Fave kitchen implements/gadgets

Pebbles,
It was a gift, but I think my MIL got it at William Sonoma in the US.  It took some time to "season" but now it works great every time and cleans with just some water.
Stephan

Those baking tin/cookie sheet liners from Lakeland that make e/thing no-stick.  BRILL!

Oh yes, and the shaped greaseproof cake/loaf tin liners from Lakeland (although I've found them cheaper in a local shop) - great if you do a lot of baking.

My steamer pans - tonight I'll reheat a frozen casserole, mashed potato and steam some cabbage, all on one gas ring

Garlic Press
Oil Mister
Our Slowcooker
Our 'health grill'
And my Steamer basket

Basics.....all my gadgets are in the states.

What could you just not cope without in your kitchen? I could not cope without my cheese slicer. i know I couldn't because the one I had broke and I was lost without it until I found this one that I bought in Santa Monica about 2 years ago. They are very hard to find in the UK, I have only managed to find a very posh and expensive version at Harrods and it broke after I used it twice

Liz, I got mine from a BetterWare catalogue and it's lasted over 2 years!

I love my cheese slicer, too - along with my garlic press.  And my steamer.  And the "frozen" button on my toaster so I can toast bread straight from the freezer!

Definitely the corkscrew. When I moved here my husband was using the corkscrew on his swiss army knife, which really doesn't work that well!

I had to deck out the whole kitchen when I moved in. My husband didn't understand why anyone would need measuring cups, measuring spoons, a bread tin, pie plates, etc etc. He appreciates it now, but is afraid he'll get fat every time I bake something

Hmmm. I hope to say soon that my KitchenAid will be the most important gadget but since I still need a US/UK convertor, that's not currently the case.

When I moved to the UK, I donated my KitchenAid mixer to a friend. A very good friend. lol. Now I'm hoping to get one over here for my birthday -- the b/f is being inundated with hints. Some not so subtle!

My other fave gadget is, hands down, my Cuisinart food processor. The most wonderful invention ever.

Oh oh oh - I forgot my corkscrew!  How could I!  It's the best corkscrew ever!  And after years of searching, I finally found one like it for my father-in-law for Christmas.  Only whilst mine is just an Italy-made one my mother "borrowed" from Pan Am whilst working for them - the one I got my FIL is Edwardian and of much better quality.

Boy am I glad that DH doesn't read this board 'cause he'd be doing some MAJOR eye rolling right now. I take a LOT of stick for my obsession with kitchen gadgets. I can't resist them. In fact they were the first things I brought over here with me - a suitcase of clothes and one of kitchen things! LOL. DH thinks I have a sickness. Maybe I do?

My favs:
-Kitchen Aid mixer
-Breadmaker
-Wine paraphenalia (sp?) incl. really tough corkscrew that I nicked from the winery I used to work at, foil cutter, and drip collar
- Microplane (the ONLY way to grate nutmeg!)
- Double whisks (the kind with a whisk within a whisk)
- Lime press (the only way to make margaritas without going insane from squeezing)
- Garlic press (really sturdy one - a b*tch to clean but oh so useful)
- Spatulas. I'm obsessed. I especially like my long, thin one that I use for frosting cakes, evening out flour in measuring cups, and occasionally actually turning stuff, the special one for fish, and the paper thin one for delicate cookies
- Digital scale
- Tiny ice-cream scoop which makes perfect balls of cookie dough
- Coffee maker & coffee grinder

Oh, and someone gave us a cheese set for the wedding - a board with a set of five little cheese knives - a different one for each kind of cheese... that sort of thing is SO right up my alley!!!

I'm SO SO SO envious of anyone who has a Wustoff knife collection. Someday I'm going to start one for sure.

Oh, yes, I second the garlic press, the spatulas, the coffee grinder/maker, and did anyone mention a baking stone?

Speaking of the apple peeler/corer/slicer, does anyone have a fabulous apple crisp recipe like Frances mentioned?

I'm SO SO SO envious of anyone who has a Wustoff knife collection. Someday I'm going to start one for sure.

Mine are in the states!!!!!!  I'm so sad, i know i should bring them over with all the cooking i do, but i want to break them in our first house!!!!!!!!!

My grapefruit knife.

I looked when I first moved here and couldn't seem to find one.  So I took it back from my old roommate when I went back home for Christmas.

Ah, yes, and a coffeemaker.  No more of that cafateire/french press bs.

 

  My ''tater peeler'' as I like to call it.    Because without it it would take me HOURS to peel them without making the potato into half its original size. 

Oh--cooking is my favorite hobby!

I think that my favorite impliment would be what I refer to as my "apple-peeler-slicer-thing-a-ma-jiggy". It does just what it's name would infer, however, you can just core, or just slice if you wish. You can also use it for other things, such as potatoes. There is a "thick" peel blade which basically makes "curly fries" when you put a potatoe in it.

Yum. Now I want to make an apple crisp...

My dear, that lovely item became my favourite this year when I had a bumper apple crop (that, and spending hours in front of the telly peeling apples last year). Up to that point, it was my salad/shredder

When we got it, we even had our grown stepsons peeling apples and then showing the gadget off to their friends! LOL

mmmmmmm, apple butter :d

My wife says she loves the dishwasher.  So much so, that she sleeps with him every night ;-)

My favorite kitchen utensil is my Crepe Pan.  It's cast iron, but thin, and makes really greate "Pancakes" as they're called here.

To the person who buys a new set of Henkle knives each year (I can't remember who posted that but wow that's expensive).  Try taking them to a knife sharpener.  We did that once, and they were sharper and beter than when we originally bought them.  Not sure where you find them in the phone book b/c it was a year or two back that we did it.  Henkles can stand up to it too.

That would be me.  Sorry, if I misled you.  I do not buy a new set of knives every year.  I allow myself to add one to my collection each year.  As far as sharpening is concerned, I have a sharpening steel as well as a stone to do that myself.  I wonder though if a professional could do any better.  They seem to be really sharp and they get the job done.

For Anne G:

If you do a lot of chopping and such, a good set of knives is such a pleasure to work with in the kitchen.   I got my first Henckel knife as a gift and it became an obsession after that.  I could never afford a whole new set at once as I buy from the professional series which are just ridiculously expensive but so worth it.  

I used to have this brilliant Tupperware thing that I lost somewhere along the way and I don't know anyone who sells tupperware now. It was a little shaker thing, it looked a bit like a plastic cocktail shaker and it had a brilliant whisk attachment which could whisk up eggs, cream etc in sconds, just shake it a few times and bingo! I would love to get hold of one of those again.

Ok, I have to ask.... does it hold about 2c, have a dome type top with a spout and a 'wheel' type insert you put in before you put the top on? If it is I think I have a couple somewhere... one tupperware and one from Hidden Valley Ranch.