Author Topic: What kitchen appliances do you have?  (Read 32166 times)

MsPeacock

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Re: What kitchen appliances do you have?
« Reply #100 on: January 01, 2015, 08:09:34 PM »
I have a thing about having my countertops empty - so appliances are limited to what I can store under the cabinets. I still have a lot - although I have an aversion to certain appliances, which I vow to never own (waffle maker, I'm looking at you).

What I have:
microwave (built in above stove)
toaster oven
blender
food processor (Cuisinart - almost 20 years old and full of awesome sauce)
stand mixer
rice cooker - mixed feelings - handy, but really slow at cooking the rice
ice cream maker - unless I step up this summer on the ice cream making front this will be moving on
slow cooker - maybe not justifying it's continued existence in my kitchen. Too big and everything it does can be done faster (and better)  on the stove top. I'd be happy to trade w/ someone for a smaller one....if I could find a neighbor who might want to do that.


My immersion blender died last week after about 15 years of regular use. I miss it - can't puree soups in their pot w/ a regular blender. Hoping to get one of freecycle or a neighbor who doesn't use one anymore. The ice cream maker and rice cooker violate my "appliances should have multiple uses" rule so they are on the short list if I really get into a hard core purge this year.

scrubbyfish

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Re: What kitchen appliances do you have?
« Reply #101 on: January 01, 2015, 08:28:25 PM »
The ice cream maker is well worth it's weight in making dairy-free "ice-cream" for youngest child, but also not in regular use.

If it's any help, I did this with the handheld (or with the food processor for the period that I had that).

stlbrah

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Re: What kitchen appliances do you have?
« Reply #102 on: January 01, 2015, 09:04:57 PM »
KEURIG

3Mer

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Re: What kitchen appliances do you have?
« Reply #103 on: January 02, 2015, 07:10:23 AM »
I do refuse to get a Keurig.  Am I the only one opposed to these?  I hope they don't stop making the regular Mr Coffee drip coffee makers.  Mine has a timer so I have hot coffee waiting when I get up.  I just hate the Keurig - we had one at work.   The K-Cups are a rip off, you have to wait for them to "warm up", we seemed to have alot of issues with ours.
Do you really love yours?   I suppose the convenience is key for lots of people.
« Last Edit: January 02, 2015, 07:12:06 AM by BriarRose111 »

RetiredAt63

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Re: What kitchen appliances do you have?
« Reply #104 on: January 02, 2015, 07:26:06 AM »
My sister has one - I don't see the convenience.  If I want one cup of coffee I use my Melitta one-cup cone and a mug.  If I want more than one I use my bigger Melitta cone and a carafe.  It doesn't take long to boil the water.  And the paper cone and coffee grounds can easily go in the compost bucket.

Plus I find I have an unexpected benefit from using muscle-powered kitchen items (pouring water from a somewhat heavy kettle, using a hand-operated can opener instead of electric, using a whisk instead of an electric mixer), I am getting regular exercise of muscles that normally don't get that much exercise.  And if the power goes out, I can still make food.


I do refuse to get a Keurig.  Am I the only one opposed to these?  I hope they don't stop making the regular Mr Coffee drip coffee makers.  Mine has a timer so I have hot coffee waiting when I get up.  I just hate the Keurig - we had one at work.   The K-Cups are a rip off, you have to wait for them to "warm up", we seemed to have alot of issues with ours.
Do you really love yours?   I suppose the convenience is key for lots of people.

midweststache

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Re: What kitchen appliances do you have?
« Reply #105 on: January 02, 2015, 07:27:31 AM »
Quote
I do refuse to get a Keurig.  Am I the only one opposed to these?  I hope they don't stop making the regular Mr Coffee drip coffee makers.  Mine has a timer so I have hot coffee waiting when I get up.  I just hate the Keurig - we had one at work.   The K-Cups are a rip off, you have to wait for them to "warm up", we seemed to have alot of issues with ours.
Do you really love yours?   I suppose the convenience is key for lots of people.

They're also horrible for the environment. Keurig did finally put out a reusable K-cup for ground coffee from wherever, but I imagine most people go for the pre-packaged K-cups.

SailAway

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Re: What kitchen appliances do you have?
« Reply #106 on: January 02, 2015, 07:31:51 AM »
I do refuse to get a Keurig.  Am I the only one opposed to these?  I hope they don't stop making the regular Mr Coffee drip coffee makers.  Mine has a timer so I have hot coffee waiting when I get up.  I just hate the Keurig - we had one at work.   The K-Cups are a rip off, you have to wait for them to "warm up", we seemed to have alot of issues with ours.
Do you really love yours?   I suppose the convenience is key for lots of people.
I don't like them either. I think they're wasteful. All those little plastic cups that can't be recycled and much more expensive per cup. Although I think now you can buy a reusable cup and just pack it with your own grounds. I guess for someone, if they are the only coffee drinker in the house, only drink one cup, and really enjoy the convenience? Coffee is way too precious a commodity in our house for this. My husband knows that drinking the last cup from the pot can result in divorce eyes.

scrubbyfish

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Re: What kitchen appliances do you have?
« Reply #107 on: January 02, 2015, 07:46:14 AM »
I guess for someone, if they are the only coffee drinker in the house, only drink one cup, and really enjoy the convenience?

For those reasons, I use this: http://www.londondrugs.com/Bodum-Travel-Press-Coffee-Maker---Red---15oz/L7324247,default,pd.html  Although with my move to a Happy Place, I've found I've stopped drinking coffee at all, so now I just use it as a good sized tea mug (though with this I could start up with unbagged tea leaves again, too).

re: Expense of Keurig. I laughed about that, remembering that at Vancouver's low-income grocery store, they had shelves and shelves of Keurig cups for pennies per, and they just sat there for months. I guess none of us had the machine.

ketchup

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Re: What kitchen appliances do you have?
« Reply #108 on: January 02, 2015, 07:56:10 AM »
I was at the grocery store yesterday, and I passed a display of some particular K-cups "on sale."  I picked one up to look at it just for laughs.  $20 for 8 cups of coffee.  Holy shit.  I guess it does come out cheaper than eight trips to Fourbucks...

minimountainmustache

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Re: What kitchen appliances do you have?
« Reply #109 on: January 02, 2015, 08:07:14 AM »
I have....a lot of appliances. We have a tiny kitchen, with almost no counter space, so they all live in cabinets (which we have a ton of, for some reason)

- Burr coffee grinder- used daily. My #1 appliance
- french press (does that count?)- also used daily
- Cuisinart food processor- probably use it once a week. I purchased it new (and too expensive) when I got my first job out of college. I used it daily for awhile
- Kitchen Aid stand mixer- passed down from my mom. It's probably 40 years old. I use it about once a week, sometimes less. But it is invaluable for baking.
- Champion Juicer- also passed down from mom. I use it once a week right now, to make carrot/beet juice, which is great for recovery after training.
- Slow cooker- picked up at the thrift store for $3.00. I use it maybe twice a month, but love it for making big roasts, pulled pork, and stew.
- Bread Machine- also picked up at the thrift store for $5.00. Just got this recently, and we have used it 3 times in 2 weeks. It's so easy! BF loves bread, so this is a keeper
- Deep fryer- bought this for BF for christmas. We both love french fries as a treat, and figured we should learn to make them at home. This will probably get used about 2 times a month, but it was very inexpensive
- 2 air poppers. We eat a lot of popcorn. BF is obsessed. Probably use this about 5 times a week. #2 appliance in our house...haha! 2nd one is for backup, or if we have company over and need a lot of popcorn in a short period of time. Popcorn is so cheap too, so I encourage making it a lot
- Pressure cooker- never ever use this, but it was passed down from my mom. I should probably get rid of it. I know it's great for beans, but we don't eat them!
- 2 blenders. One was left behind by an old roommate. I need to get rid of it. In the summer I use the other blender about 3 times a week for smoothies, so it's worth it. Also a hand me down from mom.
-Waffle maker/sandwich press combo- this thing is ancient (40 years old) but works amazingly. I don't use it frequently, but it was also a hand me down, and it's nice to have the option to make waffles...or grilled cheese!
 
I think that's it...I hope that's it! Since storage space for these appliances is currently not an issue, and most of them were free (or thrifted), I keep them for now. I cook all of our food from scratch, so it's nice to have the option to use all of these if I should want them. Makes the process a little bit easier!

Rural

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Re: What kitchen appliances do you have?
« Reply #110 on: January 02, 2015, 08:03:36 PM »
I do refuse to get a Keurig.  Am I the only one opposed to these?  I hope they don't stop making the regular Mr Coffee drip coffee makers.  Mine has a timer so I have hot coffee waiting when I get up.  I just hate the Keurig - we had one at work.   The K-Cups are a rip off, you have to wait for them to "warm up", we seemed to have alot of issues with ours.
Do you really love yours?   I suppose the convenience is key for lots of people.


I won't have one, not as long as boiling ground beans in water will make coffee in a pinch. And I don't have to do that; I have my stovetop percolator if the drip pot dies.

m8547

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Re: What kitchen appliances do you have?
« Reply #111 on: January 02, 2015, 08:28:40 PM »
The apartment came with a microwave, but I don't own it. Also an oven and fridge.

Things I bought:
Toaster
A variety of thermometers (probe thermometer, infrared thermometer)
A scale

Things I received as gifts:
Ice cream maker (rarely use this)
Waffle maker (surprisingly useful)
Hand blender (has not blended any hands yet)
Slow cooker (just got this, have to see how much I'll use it)

Non-electric things:
Mortar and pestle
Pressure cooker (I needed a larger pot, and this was cheaper than a pot at the time)

I used to use a cordless drill with hand mixer attachments for mixing and blending, and with drill bits for drilling, but I sold it when the battery died.

A juicer would be nice, but I probably wouldn't actually use it much
I like the idea of a food processor, but if I have to clean it, it won't save any time for anything

Elliot

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Re: What kitchen appliances do you have?
« Reply #112 on: January 02, 2015, 08:50:30 PM »
  • Microwave (almost exclusively for leftovers, or melting butter)
    KitchenAid (bought for myself, NO REGRETS)
     -ice cream attachment
    Electric Kettle (plus chemex carafe and reusable gold filter for coffee)
    Crockpot 1 (small, "rescued" and I spliced a new cord onto it)
    Crockpot 2(massive with a selftimer)
    Food Processor (used once a month or so)

monarda

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Re: What kitchen appliances do you have?
« Reply #113 on: January 02, 2015, 10:15:43 PM »
I have....a lot of appliances. We have a tiny kitchen, with almost no counter space, so they all live in cabinets (which we have a ton of, for some reason)

yes, us too.  Copying/editing your list to start me off

- Burr coffee grinder- used daily. My #1 appliance  [yup]
- french press (does that count?)- also used daily    [yup]
- drip coffee maker for when company comes (used rarely, lives in a cabinet in the basement)
- microwave (daily)

- Kitchen Aid stand mixer- But it is invaluable for baking.  [yup] but used rarely
- portable hand mixer (because I travel and bake sometimes)
- digital scale (moderately often)
- rice cooker (often)
- toaster oven (daily)
- mortar and pestle to grind spices (daily)

- blender/food processor (one motor, two different vessels) blender hardly used, food processor mostly for pesto and grinding nuts
- stick blender - used often  (many soups) I find I reach for the stick blender attachments before the food processor, as it's much easier to clean
- Waffle maker [used rarely]
- electric griddle [used weekly, for pancakes, eaten more frequently than waffles]
- hand crank pasta machine [haven't used in a while, but often used in spurts] recently heard that people use a pasta machine to make crackers. want to try that

specialty items that come out just for seasonal cooking:
-meat grinder (just bought, for making liver pate)
-potato ricer (for making chestnut puree- will try in the meat grinder to see if that works)
-mandoline (rarely used)
-dehydrator (used with mandoline-sliced apples, and herbs from the garden)
candy thermometer (for toffee) and digital thermometer (for cheese, so far, just mozzarella and ricotta)


plus, an ice cream maker that I got free from one of my students who was moving. Never used yet, but hope to.

borrow from a friend: fondue pot


 
« Last Edit: January 02, 2015, 10:22:51 PM by monarda »

horsepoor

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Re: What kitchen appliances do you have?
« Reply #114 on: January 04, 2015, 08:39:56 AM »
All of them?

F*&%. Well, I do love to cook and in my spendy days I was rather fond of kitchen "stuff". I think I use my immersion blender the most, and that was a fairly recent (gift) addition. Homemade mayo and soups. And this amazing chipotle sauce we put on everything. Now that we are paleo/primal the toaster, bread maker and rice cooker are pretty useless. Plus I was always a sucker for pretty baking pans. I guess I need to look at downsizing my kitchen.

Ahem, would you mind sharing that recipe?

 

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