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Before the Black Friday rush, let's hear your thoughts on what works well in the kitchen.
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Before the Black Friday rush, let's hear your thoughts on what works well in the kitchen.
Struggling to think of any. If I was pushed I would say Media Streaming speakers for the kitchen, or a WIFI enabled oven (to switch onto the desired temperature when leaving the supermarket, but I really can't see how any of these gadgets could really save much time or money, without significantly impacting on security.
An accurately temperature-controlled water bath or immersion heater/circulator (AK A a 'Sous Vide machine'). Makes a MASSIVE difference to cooking meat, particularly tougher meat (e.g. Beef). You can do other tricks with it like Onsen Tomago and various pasteurisation techniques too.
I read that as "Which high-tech kitten gadgets are worth buying".
You don't need high-tech kitchen gadgets, unless that tech makes the oven not have a broken clock.
I have a pyrolitic oven, don't really use that aspect but when I do it does make some of those sticky black splashes far more ashen.
Most high tech thing I have is probably my bean to cup machine...
I'm not a big fan of kitchen "gadgets" generally and certainly not the ones that need an Internet connection! Although SWMBO was commenting that we've got a surplus of coffee makers - a Tassimo, a Rombouts and an Aeropress, (plus a filter machine that eventually went to charity shop).
If you're going to exclude the obvious stuff like a decent oven, then there's two things that get more use than we thought they would.
First one is 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.
Second thing is a breadmaker - Panasonic in our case. Once you get the hang of it the thing produces some pretty nice loaves etc. Although my kids tend to sneer and ask "well what weird stuff have you put in THAT loaf?" - because I've known to put oats, tomato paste, etc in various "experiments". Heck, I'm the one who eats them, so I figure I'm entitled to dabble!
Thinking about a reverse osmosis water treatment 'plant' for the kitchen tap.
The only gadget I want in my kitchen is my tablet, just to fire up the app from a cooking community here to see recipes.
I want everything else to be low tech because I use the time of cooking to take a breath and relax from my everyday working in front of my computer.
Egg Timer !!
maybe in 5 - 10 years if there are no major security problems
The only electronic things in the kitchen I would really miss:
Digital scales
Food processor with dough hook
A timer of some sort
Kettle
Toaster
Fridge & Freezer (could probably do without the freezer tbh)
I can see the appeal of sous vide, but as ive never had one, I cant really miss it.
If I loved coffee, then maybe a coffee grinder. A french press has served me better coffee than any electronic machine has.
Dont think Ive ever had anything good come out of a microwave, I would happily throw it in the bin tomorrow.
I did have a breadmaker, and it made a decentish loaf of bread (with a rather large hole in), but can still do better myself.
It depends how hi you mean by hi-tech. And, of course, what you want it for.
As for 'gadgets', a good (blunt blade) blender is one of my favourites, with a good food processor and perhaps a mixer not far behind.
I also agree with mention of breadmaker, and with Panasonic as my preferred make. Yes, I can do as good a job nearly all the time, and a better job most of the time, by hand. But not for as little effort. My small selection of standard loaves takes me, and yes I timed it, under 5 minutes to do. By which, I mean get everything out, measure up, load up the machine, program it and set timer, and wash the measuring spoons and cup, and put everything away.
So, before bed, I can sort out a new loaf for the morning. And the cost? Between 40p and about 70p depending on the flour I use.
I'm also partial to my pasta machine (manual type). Easy to use, can have several types of fresh pasta whenever I want, and minimal effort.
Best low tech is a lever press lemon squeezer. My hob is induction, so I suppose that is highish tech. Microwave oven is quite hi tech in terms of RF engineering, even though the concept is over 50 years old.
The question would have been better phrased as 'New tech' because generally advances in kitchen technology are incremental in that the basic function is the same. An induction hob still heats food, as does a gas burner or halogen hob. My food mixer does the same thing that my mother's did (when they were then 'hi tech' - except the term wasn't around then).
And domestic kitchen tools tend to flow down from professional kitchens.
So the real hi tech developments in timeline order
Gas/electric cookers 1930s/1940s
Fridges - early 1950s
Food mixers - late 1950s
Automatic washing machines - mid 60s
Freezers - mid to late 70s
Food processors -1970s
Microwave ovens - early 80s
Dishwashers - mid 80s
Bread makers - mid 90s
Induction jobs - mid 00s
Vacuum packers/ sous vide mid 15s.
My most recent purchase has been a basic vacuum packer, not yet tried cooking sous vide.
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.
The best gadget for the kitchen is probably the Pipo X9 you did a news story/preview on a while back. A table top tablet for playing video, radio, storing recipes, accessing email/social media whilst waiting for stuff to cook etc.
How about a full review of one of these?
I have a PC in the corner, does that count?
Past that my toaster can boil eggs.
I am glad others admire the qualities of the Panasonic breadmaker. No matter what manner of odd flour mixes and weird additives I add to it nothing seems to faze it. It is quick to set up, quiet in operation and often full of unexpected tasty surprises when finished its cycle
High-tech toaster
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.
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?Quote:
Originally Posted by crossy
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.
<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.Quote:
Originally Posted by Smudger
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.
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.
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... ;)Quote:
Originally Posted by peterb
:thumbsup: 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! :DQuote:
Originally Posted by Parm
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.Quote:
Originally Posted by Parm
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.
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.Quote:
Originally Posted by Parm
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.
a quick bread maker, having 1 fresh loaf a year from the supermarket can get on your nerves
I've changed my mind.
This is essential:
https://www.bigbadtoystore.com/image...e/LTP10026.jpg
:surprised: that'd go nice with my R2D2 egg cup!
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 :) :)
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.Quote:
Originally Posted by 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....:)Quote:
Originally Posted by crossy
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.
And now I want a Panasonic bread maker.
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.Quote:
Originally Posted by Spud1
Or, make a smoothie in the blender. Or ice cream and frozen yoghurt. Or rice flour. And so, so many more.
if you can find them cheap get an air fryer, great things :)