Have you ever cooked over at a friend's house with no gadgets to work with?

I have cooked in other people's homes and it just feels weird to me. I never know where anything is, and I almost never have the appropriate tools to work with. I much rather cook the meal at my own house and just take it over to the other house to reheat it. I guess I am picky like that.
 
Also, here's a kicker;
They have a built-in dishwasher, yet they've never used it - not even once!! They lived in their apartment for 5 years - never used it!!
They claim that it won't clean the dishes, and that you have to rinse off the dishes by hand first before putting them in the machine.
I told them that I have one and that I never had to do that, and that all I do is scrape the bulky stuff off the dishes, load them in the machine, turn it on, and viola!! They come out sparkling clean!
They STILL won't use it!! :ohmy: :stop:
nope and neither would I. I don't like them either and neither does my husband. My parents have one and only ever use it and everything we use when we are over there we rinse before we use it because if I run myself a glass of water, I can see the detergent in the form of bubbles around the edge of the glass and the water tastes odd to me. Rinse it and then it tastes fine. my mother now just leaves us to it!
 
nope and neither would I. I don't like them either and neither does my husband. My parents have one and only ever use it and everything we use when we are over there we rinse before we use it because if I run myself a glass of water, I can see the detergent in the form of bubbles around the edge of the glass and the water tastes odd to me. Rinse it and then it tastes fine. my mother now just leaves us to it!


Either too much detergent is being used, or the machine may not be getting enough water for the rinse portions of the cycle. Or the rinse agent dispenser reservoir is empty. The rinse agent, in addition to helping you to get rid of any leftover detergent residue, also helps to greatly reduce or eliminated the surface tension of the hot water by making it soften & sheet off the glasses and other things. It also helps promote better spotless drying results.

The thing that I like most about mine, is that it can be set heat up the main wash & final rinse water to a temp of about 140 degrees to dissolve & melt away grease and dried-on foods and kill / stop germs & bacteria, leaving the dishes clean & sanitized! :wink: :stop:
 
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Either too much detergent is being used, or the machine may not be getting enough water for the rinse portions of the cycle. Or the rinse agent dispenser reservoir is empty. The rinse agent, in addition to helping you to get rid of any leftover detergent residue, also helps to greatly reduce or eliminated the surface tension of the hot water by making it soften & sheet off the glasses and other things. It also helps promote better spotless drying results.

The thing that I like most about mine, is that it can be set heat up the main wash & final rinse water to a temp of about 140 degrees to dissolve & melt away grease and dried-on foods and kill / stop germs & bacteria, leaving the dishes clean & sanitized! :wink: :stop:
They use a combined tablet that gets put into the detergent drawer. Water pressure shouldn't be an issue because the house has a seriously good supply. I just don't like dishwashers!
 
They use a combined tablet that gets put into the detergent drawer. Water pressure shouldn't be an issue because the house has a seriously good supply. I just don't like dishwashers!


I used to use those. Still have some left. Switched back to Cascade powder detergent. :wink:
 
At least once a year I auction my time through a charity to go and cook at some ones house ,chef for a night,I plan the menu get the ingredients and cook and serve the food,the people that bid and purchase this auction lot are normally let's say "well off" very big houses ,designer kitchens the names of smeg and poggenpohl every where,may be a set of blunt global knives on show ,but it's a nightmare ,I try to take all my own plates,serving kit ,ensure my mis en place is all done before,the last one I did the electric tripped off on the stove when I had all the stove tops lite,it must have been a 2 million pound house,all the equipment is tatty ,and all they worried about was splitting the food waste for their worm farm
 
I have a dishwasher and use it frequently, but honestly think it is more trouble than it is worth. Like SatNav says, there is almost always soap residue left on the dishes once they go through the dishwasher, and if you have to reclean your dish, there is no point of wasting the water to run it through the dishwasher.I use my dishwasher about half the time, and the good old fashioned method the other half of the time. I am using my dishwasher less and less though.
 
Mine is a portable machine, but the bloody thing is so astronomically heavy to move over to the sink because there is a very heavy large concrete block under the tub that acts as a counterweight for the door!!
Even though it is on wheels!! :headshake: :stop:
 
I grew up in the '50s (there, I've dated myself) and my mother didn't have any of the gadgets we consider essential today. She didn't have a whisk, she used a fork. She never had a meat thermometer, she cooked everything until it was well done, as was the custom at the time. She never even had a chefs knife, she mostly used a UMC knife my Dad brought home from the Marine Corps when he served in WWII. She didn't have a citrus reemer, or a bench scaper, or spice grinder, or a cherry pitter or a melon baller or an ice cream scoop. People just didn't use those things back then. They didn't even know they existed. I remember when my Dad brought home a blender for the first time. We had milk shakes until they were running out our ears. We thought it was wonderful. The next modern convenience he brought home was an electric knife with which he proudly carved the Thanksgiving turkey.

I guess what I'm trying to say is that we are spoiled. We run out and buy the latest gadget that we think will make our cooking life easier. But people cooked for generations without such labor saving devices. If there are folks who don't have, want or need such things, then we must respect their choices.
 
I can usually manage in other people's kitchens but I do find it pretty well essential to have a sharp knife. Apart from the fact that blunt knifes are dangerous, food prep just takes much Ionger. I always take a sharp knife on holiday when I stay in self-catering. I suppose wouldn't be able to do that if I was flying to get there! I don't use many gadgets, in any case. Most are not essential, just labour saving (but then you have to wash them up!).
 
nope and neither would I. I don't like them either and neither does my husband. My parents have one and only ever use it and everything we use when we are over there we rinse before we use it because if I run myself a glass of water, I can see the detergent in the form of bubbles around the edge of the glass and the water tastes odd to me. Rinse it and then it tastes fine. my mother now just leaves us to it!

Must admit, I haven't ever found this to be so. I've been using a dishwasher since the 70's. Once I had one, there was no going back. I often go for extended stays with a friend who doesn't have one. I do most of the cooking there and even though I'm only cooking for two, I end up exasperated by the amount of washing-up that piles up. I'm fanatical about clearing up after each stage of prepping food (I'm sure @Berties will sympathise). I simply can't bear the dirty mixing bowls, spoons etc to be hanging about (especially as its a small kitchen). I have to keep work surfaces clear. And because I love to cook, I'm often prepping several quite complicated dishes. So I end up, seemingly endlessly washing up whilst I'm cooking. It spoils the pleasure. At home I just pop the used implements, bowls etc. in the dishwasher.

I've tried piling them in the sink so I can wash them later - but that doesn't work because I then find I need to use the sink for washing veg or something. And anyway, I hate the sight of them hanging about!
 
Must admit, I haven't ever found this to be so. I've been using a dishwasher since the 70's. Once I had one, there was no going back. I often go for extended stays with a friend who doesn't have one. I do most of the cooking there and even though I'm only cooking for two, I end up exasperated by the amount of washing-up that piles up. I'm fanatical about clearing up after each stage of prepping food (I'm sure @Berties will sympathise). I simply can't bear the dirty mixing bowls, spoons etc to be hanging about (especially as its a small kitchen). I have to keep work surfaces clear. And because I love to cook, I'm often prepping several quite complicated dishes. So I end up, seemingly endlessly washing up whilst I'm cooking. It spoils the pleasure. At home I just pop the used implements, bowls etc. in the dishwasher.

I've tried piling them in the sink so I can wash them later - but that doesn't work because I then find I need to use the sink for washing veg or something. And anyway, I hate the sight of them hanging about!
as i read this thread there is some realisation that we can if needed to ,do with out many gadgets and though i got excited looking at kitchen equipment shop at the weekend ,it is shiney and i buy it because i can ,colour coded duality toasters or angel hair cutters,were jumping off the shelve shouting buy me daddy ..................could i do with out them ,probably !
dish washers are the norm,i constantly us mine at home and the machine at work completes a cycle in 2 minutes ,yep i do keep my work environment clean ,but with my field cookery background of my junior years ,we would heat water for sterilising and washing up with petrol in a purpose used dustbin,the British army inherited these heaters from the American army after a large amount of our equipment was sunk in the Falklands war,read the attached
http://www.seabeecook.com/sanitation/field/ih_battery.htm
we used this system all over northern Europe for years and never had a case of food poisoning feeding numbers of over 200,
basic and functional,basically we can, and do adapt to what kit is available,i have passed 100 portions of soup by hand ,you just do it if you have no power !
 
You going to love this story!!
I had a opportunity to cook for a group of 18 people for 11 days on a gold prospectors trip to Corner country NSW in Australia. 400 km from the closest town with decent shopping possibilities on a Farm station with 25'000 acres, the size of a small European country. Very romantic so far. So I had to shop everything for 11 days and I mean everything. I also got a lot of catering equipment I had to take with me too. So the trip began and we had to drive 1200 km to our destination. Having the trailer loaded with equipment and all the food, we travelled about 500 km when the fruit police stopped us. In Australia we have zones were you are not allowed to bring in fresh fruits. The reason for that is the nasty fruit fly that can infect the local fruit trees. Now, the fruit police took our catering trailer apart and found all the fresh fruit we had with us. All the fruit got confiscated and we got told, that a fine of 5000 dollars apply or jail for 6 months. Luckily, the tour leader use to work for the police and he was also a police prosecutor. He had words with the fruit police officers and we parted with a warning and no fruit. So 400 km in a god forsaken place called Broken Hill we bought all fresh fruit again and we were off.
Finally, we are getting there to our final destination. I went to check out the kitchen and I nearly got a heart attack. First, the kitchen was that small, you could not swing a cat in it. Secondly, I had a small domestic gas stove with only 2 working burners and no working oven. Third, no decent pots and pans, just old shitty pots. Gladly I had some pans and fry pans with me. So the fun began. Breakfast and dinner out of that crappy hole of a kitchen, lunch we cooked were we were looking for the gold. I was desperate to find ways to cook my nice menu for everybody. I pulled it off. I went to introduce myself to the farmers wife, and with sweet talk and a bid of bribery by inviting her for a meal with us, she agreed for me to use the oven in her massive kitchen. The only trouble was, her kitchen was about 500 meters away from our camp. You try to walk with a flaming hot oven tray 500 meters.
I surely never forget that trip. On a positive note, everybody enjoyed the food and I found about 10 grams of nice gold nuggets. I nugget was shaped perfectly like a love heart and that put a big smile on my face.
I can tell you, I was stuffed after this trip but it shows that one can make a near impossible situation in to a workable solution.
 
Last weekend, we were at a classy beach resort where the accommodation was expensive. Althouhg cooking food was allowed since there is a cooking range and microwave, lo and behold, no utensils. We were fortunate to have a next-door neighbor who lent us a rice cooker and a pan so we were able to cook our dinner. There was a club restaurant where we had our breakfast and lunch but we just wanted to cook for dinner. Anyway, when the dinner was cooked, very good. So we started eating with our hands because there were no fork nor spoon around. Hahahaaa.
 
Older thread but I had to giggle.
I have been in kitchens that had virtually nothing.
Where are your knives? Oh we don't own any. Where is your spatula? What is that?
They literally just had silverware and a very few pans.
They did have plenty of frozen and tinned foods.
 
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