Favorite Kitchen gadget vs the not so favorite!

Favorites - My Chicken wings holders, vidalia onion chopper, $7 clearance sale Sabatier Chef Knives and older clamshell foodsaver vacuum sealer (received for free)

Least Favorites - My vertical foodsaver vacuum sealer I paid for that won't seal after 2 or 3 bags and those darned potato peeler things.

Wampus said:

Errrrr.....did you buy it SPECIFICALLY for chopping eggs? Do you chop anything else with it? My favorite thing to chop with it is onions (although I don't mind the knife work with onions) and olives. I hate trying to hold those little slippery things!

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Actually, I bought it to chop vegetables - but it was a very cheap gadget from K-Mart and tha blade was not very sharp, so it mashes as well as chops. It's biggest problem is that it drags the largish chopped bits up the inside of the glass where they have a tendency to stick and it's a hassle to use. Wish I had my mom's old vegematic from the late 60s early 70s.

might try a pampered chef chopper. they have a five year warranty and work rather well too. :clap2:

I bought a bunch of, as seen on tv items as joke gifts for my wife, one of which was the slap choppy chopper. It did not work at all until I took a file to the blades and now it works great, just have to make sure you use it on a very flat surface.
Dave

Mo-Dave said:

I bought a bunch of, as seen on tv items as joke gifts for my wife, one of which was the slap choppy chopper. It did not work at all until I took a file to the blades and now it works great, just have to make sure you use it on a very flat surface.
Dave

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I always do my chopping in bed... :wacko:

But seriously, I've had one for years (don't ask me who made it, I don't recall) which I use all the time for small chopping jobs. Ronco still makes a version of their Chop-o-matic which they sell on their website for $9.00. I think I liked the old one my mom had: it was a lot bigger around and I love playing with it as a kid.

We bake a lot in our kitchen, and measuring spoons are really used a lot. A few years ago I got 2 sets of Cuisipro measuring spoons. Each had six or eight spoons, but a lot of the sizes were different. Merging the two sets, I got a really handy set of spoons. Thick gauge stainless, clear marking, nice product, just not cheap. I had a sheet metal buddy make me up this little rack from 16 gauge stainless. It keeps the spoons handy. Also in the picture you can see two pepper grinders, both of which work well. One is for black pepper and the other for white pepper.

For you guys with overloaded gadget drawers, I suggest you and your wife/husband/partner/roommate(s) pick a low stress time and go through it, purging items you don't use. Put many of the larger items you keep onto the countertop in a Pampered Chef tool turnabout like this one: http://tinyurl.com/toolTurnabout

I like a lot of old (antique) kitchen tools. I have a cast aluminum egg slicer with replaceable wires. I'm sure it was from the Depression. Remove two screws, unwind the wire (one wire winds around for all cutting), take old electric guitar string, restring, wind around screws, tighten. How cool is that? I have my grandma's old potato masher and pastry cutter too.

In early July the Seattle area is flooded with local cherries. I love to bake cherry pies, and believe me, people love to eat 'em! I use a cherry stoning tool to quickly pop out the pits.

I use a garlic crusher a whole lot.

I really like owning a good set of wok spoons. Nothing like them for stir-frying, or for stirring onion browning in a cast iron pan either.

I generally like anything with THIN HANDLES. What's up with these fatty handled tools they sell nowadays? They might be comfortable in your hand, but they are a nightmare to store!

I've been getting along OK without a thermapen, but I wish I had one.

In general, in our kitchen the rule is USE IT OR LOSE IT.

seattlepitboss

Forgot one of my Favorites...

I have a 4 cup Measure cup that doubles as a grease skimmer for making sauces, I love that thing.