What are your 'must have' kitchen gadgets?

[Seahorse]

There's a school of thought that says the older Kenwoods are better anyway, because they're made with mainly metal 'gubbins' rather than plastic, so are less prone to break down. I got a fabulous 70s orange and brown one for a very reasonable price on ebay A couple of weeks ago I found an even more ancient one in a charity shop for a fiver. I thought it was worth having just for the bowl, to save washing up ten times in a baking session but to my suprise, it works perfectly! My daughters have been using it to make their own things whilst I'm doing mine.

Our Lakeland has been shut for 6 weeks for refurbishment Happily it opens again tomorrow. I shall be attempting to resist standing at the door with my nose pressed against the glass at 8.59 am

Claire

[pigletwillie]

My must haves are

Good knives
A mandolin
My bamix
Run pans
pressure canner
maslin pan
Electric whisk
Magimix food processor
Silicone moulds
Good scales
A Dehydrator

Most other things would just gather dust and be difficult to get to by being at the back of a cupboard.

[shirlthegirl43]

There's a school of thought that says the older Kenwoods are better anyway, because they're made with mainly metal 'gubbins' rather than plastic, so are less prone to break down. I got a fabulous 70s orange and brown one for a very reasonable price on ebay A couple of weeks ago I found an even more ancient one in a charity shop for a fiver. I thought it was worth having just for the bowl, to save washing up ten times in a baking session but to my suprise, it works perfectly! My daughters have been using it to make their own things whilst I'm doing mine.

Our Lakeland has been shut for 6 weeks for refurbishment Happily it opens again tomorrow. I shall be attempting to resist standing at the door with my nose pressed against the glass at 8.59 am

Claire

My Kenwood was about 25 quid on ebay - also orange - goes with my red and yellow kitchen!! I forgot to mention my steamer too - used all the time for veg cooking.

[Nicos]

Forget the stove/oven/kettle etc....mine has to be the microwave and handblender....( and the bottle opener...but that must go without saying eh!!?)

[rustylady]

Oh yes, everyone needs a corkscrew and a bottle opener. Just forgot to put it on the list as it was so blindingly obvious.

[Alison]

Corkscrews and bottle openers aren't gadgets they're essentials!

[blossom]

We are trying to sell our house before emegrating, and will probably move in with FIL before going for at least a month. I am dreading it as he doesn't have either of my two most used kitchen items.
A dishwasher or a freezer!!! How does he live?

Other than that I am not huge on gadgets, but I would like to get an ice cream maker when I get to Oz.

[mad_djg]

For us I guess (in no particular order):

Kettle
Toaster
Hand blender
Steamer
Wok "thing" - not a proper one but a non-stick jobby.

And one particular knife - just a small one but I've had it about 15 years.

[cottage garden]

I am very pleased with my new 'gadget'. One of the runner bean strippers. It has a little blade where you top and tail the bean and then you thread the runner bean in one side and out it comes in lovely thin strips minus the stringy bits. Best way to eat runner beans.. yum....

Hoping for a bread maker for Christmas...want to try onion and thyme bread and raisin and cinnamon.....oops I'm salivating!

[Hazel at the Hill]

I am very pleased with my new 'gadget'. One of the runner bean strippers. It has a little blade where you top and tail the bean and then you thread the runner bean in one side and out it comes in lovely thin strips minus the stringy bits. Best way to eat runner beans.. yum....

Where did you get it from CG? My mums bought me one, but I'm not getting on with it. Mine sounds different from yours (and not so good) and having about 18 tons of runners to deal with in the next few weeks, I am keen for anything that makes the prep easier!

[cottage garden]

Hi Hazel, Mine is just a cheap £2.99 one of ebay but its brill....Search for 'Tala beanslicer' on ebay and it will come up.

[Hazel at the Hill]

Cheers!

[HeyWayne]

Not really one for gadgets - they just end up cluttering up the kitchen for me. However, one "gadget" we have is one of those non-stick rubber muffin trays. Really doesn't stick at all.

Other essentials:

Good set of knives and a steel
Barman's friend
Decent pans

We were bought one of those George Formby grill things for Christmas and it's still taking up cupboard space - we've never used it yet.

Over the years we have bought some things that ended up being really rubbish - doughnut maker and popcorn "popper" come to mind.

[Flummery]

Grater, sharp knife, loaf tin.
I'm a fairly basic kind of a gal!

[bubblewrap]

A good meat cleaver,Madderbat never argues when I have it in my hand