Top Gun: Kitchen Gadgets - The Best of the Best.

[MartyG]

A couple of months ago I bought an InstantPot which was in the sales for £50. Normally these go for about double that, so I was quite happy with the bagging the bargain.

Now I've had chance to use it quite a bit, cooking rice, curries, dried beans and some stews in it and I'm now happier still with the £50 spend.

I really do think that this is one of the best kitchen gadgets I've ever bought (just enjoying the last of the last curry for lunch) and would definitely recommend them if you do a lot of the stew/curry type cooking.

Most of the kitchen gadgets I end up buying or get gifted eventually end up in the back of the cupboard, but this, my cake mixer and espresso machine get used a lot.

What kitchen gadgets do you recommend (I was considering an air frier)? Smart kettle? Egg slicer? Mandoline Slicer? And any that you should totally avoid?

[kryss]

Breakfast sandwich maker. (a double version of this)

Wife got me the single one for Christmas about 6 years ago, and I used it at least once a day. At the end of the school year in 2019, I took it into work and we made breakfast sandwiches for lunch. My colleagues loved it so much four of them bought them too. One of them pointed out we didn't need to put the top on the muffin...and as easy eggs benedict was born.

I bought the double model at the same time, and every day since (literally) I've had double eggs benedict for breakfast, sometimes making it for the wife as well.

[QualityChimp]

Garlic Press.

These garlic peelers are also pretty effective. You just roll the cloves in the tube:

[Cassius_Smoke]

You can't beat a good old George Foreman grill. We use it pretty much every week.

[QualityChimp]

You can't beat a good old George Foreman grill. We use it pretty much every week.

[fuse]

A few years back I remember trying a cheesecake my sister made, firstly being impressed by its quality, and then being doubly stunned when she told me it was made in an Instant Pot. We got one shortly thereafter, and yeah, there are definitely some things that it's amazing for. Risotto's the other total game changer for me, where you get great results for a fraction of the effort compared to the traditional way. I got invited to a FB group discussing recipes, and if you put aside the slightly cult-like behaviour of its fans, you can get tonnes of good ideas from them. Despite original intentions, I've not done as much slow cooking as I'd like (huge vats of chili/curry/stew etc) in it, but a staple throughout lockdown's colder months was to make chashu pork in it and leave it marinating with some soft boiled eggs on the weekend, then just slice them up and add to instant ramen for quick and amazing work from home lunches.

These garlic peelers are also pretty effective. You just roll the cloves in the tube

That is speaking to me, peeling garlic is a pain in the arse. Not quite as bad as zesting lemons/limes, but definitely getting there.

[QualityChimp]

Anyone recommend a good knife sharpener?

A good set of knives are vital, but once they get blunter, you're more likely to cut yourself and you find yourself applying more pressure or sawing when cutting.

[charlesr]

Garlic is easy to peel. Slice the end and bash it with the flat of the knife. It peels itself after that.

[teddymeow]

If anybody was going to pun in this thread!!

[wakka]

That chashu pork looks absolutely banging @fuse.

Have you got a particularly recipe that you use for that?

I've heard about the Instant Pot before I think the reports from Marty and Fuse are tipping me over into getting one.


EDIT:

Irrelevant, but adds a bit of colour to the thread:

My granddad was a hotel busboy at one point and carried all of George Formby's luggage up to the top floor once. What did he tip him with? An apple.

'A focken' apple', my granddad would sometimes mutter to himself as he sat in front of the TV, well into the late 90s.

[kryss]

Anyone recommend a good knife sharpener?

A good set of knives are vital, but once they get blunter, you're more likely to cut yourself and you find yourself applying more pressure or sawing when cutting.

I have one of these, which has sat unused for years, but was recommended to me by a local knife shop.

[Anpanman]

Anyone recommend a good knife sharpener?

A good set of knives are vital, but once they get blunter, you're more likely to cut yourself and you find yourself applying more pressure or sawing when cutting.

I got one of the whetstone 1000/6000 from Amazon (well Smile Amazon to be precise), just one of the cheaper Chinese ones to give it a go (under £20 I think) rather than the proper Japanese spec which are at least three times the price.

We have a normal everyday Japanese supermarket knife plus a decent Sabatier. There are plenty of tips on YouTube using the stones to help you. They of course show you before and after demos on the difference.

I've done mine twice and can honestly say they are the dogs, particularly after the second time as I feel I'm getting the hang of it. They come out like razors. I've done the newspaper test with a Metro, hold the paper in front of you at arms length and cut with the blunt knife, as you mentioned you would have to saw through it. Afterwards you feel like Yoshimitsu, knife through butter.
Great thing is I can only get better at it as I've only done it twice.

The one I bought isn't available but there are loads of them on there.

[fuse]

Have you got a particularly recipe that you use for that?

This one's been my go-to. Separate to the pork, soft boil some eggs for 6 mins before bunging them in a bowl of water and ice to stop them cooking, then remove the shells and then put them with the pork in the vat of goodness in the fridge.

[wakka]

That looks absolutely brilliant. Thanks.

[charlesr]

https://youtu.be/5ZchgU9KLOc <<< no more knives. Or something.