What is your favorite kitchen gizmo?

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Not an appliance, not a kitchen necessity. But what one item have you bought because you just had to have it, others might consider it frivolous, and yet you use it enough to justify the space it takes up in your kitchen.

Years ago, neighbors up the street would hold a New Year's Eve party each year. I'd usually head over early to help Kacey set up. One year she had me slice cheese for crackers. When I told her there was no guarantee that they'd be evenly sliced, she produced a marble cheese slicer. I was gob-smacked. Had to have one. Hunted it down in a little kitchen shop in Kittery, MA years ago. Himself likes to call it our cheese guillotine. :LOL:

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Tomorrow I might think of a different "favorite", but for today this is my pick. What kitchen gizmo is on your favorites list?
 
Probably that battery operated can opener - opens the lid without sharp edges. I just set it on top of a can, wiggle it in place, hit the button, and go about something else I'm doing. The sound changes when it's done, and I turn it off, and remove the lid. It's a little thing that goes back in the drawer when done.
 
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I think mine would be this. I use it often for olives, mushrooms, strawberries, cherry tomatoes, HB eggs. This is high quality metal with very sharp blades that really do the job right. No, that's not my hand with the hair all over it. :rolleyes:
 

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I didn't exactly buy it, but I asked for it for Christmas. A sous vide circulator.`I've had a great time cooking different things and finding what I like and don't like. The best chicken breasts I've ever cooked. A perfectly cooked NY strip that was out of this world.
 

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I think mine would be this. I use it often for olives, mushrooms, strawberries, cherry tomatoes, HB eggs. This is high quality metal with very sharp blades that really do the job right. No, that's not my hand with the hair all over it. :rolleyes:

Do you have a link? :angel::chef:
 
At the moment it is an electric tea kettle. But we all have colds LOL.

My favorite changes with the need.
 
Not an appliance, not a kitchen necessity. But what one item have you bought because you just had to have it, others might consider it frivolous, and yet you use it enough to justify the space it takes up in your kitchen.

Years ago, neighbors up the street would hold a New Year's Eve party each year. I'd usually head over early to help Kacey set up. One year she had me slice cheese for crackers. When I told her there was no guarantee that they'd be evenly sliced, she produced a marble cheese slicer. I was gob-smacked. Had to have one. Hunted it down in a little kitchen shop in Kittery, MA years ago. Himself likes to call it our cheese guillotine. :LOL:

2190nYf%2BI6L.jpg


Tomorrow I might think of a different "favorite", but for today this is my pick. What kitchen gizmo is on your favorites list?
I have used a cheese guillotine in Denmark. My mum had one. It worked perfectly. I have bought two here in Montreal and both of them were useless. One from a store and one from a garage sale. One of them, the wire wouldn't stay tight through enough to cut even one slice of cheese and I think the other one was too wobbly.

I'm glad yours works well. I wasn't just remembering wrong.
 
I like this little meat mallet. it’s nothing special but works great. I like the handle type verses the others straight up and down ones.

I had seen one a long many years ago on a cooking show and it took me 4 years or so to find one pre-internet days.
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I like this little meat mallet. it’s nothing special but works great. I like the handle type verses the others straight up and down ones.

I had seen one a long many years ago on a cooking show and it took me 4 years or so to find one pre-internet days.
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I have one exactly like yours and LOVE it. Works so well and I use it often.
 
Katie, no kitchen necessities! I'm pretty sure you really need to have knives in a well-run kitchen.

Now, if I know you well enough, I bet your favorite gizmo is the little pigtail turner you wax eloquently about every once in a while. You could cook well enough without it, but why? ;)
 
I had to think about this for a bit, as there are some obvious items that we use every day, like knives, cutting boards, pans, etc.

The one item that changed my cooking is an instant read thermometer. The Thermo Pop gets used all the time. I don't know I cooked without it, especially grilling. I'll probably upgrade to a Thermapen.

Another item that has been very useful is the Time Stick Trio, which is three timers small enough to hang on your neck with a lanyard. I can't hear a timer in the kitchen from the other end of the house, so this gives me the freedom to wander around. When I make bread I have one timer in count up mode, and another on count down with an alarm when the lid of the dutch oven needs to come off. I'll set another alarm for when the bread is about done. It's also handy for grilling, so I know when to check the temperature.

We inherited one of those marble cheese slicers, which works quite well. Usually only use it when entertaining, though.
 
Tenspeed reminded me about thermometers. I love my

1) instant read Thermapen.
2) I often use my ChefAlarm, also from ThermoWorks. The alarm is loud enough that I can hear it all over my house. It has a temperature probe and will sound at a high and/or low temperature and also works as a timer.
3) my dough scraper. I use it mostly for scooping up chopped vegis.

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I'd say my silicone baking mats. I've been baking and roasting a lot and I've always hated throwing away so much parchment paper and aluminum foil and these prevent that waste. I now have five the size of a half sheet pan and two the size of a quarter sheet pan. I got the original Silpat several years ago - it cost $25. When I wanted to get more, I found much less expensive ones on Amazon - two half sheet and one quarter sheet for less than $18. The brand is Silchef.

Wow, they've gone down in price - now $13.97 for the set.
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I'd say my silicone baking mats. I've been baking and roasting a lot and I've always hated throwing away so much parchment paper and aluminum foil and these prevent that waste. I now have five the size of a half sheet pan and two the size of a quarter sheet pan. I got the original Silpat several years ago - it cost $25. When I wanted to get more, I found much less expensive ones on Amazon - two half sheet and one quarter sheet for less than $18. The brand is Silchef.

Wow, they've gone down in price - now $13.97 for the set.
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I hear ya. That has always annoyed me too. I found some black grill mats for quite cheap and I use those a lot in the oven. I also have some silicone mats I got at Dollarama, but they stain. The black ones might stain, but it doesn't show. :mrgreen:
 
My long out of production Reynold's Handi-Vac handheld vacuum sealer and bags. I use these pricey bags more sparingly now. Bacon, cheeses, salami slices, items that don't get consumed so often. Reynolds stopped making the bags, but Ziplock's bags are still around.
I'll never go back to countertop vacuum sealers.

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Having disposed of most everything when I left Cali, I have to think hard about favorite gizmos...

I did buy a Food Saver hand vac and I brought my assortment of micro-planes, etc., but I don't really think of any of that to be gizmos..

I suppose I no longer have any.. :ermm:

Ross
 
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