Which appliance purchase was your worst mistake?

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Half Baked

Executive Chef
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Jul 16, 2006
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Mine was the Vita-Mix.

I imagined making all kinds of hot soups, right in the container. I thought I'd be grinding my own wheat/corn whatever and making bread dough in the container.

I thought I'd make wonderful juices and get the vitamins that would normally not come in a carton.

I'd be making my own ground meats.

Well, I use the container to carry water to my dogs' bowls.

Everything is ground so much that I don't like it. The juice or soup is waaaay too foamy and not enjoyable. I tried daiquiris and the ice has to be chopped so fine that it is melted (hard to explain).

That was my $550 mistake.:mad: http://www.vitamix.com/

I prefer my blender.
 
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I don't have many major appliances. I once got an electric hot water pot that I never use, and a handheld mixer/blender thing that I don't use either.
 
mudbug said:
Well, I never bought a rice cooker but got one for a present once and never used it.
Regift! Want to trade for a hot water pot?

Hey, how bout a gadget swap area for DC?!?
 
ya know, vagriller, we used to have some kind of trade/store thread thing I think, but it didn't get visited much.

geebs, Andy, or jenny (since you guys are online), am I wrong?
 
Kitchen Aid gas stove - $1600 + tax from Sears, junk, they've stoped making it since it is such junk, but now I'm stock with it, for who knows how much longer. Can't wait the day when i could afford to remodale my kitchen and get something new.
 
A bread machine was my worst. I'd never been able to make a decent loaf of bread, and thought for sure I could do it with a bread machine. But I still couln't get my bread to turn out right, and after I used it 3-4 times, that durned motor burned up.
The company replaced it, but by then I'd given up on bread, and I gave that one to my daughter.
 
Exhaust hood for the stove/oven.

Real estate is of a premium in my kitchen. Counter space is extremely limited. When I purchased a new oven, I had to buy a new exhaust hood. I wanted to buy one with the microwave built in, but was talked out of it. (I hate hate hate when that happens). Now, I have an exhaust hood that does nothing but light the stove and pull out a bit of smoke. The microwave I would have sent with my son to college mocks me as it takes up half a counter, rarely being used.
 
Vera brings up a subject I was just thinking about last night (probably should be in a separate post, but oh well)

Those of you who have a microwave over your stove, where does all the smoke/grease from the stovetop go? On the underside of the microwave?
 
Kenmore digital stove.. I thought it was so neat, the digital clock and digital dials, but when the digital part broke, it cost more to repair the digital computer thingy, then the total price of the stove.. so had to just throw it away, and start over.
 
mudbug said:
Those of you who have a microwave over your stove, where does all the smoke/grease from the stovetop go? On the underside of the microwave?

Over-the-stove microwaves have a built-in exhaust fan and a filter screen. They're supposed to be vented to the outside, but many installers skip that step, as I discovered when we decided to move about two years ago.

We spent a lot of time looking at houses, and naturally the kitchen was a focal point for us. A couple of the houses we looked at had a microwave over the stove, so I turned on the exhaust fan to check it. I felt no suction at all on one, and another was blowing air in my face. Checking further, I was shocked to discover there was NO exhaust pipe to the outside. Both of these were in newly remolded kitchens.

I asked the real estate agents about that. One said that the owner had not installed an exhaust pipe because it was too difficult to route it around the upstairs rooms -- so there was no exhaust at all.

The other agent was more creative -- she claimed it was a "recirculating exhaust"! I replied, "So it sucks up the smoke and hot exhaust from the stove and blows it in my face?" For some reason she didn't talk to me much after that.
 
A tappan stove. We had problems from the first week and the repairmen could never keep it repaired. All electrical problems.
 
mudbug said:
Thanks, FryBoy. Kind of what I suspected.

I've already got enough surfaces to clean without adding this one.

They may be fine, if installed correctly. However, I question whether they would be adequate for an adventurous cook. I need a good hood to vent the cooktop when I make things that really pour out the smoke, like pan-broiled steaks and wok cooking, and things that can be pretty odorous, like fish.
 
Coffee pots-----name the brand and I've had problems---they are NOT made to last especially anything by Black and Decker. That company has really gone downhill in quality as far as I'm concerned. Finally I bought a "no-frills" Cuisinart pot and so far it's hanging in there.
 
FryBoy said:
They're supposed to be vented to the outside, but many installers skip that step, as I discovered when we decided to move about two years ago. quote]

The house I moved into has a hood over the stove that shoots the air back into the kitchen. I choke when I'm trying to really sear meat and the smoke is blowing in my face.:mad:
 
MY wife....KIDDING, KIDDING!

I would have to say, the little plastic scraper thingy I was given, to scrape things up I guess. It is like a little dough knife, and useless to me at home or work.
 
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