Kitchen tools - what do you use?

[snapdragon]

I'm posting this because every recipe I read recently requires me to purchase a food processor.

For the past 40 or so years, I have been mainly but not exclusively using
1. a kitchen knife or two
2. A wooden spoon or two
3. Rolling pin
4. Bowls, mixing, pot and plastic
5. chopping surfaces wood and stone
6. hand whisk (balloon)
7. masher/pestle

all basic stuff and the sort of thing that's easy to wash up, was just packed up for family camping holidays (back in the day) and moved from room to room as required - peeling in front of the fire on cold days etc.

So I was wondering if it's like the laundry where 'everyone' has to have a dryer - does everyone these days have to have a processor?

[Milims]

1960s Kenwood chef and attachments - love it!
Grannys rolling pin
New digital scales
Various wooden spoons and spatulas
Cheese slicer - love it
Mouli grater - fab for parmesan

[indy]

I do have magimix that was bought for me for my birthday, its an absolute joy, especially at chutney making time, I have to say that I wouldn't be without it

[theabsinthefairy]

My loving OH bought me an electric steamer and a food processor when I was pregnant, and I found both invaluable when my daughter was a baby.

Then they both got forgotten about for a while, until the steamer was sold as we were packing up to move to France, but the processor came with us, and it has really worked hard in the last 3 years.

It has made sausages, sauces, chutneys, smoothies, purees etc etc etc, every time we have a harvest of some thing actually. Not too shabby for a 15 year old pressie.

[crowsashes]

i have a little hand blender that has a whisk attachment and another bit for crushing ice ( cocktails anyone ) mostly used for making soups.

i have 1 knife that i use for everything, lovely chefs knife with a heavy handle, just how i like them. and a small one for peeling if i actually bother i have a stiff nail brush that i scrub veggies with rather than peel them all. handy for spuds and carrots!

all the usual items as well, wooden spoons etc. my best kitchen buddy though are my two large stock pans, one tall green one my grandad gave me, and one short but wide one that i use for making soups and curries and is also perfect for making jam too :-)

i have my lovely ceramic mixing bowls ( charity shop find ) as well as a couple of stainless steel ones and a couple of colanders and sieves in various sizes.

i used to use my casserole dish and slow cooker all the time but they have hardly been use for a while.

oh and dare i say my baby gorge grill makes perfect toasted cheese sandwiches with out the really crunchy bits!

i remember when i first had my son ( having split from his dad having nothing) all i had to cook with was a gorge grill, a toaster, kettle and a microwave! really makes you appreciate the simple things like a cooker ( even if it is electric )

[liskeardjane]

I have been given loads of bits and bobs that I've luckily been given: bread machine, microwave, mini oven, hand blender, food processor, electric whisk........oh, I don't have a tumble drier!

[JillStephens7]

A lot more than I did a few years ago!

I seem to have got to an age where people think that kitchen appliances are what I need and over last 5 years have been bought a juicer, a food processor which came with a spatula (first time I've had one but got melted pretty quickly) and a hand held electric mixer.

Can't believe it's just these three seems like more. oh and a sandwich press thing. Oh and have been given some digital scales & set of Nigellas Lawson measuring spoons (la-ti-da).

Before that I had a hand operated mixer/ chopper/ whisker which was great, 5 mixing bowls, mini whisk, a few baking tins, couple of knives and spoons.

Hand held whisk helps when I have aching arms but haven't found much to do with food processor What do people use theirs for? I like to dice veg and it doesn't seem to do that.

I used juicer loads for a couple of years (favourite juice broccoli & apple) but seem to have lost interest .

OH likes the sandwich press & accurate scales for 1st time are a blessing for soap making.

Generally I feel confused by all this stuff

[John Headstrong]

I have a quite a few knifes, and they are sharp ! I am amazed how many people use blunt knifes.

I also have one of them electric hand blender, originally for pureeing the kids food when they where small, now used for soups, humus, sauces, smoothies etc.

frying pans, I love to fry I have a large one for general frying, an omelette pan and a new pancake pan (xmas pressie)

all my other pans are stainless steel with riveted handles, a few have copper bottoms

and my latest purchase was a whisk (but some may know it as a egg beater), one of the I need it for mixing up the pancake mix to use with my new pancake pan

of course, the most used are the kettle and toaster

[Minnesota]

I use a food processor to thinly slice Beets for my Beet wine.
when I need about a 5 gallon bucket full, I am not going
to slice them with a hand knife.

No one mentioned a pressure cooker.
I have a modern "quick release" pressure cooker.
I love mine, I use it for dry Beans...no need to soak them.
it is so quick. also for tough meat, rice, carrots...
in 6 minutes I can have tender carrots without all the flavor boiled out of them.
Basmati rice in 5 minutes.

in the summer, I do alot of cooking outside.
I use a gasoline (petrol) camp stove.
it has a lot more Btu's than my nat. gas kitchen stove
for when I brew Beer (5 gallon boils).

[fruitcake]

I don't have a food processor or a tumble dryer....wouldn't know what to do with either - do have plenty of other 'essentials' though, lol....

I did have a juicer but gave it away once the novelty wore off

I do have
my grannies old little kenwood electric whisk - use occasionally
breadmaker (pressie from my sis) used all the time and prob unfortunately on its last legs
slow cooker - recent addition and we quite like it
basic liquidiser - use it for soups / smoothies
microwave (another pressie from my sis) - used mostly to reheat coffee - once its gone cold in the flask, and bake potatoes
pressure cooker - OH' s fav - ace for beans!
set of sabatier knives
and a really expensive grater/zester thing from lakeland (was about £15 - eek) which is utterly fab
and all the usual bowls, chopping boards - got OH a mortle and pestle and a herb choppy thing as pressies etc etc

[Millymollymandy]

I used to have a Magimix which made brilliant pastry and all I needed to do was roll it out.

Now I have a Moulinex one which is just rubbish and can't make pastry properly and I don't have a dough hook for it either (used to do dough kneading in the Magimix). Only any good for making breadcrumbs - which it isn't very good at! Plus it is for left handed people I'm sure - everything is the complete opposite to the Magimix and it took me about 6 months before I could work out how to open and close the damn lid easily! And most things just sit under the blade not getting chopped! Yes it is definitely time to get rid of it somehow and get a Magimix again for my birthday. At least I now know of internet sites for reviews of electrical items before buying these days!

I do tend to just chop for hours on end when making chutney, I really ought to think about using a processor for that. Duh!

[snapdragon]

ahh I didn't include pots and pans with 'tools' and was mainly thinking about things that take up worktop and cupboard space - both at a premium in my small kitchen
but
stainless pans with rivets a relatively recent find for me, probably got the first one about 14 years ago, each from a different shop as they came on 'special'. Having spent years in early marriage using 'the pans provided' in rented furnished homes, pans which can then go into the oven are a joy
and
pressure cookers (various over the years) love them and wouldn't be without as they save so much electric and time are IMO neccessities.

[Jessiebean]

I love using good quality things when i cook.. hey I don't drink or smoke anymore so a girl's got to fritter away her money somehow! I couldn't do without:
my matriachal and very stern German digital scales.
breadmaker
700w red stand mixer.A breville- like a Kenwood Chef device
set of Furi knives
Pressure cooker
handheld blender
vegetable scrubbing brush
silicon spatulas to get that last little bit
my husband to "help clean the bowls" when I bake

I like having but don't use all the time:
mortar and pestle
food processor/blender
mezzaluna herb choppper thingy
my two toddlers who are passionate (and noisy and messy) about cooking.

I must get some new measuring spoons soon...
some Nigella ones would be lovely

[indy]

Am very chuffed, have just been given a brand new set of proper saucepans for my birthday...its amazing how creative you can be when you just own one pan as I have done for the past year but times are a changing and I now have 5 beautiful pans to play with
As an aside to the magimix thing, I do realise that they are more expensive than most but they are amazingly well built and definately an investment. They have a 25 year guarantee and I have several; different sorts of discs to cope with anything you want to do slicing, dicing, shredding etc. I would recommend them whole heartedly and as a bonus it saves me HOURS at chutney time

[Jandra]

electric kettle
coffee maker (for DH)
Breadmaker
Stick blender
and a mini-food processor extention for the stick blender which is just big enough to make pastry for a 2 person quiche (in two batches) or a bowl of humus, or for chopping some nuts.
Kenwood Chef
toaster
vacuum/sealer
Food processor
dehydrator

I have a few good knives, a brand new set of pans (acquired for cooking on induction), a trusty ceramic frying pan, an new frying pan which has short riveted handles and can be put in the oven (love it, can make omelets succesfully now!), pressure cooker also used for canning non-acidic food, Bread tins, lots of stuff... and of course it is true that one can do without. But I have trouble with my hands and arms and having good kitchen stuff means the difference between enjoying cooking and preserving and it being a painful necessity. I got the cheapest set of pans, because they were the lightest. The lady in the cookshop was very helpful, but rather disappointed at that
Only my frying pans are heavy.

Jandra