QOTW: Which high-tech kitchen gadgets are worth buying?

[Normanyakuza]

High-tech toaster

[Parm]

Another vote for the Panasonic breadmaker. We use ours at least once a week and it always delivers a good loaf, though we do need to experiment with more flavour options.

One thing we've never managed to find is a good bread slicer, which suggests we should stick to a good bread knife. We bought a 'Kitchen Craft Expanding Stay Fresh Acrylic Bread Keeper' a while back, and though it helped achieve thin even slices to begin with the plastic cutting guides all eventually started to break.

a soup maker - even the kids can make something decent in under 30 minutes. And no, we didn't buy one of those £100+ Cuisinart ones, ours got bought at a food show and was half that price.

I like the sound of that as I'm always struggling to think of what to make other than sandwiches for lunch. Which soup maker do you use?

[Wozza63]

Only one high-tech thing I use in my kitchen, and that's my phone. And that's only because I don't have a clock in the kitchen.

[Smudger]

<60s sexism> None, because the kitchen is for wimmin </60s sexism>

On a more serious note, I can't think of many. My wife and I bought most of the stuff we needed for the kitchen with our wedding money, and it's the sort of stuff that doesn't wear out very quickly. Internet connected kitchen doo-dahs? Nah.

Edit - after re-reading the question, the only 'gadgets' I see as essential are Microwave, Dishwasher, and possibly a hand-blender.

[Saracen]

<60s sexism> None, because the kitchen is for wimmin </60s sexism>

On a more serious note, I can't think of many. My wife and I bought most of the stuff we needed for the kitchen with our wedding money, and it's the sort of stuff that doesn't wear out very quickly. Internet connected kitchen doo-dahs? Nah.

Edit - after re-reading the question, the only 'gadgets' I see as essential are Microwave, Dishwasher, and possibly a hand-blender.

I'm not sure "worth buying", as per the question, and "essential" are quite the same thing.

Not many gadgets are essential but I take "worth buying" as very subjective. It's very possible, even almost certain, that some things "worth buying" to me aren't worth it to some other people, and vice versa.

For instance, several hundred pounds on my favourite blender was money well spent, but a new model iPhone? Hell, no. But I'd bet a lot of people are aghast at the notion of £500 on a kitchen blender, and may well be posting that using their £600 smartphone.

[jonah]

I don't have any kitchen gadget that could be described as high tech. Even my espresso machine is manually operated and it makes the best espressos I have ever tasted. Kitchens just don't need high tech.

[crossy]

I did have a bread maker, but I get far better results using a dough hook in a mixer, mainly because I have control over the proving time, but as all the processes are manual, it does take a lot more effort, so I tend to batch bake three or four loaves at a time, then slice and freeze the results. And while nothing comes quite as close as that crust off the loaf freshly out of the oven, the thawed slices come close. For best result leave the loaf 24 hours before slicing and freezing.

I don't tend to freeze the output of my breadmaker - but I'm going to agree 100% with the 24-hours-before-slicing. Maybe I'm making my mixes overly moist...

Another vote for the Panasonic breadmaker. We use ours at least once a week and it always delivers a good loaf, though we do need to experiment with more flavour options.

I'm going to point my scoffing kids at that part of your post and say "see, it's not just me who wants to "experiment" with bread mixes!". Thanks for the backup!

One thing we've never managed to find is a good bread slicer, which suggests we should stick to a good bread knife. We bought a 'Kitchen Craft Expanding Stay Fresh Acrylic Bread Keeper' a while back, and though it helped achieve thin even slices to begin with the plastic cutting guides all eventually started to break.

I've been looking in Lakeland etc for something decent in that line - mainly to prevent the "triangular wedge by Friday" syndrome - Monday's slice is a bit squint, so Tuesday's is a bit more to compensate, etc. I'll keep my eye open for that one though.

PS a tip I got give was to try a cake knife for a new loaf rather than the traditional bread "saw". Apparently a cake knife's mixture of teeth copes better with soft bread than the normal knife.

I like the sound of that as I'm always struggling to think of what to make other than sandwiches for lunch. Which soup maker do you use?

The one we've got is this one: Arkay Sales "intelligent" Soupmaker. There's no way in heck that I'd pay £99 for it, given that the Cusinart etc ones are only £20 more - I'd pay the extra and get the increased feature set of the "fancy" ones. Arkay do a lot of these food and home-improvement shows, where invariably it's reduced down to the £50-60 mark (with a "freebie" or two), and that's a more realistic price.

If you'd prefer a more recognized brand then I'd tentatively point you to the Morphy Richards 48822 Soupmaker - list price for this is £60, (Amazon have it for £45), and that looks pretty similar (minor cosmetic differences) to the Arkay unit. Also note that the M.R. unit is well thought of on Amazon - 4.5 stars from 1930 reviews. M.R. also do a more capable one (slightly more expensive obviously) that can sauté too

It's my missus that makes the main use of it. She usually buys (after a quiet chat with the Arkay guy) a "soup mix" collection of veg from the supermarket, add in a stock cube dissolved in hot water and leave it to it. Typically she'll put on a mix first thing, and then just pour a portion into a sealable container (usually one of these although ours were Systema ones from Morrison's) and head out for work. The rest cools in the "kettle" until she comes back, when it's ideal to slap into some tubs and stuff it in the freezer - minus a portion for the following day. Similarly, I've done a pretty decent tomato soup with two cans of tomatoes (I like it thick), small amount of stock and a dash of Tabasco sauce.

[me-yeah]

a quick bread maker, having 1 fresh loaf a year from the supermarket can get on your nerves

[Smudger]

I've changed my mind.

This is essential:

[Parm]

that'd go nice with my R2D2 egg cup!

[Spud1]

I have a few things I would call a "gadget" in my kitchen - but not much, as things like ovens, blenders, food processors etc are more appliances to me. There was a great idea of "smart ovens" a few years ago which never really took off - ready meals and some products from M&S had a barcode on them which your oven could scan, and it would then cook it perfectly every time as the barcode told it the length, temperature etc for that specific model of oven.

Most of the rest of the "gadgets" I think would be useful are IoT type things like remote controlled slow cookers, or smart fridges that can tell you when your food is going off.

The vast majority that people buy are laziness machines - I am not meaning to get at anyone here but a "soup maker" is a really good example. To make soup you chuck ingredients in a pan, leave it to simmer for an hour and then blend. To use a soup maker you do exactly the same but you don't pour the ingredients into your blender. It saves 1-2 minutes of effort, and leaves a £50-£100 hole in your pocket (and you can't make big batches). It's one of those gadgets that I see in a shop and think "oh thats cool, i'd like one", until I stop to think about it

I think the remote control thing has legs though - I'm tempted to add a Z-wave enabled socket to the kitchen for that purpose. Could let my Pi control my heating and cooking my Pies then

[crossy]

The vast majority that people buy are laziness machines - I am not meaning to get at anyone here but a "soup maker" is a really good example. To make soup you chuck ingredients in a pan, leave it to simmer for an hour and then blend. To use a soup maker you do exactly the same but you don't pour the ingredients into your blender. It saves 1-2 minutes of effort, and leaves a £50-£100 hole in your pocket (and you can't make big batches). It's one of those gadgets that I see in a shop and think "oh thats cool, i'd like one", until I stop to think about it

Funnily enough that's exactly the initial argument my missus deployed when I suggested a dishwasher, (following up with various eco reasons why it was a bad idea). Not bigging up the soup maker, but she's expressed the opinion that is does save time (only 30 minute cook per batch and about 5 minutes "prep" on top of that) plus once it's "loaded" there's zero involvement, so she's free to make beds, brush teeth, yell at our two teenagers to get out of bed, etc while it's "doing it's thing". So more a time-saving widget than a "laziness" one.

The smart fridge sounded like a good idea, but personally the idea of having to scan barcodes and enter expiry dates sounded utterly daft. Couldn't someone just incorporate product and expiries into a Q-Code, or better still some RFID type device? Then the act of putting thing in the fridge also "books it in". Kids are of the opinion that tablet with in-built stand is a good idea - especially if someone could make one that was capable of being controlled totally hands off - be ideal for following those "gotta try" recipes.

[Spud1]

The smart fridge sounded like a good idea, but personally the idea of having to scan barcodes and enter expiry dates sounded utterly daft. Couldn't someone just incorporate product and expiries into a Q-Code, or better still some RFID type device? Then the act of putting thing in the fridge also "books it in". Kids are of the opinion that tablet with in-built stand is a good idea - especially if someone could make one that was capable of being controlled totally hands off - be ideal for following those "gotta try" recipes.

I should probably clarify that I have a lot of laziness gadgets - the grater attachment for my Kenwood chef would certainly qualify, as would my dishwasher, electric tin opener etc So I wholeheartedly support many of them and wouldn't judge anyone for owning one....

RFID is a good/simple idea that i've seen demo'd, but the issue is the cost per unit - adding 1-2p per packet it a big deal, along with the associated environmental/recycling issues. I have seen QR code versions which are better, but again have not really taken off in my experience.

[PorcupineTime]

And now I want a Panasonic bread maker.

[Saracen]

....

The vast majority that people buy are laziness machines - I am not meaning to get at anyone here but a "soup maker" is a really good example. To make soup you chuck ingredients in a pan, leave it to simmer for an hour and then blend. To use a soup maker you do exactly the same but you don't pour the ingredients into your blender. It saves 1-2 minutes of effort, and leaves a £50-£100 hole in your pocket (and you can't make big batches). It's one of those gadgets that I see in a shop and think "oh thats cool, i'd like one", until I stop to think about it

....

I just make soup in the blender. Bung ingredients in, blend for 10 minutes, out comes steaming hot soup, and made with only fresh ingedients. And no, there isn't even a heater element, never mind a "soup setting". It's just friction from fast blades.

Or, make a smoothie in the blender. Or ice cream and frozen yoghurt. Or rice flour. And so, so many more.

[Graywoodford]

if you can find them cheap get an air fryer, great things