Kitchen Appliance discussion thread

[Kaido]

Is this thread only for smaller kitchen appliances ? I would like to inquire aabout major appliances, namely full size electric induction cooktops. seriously considering getting one and would like to know if any members here have one and if they like it.

All appliances are welcome!

induction is the way to go if you don't have gas available. We have gas, but have used induction and its much better than halogen or resistive elements. look for high end stuff on craigslist or similar, we buy our majors used and have gotten great, high end stuff that is barely used.

So, my history:

1. I started out on electric coils (standard oven with range top). Messy, slow, not a fan. Pain to clean up!

2. I upgraded to a cheap electric (not induction!) flat-top glass oven. Not a fan for a few reasons

1) The glass gets messy & is a pain to clean, so it requires constant maintenance to keep it looking nice.
2) The heat spreads throughout the glass, and the glass stays hot for a long time, both of which I don't care for.
3) It takes forever to heat up.

3. I then purchased an 1800-watt induction portable cooktop (hotplate):

1) The current model goes for about $160 on Amazon.
2) You can adjust the wattage as required (600, 900, 1200, and 1800 watts), like if you have a camper or something.
3) You can specifically adjust the temperature in 5-degree increments, with a max temp of 575F.
4) You can take it outside, which is what I use this model for - I cook a lot of food using sous-vide & searing stuff like steaks & burgers is a smokey process.
5) It requires magnet-friendly cookware; not all pots & skillets will work on it.
6) It heats up stupid quick.

4. I then purchased a 1500-watt "smart" induction hotplate:

1) The Tasty OneTop goes for $150 online.
2) Max temp of 450F (not the best for searing, but does an OK job)
3) It connects via Bluetooth to your phone, for precise temperature control
4) It has a temperature sensor in the middle of the cooktop, for precision control
5) It also has a plug-in probe, so you can precisely cook meat, or do sous-vide, or heat up oil to exactly the temperature you want
6) I use this one indoors, for everything I'd normally use my stovetop for, as well as for oil-frying

Personally, I rarely use more than one burner at a time in my cooking, so I have shifted all of my pot & pan use to the induction cooktops. I use the 1800w model outdoors for searing & the "smart" cooktop indoors for frying & skillet/pot-cooking. If I were to remodel my kitchen, I would do the following:

1) Remove the single electric oven & flat-top range
2) Put in dual electric wall ovens (550F max with self-cleaning)
3) Put an external ventilation system overhead of where the range was before
4) Replace that area with countertop (Dekton!)
5) Add some dedicated 20-amp circuits
6) Just use my appliances & plug-in induction cooktops

That's a pretty non-standard setup, but I'd like that a lot more than what's currently available.

@echo4747 - looping back to your question:

1. Induction is awesome
2. The prices have gotten more reasonable (Home Depot has stove/induction-top combo units in the $900 range, where they were previously $2,000 to $3.5k)
3. The glass flat-top requires regular maintenance to keep looking good
4. Make sure you have induction-compatible cookware (or else buy an induction disk)

My wife's family (Italian) prefers cooking on gas. I don't mind gas, I just find it messier (burners) & have found induction to be equally good in most respects. The one exception is when I'm doing indoor wok cooking, in which case I use a portable sub-$40 butane burner, which is also excellent to have on-hand for when there's a power outage:

https://www.amazon.com/Iwatani-Corporation-America-ZA-3HP-Portable/dp/B006H42TVG

So that's my approach...I use my Tasty OneTop indoors, plus a butane portable burner, and really love that setup. If I had to buy a replacement combo unit today, I'd probably spring for this $900 Frigidaire unit:

https://www.homedepot.com/p/Frigida...ge-Proof-Stainless-Steel-FGIF3036TF/302580321

If I were going to spring for an amazing unit, I'd go with this Samsung model, which has the dual-oven technology, plus the cool Virtual Flame tech on the induction burners: (ignore MSRP, it's a good grand cheaper online)

https://www.samsung.com/us/home-app...tion-range-with-flex-duo-oven-ne58h9970ws-aa/

 

[Micrornd]

4) Replace that area with countertop (Dekton!)

Glad to see I'm not the only one.
How's it doing for you?
5 years in, and we haven't found a stain we couldn't remove with water-vinegar-dawn combo and a generic mr. clean eraser.
I mean, what other manufacturer guarantees no fading outdoors or tells you to use acid to clean any concrete spilled on it. (It can be used as a walk surface or outdoor wall covering/siding also)

 

[Greenman]

Saw this and thought of this thread:

https://www.kickstarter.com/project...MIms_L0ZTW4QIVl__jBx1slwaJEAAYASAAEgIaLfD_BwE

It looked interesting until I saw it ran with an app. The killed any possibility of me looking further into it.

 

[IronWing]

The grain mill attachment for the Champion juicer works very well. We use it mostly for grinding corn for corn bread. The grinding plates are adjustable with the turn of a knob from a fine grind suitable for cakes to a coarse grind for corn meal.

 

[Kaido]

The grain mill attachment for the Champion juicer works very well. We use it mostly for grinding corn for corn bread. The grinding plates are adjustable with the turn of a knob from a fine grind suitable for cakes to a coarse grind for corn meal.

That's good to hear! One of my food goals this year is to get back into grinding my own flour. So many great reasons why...better nutrition, better flavor, food-storage, self-sufficiency, etc. (side note: I'm not a prepper, just lazy, so the more I can do at home with the less work required, the better! lol). I'm currently saving up for a MockMill 200:

https://breadtopia.com/store/mockmill-200-grain-mill/

I've been rolling around the idea of doing a "Bread-365" project, where I bake bread every single day for a year & document it on Instagram. I'm still learning the ins & outs of homemade sourdough right now, plus I need to try stuff like einkorn flour. I do a ton of projects with no-knead bread & have really branched out that concept into so many great dishes that I use on a regular basis - everything from incredible homemade pizza dough to delicious oven-baked baguettes. I never really envisioned myself being an amateur bread-baker, but the no-knead technique is so simple (literally a minute's worth of work to setup the dough) that I use it all the time now!

 

[IronWing]

We bought a Whynter 2.1 quart ice cream maker and have made five batches so far. We chose the upright model because it takes less counter/storage space than the horizontal models and it comes with a stainless steel bowl while the other models come with aluminum bowls. I have no idea why the difference in bowls among models.

It is simple to use: add your ingredients, press power, select ice cream mode, and hit play. It is a bit loud with a compressor, churner, and fan. We measured 70 dB at the unit while churning. The bowl is big enough that you can start with two quarts of ingredients and they won't overflow the bowl when frozen though they will hit the locking lid. The unit has a timer and will ding when finished. It will also run the compressor for up to two hours after completion to keep the ice cream cold. The standard program is 60 minutes but our batches finished in about forty five minutes (we keep our fridge just above freezing which probably explains our short run times). The unit has thermal overload protection on the compressor and the churning motor. The ice cream is done when the churning motor kicks off. IMHO, the churning motor is a bit weak but also IMHO, all motors should be bigger. The compressor works very well.

The ice cream can be served straight from the unit but is a bit soft so moving it to the freezer to firm it up is a good idea. The creaminess of the ice cream depends on the ingredients and the more stuff that is added that isn't cream, the less creamy the ice cream will turn out (duh). We've tried both a simple ice cream base (cream, half and half, and sugar) and a cooked custard recipe and both turned out well. Adding fruit increases the water content and therefore decreases the fat content of the ice cream leading to a bit less creamy texture.

Clean up is easy but none of the parts are dishwasher safe.

I learned that, contrary to the instruction booklet, one should not pause the churning to add hard ingredients like nuts. As soon as the motor stops, ice crystals start growing and the motor has a hard time restarting.

 

[Kaido]

We bought a Whynter 2.1 quart ice cream maker and have made five batches so far. We chose the upright model because it takes less counter/storage space than the horizontal models and it comes with a stainless steel bowl while the other models come with aluminum bowls. I have no idea why the difference in bowls among models.

It is simple to use: add your ingredients, press power, select ice cream mode, and hit play. It is a bit loud with a compressor, churner, and fan. We measured 70 dB at the unit while churning. The bowl is big enough that you can start with two quarts of ingredients and they won't overflow the bowl when frozen though they will hit the locking lid. The unit has a timer and will ding when finished. It will also run the compressor for up to two hours after completion to keep the ice cream cold. The standard program is 60 minutes but our batches finished in about forty five minutes (we keep our fridge just above freezing which probably explains our short run times). The unit has thermal overload protection on the compressor and the churning motor. The ice cream is done when the churning motor kicks off. IMHO, the churning motor is a bit weak but also IMHO, all motors should be bigger. The compressor works very well.

The ice cream can be served straight from the unit but is a bit soft so moving it to the freezer to firm it up is a good idea. The creaminess of the ice cream depends on the ingredients and the more stuff that is added that isn't cream, the less creamy the ice cream will turn out (duh). We've tried both a simple ice cream base (cream, half and half, and sugar) and a cooked custard recipe and both turned out well. Adding fruit increases the water content and therefore decreases the fat content of the ice cream leading to a bit less creamy texture.

Clean up is easy but none of the parts are dishwasher safe.

I learned that, contrary to the instruction booklet, one should not pause the churning to add hard ingredients like nuts. As soon as the motor stops, ice crystals start growing and the motor has a hard time restarting.

View attachment 36694

I have a freezer-bowl model from Cuisinart. I'm fortunate to have a deep freezer & have the space to store the bowl 24/7, but I definitely plan on investing in a chiller model in the future. Once I got the hang of homemade ice cream, I got totally hooked. A few tips:

1. If you're not into Sous-Vide already, it makes creating custard bases (with eggs) sooooo convenient and soooo good!! The eggs cook perfectly & make the most ridiculous ice cream you've ever had lol.

2. Tupperware sells a horizontal tub that is PERFECT for scooping ice cream! $10 on Amazon:

https://www.amazon.com/Rubbermaid-FG7M7100CHILI-5-Cup-Food-Container/dp/B003BH0090

Got the idea from this article:

The Best Way to Store Ice Cream in Your Freezer

Whether you're buying ice cream from the grocery store or making it from scratch, there's a way to keep it at its creamy best and plenty of ways to go wrong. Here's the low-down.

sweets.seriouseats.com

3. There's a really good article on doing mix-ins here:

The Subtle Secrets to Making the Best Ice Cream Mix-Ins

Curious about the best chocolate chips for ice cream and how to make those pretty swirls? Welcome to the ultimate guide to mix-ins.

www.seriouseats.com

See my post here for more info:

Page 3 - Your current pet projects/hobbies?

Page 3 - Seeking answers? Join the AnandTech community: where nearly half-a-million members share solutions and discuss the latest tech.

forums.anandtech.com

Basically, using the long Tupperware container reduces the ice crystals (so your ice cream stays more creamy), makes it easy to swirl ingredients in because of the length & you can layer in the mix-ins, and makes scoop easier because you're doing a long pull, instead of a vertical dig into a pint jar, plus it softens at room temperature a little bit quicker, making it easier to scoop. I always have a few tubs of ice cream stored in my freezer! Old shot from the other thread but here's some chocolate ice cream with walnuts & brownie bites, just off the hook good lol:

 

[Kaido]

That's good to hear! One of my food goals this year is to get back into grinding my own flour. So many great reasons why...better nutrition, better flavor, food-storage, self-sufficiency, etc. (side note: I'm not a prepper, just lazy, so the more I can do at home with the less work required, the better! lol). I'm currently saving up for a MockMill 200:

https://breadtopia.com/store/mockmill-200-grain-mill/

I've been rolling around the idea of doing a "Bread-365" project, where I bake bread every single day for a year & document it on Instagram. I'm still learning the ins & outs of homemade sourdough right now, plus I need to try stuff like einkorn flour. I do a ton of projects with no-knead bread & have really branched out that concept into so many great dishes that I use on a regular basis - everything from incredible homemade pizza dough to delicious oven-baked baguettes. I never really envisioned myself being an amateur bread-baker, but the no-knead technique is so simple (literally a minute's worth of work to setup the dough) that I use it all the time now!

Update: I ended up getting the Professional 200 model (thank you stimulus check!). It. is. awesome. I've primarily used it for wheat flour, rice flour, and corn flour so far:

Mockmill Professional 200 Grain Mill

Out of stock. ETA ~ mid June. (ETA of orders placed prior to Feb 28 is mid Apr, ETA of orders placed from Feb 28 though Mar 27 is mid May)

breadtopia.com

It has a ridiculous 12-year warranty. Super simple to operate. I got some big sacks of wheat berry kernels (soft white, hard red, plus a couple other smaller bags of stuff like einkorn to play with. We have a small but growing subreddit:

Reddit - Dive into anything

www.reddit.com

Plus there are a few groups for home milling on Facebook. Particularly with the pandemic, when grocery stores were getting cleaned out, it was nice to have a decent home food storage supply that lasts for years & years dry, and could be milled daily as needed. The smell & flavor are pretty awesome as well! And it's fast enough to mill on the fly, as you can do 7 ounces per minute, so it only takes like 5 minutes to churn out a couple pounds of flour to use. I'm still learning how to bake with it, as it behaves differently than all-purpose flour, but it's been fun to play with so far!

The nice thing is how convenient it is. I have a 5-gallon pail of wheat berries under my IKEA prep table. I just scoop some into the machine, hit the button, and voila - fresh flour! It makes the whole process of milling nearly as effortless as just scooping AP flour out of a bag, just with one added step of waiting a few minutes for the berries to grind into flour. Crazy to think that you needed a whole windmill type of setup to do this stuff before!

 

[Kaido]

All appliances are welcome!



So, my history:

1. I started out on electric coils (standard oven with range top). Messy, slow, not a fan. Pain to clean up!

2. I upgraded to a cheap electric (not induction!) flat-top glass oven. Not a fan for a few reasons

1) The glass gets messy & is a pain to clean, so it requires constant maintenance to keep it looking nice.
2) The heat spreads throughout the glass, and the glass stays hot for a long time, both of which I don't care for.
3) It takes forever to heat up.

3. I then purchased an 1800-watt induction portable cooktop (hotplate):

1) The current model goes for about $160 on Amazon.
2) You can adjust the wattage as required (600, 900, 1200, and 1800 watts), like if you have a camper or something.
3) You can specifically adjust the temperature in 5-degree increments, with a max temp of 575F.
4) You can take it outside, which is what I use this model for - I cook a lot of food using sous-vide & searing stuff like steaks & burgers is a smokey process.
5) It requires magnet-friendly cookware; not all pots & skillets will work on it.
6) It heats up stupid quick.

4. I then purchased a 1500-watt "smart" induction hotplate:

1) The Tasty OneTop goes for $150 online.
2) Max temp of 450F (not the best for searing, but does an OK job)
3) It connects via Bluetooth to your phone, for precise temperature control
4) It has a temperature sensor in the middle of the cooktop, for precision control
5) It also has a plug-in probe, so you can precisely cook meat, or do sous-vide, or heat up oil to exactly the temperature you want
6) I use this one indoors, for everything I'd normally use my stovetop for, as well as for oil-frying

Personally, I rarely use more than one burner at a time in my cooking, so I have shifted all of my pot & pan use to the induction cooktops. I use the 1800w model outdoors for searing & the "smart" cooktop indoors for frying & skillet/pot-cooking. If I were to remodel my kitchen, I would do the following:

1) Remove the single electric oven & flat-top range
2) Put in dual electric wall ovens (550F max with self-cleaning)
3) Put an external ventilation system overhead of where the range was before
4) Replace that area with countertop (Dekton!)
5) Add some dedicated 20-amp circuits
6) Just use my appliances & plug-in induction cooktops

That's a pretty non-standard setup, but I'd like that a lot more than what's currently available.

@echo4747 - looping back to your question:

1. Induction is awesome
2. The prices have gotten more reasonable (Home Depot has stove/induction-top combo units in the $900 range, where they were previously $2,000 to $3.5k)
3. The glass flat-top requires regular maintenance to keep looking good
4. Make sure you have induction-compatible cookware (or else buy an induction disk)

My wife's family (Italian) prefers cooking on gas. I don't mind gas, I just find it messier (burners) & have found induction to be equally good in most respects. The one exception is when I'm doing indoor wok cooking, in which case I use a portable sub-$40 butane burner, which is also excellent to have on-hand for when there's a power outage:

https://www.amazon.com/Iwatani-Corporation-America-ZA-3HP-Portable/dp/B006H42TVG

So that's my approach...I use my Tasty OneTop indoors, plus a butane portable burner, and really love that setup. If I had to buy a replacement combo unit today, I'd probably spring for this $900 Frigidaire unit:

https://www.homedepot.com/p/Frigida...ge-Proof-Stainless-Steel-FGIF3036TF/302580321

If I were going to spring for an amazing unit, I'd go with this Samsung model, which has the dual-oven technology, plus the cool Virtual Flame tech on the induction burners: (ignore MSRP, it's a good grand cheaper online)

https://www.samsung.com/us/home-app...tion-range-with-flex-duo-oven-ne58h9970ws-aa/

For anyone looking, the plug-in induction hot plate from Tasty, the OneTop, is on sale for $99:

Tasty - Food videos and recipes

The official home of all things Tasty, the world’s largest food network. Search, watch, and cook every single Tasty recipe and video ever - all in one place!

www.tastyonetop.com

Key features:

1. Plug-in portable induction hotplate. Nice for a fast heater in the kitchen or for using outdoors where your food would otherwise smoke out your kitchen.
2. Has a temp sensor on the bottom so you can set your pan temp precisely
3. Has a plug-in needle probe for doing meat, water (sous-vide), and oil (deep-frying)
4. You can use non-induction cookware with a third-party hob ($20 on Amazon)

 

[Kaido]

I have a separate thread on it, but Anova came out with a mini Combi oven:

Meet my $600 toaster oven

TL,DR: This is a cool new oven that (1) automates cooking to (2) give you perfect results. It's expensive, but 100% worth it if you want to save money by cooking at home & eat delicious food all the time without really trying. This is an Easy Bake Oven for Adults lol. This is basically Sous...

forums.anandtech.com

Website:

Anova Precision™ Oven 2.0

The updated Anova Precision™ Oven 2.0 is our smartest appliance yet — totally remade from the inside out to help you cook like a pro. With new features like integrated cooking guides and food recognition, what you put into this oven will come out perfect, every single time.

anovaculinary.com

It is a very high-end multi-function device:

1. It does sous-vide. You don't need a bag nor a water bath (uses precision steam). You can also do turbo sous-vide because it has a probe & can check the temperature inside the meat!
2. It does airfrying. Largest countertop airfryer I'm aware of.
3. It does dehydrating, as well as proofing, yogurt, etc.
4. It does baking, convection baking, and steam-injected baking. Steam-injection is phenomenal for baked goods, especially bread!
5. It acts as a warming drawer, which is really handy for the holidays.
6. It's the best reheating system I've ever used. You can set it to say 140F at 100% humidity for TV dinners, frozen foods, leftovers, etc, including bread items like cinnamon rolls!

This has beat out the Instapot as my favorite kitchen appliances. I call it the Future Oven & imo everyone on the planet needs one. I have a longer post here on it:

https://www.reddit.com/r/productivity/comments/kell7l/_/ggnw388

 

[Kaido]

This is the Opal nugget ice maker:

https://firstbuild.com/products/opal/

I'm sure there's a post around here somewhere, but here's my latest review:

1. The Opal is stupid expensive. We need to get that out of the way first. I got it on cheaper on Kickstarter, but it's currently $500 retail. Regular standalone ice makers go for about $90 on Amazon. However, that price is relative to buying a commercial nugget ice maker. Scott's nugget ice machine is the famous one (Sonic ice) & goes for $4,000. You can sometimes find used pellet ice machines on eBay (ex. a Hoshizaki from a hospital) for under $2,000, but the Opal is actually designed for home use, so it's a better place to put your money (that is, if you're going to go big & actually spend the money). This is one of my few "luxury items" that I own (some people buy Porsches...I bought a nugget ice machine. lol).

2. It is a really excellent machine. It makes soft pellet ice, meaning you can chew it. My family loves it. Great for teething babies. Great for cold ice. Great for cold water, cold drinks, making wannabe slushies, etc. I don't even know how many pounds of ice we go through in a day, but it's a lot! My family brings giant cups every time they visit so they can fill up lol. It's exactly like the Sonic ice, although at this point I'd say a bit better because it's easier to chew, if you like to chew ice.

3. If you are particular about things, you will love this machine. I hesitate to say picky because that doesn't have the right connotation. By particular I mean that you appreciate small, seemingly insignificant things. In this case, the Opal ice gets your water down to perfect sippable temperature in like 30 seconds. It's like the most refreshing drink you'll ever drink. One of my big health goals was to drink more water and this machine makes it easy because ever single sip is refreshing. If you're not a 'particular' person, then that whole paragraph sounds crazy, but I don't mean it in an OCD way. It's like when you drink an ice-cold Aquafina or Dasani on a hot day or after an intense workout and it's just aaaaaaaamazing when you drink it (vs. like a store-brand water bottle that just tastes like plastic). The Opal makes your water like that every. single. time. I'm drinking one right now in fact, hahaha.

4. Corn syrup-based sodas work better in it because the ice melts more quickly than regular large ice cubes. Not that it disappears entirely quickly, but the water mixes in faster & dilutes the flavor. My favorite soda is probably those glass-bottled Mexican Sprites made with real sugar, but they get too watered-down, so the regular plastic-bottle corn syrup American versions work better.

5. It has a refill basin that you fill up manually. I moved it to the left of my sink. I have a sprayer head in my kitchen sink, so I just pull on it, aim it in the basin, and fill it up. I have to refill it several times a day; I wish they made an attachment kit. Not a biggie because it's routine now, but that would be more convenient.

6. Cleaning is easy, you can put it into cleaning mode via the smartphone app (yes, it has a smartphone app). Just run a little bit of bleach through it & drain it, and use a clean, soft sponge to wipe up the basin & ice jar. No maintenance other than that.

7. It is noisy. Which is semi-okay because it lives in my kitchen, but I mean, it's almost like having a swamp cooler in the other room, in terms of noise. It becomes background noise eventually.

8. We have a bunch of double-insulated vacuum-sealed cups (Ozark from Walmart, they're exact YETI knockoffs for waaaaaay cheaper). They keep the ice from melting all day. I have a 20oz tumbler for drinking, $7 at Walmart:

https://www.walmart.com/ip/Ozark-Trail-20-Ounce-Double-Wall-Vacuum-Sealed-Tumbler/178742177

I also have a 64oz I use for refills, $15 at Walmart:

https://www.walmart.com/ip/Ozark-Trail-Double-Wall-Stainless-Steel-Water-Bottle/131683847

I fill both with ice & water before I leave for work. I also keep a 30oz in my car, $10 at Walmart:

https://www.walmart.com/ip/Ozark-Trail-30-Ounce-Double-Wall-Vacuum-Sealed-Tumbler/171452737

It actually makes you look forward to water because you have great nugget ice which keeps the water temp perfect & cups that keep the ice from melting. Again, that sounds awfully specific, but I like it & it helps me drink a lot of water during the day. I had a standalone ice machine before that, and while it worked perfectly, it just didn't do it for me...the ice was just meh. That sounds extremely first-world problemish, lol. My current fridge has an ice maker, which makes giant ice that slips down & hits you in the nose when you drink from your cup, plus even with a new carbon filter, it just makes the water taste bad, so tap water + Opal nugget ice wins out for me.

The TL;DR is that it's expensive but awesome. Be aware that it is enormous, heavy, has to be refilled manually, and is noisy. But none of that will matter because you have glorious nugget ice on demand

A couple updates on the ice maker:

1. Still going strong after 3+ years! Still my family's favorite appliance.

2. They sell a side water tank for it now, which makes refilling it MUCH easier.

3. They're on version 2.0 now:

Opal Nugget Ice Makers: Chewable Ice at Home | GE Appliances

Explore GE Profile’s Opal Nugget Ice Maker models & have the ice you love to chew at home! Make 24 lbs. per day of soft, nugget ice at a countertop price.

www.geappliances.com

The price is higher now due to the side tank ($550 to $600). Best Buy has it:

https://www.bestbuy.com/site/ge-profile-opal-2-0-24-lb-portable-ice-maker-with-nugget-ice-production-and-wifi-stainless-steel/6408648.p?skuId=6408648

The original unit has over 4,000 reviews, with an average rating of 4.5 stars:

https://www.amazon.com/GE-Profile-Countertop-Nugget-Maker/dp/B07YF9SGBW/

Very solid unit! 100% worth it if you like nugget ice. I keep a coaster everywhere I sit, along with a giant tumblr, handle, and straw, and it's done a great job of preventing me from getting dehydrating during the day because I actually look forward to drinking my ice-cold, delicious water haha!