It Was The Best of Devices, It Was The Worst of Devices - Kitchen Must Have or Run Away Now

try2bhelpful on 25/01/2019 - 15:07
Last edited 25/01/2019 - 15:08

It has been a little while since I did one of these, and I've got a whole bunch of new kitchen toys since then, so I am opening the floor again for people to give their honest opinions of their kitchen "devices". I'm not just talking appliances here but anything they use in the kitchen that is particularly good or bad. (let us assume people have already said their spouses).

I've attached my previous links and some people's description of what they bought are hilarious.

https://www.ozbargain.com.au/node/346735

https://www.ozbargain.com.au/node/298108

My current "cream of the crop" are.
a) Philips Pasta and Noodle Maker - HR235706. You can get the autoweigh one from Costco for $280 at the moment.

This was one of those things were you go, "this will never work" but you buy it anyway because fresh pasta is just so much better than dried pasta. Flour, water, two eggs and 20 minutes and I have fresh pasta at any time. You put in the flour, start it kneading then add the water/egg mixture; when it is ready it starts extruding the pasta (using the particular die you chose) and you just cut off to the lengths you want. I've been playing around with various mixtures of Quinoa flour, spelt flour, semolina, lentil flour and 00 flour to get something that is delicious with some nutritional value as well. Highly recommended. You do end up with some extra dough, even if you use the extrusion option, so I use my hand crank pasta maker to finish this off. It also has a bit of cleaning required.

I think kids would have fun helping you to make pasta and the unit is pretty well sealed so they are unlikely to hurt themselves.

b) the Breville Fast/Slow Pro - This is both an electric slow cooker and a pressure cooker. It also has saute, sear, reduce etc functions as well. The front panel is pretty easy to use and it is really good for tenderising things like lamb shanks, etc with stews and soups. My real quibble with this device is there is a bug with the lid that means it sometimes doesn't close properly and you don't know until it has spent ages trying to come up to pressure and then pings you. Would appreciate if anyone has used this and has a consistent fix for it. Read something about tightening the screw lid so will investigate that next time I use it. The other issue is they can retain the smell in the pot, even after you clean and air it. Would probably love to have got an Instapot but not easy to come across out here.

My Runaway

c) My vitamix S30 - probably not worth bothering about because you can have an issue with it not sealing properly. The new version of the vitamix can do the individual cups. I mainly use this for very thick purees because my standard Vitamix has the blades at the bottom and it is a pain to get thick stuff out of it.

My current list of, other, appliances is:
KitchenAid Mixer,
Magimix food processor,
Vitamix blender,

OK people, what do you have, what do you recommend, what is just a dust collector.

Home & Garden Noodle Maker Pasta Maker Philips

Comments

  • iand on 25/01/2019 - 15:23
    +2

    Phillips airfryer xxl simply love it

  • DarthAntz on 25/01/2019 - 15:34

    my $90 Chinese Thermomix (sold under a variety of different monikers, such as the kogan one) has been awesome and going strong for 2 years now. Ive just learned how to make Dosa and use it for blending the rice and lentils.

    And a food processor i was given as a wedding gift seems to get used a lot more lately. its probably only 300w, but I'm using it to make pizza dough and blend a bunch of old spices together to make spice mixes for curries and meat. I still think my kitchen is too full for anything more, but I'll be going to Busan in 2 weeks and will look for a second tortilla frypan or perhaps a waffle frypan.

    Dust collector is a hand-crank dough mixer for making tortillas and chapati's etc. nothing beats making it by hand in a large bowl. My tortilla press finally got some action because a friend bought me some blue masa corn flour from the states, but even then it doesnt compare to the tortillas i make by hand.

    • try2bhelpful on 25/01/2019 - 15:46

      Thanks Do you have some brand names or is it just "Kogan" :). URLs would be great.

      • DarthAntz on 25/01/2019 - 16:34

        These. Kogan advertises a similar one often.

      • DarthAntz on 25/01/2019 - 16:36

        And the smokeless grills caught my eye recently. It would save me a lot of time building or maintaining a BBQ.

  • Pecan on 25/01/2019 - 15:53
    +1

    Recommended:
    - Anova sous vide cooking gadget (Must have for meat eaters.)
    - Thermomix (It was gifted to me. Is actually very good and can do a lot of food prep that would ordinarily take much longer. Expensive though, so understandably not for everyone.)

    Gathering dust:
    - Airfryer (does what my small toaster oven already can do)
    - Pie maker (this is actually good but I keep forgetting I have one when I've got leftover stuff from dinner that could be used to make into pies)

    • try2bhelpful on 25/01/2019 - 16:00

      Agree with Sous Vide, but it also does great corn on the cob and Lemon Curd.

      Put sign with leftovers ("You have a pie maker".)

  • dogboy on 25/01/2019 - 16:17

    Good:
    Wusthof knives
    Tiger rice cooker
    Breville stick mixer

    Gathering dust:
    Ice cream maker
    Waffle maker
    Pasta maker

    • try2bhelpful on 25/01/2019 - 17:15

      Hand Pasta maker? I use my hand crank one more, now that I have the Philips one, than I ever did previously. Having to hand knead the dough was just tedious.

      Definite +1 on the knives. I have two work services so I've got two sets of Wusthof knives - got the second set cheap. The absolute most important thing in the kitchen is a good quality chefs knife.

      • Chandler on 24/04/2023 - 08:26
        +1

        I recently learnt to sharpen knives (yes, it's a relatively simple process you can probably learn off Youtube, but I like to do things properly so went to a class) - it's amazing what just having a sharp knife can do. I've got a decent set of production knives that now that they're sharp are fantastic.

        Have stopped using our garlic mincer and just mince the garlic myself with the knife: much better outcome, in my opinion: using the mincer the garlic ends up puply, using the knife you get a nice (relatively-/comparatively-) dry mince.

  • horice on 25/01/2019 - 16:27

    Brilliant
    Tefal Optigrill which i got from amazon - after discount , code ,casback for $153

    Bad
    Slicer Dicer Plus - Got as afreebie with shark vacuum years ago

  • stratbargain on 25/01/2019 - 16:47

    I love my Breville Fast/Slow Pro. Easily paid for itself over the years. The trick I find with the lid is wait for a minute or two until the food starts to generate a bit of steam and then with the lid locked quickly pull it up and then push it down and keep it pushed down. This forces the seal. Normally within 10 seconds you can let go and the steam build up pushes the lid up and locks it in place, sealing it in.

  • steven6 on 25/01/2019 - 18:15

    Westinghouse oven that's a Fire Hazard and has the lowest star rating on product review

  • nakahanap on 25/01/2019 - 18:19

    Best of
    - breville stick master with attachments (including food processor)
    - sunbeam slow cooker. Slow cooked curries, minestrone and corned beef…yum!

    Pointless
    - the potato masher attachment for said stick mixer. Didn’t want it and the old fashioned hand one is quicker.
    - Aldi sandwich press. Burnt us trying to get the sandwich out due to poor insulation
    - mold for ice shot glasses (a gift). They stick to your fingers.

    • try2bhelpful on 27/01/2019 - 00:09

      If you are looking for a good ice maker then we bought ourselves some silicon ones - they have a stiff base it sits in whilst it sets but, once set, it is really easy to get the ice out by turning each cup inside out. We then just put the ice in a plastic bag in the freezer for when we need it.

  • 10muscat on 25/01/2019 - 19:36

    Any one using / dusting off DEHYDRATOR ??

  • 10muscat on 25/01/2019 - 19:41

    Use:
    Tefal cuisine companion (for dough, chopping, soup)- daily
    philips pasta maker (auto weigh)- alternate weeks
    KMart pie maker- weekly
    Nutribullet- almost daily

    Occasional:
    Slow cooker
    Kitchenaid stand mixer
    Nutribullet - spiraliser

    Dust:
    Philips bread maker
    Kichenaid - sheeter attachment
    Waffle maker

  • [Deactivated] on 25/01/2019 - 21:28

    Frequently used
    Breville sandwich press
    OXO cherry pitter
    Midea rice cooker

    Collecting dust
    Phillips Turbostar Airfryer - doesn’t do anything an oven can’t do, but with far lower capacity and more guesswork
    Breville deep fryer -makes everywhere smell like oil, PITA to change oil and clean, unhealthy

  • spersephone on 26/01/2019 - 13:40

    I love my Vitamix, Kitchenaid, Philips air fryer and Thermomix. All used very regularly.

  • bluesky on 26/01/2019 - 17:28

    KitchenAid mixer
    Coffee machine
    Good set of knives
    Dutch Oven - holds heat well.

  • clubhonda on 27/01/2019 - 15:12

    I second the air fryer. It is my only must-have kitchen item now. So quick and easy to cook, and clean up is just a matter of chucking away a foil. Brilliant!

  • w37hsyea on 25/06/2021 - 16:03

    I think this is a great thread and hopefully we can get more input.

    My small appliances that I use every week.
    1. Philips Coffee Pod Machine from the Woolworths L'or offer.
    2. Breville Food Processor from JB Hifi Giftcards.
    3. Froothie Blender (been using it since 2014) from Froothie.
    4. Instant Pot multicooker from Costco sale.

    Small appliances used once a year:
    1. Breville hand mixer from Amazon sale
    2. Kitchenaid spice and coffee grinder from Ebay sale

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