It's Too Much Trouble

sidevalve

sidevalve

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Ever had that gadget or piece of equipment that seems such a good idea then turns into a total pain to use ?
I was just talking to a friend who recently bought a very nice coffee machine. It made excellent coffee and even looked nice but after a while he found that, unless he used it many times a day it required washing after every use [and often before too] so many bits - so many little holes to clean etc etc. Now it lives in a cupboard and only comes out on very special occasions.
Anybody else had this sort of experience ie bought or had bought for them a gadget that seems a great idea but somehow then becomes a monster ?
 
sidevalve said:
Ever had that gadget or piece of equipment that seems such a good idea then turns into a total pain to use ?
I was just talking to a friend who recently bought a very nice coffee machine. It made excellent coffee and even looked nice but after a while he found that, unless he used it many times a day it required washing after every use [and often before too] so many bits - so many little holes to clean etc etc. Now it lives in a cupboard and only comes out on very special occasions.
Anybody else had this sort of experience ie bought or had bought for them a gadget that seems a great idea but somehow then becomes a monster ?
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Frequently! I try to avoid everything but basic equipment these days.
 
I know about this. I was not the person who made the purchase although I benefited from it. My husband bought a juicer and and made me some juices that were simply divine. After a few months, the juicing stopped and the parts are everywhere in this cupboard or the next.
 
winterybella said:
I know about this. I was not the person who made the purchase although I benefited from it. My husband bought a juicer and and made me some juices that were simply divine. After a few months, the juicing stopped and the parts are everywhere in this cupboard or the next.
Click to expand...

Yup, that's my experience with juicers too...they're so fiddly to clean as well. I'd rather buy juice from the supermarket or local juice/smoothie place than make my own for that very reason!
 
Yes! I've come across that many times. When we were young and newly married, my husband and I were easily sold on all the latest and greatest equipment, and it always ended up getting used once or twice and then stuck on a shelf. I definitely find myself going back to the easier, no-frills equipment and only buying something when I need to replace a piece. I guess age does bring wisdom :)
 
My Dad was famous for this. He would always buy all the latest gadgets. He just had to have them. They would use them once or twice and that would be it. He would end up giving it to one of us who barely used it either.
 
I actually think this kind of scenario stopped me from buying some things I believe I needed on my last trip. I mostly buy things that are expensive home when I travel. Last trip I made a couple weeks ago, saw me taking up and putting down things to think about it later. Later came and they were all left behind and now I am thinking I should've bought at least a few 'necessary' things.
 
I felt that way about a pasta maker. Naturally, I just had to have one, but I found it to be a lot more trouble than it was worth. I didn't find the pasta especially delicious and cleaning the machine after every use was a pain. I got rid of it.
 
fairy-floss-maker1.jpg


Did anyone used to have one of these? To make cotton candy/fairy floss?

My younger sister had one and I think we legitimately used it once and then never again!
 
Oh that is really cool but I can see how it would only be used a few times. It was probably more of a pain to have to clean it when you were done with it.
 
It would be good if you were having a birthday party and having a bunch of kids over. They would like that but other then that I don't see it getting a whole lot of use.
 
I've had a few gadgets which I eventually got rid of because they were too much hassle to use or just didn't do the job well enough:
- George Foreman grill - really difficult to clean and didn't do a great job anyway (didn't get hot enough).
- Tefal Fresh Express (http://www.amazon.co.uk/Tefal-Fresh-Express-150-Watt/dp/B00ABBR4S4) - with hindsight I have NO idea why I even bought it in the first place! It was a totally useless bit of junk which didn't slice or grate anything very well and created such a mess.
- Manual pasta machine....I could never get it clamped on the worktop securely so it would come loose when rolling the pasta, and of course because you have to turn the handle with one hand, you only have one hand to manage the pasta! I now have a pasta attachment for the Kitchenaid and its so much easier!

I think I now only have one thing that I think twice about using: the food processor. Its not that its particularly difficult to clean, but its heavy and lives at the back of the cupboard and its a bit of hassle getting it out so I only use it if I really need to.

kgord said:
I felt that way about a pasta maker. Naturally, I just had to have one, but I found it to be a lot more trouble than it was worth. I didn't find the pasta especially delicious and cleaning the machine after every use was a pain. I got rid of it.
Click to expand...
I'm intrigued....my pasta machine gets a brush down when I'm finished to remove any debris or excess flour (though there is rarely any) - really quick and easy. How did you clean yours?
 
Oh, multiple times. Just to name a few:

Jack LaLane Juicer - Not only was it a pain in the butt to clean all the parts (they would take up most of your dishwasher), but the blade itself was incredibly sharp and needed a separate handle attachment to remove it, which was always getting lost. To make matters worse, the plastic on the unit would stain easily - how would they put such a product on the market without testing for this? The whole thing was huge and was also difficult to store away.

Cuisinart Vertical Rotisserie Oven - Another thing which took up too much counter space, was impossible to keep clean, and was just really poorly designed in almost every way. The whole point of a rotisserie is to self baste the meat by having it rotate horizontally. By doing it vertically instead, all the juices just flow to the bottom of the chicken, leaving the top dry. Besides, it took like 2.5 hours to roast a chicken in it, and the grease pan would almost always overflow - making an even bigger mess. I could have bought a couple years worth of rotisserie chickens from Costco, already cooked, for what I paid for this stupid thing.

Presto Pizzazz Rotating Pizza Oven - OK, I got suckered into this because my friend had one and would use it for movie night at his house. It seemed fun at the time, but when I ultimately got one for myself, I realized how useless it was. Not only does the pizza take considerably longer to cook than in a regular oven, it cooks it very unevenly. The outer part of the pizza gets cooked before the center does. It's more of a novelty than useful, and not worth it.
 
The spiralizer.
My electric food processor.
Ice tea maker.
Electric slicer.
And probably a half a dozen other things.
 
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