buy stand-alone pestles, because I don't need another mortar, but it would be nice to have a mortar and pestle for grinding spices. I also want to get me one of those fancy microplane graters for ginger and hard cheeses, which would probably also give me the impetus to finally wall mount one of the magnetic knife strips. And I miss having a flour sifter, but mine self-destructed and I haven't found one that isn't huge to replace it.

Comments

[kate-schaefer.livejournal.com]

I only have one electrical kitchen gadget that doesn't get used frequently, but quite a number of small mechanical ones that do a certain amount of languishing. My garlic press is red plastic and is used only as a hair ornament, when I have hair.

I have my grandmother's artichoke plates, but I'm giving them to my nephew. We use her salt cellars frequently.

I figure the originator of this meme doesn't cook much, or doesn't clean out his or her cupboards once a decade or so.

[akirlu.livejournal.com]

Yes, I'll go along with the doesn't cook much, for sure. I'm a little bit mystified by some of the items listed as 'gadgets' too. A pastry brush? Fileting knife? Not items I think of as gadgets, really.

[oreouk.livejournal.com]

My sugar thermometer is invaluable for making fudge, though more for keeping an eye on things than for being certain I've reached just the right temperature, where I find the soft ball test to be more accurate, strangely enough.

I think the next stage of this meme might need to be a round of friendcycling of unwanted kitchen tech...

[akirlu.livejournal.com]

I like the idea of using the meme as an impetus to pass along the stuff one truly doesn't use, but I'm not sure a meme would work -- too many people separated by vast distances would make it impractical to swap. But it might be an idea to host a kitchen kipple swap party, where everyone brings the usable stuff they don't use and takes back what they want and the leftovers get donated to the local thrift store charity of choice.

[threeringedmoon.livejournal.com]

I just realized I had a heavy duty mortar I haven't seen in years. I used to use it to grind pills that had to be put in horse feed. Now I just toss them in whole and hope for the best.