What's your next new piece of kitchen equipment?

[SatNavSaysStraightOn]

So we all have that next item, piece of equipment or appliance that we would like to have..
What's yours?

For me, the ideal piece would be a food processor. I only have a mini food processor, a magimix mini plus one which has been excellent, but it doesn't hold much, so I often have to do things in batches and then mix the result of each batch (always slightly different) in a bowl.

So perhaps the Magimix CS 4200 XL would be my next upgrade (at least until I find a price for it).

 

[Francesca]

A trip to Italy in the planning stages during the Xmas holidays ( not profesional ) ..

None .. I have and my parents and in laws have and thus, I do not need ..

I travel alot and we do not cook that much in the apartment .. When I am off, we go to visit my parents / sons and inlaws so it is un-necessary to buy just to buy.

I have a Thermo mix and never use it .. I gave it to my parents ..

 

[Morning Glory]

A sous vide. I think it is going to be perfect for vegan cooking as well as the obvious meat... prices are down and there is a compact model which I will keep in the cellar. There is no need for it to be in the kitchen. It just needs a power source.

 

[ElizabethB]

I have a wonderful Gyoku chef knife. My pride and joy. I treat it like a much loved child. I would like a Japanese paring knife. My very good - old - wood cutting board finally bit the dust. I picked up a cheap one for a quick fix. I want another quality wood cutting board.

Stand mixer - I have been mulling this around for a while. I do very little baking but I would like to do more - bread. I would also like to make my own pasta.

Cons

It will be at least 3 months before George can have bread, pasta, rice or starchy vegetables.
When he is able to have carbs it will be in small portions.
Storage space is limited. It would have to live in a bottom cabinet.
Weight - have to move it from a bottom cabinet to the counter top and back.

Pros

George will have fresh, homemade bread and pasta with no additives.
The limited amount of carbs will taste so much better than store bought.
I can consider moving the mixer as a work out.
I REALLY WANT ONE!!!

IDK. I considered asking for a stand mixer for Christmas or for my birthday in February.

It is an expensive appliance. I have to convince my honey that I will make use of it.

 

[Morning Glory]

Stand mixer - I have been mulling this around for a while. I do very little baking but I would like to do more - bread. I would also like to make my own pasta.

I simply have no room - not even in a bottom cabinet. It would have to live in the cellar and be precariously carried up steep steps. Besides, I can make pasta, bread and other things quite easily without a stand mixer - and I do! Making bread by hand is easy (as is pasta) and also enjoyable. There is a very good no knead bread recipe I have somewhere...

 

[Elawin]

Mine is not so much a "next" item, but a replacement item - a bigger fridge. Since I started getting organic food delivered, my poor old fridge was struggling to cope, and this has got even worse since I joined this group. Often when I cook the food I post pictures of on here, I make enough for two or three servings and would like to be able to put the rest of food in the fridge, but there's rarely any room. I often end up putting food in the freezer, even if I want to eat it in the next day or two.

 

[Lynne Guinne]

@Elawin, I've been known to keep produce in a cooler in our kitchen for a day or two after a shopping spree. I use empty juice bottles (roughly 1.75 liter) to fill the empty space in our freezer ever since we had a nearly-three day power outage. So my cooler is like a low-tech refrigerator, as long as I swap out the bottle once a day so it's always partly frozen.

 

[Lynne Guinne]

I have a couple of wish-list items, but I'm using those as "carrots" to get me to do things around the house that need doing. They will be rewards upon completing a project. The first is an Instant Pot. Everyone I know loves theirs. Everywhere I read about it gets glowing reviews. Hubby is interested because he likes the idea of a rice cooker - we had a cheap one that worked, but left a dark, overcooked disc on the bottom each time we used it. I've tried to make friends with a pressure cooker in the past, but it scared the bejeebers out of me. Since this Pot is electric instead of stove top, it would/should cause less stress. My second want is a nice, new, shiny stand mixer. The only problem is my Mom's old unit works fine, and they just don't build them like they did in the 1950s. This one doesn't have as much horsepower as I would like, though, and I could use a bigger bowl. Last, I need a new toaster oven...or counter top oven...or whatever mini oven. Unlike the other two items, I don't know exactly what I want. So I'll muddle through with using my (probably) 15-year-old toaster oven until I can finally make up my mind. Hopefully I know before this old unit goes belly-up!

 

[Morning Glory]

The first is an Instant Pot.

I had to look this up as I wasn't familiar with the name - it turns out they are called Multi-cookers here: pkpbk3-pressure-king-pro-pressure-king-pro-multi-cooker-black-48010-141.aspx. They aren't too expensive (about £50/$66). My issue is no counter space, so I have to be sure I would get it out of storage often enough to warrant the purchase. I cook rice on the hob - do I need to cook it in a machine? I already have a slow cooker (crock-pot). I too have a pressure cooker which I never use! My one time using it ended in cremated gammon.

I have a toaster oven and although it takes up counter space I think it worth it. It is so much easier for grilling (broiling in U.S.) than using the oven.

 

[Elawin]

I had to look this up as I wasn't familiar with the name - it turns out they are called Multi-cookers here: pkpbk3-pressure-king-pro-pressure-king-pro-multi-cooker-black-48010-141.aspx. They aren't too expensive (about £50/$66). My issue is no counter space, so I have to be sure I would get it out of storage often enough to warrant the purchase. I cook rice on the hob - do I need to cook it in a machine? I already have a slow cooker (crock-pot). I too have a pressure cooker which I never use! My one time using it ended in cremated gammon.

I have a toaster oven and although it takes up counter space I think it worth it. It is so much easier for grilling (broiling in U.S.) than using the oven.

I bought a multi-cooker a few years back. It was a nightmare. It didn't cook rice how I like it, and the slow cooker part of it cremated food even on the low setting. I didn't even both to test out the rest of it. I got my money back, and bought a slow cooker and a steamer instead. I have got a toaster oven-cum-rotisserie which I bought in 1972 after I moved into my new flat. It still works reasonably OK and was a godsend when my old oven went bang. I don't use it very often any more though. The one thing I am still using pretty regularly is my old sandwich toaster, which must be a good 15 years old. In fact I use it more often now than when I first bought it, and of course I have now discovered that filled, toasted paneer sandwiches are gorgeous.

 

[GadgetGuy]

THIS item. I need a blender to make smoothies in the morning, to help me lose some weight.

 

[ElizabethB]

@Elawin

5 years ago our old side-by-side bit the dust. YIPEE!

I did not like it. The narrow refrigerator space was not very functional. I really wanted a 36" French door bottom freezer unit. No ice or water in the door. The ice unit in the refrigerator takes up valuable space. With no children in the house and a functional ice maker in the freezer compartment ice and water in the door was not something I wanted.

Then I had an OMG moment. My space is only 34" wide!

We purchased a 33" single door bottom freezer unit. A big improvement over the old side-by-side. The bottom shelf on the door is wide enough for a gallon of milk. I like being able to reconfigure my space by moving shelves and bins. That is important to me with the holidays coming up. I can re-arrange the interior to accommodate large pans.

The dishwasher died 3 years ago. George was looking at high end units. I talked him into a less expensive model. It is just the two of us and he travels a good bit. I should have my head examined. I can not put pots and pans in the unit and I have to rinse, almost pre wash the dishes before putting them in the machine. Too much trouble. I wash most of my dishes by hand. I have been considering removing the dishwasher and replacing it with a drawer base cabinet.

At the same time I was shopping for a new toaster oven. Our old one mounted to the bottom of a cabinet - did not sit on the counter. I scoured the Internet and could not find a similar unit. While shopping for the dishwasher I strolled over to the small appliance section. I found a countertop unit - toaster, broiler, oven with a convection option. Discontinued - 50% off. It was the last unit and did not have the box or paperwork. I negotiated an additional 20% off - $30 purchase price.

 

[Morning Glory]

I wash most of my dishes by hand.

The dishwasher is something I can't live without. I've said this before somewhere but when I stay with my friend in Essex (I do all the cooking there) it drives me mad. He has offered to do the washing-up but does not realise that whilst I'm cooking the washing up mount up. It is that which I can't bear - I have to have clutter free surfaces and clutter free sink whilst I'm working. Here, I put things out of sight in the dishwasher as I am cooking.

 

[SatNavSaysStraightOn]

My main issue is that there is no counter top space at all. I have to cut veg on the table. The food processor would replace the existing one, but like @morning glory I have to put it away after use and they tend to be heavy and my bank is simply not up. To it. Plus the it's an amazing lack of electricity sockets in my kitchen. There is 1 by the door which is the kettle. There are 2 in the corner one of which is the microwave and you can't unplug it without moving the microwave. Then there was a spare but it had been hijacked by the toaster my husband found the need to buy whilst I was in hospital. That's it except for the one for the oven/cooker behind the cooker and similarly t the fridge.

If i need to hoover the floor I have to run the hoover off an extension lead from another room! But that at least saves unplugging it for half the house!

 

[Elawin]

@morning glory

Same here! I do use it as a glorified rinser for some pans and my glass coffee jug that I use frequently. which are washed manually the next morning with the few things I have that are not dishwasher safe.

@ElizabethB

I have a 33" larder fridge, but it is nowhere near big enough. I was thinking of getting a side-by-side fridge, but then I would have the same problem - where to put it. The other fridge is under the work top, at the end of the counter so it gets plenty of ventilation, but, although there is enough room, I don't think the space would be suitable for a side-by-side. and built-under fridges seem to be expensive and smaller. I could move the cabinet next to my freezer, but there is no convenient plug socket. The freezer is a 43" Whirlpool chest freezer (just for me!) and is always full. Apart from a few packs of frozen veg, some meat, herbs and spices, most of it is taken up with food I have batch cooked or frozen myself. I am running it down at the moment to make room for Christmas stuff, but there is still barely little space.

I don't see the point of spending out loads of money for appliances when cheaper ones will do the job just as well. I tend to look in the sales for end of range items though rather than just cheaper makes. My washer/dryer was much cheaper than a similar capacity washing machine only and about half the price of what it was when it was a current model. Similarly, my first bread-maker was only £40 rather than the £147 it cost when the model was current. I wasn't working when my previous washing machine broke down and was not repairable, so I bought one from a charity shop for £10 - it only lasted six months, but by then I had a job and got the one I have now on interest-free credit. My first electric oven came from the same charity shop; that and the hob came to £30, and I did have to replace the hob pretty quickly, but the oven lasted about 15 years (and it was a late 1970s model - the original receipt was still in the instruction manual!). Coincidentally the hob, oven and the washing machine all came from the same place - a couple who were having a new fitted kitchen installed.