Confession Time: Here's Mine

Good evening. My name is hot2na and I am a kitchen gadget whoracle. I confess, it is I that cannot pass up a good infomercial pimping the latest “it’ll chop dice and slice” machine. It is I that refuses to pass up a Kitchen Epicurean, Williams Sonoma, Sur la Table, or Dean & Deluca store without stopping in to see the latest carrot scrubber or cherry pitter. Heck, I'll even cruise the local grocery store kitchen aisle. Ugh! Today, there is was, in its entire glory…a mango cutter! Yes, the mess will be no more. I had to have it. Made it mine. But my all time favorite is the apple slicer, OMG I can't live without it, then the avocado slicer, with the tomato knife and garlic press being not far behind. Yes, I love my food processor, but then I have to disassemble it to wash it and put it back together again. What a pain in the arse . The gadgets just go in to the dishwasher. Done. Oh, and then there are the cool counter top appliances. But I don't want to use them... they are now part of the decor, except the espresso machine. I use that every morning. Without it, I can get pretty fugly.

What's your kitchen cooking, outfitting, must have - - confession?

Might sound silly, but Ive used- and my mom now uses- this torch we order through a dental supply company. Its cheaper, and works perfectly. Its from Sullivan-Schein Dental. Blazer Pocket Torch Mini. Red or Black. List price: $49 but if you know anyone who works in a dental office, they can order it wholesale, which is usually $29. Can use any type of butane refill. Doesnt leave a chemical taste at all. 

okay....these are my newest kitchen gadgets dejour`

an asparagus cleaner. trimming and cleaning is practically effortless.

and a corn stripper. love the ergonomic mouse shape on this little baby! easy to clean, the clear container(lid) holds 1/2 cup, the santoprene grips keep our hands from slipping, and it is dishwasher safe. i put these both to use yesterday they were a hit with my mini me...she's ready to learn cooking/food preparation!

Tuna ><((((*> the other white meat!

it arrived! the egg cuber. i'm ready. bring on the spring cocktail party season.

"who's the kitchen beeotch now ?*

Tuna...the other white meat!

"Thanks for the mac badge, Hubby!"

This is all well and good.

But does anyone else have an EGG CUBER!? I have four. I bet you don't. Go check. See? Toldja.

That one I'm not auctioning off - in fact, I buy them on eBay whenever I see them since the package has a chicken laying a square egg and saying "Ouch!".

I make deviled eggs so frequently (um. not), I've never tried it for anything other than "testing" purposes and it's pretty darn cool.

...because we all need square hard-boiled eggs, you know.

The only "gadget" in my kitchen I ever use is an regular-old bottle opener. And I haven't even used that in a couple weeks! Hell, it took me a while reading this thread to figure out exactly where is this "kitchen" place that you are all talking about. It sounded nice...

But I'll explain for those who may not know what gadget I'm referring to:

Good beer comes in real bottles w/ real caps, not that twist-off nonsense. The bottle opener has this little pointy end; and with a simple prying motion, off comes the bottle cap! Insert tasty beverage into the appropriate glass, and enjoy!

Ahhh one of my closet addictions-kitchen crap (almost rivals the shoe fanaticism)

Where to begin.....

Well some of the easy little ones I would die without-anything garlic related. The little silicone rolly thing that peels the garlic. The garlic slicer slide. Also, for bigger garlic jobs, I have this plastic thing that holds like 10 cloves with a twist top that slices the garlic and it falls out the bottom. IF there's any left it goes right in the fridge till next time. Also gotta have the garlic keeper crock. But the most used garlic accessory is the Pampered Chef chopper. Hands down the best chopping tool ever, and the PC one has flip open sides for easy cleaning.  

Have to second Anime's reccomendation of the plastic mandoline slicer. A definitive must have and sees continual use in my house. I also hunt tag sales for the 70's versions of it because they have a dial on the slide that raises and lowers the depth of the cut. I think they were called a dial-o-matic slicer.

Love the silicone basting brushes, spatulas, etc-but the coolest toy in this dept is called the squid. It fills with your basting liquid and has a brush on the end, so you just squeeze and baste.

Gotta give props to the tomato knife mentioned earlier-a must have staple for summer time.

Also a foreman grill, electric steamer, double bowled ice cream maker fan. Love the bullet too, but it doesn't exactly work as advertised. So after buying my mom one I wasn't about to fork out that money for myself. I ended up buying the jc penney version at xmas for 1/4 of the price, and it's just as good. Also gotta give props to the handheld stick blender with various attachments. Would be lost without it, though the bullet has replaced some o it's uses.

A few more can't live withouts... the battery operated automatic pan stirrer. If only they would make one big enough for when I'm making sauce, I'd be in heaven. Also the meat injector needle. I love making spice pastes and injecting them into my roasts-YUM! And much easier than the "slit and stuff" method I used to use.  Speaking of spices, the handheld fresh spice grinder is indispensable for grinding fresh spices. 

Must put in a vote for the adjust-a-scoop line of dry measure cups and spoons, and the twisting one for wet ingredients. Love those things!

On thing I miss (ex got it) was the clay pot roaster. Must replace that. And have to give a shout out to the pressure cooker, I work that baby like a plow horse. Also props to the PC line of stone bakeware-awesome stuff. And I love the silicone bakeware also.

A few handheld gems - the orange peeler, micro plane for grating nutmeg and  citrus zest, also love the PC dumpling maker and tart press, along with the wavy chopper-and they have the bomb of pizza cutters. Let's not forget the pickle puller fork that keeps your hands dry in the pickle jar. Also got some magical metal peeler at some country fair that peeles, slices, and dices (but I now want to try those gloves thanks to foamy). Also can't live without the standing wine bottle puller, and the vacuum sealer for those rare occasions when I don't outlast the bottle.

Also must not forget to mention the ridiculously expensive, but oh-so-worth-it cuisinart food processor and kitenaid mixer.

And a heartfelt RIP for the Jetstream Oven.  Who gave me years of decadent "air frying" before kicking the bucket. My hips miss you sooooo..... 

Does anyone want my Tupperware "miracle" "So awesome it cooks for you too and gives pedicures" can opener that, due to my other purchases, I got for the "super steal" "Oh what a bargain" low low (half!) price of $12.50?

Did I really think that this was a deal?

OK so once you learn how to use it*, it removes the lid leaving no sharp edges. But cans are vacuum sealed, yes? There's no edge or little tilt of the top left like other can openers. This just cuts around the lip. To date (before going back to my $3 KitchenAid one from Ross), I've broken three fingernails trying to pry the top off. It IS cut - but it ain't lifting off with only a magnet like the lower tech analog models we're used to. Nope. It requires prying and some effort to reverse the vacuum suction.

That is, once you get your pHd and know how to properly align it to get it working. I is dumb not that smart. I give up.

It is, however, very high tech and sexy-looking. Qualties both crucial for a can opener.

Bidding starts at a penny.

Go!

*tomato sauce-stained instruction pamphlet included (shipping is not).

 edit: video of the hot piece of tail that sold me this device from hell:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UvM34juNhiI 

here is my confession...my kitchen is boring.

but i do have my handy-dandy microwave:

all that is missing is a beautiful wife to cook for me

2na!  When I saw the title of this thread I thought this was going to be a "HOT" topic......lol.  But it's about kitchen gadgets.....*sigh*  I try so hard never to cook but I could never live without my PIZZA STONE.  I wanted to hang my husband when he washed it with dish soap!!!  I have the George Foreman Grill (just one) but I do believe I got foam's opinion when I was requesting it as a chrisms gift........lol.  I feel so left out here ........... but you know what is on my to buy list????  A Margarita Machine for the beach house this summer........lol

"Dance with the devil and the devil doesn't change the devil changes you...."

 My addiction is that little slicer thing... that you set on the counter... put what you want to slice at one end, cover it with a little hand protector thingy... and slide down the slicer to slice...

I don't cook... and don't need to slice... but when that thing is within my reach, I go through the fridge and slice everything possible... I'm a slice-aholic.... so pass the slice-ahol.

And then... I never know what to do with the sliced food and/or objects. 

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 Well where should I start,

I have the quesadilla machine, the sammie makers, the George Foreman grills (3 now) 2 toasters (1 for breads one just for bagels) Coffee maker (I don't drink coffee) food processor/mixer, blender,the bullit (makes smoothies in its own glass As Seen On TV) and my favorite gadget the hot air popper

then you have the useful gadgets things you actually use like the mini wisk that helps stir coco so you get no clumps, or the oven mitts with the magnets in them so they stick to the fridge, or the potato gloves for peeling (work great for first 3 bags after that its hit or miss)

then..........you have the microwave toys

bacon from the microwave on its special plate still makes me worry about trichinosis

The microwave omelet maker which wasn't too bad as long as you didn't mind the center section not cooking all the way thru

the microwave hot dog/sausage plate which makes most sausage explode in the middle and hot dogs get a weird curve in them(no freaky comments from tuna and smart mom)

I am sure I have more thats just all the junk I can remember offhand (now I may have to hit the outlet stores for some new junk) I am going to break down and get that set it and forget it machine cause its almost as cool looking as the spray on hair. 

"To err is human--and to blame it on a computer is even more so."

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