Kitchen gadget / appliance you don't/won't use

Discussion in 'Recipes and Cooking' started by marlingardener, Dec 8, 2015.

  1. marlingardener

    marlingardener Happy

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    Do you have a kitchen gadget or appliance that you don't or won't use? For some reason, my husband who is normally a sane man, got me a "dough whisk". It supposedly aids in incorporating ingredients in dough (only if you have biceps like a linebacker!). I tried to use it and ended up with a poorly mixed mess that clung to the dough whisk like a monkey to its mama.
    I'm thinking of giving it to the local thrift store, or making a wind chime of it, or just "accidentally" losing it in the trash can. Wait until hubby finds I've gotten him an attachment for his compressor that inflates pontoon boats (revenge is sometimes sweet :sete_015:).
     
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  3. eileen

    eileen Resident Taxonomist Staff Member Moderator Plants Contributor

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    :rofl:Oh Jane you always know how to make me laugh!! A compressor for inflating pontoon boats - I love it!! :smt043

    I have dough hooks that are totally useless in my opinion. I watched my electric mixer gathering the dough around the hooks until they looked like giant, bleached maggots. I've never used it since as it took ages to clean the darned things. I've managed to lose them somewhere and I won't be telling anyone exactly where they are but one of my plants seems to like its new supports. :chuckle:
     
  4. leafylady

    leafylady New Seed

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    I know it's blasphemy, but I sold my Kitchenaid a few years ago. I cook and bake both and rarely found a need to use the thing.
     
  5. marlingardener

    marlingardener Happy

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    Leafylady, I don't think you are blasphemous, just practical! I have seen Kitchenaid mixers on various cooking shows, and they always sound like a Boeing 747 taking off. I have a hand-held mixer that is about 30 years old, and it does the job. I think it cost $14.99, and is (shudder) avocado green!
     



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  6. wannabe

    wannabe Young Pine

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    I gave my Kitchenaid mixer to my son as he was the only one to get it to work right.
     
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  7. Jerry Sullivan

    Jerry Sullivan Garden Experimenter Plants Contributor

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    My mother had a Kitchen Aid mixer. It received lots of use. When whip cream was whirling around I waited till the beaters came out, they were spotless before they hit the dishwater. The beater finally gave up the ghost and was never replaced. Today I mix by hand to offset the calories created by the contents of the bowl. :)

    I have looked at Kitchen Aid mixers in the store and all I can see are calories.

    Jerry
     
    Last edited: Dec 9, 2015
  8. 2ofus

    2ofus Hardy Maple

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    I have had (and gotten rid of) an electric ice cream maker and electric can opener. Non-electric item is a potato peeler.
    I have a Oster Kitchenaid, plus the attachments, that I bought about 40 years ago and still use it. I like it so much that when I saw one at a yard sale I bought it for a back-up. I use it quite often and would really miss it.
     
  9. Netty

    Netty Chaotic Gardener Plants Contributor

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    I spend a lot of time in the kitchen, and I think I use all my kitchen tools at some time. The only thing that has become useless to me is the breadmaker ... I do that all by hand now. I don't have a Kitchenaid, just a small hand mixer and my Braun multipractic food processor which I've had for probably 25 years for other tasks.
     
  10. carolyn

    carolyn Strong Ash

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    I can't say as I have anything I don't use. If I don't use it I get rid of it. I need the space more than the useless tool. I had a kitchenaid but gave it to my niece. I didn't use it enough to justify it taking up valuable real-estate in my kitchen. I bought a bosch mixer so I could make bread for my markets, some Fridays I made 25 loaves, so It was an excellent investment for my needs. IF I didn't use it for that it would have been a very expensive piece of uselessness in my cabinet. It has a really nice blender but I can't say I would utilize that enough to justify it. It is a multipurpose machine, but if the base goes out you would have a lot of expensive "non functioning " attachments.... It sounds as if the Kitchenaid is a universal nonessential item for most of us, huh? I did see they have a new attachment for shredding and slicing now, instead of using a food processor your item goes right into a bowl as you slice/shred. Now that would be worthwhile to me. The food processor bowl is to small for canning in larger batches... like making pepper relish... I think I need to empty the bowl 10x or more to do my peppers and onions for a batch. and then I am running the juice all over the counter as it collects in the bottom of the bowl and rises over the center post.
     
  11. toni

    toni Mistress of Garden Junque Staff Member Moderator Plants Contributor

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    Randy got an Oster Kitchenaid with all the attachments from his mom last month to help make his bread rounds. It had been sitting in their storage building since 1989 (one of the newspapers used to wrap the beaters gave us that date) and was gross, but it cleaned up completely. He only uses the actual mixer part for his bread as he burned out my hand mixer doing it not long ago.
    He also borrowed a bread machine from them, his dad loves kitchen gadgets and had two of the same kind, it will be going back down to them next time we visit them, it just didn't do the job we needed it to do.

    His sister gave us an electric thingy to make potato curls for frying many years ago....it's gone.

    Part of his 'dowry' was an electric griddle......an old girl friend had given it to him..... it really needed to find a more appropriate home. :scheming:

    Lack of storage space means if it isn't used on a regular basis it gets donated to a thrift store no matter who gave it to us.
     
  12. Sherry8

    Sherry8 I Love Birds!

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    I love my kitchen aid mixer and I am not ready to part with it yet. I wish we would of had enough money to buy when when the children were growing up so it would have gotten a lot more use. I still use it quite a bit, especially for home made waffles and cookies. I keep it on a small moveable cart so I don't have to lift it at all. I find that I don't use appliances or kitchen tools if they are kept up high and hard to reach.

    I had an apple peeler and when I went to use it, it literally fell apart on the table...
     
  13. carolyn

    carolyn Strong Ash

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    Okay... I take back my comment. I have a pampered chef food chopper. I rarely use it and I don't like it... off it goes. as I was baking yesterday I got it out and decided it isn't worth the effort it takes to use and then clean it. I have a kuhn ricon "pull and chop" chopper that is much more convenient to use and chops more than 1/3 cup at a time.
     
  14. mart

    mart Strong Ash

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    One thing I have but never use is a crock pot slow cooker . It is still here because hubby`s daughter gave it to us,,but has never been used. A few things I can not do without are my stick blender,,my ninja food processor set, my terribly expensive ($2.98) potato peeler,, the dollar store kind,,and my mandolin style vegetable slicer also from the dollar store . Once I find an item that does what I want it to do without problems,,it has a home forever.
     
  15. Donna S

    Donna S Hardy Maple

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    I would not be without my kitchen aid mixer, my antique bread mixer or my stick blender. They have saved me lots of time as I can do more at a time. My least favorite kitchen gadget is a knife that will not hold an edge. I love the kitchen store (3 miles from my house). I can always find something I think I need.:)
     
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  16. Tooty2shoes

    Tooty2shoes Hardy Maple

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    Yikes I love my crock pot and plan on using it a lot more. It is wonderful to put all the ingredients in the pot, turn it on, and several hours later-----ahhhhhh, comfort food. Yummy.
     
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