Your Top 5 Favorite Kitchen Appliances and Why

[CraKaJaX]

That is EXACTLY why I got the dehydrator. I hated how everything dehydrated at the store has sugar in it. I also hated their limited selection, as some of the stuff they don't offer (dried pears, dried pineapple) are amazing.

When I learned once I had one with a variable temp like the Excalibur is that different temperatures product different results, and you can end up with something much better than the store has. My cinnamon apple chips are as crunchy as any potato chip you will eat, its delicious.

Just ordered the dehydrator. Send me any and all recipes! Or is it just as simple as slicing the fruit and putting it in the drawers? I know that there are some variations I've seen at Trader Joe's of dried fruit... Like the Spicy Chili Dried Mangos. I've never had them though. I'm excited to try out jerky as well.

 

[Kaido]

Just ordered the dehydrator. Send me any and all recipes! Or is it just as simple as slicing the fruit and putting it in the drawers? I know that there are some variations I've seen at Trader Joe's of dried fruit... Like the Spicy Chili Dried Mangos. I've never had them though. I'm excited to try out jerky as well.

Note that they add sugar to the regular mango pack you get. They make 3 kinds:

1. Plain
2. Sugared
3. Chili

The plain ones are like shoe leather, not worth buying imo. The chili ones are pretty good for a change of pace, but my favorite is the sugared ones. I believe they add both sugar & mango juice to the mangos themselves, which is how they get them to be both sweet & soft. I'm not sure of their process, however...maybe they dip the mango slices in sugar & then soak them in mango juice after dehydrating, I dunno.

 

[Kaido]

I hadn't received a response on the other thread (http://forums.anandtech.com/showpost.php?p=38161350&postcount=6) about this particular recipe, so I'll ask it here:

With the 1 cup of water that's added, does the liquid in the IP double (or maybe triple) once the pork is cooked?

Missed that thread! Hmm, that's a good question. So pressure cookers require liquid to operate (that's how they pressurize), which is why you need the extra water (one cup, in this case). A quick google says that you need 320ml (around 10.8oz) as the minimum liquid in any Instant Pot for recipes to turn out well; subtracting the moisture from the meat, she uses one cup (8oz) to fill in the difference. I can confirm that her recipe works awesome.

For this particular recipe, you're basically sauteeing bacon, then pressure-cooking the pork, and lastly, quickly pressure-cooking the cabbage. You do end up with quite a bit of liquid at the end...I take the meat out & shred it with my Bear Claws, then chop up the cabbage into big chunks, then chuck the remaining liquid & leftovers from the IP bowl.

I would definitely suggest adding liquid smoke to her recipe, that's really the only thing that I felt like it was missing (assuming you like the smoke flavor - I do ). I always recommend starting out with the base recipe & then modifying from there, but if you already have a wet rub you use, you might want to try that out first, and maybe put the pork on the little wireframe rack that comes with the IP (I just dump the water right on top of mine, but I only use that red salt she recommends).

 

[PenguinPower]

IP arrived today. Tested it out with some hard boiled eggs. They came out perfect and peeling them was much easier than with my standard boiling method. I have a feeling I'll be using this to cook dinner every night this week...have to find some recipes.

 

[Muse]

Muse, have you thought of going to the hardware store with the image? I mean, those things are standardized, it's gotta exist in some other form in the US.

This occurred to me yesterday. I could take the bottom section of the coffee maker and also the extra pressure release valve I have. There's a pretty big hardware store that may well have it. It's one idea. I got another idea today, being to go to a really big recycling outfit here. I'm sure they have some old stove top espresso makers and I could bring a small crescent wrench and actually try the valves in mine. Chances are the valve would work!

Meantime, I'm waiting on the Italian website I emailed in English yesterday, hoping/figuring someone there has English skills.

 

[Muse]

IP arrived today. Tested it out with some hard boiled eggs. They came out perfect and peeling them was much easier than with my standard boiling method. I have a feeling I'll be using this to cook dinner every night this week...have to find some recipes.

IP = ?

I've given up on hard boiled eggs. Peeling them drives me nuts 3/4 of the time. Instead, I drop a cracked egg on a lightly greased hot griddle, break the yolk, turn after a minute and then slice it in pieces. Been doing that for over 6 months.

Garlic bread, naan, baguettes, egg rolls, tortillas, taco shells, chicken strips, reheating pizza, toasted sammiches... Whatev else sounds good. Just heat the oven and toss it on there. Only thing I don't put on there is fish.

Eh, I rarely use my oven these days. Today I did, to make cookies. All that other stuff, it's my toaster oven. Oven takes too long, uses too much gas. I even heat my tortillas before making burritos in my toaster oven, did tonight. Used to heat on a stove top griddle. That's too much fuss.

 

[Xstatic1]

Missed that thread! Hmm, that's a good question. So pressure cookers require liquid to operate (that's how they pressurize), which is why you need the extra water (one cup, in this case). A quick google says that you need 320ml (around 10.8oz) as the minimum liquid in any Instant Pot for recipes to turn out well; subtracting the moisture from the meat, she uses one cup (8oz) to fill in the difference. I can confirm that her recipe works awesome.

For this particular recipe, you're basically sauteeing bacon, then pressure-cooking the pork, and lastly, quickly pressure-cooking the cabbage. You do end up with quite a bit of liquid at the end...I take the meat out & shred it with my Bear Claws, then chop up the cabbage into big chunks, then chuck the remaining liquid & leftovers from the IP bowl.

I would definitely suggest adding liquid smoke to her recipe, that's really the only thing that I felt like it was missing (assuming you like the smoke flavor - I do ). I always recommend starting out with the base recipe & then modifying from there, but if you already have a wet rub you use, you might want to try that out first, and maybe put the pork on the little wireframe rack that comes with the IP (I just dump the water right on top of mine, but I only use that red salt she recommends).

I really like this idea! :thumbsup::biggrin: I'll report back my results.

 

[notposting]

Since definitions weren't clearly defined, and seem to range from classic "appliances" all the down to "gadgets" so far, I'll just put a few things I've been happy with lately.

KitchenAid mixer. Finally got one for BF14, cheap, and have put it to good use. It's the super basic 4.5 qt descendant of the classic Hobart/KA models, reliability shouldn't be a problem there.

Thermapen. Fast and accurate.

Anova Precision circulator (x3). Use a few times a week at least. Usually have one loaned spreading the good cooking word. Have one permanently mounted in a beer cooler with a hole cutout in the lid for it. Heat up time and heat retention vastly improved.

Cuisinart DLC-8S food processor, picked it up this last winter. Again, nothing fancy but about as close to indestructible as you can find.

Chest freezer. Holds a lot of frozen stuff?

Freezing stuff like bread/roll/pizza dough, spaghetti/marinara sauce, berries from the yard to turn into jam later, etc.

Honorable mention to the dishwasher. The third rack is amazing. Pack the hell out of that thing.

 

[pcgeek11]

1. Wife
2. Coffee Pot
3. Microwave

 

[Carson Dyle]

Thermapen. Fast and accurate.

I've been meaning to get a similar fast-read digital thermometer. Are there cheaper alternatives to the Thermapen?

Honorable mention to the dishwasher. The third rack is amazing. Pack the hell out of that thing.

Living alone, I seldom even use my dishwasher. It takes me a week to fill with dishes, glass and silverware, but I can't let the pots and pans go unwashed or I have no pots and pans. So I just do everything by hand, which takes only a few minutes a day.

 

[ControlD]

I've been meaning to get a similar fast-read digital thermometer. Are there cheaper alternatives to the Thermapen?

Take a look at the Thermopop (same company). It reads very fast, just not "instantly" like the Thermapen. I use mine all the time and it works really well. I get a "close" reading within a couple of seconds and a stable reading in about five. Just don't buy it from Amazon because for whatever reason it sells for something like 3x the price there right now.

http://www.thermoworks.com/products/low_cost/thermopop.html

 

[Kaido]

Anova Precision circulator (x3). Use a few times a week at least. Usually have one loaned spreading the good cooking word. Have one permanently mounted in a beer cooler with a hole cutout in the lid for it. Heat up time and heat retention vastly improved.

Seriously, we should get commissions off selling these things Perfectly-cooked steak, pork chops, and chicken breast, every single time. imo this should be a stock item in everyone's kitchen due to the consistent & convenient results...I've seen people who "don't know how to cook" be very successful with the Anova because there's no skill required. One of my coworkers has really put it to good use...chicken wings, chicken thighs, lobster, ribs, etc. It's one of those things that once you get the time, temperature, and any recipe prep down (spices, sauces, etc.), it's virtually bulletproof from then on out :thumbsup:

 

[Kaido]

Take a look at the Thermopop (same company). It reads very fast, just not "instantly" like the Thermapen. I use mine all the time and it works really well. I get a "close" reading within a couple of seconds and a stable reading in about five. Just don't buy it from Amazon because for whatever reason it sells for something like 3x the price there right now.

http://www.thermoworks.com/products/low_cost/thermopop.html

There's actually a super-cool knockoff I use from Lavatools:

http://www.amazon.com/Lavatools-Javelin-Digital-Thermometer-Chipotle/dp/B00GRFHXVQ

4-second read time. They have a Pro model for $50 that drops it down to 3 seconds:

http://www.amazon.com/Lavatools-Javelin-Digital-Thermometer-Chipotle/dp/B00NMQGAT4

But hey, for $25, I can live with an extra second! :awe:

 

[Carson Dyle]

Does anyone here have a "coffee vault" or something like it?

http://www.amazon.com/Friis-16-Ounce-Coffee-Vault-Stainless/dp/B001V9VDP0

I was looking for something in which to keep coffee on my counter and came across these. The thing that distinguishes them from just a simple airtight canister is a one-way valve, like a bag of coffee from the supermarket has. Now, it's not the presence of the valve that has me scratching my head, but the sales pitches. In that product listing it's this:

"One Year of Friis Freshness Valves included, to vent freshness damaging CO2 gases"

Now unless my understanding of basic gas laws is really off, there's no way the valve is going to expel the "freshness damaging CO2". CO2 may be vented, but it's still going to fill the air space in the canister, no matter what. The only thing the valve will do is prevent the canister from blowing up when the coffee expels CO2 (which freshly brewed coffee beans will do).

 

[CraKaJaX]

There's actually a super-cool knockoff I use from Lavatools:

http://www.amazon.com/Lavatools-Javelin-Digital-Thermometer-Chipotle/dp/B00GRFHXVQ

4-second read time. They have a Pro model for $50 that drops it down to 3 seconds:

http://www.amazon.com/Lavatools-Javelin-Digital-Thermometer-Chipotle/dp/B00NMQGAT4

But hey, for $25, I can live with an extra second! :awe:

Thanks for making me buy something else for the kitchen. You'll be receiving a hefty bill in the mail from me one of these days. I can finally get rid of my analog thermometer though......

 

[Kaido]

Thanks for making me buy something else for the kitchen. You'll be receiving a hefty bill in the mail from me one of these days. I can finally get rid of my analog thermometer though......

FYI, it has a magnet built-in so you can stick it on the side of your fridge

 

[CraKaJaX]

Does anyone here have a "coffee vault" or something like it?

http://www.amazon.com/Friis-16-Ounce-Coffee-Vault-Stainless/dp/B001V9VDP0

I was looking for something in which to keep coffee on my counter and came across these. The thing that distinguishes them from just a simple airtight canister is a one-way valve, like a bag of coffee from the supermarket has. Now, it's not the presence of the valve that has me scratching my head, but the sales pitches. In that product listing it's this:

"One Year of Friis Freshness Valves included, to vent freshness damaging CO2 gases"

Now unless my understanding of basic gas laws is really off, there's no way the valve is going to expel the "freshness damaging CO2". CO2 may be vented, but it's still going to fill the air space in the canister, no matter what. The only thing the valve will do is prevent the canister from blowing up when the coffee expels CO2 (which freshly brewed coffee beans will do).

I was always skeptical of these things. It seems to me that it's just marketing BS. When I buy a new bag of beans, I open them up and dump them into an airtight glass container. Zero problems with it. I doubt if you gave me two week old beans to grind from the glass container vs the coffee vault, I wouldn't be able to tell the difference. That's probably true for 99.8% of people.

 

[ultimatebob]

The butter crock is a most important kitchen gadget. I want my butter to be soft and spreadable without getting rancid, dammit!

 

[NetWareHead]

The butter crock is a most important kitchen gadget. I want my butter to be soft and spreadable without getting rancid, dammit!

We have cats so a butter crock is an impossibility in our house. Found out after 3 broken butter crocks. Cats would bat the thing off of the counter. Eat all the butter on the floor. Otherwise Id love to have one.

We had this one that fits upside down and uses a water seal to stop the butter from going rancid: http://www.chowhound.com/blog-media/2015/02/525326f7697ab0619f00bb83._w.460_h.234_s.fit_.jpg

 

[Carson Dyle]

We have cats so a butter crock is an impossibility in our house. Found out after 3 broken butter crocks. Cats would bat the thing off of the counter. Eat all the butter on the floor. Otherwise Id love to have one.

You couldn't put the thing in a cupboard?

How long does it take butter to get rancid if left unrefrigerated?

 

[CZroe]

I probably don't even have five kitchen appliances unless you start counting appendages.

#1 - Right hand; does most everything, especially involving utensils.
#2 - Left hand; does less with utensils, packaging, and surfaces so stays clean for things that require a sanitary hand directly in contact with food.
#3 - My nose which I use to evaluate so many parts without touching/tasting.
#4 - You don't want to eat food I prepared because there's another useful appendage I have yet to mention.
#5 - My phone because it gets me food even when I fail in the kitchen.

 

[s0me0nesmind1]

2. Omega J8006 Juicer- I use this to make fresh cold pressed green juice for my consumption, which has really helped my testosterone levels. It is only single masticating so it isn’t perfect, but it blows away any centrifugal juicer for greens.

What do you typically juice? I've honestly never heard of veggies/fruits that increase testosterone.

 

[SlitheryDee]

She will be when you start cooking :awe:

This is one of my favorite IP recipes - Kalua Pig:

http://nomnompaleo.com/post/111934821818/pressure-cooker-kalua-pig

Side note, here's an interesting article about pressure-cooking veggies straight-up rather than steaming them in the IP:

http://www.theveggiequeen.com/2015/10/14/to-steam-or-not-to-steam/

Did you get all of the accessories you need for your Anova? You don't need a bucket with a lid, just a food-safe water bin that is large enough for what you want to cook. Plus something to keep the food down in case it floats up. I use ziploc bags the most (should be using my vacuum sealer more often but ziplocs are so convenient haha).

Because they are both weird appliances, I would suggest making a list of things to try & master in each device. For the Anova, I recommend mastering steak & chicken first. For the Instant Pot, start out with the Kalua Pig recipe above to get a feel for it. I've had my IP for a year & two and I learn new things on it all the time, it's a really incredible device :thumbsup:

Just ordered the bluetooth enabled instant pot. Gonna try that kalua pig recipe the day it comes in.
http://forums.anandtech.com//www.pinterest.com/pin/create/extension/

 

[NetWareHead]

You couldn't put the thing in a cupboard?

How long does it take butter to get rancid if left unrefrigerated?

You underestimate our cats' abilities. A great sense of smell combined with abilities that can open doors and pull on the cabinet handles. The fridge is the only safe place for most food. Only thing we can stoore in cabinets is food they dont care about.

Never had rancid butter. We finish it in a few weeks and I guess not enough time for it to spoil. You do have to be careful when putting your knife into the butter crock to not introduce crumbs etc... into the butter. That will lead to mold etc... and the thing is sitting outside unfrigerated. You also have to change the water frequently. We change it every 2-3 days.

 

[notposting]

Re: dishwasher - definitely something more useful with some kids...

Butter crocks: we have three currently. Cycle through them, butter only lasts a few days at most before we are on to the next stick...

Good quick scale: started using for baking relatively recently. Also worked out weights on our own recipes so now they are infinitely foolproof (but not wife proof :hmm: ) and repeatable. Less mess, faster...