List Those Gadgets That You Thought Were Great, But Now Gathering Dust?

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Shining Wizard

Shining Wizard

Head Chef
Joined
Apr 12, 2023
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1,953
Location
Australia
I’ll start:

Vacuum seal machine.
MrJade knows how much I love my cooking, so his specialty eyes are always on the lookout for bargains.
He bought me a vacuum sealer machine and I used it for a while, but I found that sealing my food was almost as much effort as cooking it.

Egg Poacher
Another MrJade - but I have never used. It’s basically a saucepan with a thing on top where you break the eggs into little slots, with simmering water underneath in the saucepan. Works brilliantly, but so does a pan of rolling boil water.

There are so many other things going to coal in my cupboard - share yours?
 
I've worn out two vacuum sealers in 20 years, I'm on my third one now. I use mine that much.

My parents gave me their pasta roller thing. I've had it three years, and have never used it.

CD
 
Fish poacher. Bought this 20 years ago and used it once, lol.

The basic problem is it's size. The amount of poaching liquid needed is more than I would ever use for the amount of fish I normally need to cook so I poach in a smaller pan.

20220213_113005.jpg
 
@pictonguy You can use it one more time - next summer with the 'guy's weekend'. Feature "from the sea" and do a whole pike/salmon/whatever catches your fancy.
I actually wanted to buy one, once upon a time. But other than my BIL no one was really into fish. Funniest part is I'm not particularly into fish myself!

I once bought a Star Frit Onion Blossom gadget - don't even know where it is. It just sat in the cupboard for years - never used it once.
 
There's really too many to mention, but I'd have to say the most useless appliance I ever bought was a juicer. I pitched it out years ago because I was sick of it taking up space. I was also gifted a rotisserie oven that I never used. And I still have a stand mixer, complete with all the parts to grind your own meat, sitting in its original box on the floor of the store room. I have no idea what to do with the thing, especially since I never really bake, nor do I have the desire to grind my own meats.

Believe it or not, I also have an air fryer I never use. Mostly because it's too small to fit much food in there. But I have used it a few times for hot dogs. Air-fried hot dogs are pretty darn good and almost taste like they've been on the grill.

As for little non-electric gadgets, I have several of them for different things. Some of them I use often and some of them not so much. But they're there if I need them on that rare occasion I run across a situation that calls for them.
 
I foolishly bought a plastic device that you are supposed to slot thinly sliced potatoes into and then put in the microwave to create crisps (chips on the other side of the pond). Absolutely rubbish! Fortunately, it was not expensive.
 
A while back ceramic knives were all the rage. Super sharp and seldom need sharpening. I had to have one!

It was a dud. Not sharp at all. I ended up giving it away.
 
Andy M. said:
A while back ceramic knives were all the rage. Super sharp and seldom need sharpening. I had to have one!

It was a dud. Not sharp at all. I ended up giving it away.
Click to expand...
Andy, back in the mid 80's Henkel just came out with a knife that had a diamond edge and still made in Germany as well. The popular advertising at the time was "never needs sharpening" well, that lasted about 2 months and it couldn't be sharpened.

I contacted Henkel main office in Toronto letting them know my situation, and was immediately connected to the CEO who said to come into the office and they would replace my knife with something comparable.

I showed up and the CEO got involved and considering I was a chef, he and I had a pretty nuanced conversation about the knife, quite taken back actually. Anyway he replaced that particular knife with a 10" Four Star chef’s knife which is forged from high-carbon stainless steel, full tang, ice-hardened, and precision-honed, this was Henckels flagship line for professionals and well above the diamond edge series, and no money changed hands.

I've since gone off European knives and just recently gifted that 10" to a friend simple because I don't use it anymore. Anyway, Henkel has recently partnered with a well established Japanese knife maker called Nippon Seisen. The knifes Henkel makes in Japan is part of the Miyabi brand they started and I have since purchased one for my persona home use and it is a pretty good example of a Japanese knife.

Sorry for the long diatribe but it just brought back that memory. I give Henkel full marks for maintaining and making Henkel the brand that still garners a lot of respect, cheers. :)
 
I've been using a set of Henckels Pro S for about 25 years. No complaints. I sharpen them myself. Had a couple of them where the handle plastic cracked/broke. Sent them to Henckels and they sent me a new knife free.

Henckels has changed their lines around and I don't think the Pro S is one of their better lines anymore.
 
Still a decent knife though. Henkel has also partnered with Bob Cramer a pretty famous American knife maker, been tempted but the shape has me doubting. Anyway Henkel seems to be keeping up and trying to make a difference, which I give them credit for.
 
caseydog said:
I've worn out two vacuum sealers in 20 years, I'm on my third one now. I use mine that much.

My parents gave me their pasta roller thing. I've had it three years, and have never used it.

CD
Click to expand...
I'm on my third as well. First two were channel types, the new one is chamber.

It is not an every day use thing but l love having it.
 
pictonguy said:
Still a decent knife though. Henkel has also partnered with Bob Cramer a pretty famous American knife maker, been tempted but the shape has me doubting. Anyway Henkel seems to be keeping up and trying to make a difference, which I give them credit for.
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I think I have all the knives I need. I also have a butchers knife leftover from an older Chicago Cutlery set and a cheap kiji (mini santoku) I bought. I wanted to see if I liked the idea of the kiji and may get a better quality one.
 
I have a Henckels chef knife and love it. In fact, it was here I asked for recommendations because I had nary a clue about chef knives and Henckels was highly recommended by all the good folks of this forum.
 
Shining Wizard said:
But absolutely respect appreciate everything bring to the conversation and my enjoyment of it, CD
Click to expand...

My pasta roller was the first thing that came to mind, and I know you love to make your own pasta.

The only other thing I probably don't use enough is my Blackstone griddle. But, I do use it, whereas the pasta roller is still in the box. At least it was free. :ROFLMAO:

CD
 
pictonguy said:
Still a decent knife though. Henkel has also partnered with Bob Cramer a pretty famous American knife maker, been tempted but the shape has me doubting. Anyway Henkel seems to be keeping up and trying to make a difference, which I give them credit for.
Click to expand...

I would love to have a Bob Kramer custom knife, for no better reason that I appreciate dedicated craftsmen.

CD
 
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