AIBU to ask you about your best kitchen gadgets?

[OoFaithoO]

Hi all

Moving back home after a couple of years abroad and really want to hit the ground running with healthy homemade cooking as often as possible. Both HTB and I work fairly long full time hours and both like to have 2-3 evening activities per week. Can easily fall into bad habits and eat out of convenience / tiredness rather than health. I like cooking but would love some equipment to both help me save time and to improve my presentation if at all possible! Willing to pay for quality, hard wearing equipment that will last.

Aim to make things like juices, salads, hummus, pesto, sauces, soups. Lots of veggies that I’d love to save time on cutting. Happy to cook ahead when I have time at the weekend or evenings as well as batch cook.

Also TTC next year so equipment we can utilise for weaning / early meals would be great.

So, AIBU to nosily ask what gadgets you use to help you make tasty meals and help save time? I don’t know a blender from a processor, never used a mandolin and the only stick blender I’ve ever used left a burned smell/taste when I tried to make a pineapple smoothie as a student . Totally in the market for any little gadgets like poached egg holders, salad spinners, spiralisers etc that you love too.

Thank you for your time

A decent potato peeler - I swear by the old fashioned’V’ peeler as I can’t get on with the speEd peeler style - always take chunks out of my fingers 🙁 and the anyknife sharpener to keep the cheap (and expensive) knives sharp with minimal effort!

I am looking to invest in a Thermomix. They are expensive but I do cook a lot and they are very easy to use. Would probably save me a lot of time and space as they have a lot of different functions and can replace many devices. Otherwise, a good hand blender for all kinds of soups, smoothies, batter etc, mine is used daily.

Nutribullet - love it! Don't do anything hot in it and make sure you take out the rubber seal to wash it - says you don't need to but you do.

And a cherry stoner.

The best garlic press you can afford. I spent £16 on one from a now defunct MLM cookery company which horrified me but it lasted me for 12 years and I didn’t need to take the skin off the garlic. Nothing since has been anywhere near as good. It was the holy grail of garlic presses.

Seconding a good knife set. Also this is great for draining pasta and veg and takes up far less space than a colander:

KitchenCraft Stainless Steel Half-Moon Pan Strainer / Pot Drainer https://www.amazon.co.uk/dp/B0001IX0XU/ref=cmswwrcppapiii_hsq-Eb0N8M3KE

I use the Kenwood Mini Chopper a lot for chopping onions. I can never chop onions finely enough and the mini chopper does them in 5 seconds. It takes me a minute to wash too as I wash it soon after use so the onion doesn’t stick.

I have a Jamie Martin glass blender which has a sieve grinder. I use that for grinding pepper and making a garlic and ginger paste for curries. Having a jar of home made paste is brilliant as I find peeling and finely chopping garlic and ginger a chore. Now I only need to do it every 2-3 months. Shop bought jars of garlic /ginger just don’t cut it.

*spice grinder

I agree that its more the day to day things like a good knife, peeler, grater, sharpener that are more useful than a gaget that only get occasional use.

• OXO peeler is fantastic. A large, thick handle which is easy to hold. I could peel potatoes for the army if needed and still be smiling!

• Good quality, sharp chopping knife. I use a Taiwanese meat cleaver for the the majority of my chopping. Its SO easy to scoop everything up from the chopping board into a pan

• I have a slow cooker, but find my brand incredibly slow, and I'd literally need something on for 24hrs to cook. My mum has a different brand which is adjustable and although its still a slow cooker, is much faster than mine and actually useful.

• Electric can opener is very useful and gets used every 1-2 days

• My electric pressure cooker is very handy and gets used weekly. I can use it for dried beans/legumes which are very cheap, rice, stews, lamb shanks, pork ribs, chicken legs etc. I can even put in completely frozen lumps of meat which come out falling off the bone! Uses far less electric than cooking in the oven for hours on end and can use cheaper cuts of meat with loads of veg to save costs even more.

I was about to come on and recommend buying a Kitchenaid but as you want healthy food it probably isn't the best idea Things that make life much easier if you want good food quickly;

A mandolin
Good garlic press
Microplane grater
Food processor for chopping
Rubber handled tongs
Deep oven proof heavy based pan
Lemon juicer (just a wooden one but use it lots)
Over pan steamer

another vote for Instant Pot...i loved mine so much I bought it a baby! and got rid of the slow cooker and the steamer.

I am not a gadgety sort though tbh....
decent chopping board,
good knives,
good scales...I prefer the balance type to anything electrical
set or two of cup measures and proper spoon measures
stick blender, mine is a dualit and comes with a mini processor (handy for breadcrumbs/pesto and smoothie cup ...which i have never used!

Other tip is never to buy a set of pans...work out what you use and go from there and I highly recommend the john lewis classic range....if I could be arsed to polish mine they'd look new and they are almost 30 years old now. Mine are metal handles so can go in the over as well.

Likewise their utensils...dh nearly died when he found out they were practically a tenner each ( again 30 years ago) but they are still immaculate I used to buy something when I got paid :o
...spider, whisks, masher, skimmer, pasta spoon, palette knife all still going strong!

and a kitchen aid...if you are not fussed abut colours Costco often have the boring grey one in and I think it was £279 last time i saw it. I have to boring grey one, cos dh found an online deal somewhere a couple of years back and it came with lots of extras!

Omg the thought of rubbing lemon on a wooden squeezer makes my teeth itch! Same reason I can’t use wooden cutlery.

Magimix mini nesspresso machine. I love it and the coffee is as good as coffee shops.

I could not live without my slow cooker. In fact we now have 2 - a regular sized one and a giant one for stocking the freezer. You can cook easy, healthy meals with very little effort. A lot of recipes you can prep and freeze then just dump in the slow cooker in the morning with whatever liquid it needs, go to work then when you get home a delicious meal is ready and your house smells amazing. Most of the meals we cook make several portions so we freeze a lot and then have meals on nights when we need something we can bung in the microwave but not feel guilty. You can get them quite cheaply and they don't take up a lot of space.
Every other kitchen gadget is basically unnecessary (and I say that as a woman who owns a ridiculous amount of them).

This type of spoons set has been amazing - mine are plastic but it’s the same type of thing www.lakeland.co.uk/72452/Double-End-Magnetic-Measuring-Spoons---Set-of-5

Also, these measuring jugs. I have a

Posted too soon, sorry.

These oxo jugs. I have a 60ml, 260ml and 500ml. Really precise: www.amazon.co.uk/OXO-Good-Grips-Angled-Measuring/dp/B000EHIA6A/ref=mp_s_a_1_3?dchild=1&keywords=small+measuring+jug&tag=mumsnetforu03-21&qid=1593379366&sr=8-3

Also, a small Pyrex lidded casserole dish and a large one

My kenwood chef has paid for itself many times over. I use it several days a week. I don’t use the add on juicer but I do use the food processor. I make everything from fishcakes to bread to pastry to cakes crumbles to pancakes...

Stellar 1000 stainless pans are good - heavy enough to distribute heat well, light enough to shake about and they go in the dishwasher.

I used to have a set of what I thought were good knives but I gave them away after I paid what I thought was an eye-watering price for a Global GS-83 knife and a GS-440 sharpener. It's the knife I use 90% of the time now, worth every penny, and the sharpener keeps an edge like a razor on it. I use a little paring knife for most other things - this one doubles as a peeler.

The Zyliss Susi 3 Garlic Press is easy to use and strong enough that you don't need to peel the cloves. It squishes the pulp right out of the skin.

Harts of Stur usually have good prices and I've always found them to have great service.

Kenwood mini chopper is worth every last penny I paid for it

@LadyFidgetAndHerHandbag I have a slow cooker but I’ve never used it! Do you have a link to your favourite recipe? Might get me started!

Kenwood Mini Chopper does vary in price. Tesco and Asda sometimes reduce it to £15. It’s usually £25.

About knives - don't buy a set. Invest in one really good chef's knife of a length that you are comfortable with, and a decent sharpener. I am a BIG fan of Robert Welch knives because they are perfectly balanced for a smaller hand unlike Wusthoff etc etc. A Robert Welch sharpener is also good. ALWAYS hand wash it, try to give it one or two strokes through the sharpener before or after using, and as time goes on and /if you feel the need for a different knife, then invest in that as well. Build up a collection of knives that you actually use, can keep sharp and that will give you a lifetime of pleasure.

Maybe also a small serrated knife (Kuhn Rikon or Victorinox for eg) for slicing lemons and tomatoes.

I also second the John Lewis classic stainless steel pans. One of mine is a good 40 years old (was my mother's) and still used almost every day. Again, just start with one or two.

I also really rate my Microplane for parmesan and zesting.

I use my instant pot nearly every day.

I second the Oxo potato peeler. I love the garlic press too. (I dishwasher it and it's still fine after 6+ years).

We had a rarely used nutri bullet that was given a new lease of life through weaning. You can make banana pancake mix in it too. I also got a proper 3 tier steamer for weaning which we use a lot now as the veg just tastes better.

I also agree with the point about working out what pans you use rather than just getting a set of everything. This applies to knives as well. We have three main ones and a bread one. That's it. I don't often find myself needing any more. I'd rather have a few really good ones than loads of rubbish ones.

Buy onion ready chopped, either frozen - £1 a bag, or fresh and freeze what you don't need, use straight from frozen, huge time saver!

This is one of the best things I've bought, got it cheaper off Amazon, don't need to peel a garlic clove ever again!

www.johnlewis.com/dreamfarm-garject-self-cleaning-garlic-press/p3673076

Oxo Good Grips Mandolin - but use the guard!! The Oxo Good Grips stuff is generally good quality, me, my Dad and my MIL all have the salt and pepper mills

www.johnlewis.com/oxo-good-grips-salt-and-pepper-mill-grinders-set-of-2/p3398189

A citrus juicer like this - get twice as much out of a single lemon/lime/orange

www.amazon.co.uk/Wilbest-Manual-Squeezer-Premium-Engineered/dp/B07C23V3MX

I would say a cast iron casserole dish. I love mine, on the hob or in the oven, it's fabulous. Doesn't have to be £££££ Le Creuset, other similar ones are available! I have a cheaper one and it's great. Also a decent bread knife and a knife sharpener.

I also hate Tupperware for storage and instead have Pyrex cook and store. I'm weird and have a thing about hot food out of plastic containers, They are fine in the freezer too. There's different types of lids, but these have the clip type

www.pyrexuk.com/products/cook-store-glass-rectangular-dish-high-resistance-with-lid

Oh and a DISHWASHER!!!

Fairydustandpixies I have one too and it's absolutely fantastic.

Expensive, but if you don't have room for a lot of gadgets, it's fantastic.

Also love my egg cooker which is admittedly sort of pointless in theory, but I do use it a lot

Braun stick blender/food processor. It has a ton of attachments and I got them spread over some time but now I have all of it and I use it daily for:

Chopping veggies, especially onions without tears
Chopping herbs
Making smoothies
Pancake mix
Making smooth
Whisking eggs
Grinding coffee
Grinding my own spice mix
Grating cheese
Mashing potatoes
Crushing ice/making ice frappe
Mixing cake batter
Making baby food for my gerbils (long story!)

Probably a ton of other things I don't remember right now too. Yes you can do most or all of this without a special tool, but if you add up all the mess and time and hassle saved every day it's worth its weight in gold to me.