kitchen tools

[firecat]

via ailbhe and everyone else: Bold the ones you have and use at least once a year, italicize the ones you have and don't use, underline the ones you use at least once a month, strike through the ones you have had but got rid of.

I wonder how many pasta machines, breadmakers, juicers, blenders, deep fat fryers, egg boilers, melon ballers, sandwich makers, pastry brushes, cheese boards, cheese knives, crepe makers, electric woks, miniature salad spinners, griddle pans, jam funnels, pie funnels, meat thermometers, filleting knives, egg poachers, cake stands, garlic crushers, martini glasses, tea strainers, bamboo steamers, pizza stones, coffee grinders, milk frothers, piping bags, banana stands, fluted pastry wheels, tagine dishes, conical strainers, rice cookers, steam cookers, pressure cookers, slow cookers, spaetzle makers, cookie presses, gravy strainers, double boilers (bains marie), sukiyaki stoves, ice cream makers, fondue sets, healthy-grills, home smokers, tempura sets, tortilla presses, electric whisks, cherry stoners, sugar thermometers, food processors, stand mixers, mincers, bacon presses, bacon slicers, mouli mills, cake testers, pestle-and-mortars, gratin dishes, apple corers, mango stoners and sets of kebab skewers languish dustily at the back of the nation's cupboards.

The OH and I would have more of these, but we have a rule that we call "Donald." In one of Donald Norman's books (I think it is Turn Signals Are the Facial Expressions of Automobiles) he talks about how since he's a usability expert, companies send him gadgets to evaluate. His family established a rule about which gadgets he could accept. He had to be able to answer several questions about it. I'm not sure what his questions were, but our questions have evolved into:

• How are you going to use it?
• Where are you going to store it?
• How are you going to clean it?
• Where are you going to plug it in?

So the challenge to "Let's buy this gadget!" is "Doooooooooooonaaaaaaaaaaald!" And if the person who wants the gadget can't answer all four questions, they can't buy the gadget.

What languishes at the back of our cupboards are various coffee-making implements ('cos I keep trying different ones), fancy serving platters that we received as wedding gifts, nice glasses (we use plastic beverage holders for everyday because we're klutzes), and large casseroles. The bread-making supplies would languish, but they have been repurposed for other uses.

Comments

[snippy]

But what do you do with the ones you've never owned?

Never owned:pasta machines, breadmakers, juicers, deep fat fryers, egg boilers, melon ballers, sandwich makers, cheese boards, cheese knives, crepe makers, electric woks, miniature salad spinners, griddle pans, jam funnels, filleting knives, egg poachers, cake stands, bamboo steamers, pizza stones, coffee grinders, milk frothers, piping bag (we always used folded paper until ziplock bags came along), banana stands, fluted pastry wheels, tagine dishes, conical strainers, rice cookers, steam cookers, pressure cookers, double boilers (bains marie), sukiyaki stoves, home smokers, tempura sets, tortilla presses, electric whisks, cherry stoners, sugar thermometers, stand mixers, mincers, bacon presses, bacon slicers, mouli mills, cake testers, pestle-and-mortars, gratin dishes, mango stoners and sets of kebab skewers

Have and use monthly: blenders, pastry brushes, tea strainers, slow cookers, food processors,

Have and use at least annually: meat thermometers, gravy strainers, fondue sets, healthy-grills, apple corers (actually corer-peeler-slicer, which I also use to make thin potato slices)

Have and never used: pie funnel (it was a gift)

Had but got rid of for lack of use: garlic crushers, martini glasses

Unique category: ice cream makers (we had an electric but otherwise oldfashioned one, not the kind with the container you pre-freeze, but it was accidentally thrown out after a party; we use it at least twice every summer so it will be replaced)

[firecat]

Never owned: pasta machines, breadmakers, juicers, deep fat fryers, sandwich makers, cheese knives, crepe makers, electric woks, miniature salad spinners, jam funnels, pie funnels, cake stands, bamboo steamers, pizza stones, piping bags, banana stands, fluted pastry wheels, tagine dishes, conical strainers, rice cookers, steam cookers, pressure cookers, slow cookers, spaetzle makers, gravy strainers, sukiyaki stoves, healthy-grills, home smokers, tempura sets, tortilla presses, cherry stoners, food processors, stand mixers, bacon slicers, mouli mills, gratin dishes, apple corers, mango stoners and sets of kebab skewers

We own cake testers. They are called "toothpicks."

We would use the garlic press but we got lazy and use pre-minced garlic.