Categories: uncategorized
Date: 30 December 2009 05:58:38
Some gadgets that I think are excellent
1. Toaster
2. Stab blender (aka stick blender) - turns a saucepan full of hot vegetables and water into soup with considerably less mess than transferring to a blender (erm particularly if one was unable to find the blender lid and was convinced by a friend that a plate held over the top would do the job...). Can replace hand-held held electric mixer in many situations if necessary.
3. Sandwich toaster. Does what it says on the box. Also good for reheating slices of pizza if it allows you to suspend the top plate. And if it doesn't have that setting, you could just make a sandwich out of two slices of pizza I suppose....
4. Electric kettle. I find it hard to believe that there are developed countries where electric kettles are not commonly used. But it's true!
5. Microwave. My ideal microwave would only have a few buttons. Probably 30 seconds, 1 minute and 10 minutes. Only one power setting: high. I never use defrost, reheat or meal-specific settings. I mainly use the microwave for defrosting bread (30 seconds on high), reheating a plate of dinner (1-2 minutes on high, depending on the food) and melting stuff for recipes. Don't need no fancy programs to make roast duck or clam chowder.
Some gadgets that I like but could live without or that I live without but can understand people liking.
1. Rice cooker. It really does make good rice without needing any attention. I like it, but I'm told that if I read the instructions for cooking rice by the absorption method I will get a similar result for similar effort.
2. Bread maker. I used to have one of these but at some point developed an aversion to the taste of bread maker bread. Weird. But I can see the attraction to chucking a few ingredients in at bed time then waking up to a nice warm loaf of bread.
3. Food processor. This become my friend when I started cooking for large numbers of people on a tight budget - grating 2kg of cheese? No problemo! Chopping onions for a bbq for 200 people? Kapow!
4. Electric non-stick wok. If I had a gas stove I would most likely use a non-electric wok. But I have an electric stove with a glass/ceramic cooktop and it just doesn't do woks very well. My electric wok does an excellent job. And it's really quite easy to clean if your standards aren't too high!
Some gadgets that I am not sold on
1. Cupcake maker (I have one of these. It's called an OVEN)
2. Hot dog maker (I have one of these. It's called a STOVE)
3. Crepe machine (hmmmm... frying pan?)
4. Milkshake makers. I think that if I worked in an establishment that sold milkshakes, this would be a good idea. However for average Joe, who doesn't have milkshakes all that often, this gadget takes up cupboard space and its single function can most likely be handled by some existing piece of kitchen equipment. I think my favourite milkshake maker is the Tupperware one that you... shake... y'know using your muscles and all.