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Kitchen gadgets that never get used

194 replies

Southwest12 · 01/01/2019 14:35

I was tidying out my kitchen cupboards on Sunday and found this (hope the picture is attached!) for making coconut pyramids. My mum bought it years ago, god knows how many given that Lakeland dropped the plastics part of their name 22 years ago! She never opened it. I then took it and I’ve never opened it! It sits in the cupboard waiting for the day that I need to make coconut pyramids...

Has anyone else got any “must have” kitchen gadgets that have never been used but are still sat waiting for that just in case moment?

Kitchen gadgets that never get used
OP posts:
cricketmum84 · 02/01/2019 16:11

Also - for everyone crushing garlic and cleaning out garlic presses and peeling cloves etc. Try chopped frozen garlic. £1 a bag from most supermarkets and its freshly crushed and frozen into cubes. It's a revelation 😂

JoroL · 02/01/2019 16:14

The health grill and racelette (I don't even know what that is but my Mam bought it for me)

AdaColeman · 02/01/2019 16:38

Raclette is the "new Fondue", which is a warning if ever I've heard one! Xmas Wink
It's basically warm melted cheese scraped onto boiled potatoes. I think you need the right sort/shape of cheese, though some have little pans to melt slices of cheese in.
It's meant to be a social meal, though how frequently friends would want to come to eat potatoes & melted cheese I'm not sure! Xmas Grin
I've obviously been bored in Germany too often!

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MeetOnTheledge · 02/01/2019 16:47

I've tried the frozen garlic, but found that once the packet was opened it all started sticking together. Also I'm trying to teach the DCs to cook from scratch at the moment. I do use frozen chopped chillis and herbs out of season though.

caterpuller · 02/01/2019 16:47

My most useless kitchen appliance apart from the spiralizer was a hemp milk maker Smile.

DarlingNikita · 02/01/2019 16:50

I feel really skanky now because I almost never clean my spice grinder (which is technically a coffee grinder) and I use it all the time!

TBF I tend to use similar spice mixes a lot. And I DO clean it occasionally, if I need to grind a spice mix that is radically different from my usual ones.

Bonnetdedeuce · 02/01/2019 16:51

Apparently my oven can make yoghurt??

Well it can crack on, it ain’t gettin’ any help from me

lotusbell · 02/01/2019 16:53

This retro delight!

Kitchen gadgets that never get used
BareBelliedSneetch · 02/01/2019 17:03

Laughing at all the unloved fondue sets. I love ours. We use it about 4 times a year. I’d use it far more often except just looking at the amount of cheese per person gives me palpitations and it takes that long to forget before suggesting another fondue.

Mmmmmmmm fondue!

I’ve never used the pasta maker we got for our wedding 15 yrs ago Grin or the crepe maker. What is the point of an electric crepe maker when you have a frying pan?!

BareBelliedSneetch · 02/01/2019 17:04

@lotusbell my children are utterly convinced that I get very special square eggs from a friend of mine... Blush

lotusbell · 02/01/2019 17:08

@BareBelliedSneetch don't tell me you know a hen with a square bum?!

BareBelliedSneetch · 02/01/2019 17:11

We haven’t discussed exactly how the square eggs come out.

But sometimes, when I “catch up with my friend” during the school day, the next day there are square eggs for lunch or tea. And they know the eggs from the shop aren’t square. They’ve seen those eggs.

GrinGrin

SecretNutellaFix · 02/01/2019 17:13

Ice cream maker
Potato ricer- that thing is an utter unwieldy bastard
Juicer- it was put away temporarily 4 years ago and hasn't seen light of day since

timetochuckthetree · 02/01/2019 17:18

I use my pasta maker regularly, it's an attachment for the Kitchen Aid and super quick.
But the pineapple corer and fondue set are collecting dust.
The mandolin went in the bin after a trip to A&E to be replaced by a Magimix.

Bigheadache · 02/01/2019 17:20

Raclette... Most come with a hot plate on the top so you can cook meats etc and you can 'grill' whatever you like - I first used one some 20 years ago in Germany.... We got rid of ours after using it twice!

lotusbell · 02/01/2019 17:29

@BareBelliedSneetch I hope it always remains a mystery! Grin
Speaking of kitchen tools, can anyone recommend a mandolin? Don't want anythi g too big or expensive. The Oxo one looks decent?

greenpop21 · 02/01/2019 17:34

The popcorn maker was dacha a disappointment. I love popcorn and thought I could make it in this without fat. Well, have you ever tried popcorn made without oil? It's polystyrene basically. Salt and spices won't stick to the popcorn without fat either.

MitziK · 02/01/2019 17:34

Most of my gadgets have been used until they go pffft or fall apart. They don't often get replaced, but some have been and some would be;

I don't miss the panini thing, the mini deep fat fryer or the food processor.

The old three tier steamer would probably be replaced immediately if I see one on offer with a removable bottom to the second tier, as that means I could cook a whole cauli in one (and would be used for a fuckton of veggies every day).

I've had three rice cookers. They were great for steaming potatoes with or without skins (to make the best mash ever when bunged through the potato ricer the OH is too daft to understand how to work it), cooking a load of perfect sushi rice, obviously, and for dealing with pasta/anything else when I had a kitchen with an entire two foot counter to work on.

I wouldn't miss the microwave. It's only used by the OH.

I miss the blender, but unless I get one costing more than twenty quid, it'll just get blown up by the OH.

I replaced the stick blender several times (going up in value when the OH started blowing up the cheap ones). Having it makes not having the blender tolerable.

I believe there's a giant coffee maker in the loft. An ex bought it for me one year when he was pissed. It was shit, as I don't drink milk and use cheap shit instant a cafetiere, it cost about £120 and the person who had actually wanted one was his sister, not me.

I live in hope that the cherry stoner attachment on the random kitchen tool in the drawer will ever see cherries from my tree instead of the cunting Wood Pigeons. I use the egg slicing thing for eggs and beetroot and playing like a mini harp when I'm bored doing the washing up.

I've made jam and completely forgotten the thermometer, but it's handy it's there.

The slow cooker does a great job on chicken, etc, whilst I can't afford to replace the oven (which has two temperatures - off and Hotter Than the Surface Of The Sun).

I love my second hand breadmaker, though. It gets used every couple of days and is quicker than walking round the corner to buy the manky pulp that is sold in supermarkets. With that comes my favourite 'gadget' - a set of balance scales that must be over 80 years old, are cast iron, look almost prehistoric and were missing the 1oz weights. However, as a 2p coin weighs exactly 1/4oz, I've got four of those on there.

The BM, SC and scales are the only things out at all times.

greenpop21 · 02/01/2019 17:39

Do you know what the worst thing is about throwing out unused gadgets? It's the look on Dh's face, the I told you so face. Why does he have to be so effin right every elfin time????? I can't help it . When I say I really will use the exercise bike every day, I genuinely believe it Blush

AdaColeman · 02/01/2019 17:56

What would be the point of eating popcorn without butter?
I sometimes make it as part of an apero, with paprika, or fennel, or celery salt. But I just make mine in a saucepan, with plenty of butter. Wine

Roussette · 02/01/2019 18:18

MitziK you can have my 3 tier steamer, it's in the garage! Just could not get on with it and it takes up roooooom....

I've never found a garlic crusher that works. I tend to use a pestle and mortar and salt instead.

I have a very retro 60s ice crusher. You put your ice in and turn a handle and voila out comes crushed ice. I have no idea why I need crushed ice but can't bear to get rid of it!

I do use my food processor, it's big and heavy, a kenwood, but I don't use it enough to warrant the whole shelf it and the attachments take up!

I use my panini maker all the time and my fave gadget is Nespresso machine, used frequently

SymphonyofShadows · 02/01/2019 18:31

Those of you with retro items in good condition, there is a market for these over on the retro/mid century pages on Facebook

MelanieCheeks · 02/01/2019 18:33

Slow cooker - we store our crisps in it.

Coffee machine - DH went through a phase of wanting and reserching fancy coffes, and so we have unground beans, a grinder, tamper etc, sitting gathering dust. For over 3 years.

Food processor gets used maybe once a year.

Garlic crusher I do use, also stick blender and nutri-bullet.

SureIusedtobetaller · 02/01/2019 18:35

Nutribullet and cheaper version of one, hardly ever used (cos bits in smoothies make me gag). Kenwood Kitchen aid. Egg poacher thingies from Lakeland. Had a steamer, unused for at least 10 years.
Do however use an ANCIENT egg slicer (must be circa 1970 at the latest) a lot in the summer. Also still use my Mum’s hand mixer, again must be 70s at most. Cheapo blender used a lot for soup too.

panoramallama · 02/01/2019 18:39

I made coconut pyramids in school cookery lessons. Once. In the '70s. Haven't made them since Grin