Kitchen

[gardensla]

Saw this on chowhound.com (fun site) and stole the idea to bring here!

My dust catchers include:

--Electric pasta machine that rolls dough into thin strips for cutting into noodles (never use and it was $$$)

--Silpat mats. In a Martha-moment I bought in lots of sizes, but always seem to just reach for a sheet of parchment paper.

--Yogurt maker. Makes good yogurt but the process of heating milk to an exact temp, cooling to an exact temp, and then cooking for hours is just too much work.

What about you?

[lolakimono]

Gardens,

The pasta machines are a valuable commodity among crafters for rolling out polymer clay. If you know anyone who uses clay for anything, they might appreciate it.

You can solve the Silpat problem by lining your cookie sheets with them before you put them away so they're ready to go.

I don't really have things that are must have gadgets, but I don't get as much use from my small crock pot (sits in the basement) as my new large capacity one.

I haven't been using my teakettle as much either since my water service cooler has the hot water tap. I do use it for heating tap water to clean my drains though.

[LonestarBabs]

The Ron Popeil pasta machine (just add a few ingredients and let it make the dough, then select disc for size/type of noodle you want to extrude) with optional sausage maker (casings included). That thing and its instructional video have been in my kitchen cupboard for YEARS. One day I saw a simple method for making pasta which did not require a machine and that, too, looked easy but have I made homemade pasta yet? Nooo......

[denisemb]

Oh, man, I'm the queen of impulse kitchen gadget buys - but I'm learning! Luckily none of these were costly, but...

EVERY manual chopper/dicer/shredder/mandoline gadget known to man. I know some people like them, but I find the cleaning aspect (and cutting things to fit the tiny "base") more time consuming than using my trusty Nakiri knife and cutting board. (I do, however, appreciate my 25 y.o. inherited electric Sunbeam Oskar Jr. for chopping/slicing shredding large amounts.)

WP Mini Pie Baker: Works well and was a novelty at first...but why do all that prep for 2 tiny pies when you can do a whole pie and have leftovers for tomorrow?

Presto Options Multi Cooker/Steamer: This was purchased with the idea of its ability to deep fry; then I discovered how little I deep fry.

Almost forgot the egg toaster! Another novelty sitting back in the cupboard.

Time for me to Freecycle in 2014...

Luckily, all my big ticket purchases are used fairly regularly: KA mixer, rotisserie, Ninja, WP Multi Cooker, induction burner.

[house cat]

The pressure cooker I bought from QVC last year. It's clunky and hard to figure out.. works sometimes and not others. I should have sent it back.

I don't know how it has a 5 star review. I hate it.

[lasvegasfoodie]

Love Chowhound and visit a couple of times a week. Got lot's of recipes and tips there and the blogs are fun to read. My biggest dust catcher is a meat grinder. Thought I would really start grinding my own ground beef, turkey and whatever else. Lives in the garage now.

[Daysdee]

On 1/2/2014 Lonestar Babs said:

The Ron Popeil pasta machine (just add a few ingredients and let it make the dough, then select disc for size/type of noodle you want to extrude) with optional sausage maker (casings included). That thing and its instructional video have been in my kitchen cupboard for YEARS. One day I saw a simple method for making pasta which did not require a machine and that, too, looked easy but have I made homemade pasta yet? Nooo......

I bought the Popeil pasta machine too. (almost fell for the Showtime Rotisserie too!) My DH hated the pasta. It went from inside to garage to donations. I did a lot of impulse buying from QVC years ago. (Wish I hadn't.) Love my Nesco products and a few others, but I had many "misses" that are now gone without being used much if at all. Happy with Nesco, mini Keurig, CE Cookware (old now), and Vitamix.

[Annabellethecat66]

This thread isn't big enough to post all of the things I've bought (always QVC and/or HSN) that I don't use, never needed but had a brain @#$% and bought the stupid stuff.

I keep coming across all of the wine stuff I bought. I've given it to my two daughters (one doesn't drink but husband does) and they've informed me "ENOUGH". I don't drink either. Neither does most of my friends (we're all too old and it mixes with our meds!).

[sassenach1]

Let's see...

George Foreman grill - good idea, but after using and cleaning it a few times it went to the basement.

Fondue pot - I'd rather go out for it!

Every Pampered Chef Stone item - except for the large round pizza stone - we use it almost every day.

[gardensla]

On 1/2/2014 Sassenach1 said:

Let's see...

George Foreman grill - good idea, but after using and cleaning it a few times it went to the basement.

Fondue pot - I'd rather go out for it!

Every Pampered Chef Stone item - except for the large round pizza stone - we use it almost every day.

I forgot that one! I bought the larger, souped-up one and used it exactly twice.