snowy

Because I recently got married, and it's well-known among people in my acquaintance that I love to cook and bake, my husband and I received a great many kitchen-oriented gifts for our wedding.

This week, Mark Bittman wrote up a lengthy piece about all that can be done with a food processor in the NYTimes, and it got me to thinking: which of my new gadgets is my favorite?

You can read Mark Bittman's piece here: http://www.nytimes.com/2010/09/15/dining/15mini.html

I'm truly torn between my KitchenAid stand mixer and my Cuisinart SmartPower Duet blender/food processor. The Cuisinart gets a lot of use shredding cheese, making pesto, shredding zucchini, shredding apples for apple cake, making bruschetta topping, making tapenade, making vinaigrette, etc. The KitchenAid gets a lot of use making bread dough, pizza dough, mixing the aforementioned apple cake, making applesauce with the help of an attachment, making somebody's birthday cake, and even making pie dough (how well it did this was quite a surprise).

The KitchenAid:

The Cuisinart:


The KitchenAid might win this fight once I get some attachments for it that duplicate what the Cuisinart does, but right now, they're completely tied.

So how about you? What's your favorite thing to use in your kitchen?

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Hektore

Food Chopper : Cutlery : The Pampered Chef, Ltd.



Awesome for chopping just about anything you need to and you have a lot of control over getting things just the right size. Also works really well for crushing graham crackers for pie crusts. I use it almost every day and for many things it's just flat out better than a knife. And if you're curious I have used it to chop almonds, so yes, it is that durable.

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snowy

Oh, that's the other thing my Cuisinart rocks at: chopping nuts. I wanted one of those chopper things for a while but once I got the Cuisinart, I discovered that it can do most anything I'd do with one of those, bar chopping onions, but I don't mind chopping veggies. I find it kind of Zen.

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Amaras

What, no jokes about the wife being one's favourite utensil?

Wonder why I'm still single.

Anyway, I love the good old serrated edge blade for all my cutting needs. I don't
do almonds though, so I guess I might change my tune if I did.

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Leto

I have this at home. it's the same colour, but the less elaborate mixer (is yours the Artisan? )

I think it would win, and would classify as kitchen porn. I have actually just caressed it, running my hands along its firm curves, feeling the smooth cool enamel under my finger tips, flipping its levers, pulling the top up just to swing it down again, grabbing the full bowl in both hands and lifting it off of its bottom...

oh yes, i have to go home now.

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snowy

Mine's a Professional HD, which KitchenAid makes for Costco and other warehouse stores. It's 475W of awesome.

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BadNick

I love to cook, and we do have a Cuisinart thingie (a bit larger than the one snowy posted) as well as a KitchenAid machine about the same as snowy's (in fact, I think ours came from Costco and it was a wedding present), but maybe because my wife is cooking more and I'm cooking less, and thus my new area of responsibility and expertise is as the clean up guy I consistently get the biggest grin out of my 50 HP garbage disposal....OK, it's not really 50 hp but it seems like it is. This thing will chop up pipes if I put them down the hole. I recall when we were renovating our kitchen several people told me I was nuts to spend extra money on the big power garbage disposal, but I'm glad I did. My motto: "overkill is perfect"

A couple weeks ago we got a brand new stainless steel Sanyo refigerator/freezer. Now this thing is awesome and right up there with the garbage disposal as my favorite kitchen gadget. I don't even know everything it can do yet, but I love it.

Charlatan

This is a tough one. I don't have a lot of gadgets in my kitchen. I just don't have the space for them.

I'd have to say that I love my chef's knife. I use it for just about everything I prepare. It's well balanced and it fits my hand.

Other than that, I'd have to say I love my collection of stainless steel bowls. I am always using them.

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noodle

My wok pan, the coffee grinder, and our amazing DeLonghi perfectomundo coffee maker.
I do have a bo-bo juice that I rarely use and a really fun food-processor, who's name escapes me at the moment. I also have the Big Fuckin' Knife and an awesome cutting board. Those are pretty much my favorites.

And the bottle opener/corkscrew.

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Meditrina

Top of my list is my coffee pot. I can't live without it. I also like my chopper by pampered chef, and my portable dishwasher.

Sent from my Ally using Tapatalk

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BadNick

bottle opener reminded me I enjoy using the one like this one that I've had for like 35 years now:

snowy

Perhaps I should have added to the OP that when I think of a kitchen gadget, I think of something you could do without. I don't really consider a chef's knife a gadget--it's a pretty essential piece of kitchen equipment. I can do almost everything my stand mixer and food processor do by hand; they just make it easier to do. A corkscrew is also a pretty essential piece of equipment, unless you want to break the tops off your bottles. A Rabbit corkscrew, however, might be considered a gadget because it's spendy and above and beyond your typical waiter's corkscrew (my preferred corkscrew).

This has inspired me to make another thread, though. Thanks guys!

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Daniel_

Over the years, I have built up an almost complete set of these:

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remy1492

world market water boiler, makes making tea a LOT easier. I love tea but the process of a tea pot or microwave was just too bothersome. With this thing, I fill it with filtered water, flick the on switch and then it goes. And its fast too! Best gift ever.


Capresso Electric Water Kettle - Teapots - Cost Plus World Market

ZombieSquirrel

I use my phone a lot to order take out.

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