topic Re: ARE THESE KITCHEN APPLIANCES NECESSARY? in Recipes

ARE THESE KITCHEN APPLIANCES NECESSARY?

Tinkrbl44 — Mon, 04 Jul 2022 21:12:56 GMT

I was looking for a recipe & directions for boneless ribs in the oven, and was suprised at what came up ..... Either they say use a crock pot ... or an instant pot .... or an air fryer .... or whatever.

My kitchen is small so adding more appliances is not my first choice. I get along nicely with an oven, microwave and a toaster oven. Or take out.

I had a crock pot years ago, but gave it away. Cooking any meat in the crock pot all day used to drive my poor dog crazy with the smells. When I got home from work, she was nuts with the house smelling of chicken or whatever. I felt sorry for her, so I gave it away.

Years have passed, and my cat doesn't pay too much attention to cooking smells.

So ........ are there any "newfangled" kitchen appliances you have found you simply cannot live without?

I'm anxious to see what you're using ... and what is just collecting dust in a corner.

TIA!

Re: ARE THESE KITCHEN APPLIANCES NECESSARY?

kaydee50 — Mon, 04 Jul 2022 21:24:33 GMT

For cooking we use the microwave and a George Foreman grill. Rarely use the oven and I bought a crock pot over 2 years ago and have yet to use it. Have none of the other appliances you mentioned. We do eat out a couple of times a week and DH does most of the cooking. See no need for so many appliances.

Re: ARE THESE KITCHEN APPLIANCES NECESSARY?

PA Mom-mom — Mon, 04 Jul 2022 21:55:49 GMT

@Tinkrbl44 I have several crock pots (slow cookers) for a very specific reason - HOLIDAYS! I have a small kitchen, one stove/oven and one microwave. When I'm cooking for 18 to 22 people, I can make the mashed potatoes a good two hours in advance. They will keep perfectly fluffy on warm the whole time. I can use the small one to keep the turkey gravy warm. I use the medium one to keep my corn warm. It clears up my stove for last minute vegetables, like the Brussels sprouts and green beans. Now, my DIL and DD have crazy busy families, and they use their slow cookers on a weekly basis. They throw in some chicken or beef/deer meat and throw in cream of something soup or tomatoes and end up with something edible. Not my taste, but hey!

We were given an air fryer a few years ago, but we ended up giving it away. My DD loves hers for deer steaks, because she can do bacon wrapped deer meat without breaking out the grill. I had an Instant Pot for a while, but I broke it. It was great for making hard cooked eggs. But, I thought it made everything I made in it taste homogenized. But, my DIL loves hers. She mostly uses it as a slow cooker, but she also does soups.

Re: ARE THESE KITCHEN APPLIANCES NECESSARY?

ECBG — Mon, 04 Jul 2022 21:41:32 GMT

Your style of cooking dictates what appliances you might want to get to make your tasks easier.

I like stew beef and chuck roasts with vegetables; both turn out very tender in the crock pot. I can also cook a moist 9 lb. turkey breast in 5 1/2 hours after cutting out the back to get the top on.

My oven is for casseroles, items I simmer in a cast iron frying pan, roasting vegetables, and cooking holiday meals.

We grill out a lot also.

There are cookbooks for most appliances.

Re: ARE THESE KITCHEN APPLIANCES NECESSARY?

QVCkitty1 — Mon, 04 Jul 2022 21:43:54 GMT

I used my pressure cooker a total of three times, it's just not for me.

Re: ARE THESE KITCHEN APPLIANCES NECESSARY?

Tinkrbl44 — Mon, 04 Jul 2022 21:53:22 GMT

@QVCkitty1 wrote:
I used my pressure cooker a total of three times, it's just not for me.

@QVCkitty1

Thanks for mentioning the pressure cooker! My sister had one and also gave it away.

As people weigh in on their preferences, I think I will learn a lot about what I might want to buy some time in the future.

Re: ARE THESE KITCHEN APPLIANCES NECESSARY?

Kachina624 — Mon, 04 Jul 2022 22:06:44 GMT

I use my pressure cooker a lot. The nicer ones like Instant Pot also have a slow cook function so it serves as two appliances.

Re: ARE THESE KITCHEN APPLIANCES NECESSARY?

RedTop — Mon, 04 Jul 2022 22:18:03 GMT

I have a coffee maker, toaster, air fryer, microwave, waffle iron and instant pot. I would replace all of them, but will not buy anything new.

Re: ARE THESE KITCHEN APPLIANCES NECESSARY?

justashopper — Mon, 04 Jul 2022 22:24:28 GMT

There are so many kitchen appliances! Yesterday, I was at Target looking for a new toaster. Holy cow. There are so many toaster, toaster ovens, convection toaster ovens, air fryers, pressure cookers, fryers. Just like you said. Water appliances-- for tea, coffee, sparkling water. It is crazy!

I ended up getting a ninja toaster flip. It's a two slice toaster and then when it's put on its side (flipped) its a very small toaster oven. I love it. it's great for pizza rolls, tater tots, a veggie burger etc. It takes up very little space in my small kitchen. And no need to turn on the oven for little snacks.

The other appliances I have are-- fridge, oven, dishwasher, microwave, coffee maker (use daily), Vitamix (almost daily use), crockpots (two sizes. that I use almost weekly) waffle iron (yet to use) and a george foreman grill (I might get rid of now that I have the ninja flip).

I have a keurig and two larger coffee pots that I have tucked away in a closet just in case for company. I wish I had room for all those fancy appliances but some how I make do with just a few things.

Re: ARE THESE KITCHEN APPLIANCES NECESSARY?

sabatini — Mon, 04 Jul 2022 22:28:43 GMT

@Tinkrbl44, occasionally it'll royally annoy me when I happen upon a recipe & it calls for equipment that I don't have - or want!

I'm also lazy and don't want to bother with learning a new appliance.

As far as I'm concerned, the only use for a crockpot is to keep the mashed potatoes warm on holidays. (Lay a kitchen towel across before putting on the lid to catch moisture.)

Other than that, I think crockpots make everything taste the same, regardless of what you put in there in the 1st place.

If anything, I think I'd like to have a little kitchen blow torch to quickly brown some things...but I'd probably just keep using my broiler anyway.

Re: ARE THESE KITCHEN APPLIANCES NECESSARY?

Icegoddess — Mon, 04 Jul 2022 22:32:58 GMT

@PA Mom-mom wrote:
@Tinkrbl44 I have several crock pots (slow cookers) for a very specific reason - HOLIDAYS! I have a small kitchen, one stove/oven and one microwave. When I'm cooking for 18 to 22 people, I can make the mashed potatoes a good two hours in advance. They will keep perfectly fluffy on warm the whole time. I can use the small one to keep the turkey gravy warm. I use the medium one to keep my corn warm. It clears up my stove for last minute vegetables, like the Brussels sprouts and green beans. Now, my DIL and DD have crazy busy families, and they use their slow cookers on a weekly basis. They throw in some chicken or beef/deer meat and throw in cream of something soup or tomatoes and end up with something edible. Not my taste, but hey!

We were given an air fryer a few years ago, but we ended up giving it away. My DD loves hers for deer steaks, because she can do bacon wrapped deer meat without breaking out the grill. I had an Instant Pot for a while, but I broke it. It was great for making hard cooked eggs. But, I thought it made everything I made in it taste homogenized. But, my DIL loves hers. She mostly uses it as a slow cooker, but she also does soups.

Funny, that's the way I feel about slow cookers. Since it's just the 2 of us now, I only drag the slow cooker out mostly for group functions and they always want my chili. I also have a good slow cooker mac & cheese recipe, but man, it makes a lot. I have a mini CE pressure cooker, and I wouldn't be without it for easy-to-peel hard boiled eggs. Other than that, I really don't use it. I use my Convection countertop oven most of the time and the Ninja Foodi Grill for steaks/burgers/etc. although I could easily go back to using my Jenn-Aire for that. I got the Ninja for less smoke when I had an asthmatic cat. I guess the one thing I wouldn't want to be without is my air fryer. The Ninja can do that too, but I already had an air fryer when I got it and sometimes you may want to air fry at the same time you're using the Ninja.

Re: ARE THESE KITCHEN APPLIANCES NECESSARY?

chickenbutt — Mon, 04 Jul 2022 22:34:36 GMT

I don't use any of those. I do have a Crockpot, but haven't used it in ages. The others never interested me.

Fortunately, I've known how to cook since I was a small child, so pots and pans work very well for me.

I suppose there will always be 'gadgets' that salespersons can make sound very attractive for some, so more power to 'em I guess.

Re: ARE THESE KITCHEN APPLIANCES NECESSARY?

candyagain — Mon, 04 Jul 2022 22:35:22 GMT

Don't use my oven very much. I have a small rice cooker/hot pot from Wolfgang Puck that I use a lot to warm up soup or beans and franks.

My favorite appliance is my Dash egg cooker. I use it mostly for hard boiled egss. Love it!

As you can see I don't cook much and do salads, sandwiches, cheese and crackers and rotisserie chicken a lot. Take out a couple of times a week - Panera, subway, chinese etc.

Re: ARE THESE KITCHEN APPLIANCES NECESSARY?

TheMemphisVette — Mon, 04 Jul 2022 22:39:09 GMT

BRAND	ITEM	OWN?	USE	STORED
full size ninja	air fryer	yes	daily	counter
keurig	coffee maker	yes	daily	counter
wp	pressure cooker	yes	weekly	kitchen cart-origami
crockpot	slow cooker	yes	weekly	kitchen cart-origami
mainstays	griddle	yes	weekly	cabinet
elechomes	stick blender	yes	weekly	kitchen cart-origami
nutra bullet	nutra bullet	yes	weekly	kitchen cart-origami
sharp	micro/conv oven	yes	weekly	counter
blackndecker	stand mixer	yes	monthly	kitchen cart-origami
wp	blender	yes	monthly	kitchen cart-origami
kitchenaid	mini chopper	yes	monthly	kitchen cart-origami
blackndecker	food processor	yes	need to sell	kitchen cart-origami
	hand mixer	no	use stick or stand
	rice cooker	no	use pressure cooker
	regular oven	no	use conv or air fryer
	toaster	no	use air fryer
	toaster oven	no	use air fryer
	deep fryer	no	use air fryer
	bread maker	no	thinking about one
	egg cooker	no	steam on stove
	waffle iron	no	prefer pancakes on griddle
	ice maker	no	fridge/freezer and manual

Re: ARE THESE KITCHEN APPLIANCES NECESSARY?

Meowingkitty — Mon, 04 Jul 2022 23:56:15 GMT

I only use my oven a couple of times a year. I do use the toaster oven a lot more. I also use the Ninja Grill/air fryer a lot because it's to hot to grill outside (at least until November). Other than that I have a microwave, toaster, blender, crockpot and I use them regularly.

Re: ARE THESE KITCHEN APPLIANCES NECESSARY?

Effie54 — Mon, 04 Jul 2022 23:13:09 GMT

People's tastes vary widely. Many people love an air fryer, I couldn't stand mine and returned it a week later. It was awful! I don't have an Insta pot, a pressure cooker, a fancy coffee maker, or any of those gadgets they take up a lot of room on the counter. I know that I just wouldn't use them.

Re: ARE THESE KITCHEN APPLIANCES NECESSARY?

feline groovy — Mon, 04 Jul 2022 23:16:31 GMT

My apartment - and my budget - is small and my kitchen in tiny so I only have a

toaster-convection oven, microwave, electric kettle, and a toaster (for when it's hot).

Re: ARE THESE KITCHEN APPLIANCES NECESSARY?

Sooner — Mon, 04 Jul 2022 23:57:12 GMT

We use our rice cooker a lot with mediterranean, middle eastern and Asian food,for oats and some grains.

We use instant pots (mainly a 3 qt one) for side dishes of vegetables mostly sweet potatoes, rarely for meat, and it gets used often.

We have a small and a large bread machine used weekly for bread, pizza dough and other doughs.

We use a small crock pot mostly for making chicken breast meat for other dishes like tacos and enchiladas or dried beans.

We use our Vitamix, a water boiler, and a tea maker that are in the laundry room. We also have a yogurt maker, cheap little egg boiler (but we mostly use a steam rack in a pot on the stove), waffle maker.

We got used to these things the 45 years we worked and still use them--even more now! Especially the small bread machine, yogurt maker, Vitamix and rice cooker.

We haven't had a toaster oven in probably 20 years or more, we just use the oven when we need to.

ETA: Husband bought an air fryer, never use it; Nespresso Coffee maker used daily for espresso for me, coffee for him. Cuisinarat food processor old but used often.

Re: ARE THESE KITCHEN APPLIANCES NECESSARY?

Imaoldhippie — Tue, 05 Jul 2022 11:27:13 GMT

My cockpot went belly up a couple of years ago. I did a lot of research and bought a slow cooker. I use it some times daily or at least 2 to 3 times a week.

Also, my George Foreman, I have perfected cooking bacon in it and dont use any other way of cooking bacon.

I bought a small inexpensive air fryer just to see if I liked it and what all it would cook. I really like it. Its a little small and can only cook one thing at a time in it.

If I HAD to chose only one it would be my slow cooker.

Re: ARE THESE KITCHEN APPLIANCES NECESSARY?

Tinkrbl44 — Tue, 05 Jul 2022 22:05:01 GMT

Lol ... I must be the ONLY person in the western hemisphere that never owned or used a George Foreman grill.

I've always wondered how much $$$ George has made from that appliance with his name on it. He must be set for this life ... and the next one, too.