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Tuesday, February 8, 2011

Top 10 Kitchen Gadgets 2011

4:56 PM Posted by Lizard Wijanarko
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Kitchen GadgetsTop 10 Kitchen Gadgets 2011 Every cook loves kitchen gadgets. Hey, that's part of what makes cooking fun. Here is a list of my top ten favorite gadgets. From a microplane grater to a kitchen. Top 10 Kitchen Gadgets for your 2010 Wish List | Kitchen Who needs toys when you can have high-powered kitchen tools that satisfy both your inner Tim Allen and Julia Child? I have to admit that I'm kind of. In this post we've listed the top kitchen gadgets for 2010 and this Top Kitchen Gadgets. Inspired by the legendary Susannah Wesley

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Acme Natural Top/White Kitchen Cart - Portable Kitchen Island Acme Natural Top/White Kitchen Cart - Portable Kitchen Island. ... Kitchen Gadgets, Kitchen Garden, Kitchen Radios & TVs, Kitchen Robots There are days where having a 20"W 20"L 36"H kitchen cart would just help in our kitchen Best New Kitchen Products - New Kitchen Gadgets 2010 - There is always a new gadget to add to the kitchen to brighten up the decor, ease cooking prep, or store things more efficiently. Check out our cool new kitchen gadgets online Top 10 Kitchen Gadgets 2011

Who needs toys when you can have high-powered kitchen tools that satisfy both your inner Tim Allen and Julia Child?

I have to admit that I’m kind of having fun making these lists, and at the same time, I feel that tug of anti-materialism that makes me want to scrap the gadgets and just talk food. Top 10 Kitchen Gadgets 2011

I’m not a huge proponent of over-spending and letting kids get the gimmies and department store ridiculousness and door buster deals that require a sense of animosity to obtain. On the other hand, if your life is anything like mine, if you don’t put some practical things that you want and will use on a Christmas list, your mother-in-law will buy you something anyway…and she may not be so intuitive about the “want” or the “use” as you’d like.

I actually keep a running list in my computer for the whole family, all year long, just so I’m ready for the inevitable: “Where’s your wish list???”

Today’s list is full of kitchen gadgets with motors, cords, moving parts, and generally a high price tag (although I’ve got a few goodies under $50). Don’t worry, the stocking stuffer variety comes next Wednesday, just in time for your deal shopping on Black Friday.

If you’ve had your eye on any blogger e-products lately, by the way, you may want to plan to log on before you get in line next Friday morning. I won’t leak any secrets or sales…but I’m just sayin’. Watch Wednesday’s post.

The Disclosure

Usually this little FTC mandated thingy goes at the end of my posts, but I feel like talking a bit more up front about what’s behind all these links. Many, if not all of them, will take you somewhere that will give me a tiny kickback for sending you to them. My goal is that the agreement works out well for everyone, if in fact you’re spending some money anyway and ordering online anyway. I explained a bunch about how bloggers make an income back in August, if that helps you understand what’s going on here.

I do have to say that you ought to check local prices and availability first, and I don’t promise that I’ve found the very best deals. I’ll leave that to the deal bloggers, quite honestly. I’d just like to show you what kinds of things I find helpful in my kitchen and you can go from there.

Now here’s why I’m talking disclosure up front: until a few weeks ago, I included a lot of links to Amazon.com in my posts. They’re not always the least expensive, but they sell everything and make it very easy for bloggers to link to their stuff. They were called out on the carpet recently, and rightfully so, for selling an awful, immoral, illegal book. I don’t even want to tell you about it, but Lisa will, if you want to know more. Many people, including me, boycotted and are still boycotting. I took my Amazon store down and deleted the link from the sidebar.

Now, Amazon did take the listing off their site, but they haven’t (as far as I know) issued an apology or any sort of statement, nor have they guaranteed they won’t reinstate the book once this all blows over.

It’s been a conflict in my mind all week whether or not I should utilize any Amazon links or continue with a full boycott. I’ve noticed some bloggers I trust and admire continuing to post Amazon links, while others continue to speak out vehemently against the situation.

I guess I’m taking a middle ground today. I found some other online sites that sell cooking equipment, so I’ll try my best to link to them. However, I may also include Amazon links here. If you feel strongly about the boycott continuing, please do not follow them. If you’re shopping at Amazon anyway, for whatever reason, then I truly appreciate you starting with KS (did you know you don’t even have to buy what I recommend for me to get commission?).

If you end up shopping Amazon anyway, you might as well use Swagbucks – I’ll get a bunch of gifts for free this year because of it!

Top 10 Kitchen Gadgets

Now for the fun part! Some of these items I have and love, some are on my personal wish list. I’ll try to make that clear in the description, if it makes a difference to you. I don’t always know the perfect brand, either. I bought my last blender (the one that smokes sometimes when I make butter) at a garage sale, so that tells you a lot about my standards!

Toaster Oven
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We’ve had two toaster ovens, and both are indispensable for what they do for me, but I have no love for either. My first, a Cuisinart, had excellent features but was buggy and died too quickly for my liking. The new one, purchased out of necessity when the former died an early death, is an Oster and has some features I absolutely dislike. Here’s an upper end Calphalon that might do the trick and a lower range Black and Decker.

When purchasing a toaster oven, I’d recommend looking for: 6-slice capacity, ability to bake a whole pie/8×8 casserole (at least), multiple heights for the tray, auto-shutoff timer, easy controls (ask yourself how many buttons or dials you’d have to touch just to make toast, for example). Convection cooking may be nice, but I don’t think it gets anything done any faster. Watch out for metal on the door (ouch!) and dials that children can’t turn, even if they’re taught how.

Food Dehydrator

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Sometimes I’m not sure if the dehydrator is worth the space, but I do use it a lot. If you want to have a raw foods lifestyle, preserve a lot of seasonal product, make crispy nuts, or beef jerky, it’s helpful and nearly necessary. Although you can do a lot of the same things in an oven, many ovens don’t go below 170F and thus will kill enzymes (not “raw” foods), and sometimes you can’t tie up your oven for 12 hours and still survive the day!

I had fun hosting a CookWare’s Plus giveaway last June, when I asked you to make a Christmas wish list from their site. Now you can check them out for your real list (thank you, CWP, for being a sponsor of KS this month!). I happen to have an Excalibur dehydrator, but there are less expensive options. Check out my comparison dehydrator review to help you make your decision.

Grain mill

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Sometime soon, I will offer a giveaway sponsored by Pleasant Hill Grain for a Nutrimill grain mill. I’ve been fiddling with mine since spring, but it’s been pretty dormant lately as we went grain-free as a family. (That postponed things, sorry about that!)

A grain mill is a super huge investment and commitment. It definitely takes longer to make baked goods, just “one more step,” but the nutrition and cost savings of grinding your own grain, along with the reassurance of being able to store bulk grains, is unsurpassed.

When I get to a grain mill series (probably January), I will discuss a bit about the differences in mills. You definitely want to do your research to make sure you get what you need out of a mill. Two other bloggers I respect have written about various mills and comparisons: Nourishing Gourmet andHeavenly Homemakers.

High-powered blender
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Blendtec
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Another super big ticket item, the Blendtec and Vitamix seem to be the top two high-powered blenders out there. Many, many people listed them first on their “wish list” during the dehydrator giveaway. These machines take the place of your blender, food processor, AND grain mill.

I want one. Working on that!

You can find BOTH of them to compare atCookWare’s Plus. Someday, I’ll let you know which one I think is best (I hope).

Berkey Water Filtration System

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I’m becoming more and more interested in theBerkey system. I’m telling you, no one has anything bad to say about it (except that it takes counter space, which is my holdup. I’ve got 9 feet of counter, total. Cannot. Spare. A. Foot.)

The Berkey filters chlorine, fluoride (with an extra filter), plus 99% of all nasty contaminants. Good stuff. It doesn’t need electricity, so it will save you in an emergency, too. For more, check out Lisa’s humorous Berkey review.

KitchenAid mixer

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Now we get to my ultimate favorite kitchen gadget, one that I use nearly daily. Ok, I don’t really bake that much, but I bet it’s 3-4 times a week! Sometimes I use it 3 times in a day. My KitchenAid mixer has a prized place on my 9 feet of counter, I’m telling you. The fact that it will knead my bread dough allows our family to have homemade sourdough bread. I don’t knead bread by hand. Period. I also love that I can get out and put away ingredients while my batters and cookie doughs are mixing themselves. Indispensable! This link will take you to the KitchenAid outlet, where I hope you can find the best deal possible

Food processor

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I don’t actually own a food processor, but thanks to my mom who decided I’d use hers more than she does, I bet I drag it up from the basement once or twice a week. I try really hard to make more than one recipe at a time, because I’m lazy and hate dishes!

The food processor I use is nothing special, similar to this one from Amazon for $100. I might wish for a slightly bigger one, although right now I’m shooting for that high-powered blender to have fewer total gadgets to store. Here’s a KitchenAid 12-cup at cooking.com (less expensive here than the KA outlet!)

Mine stays busy shredding cheese, making power bars from my Healthy Snacks to Go book, and grinding nuts into fake-o almond flour, lately.

Stick Blender

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Here’s a lower budget item that still is a super fun gadget and gets constant use in my kitchen. Stick blenders make blending soups like my garlic soupsuper easy, and I make thin applesauce with the skins right in the pot! I also use the stick blender (also called a hand blender or immersion blender) to make perfect homemade mayo, every time. (That’s a vlog, if you want to see how it works.)

Some people like the chrome version to avoid plastic (here is is without extras). Mine looks just like this but is a Braun (I can’t find it anymore), and I LOVE the mini bonus food processor – I use it to make Caesar dressing all the time (same one is $10less at Amazon, sigh). Sometimes you just want cheap – here’s one for under $20.

Food Chopper

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For some reason I forgot how much I love myPampered Chef food chopper until recently. It’s SO much faster than a knife for chopping onions, garlic, and anything else for soups and casseroles when the slicing look doesn’t matter. Here’s the second one I have, dedicated to chopping nuts and chocolate. I don’t wash it much!

One word of caution: it you don’t have a lot of hand strength or dexterity, you may not be happy with this item. I have two because I got one for my mom for Christmas one year and she decided it hurt her hand, and she preferred a knife.

Mandolin Slicer

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Not to be confused with the musical instrument, which is spelled the same way, a mandolin helps you slice a lot of food, evenly and quickly. It makes homemade potato chips a snap, and I also love it for these California chicken wraps, which have a number of sliced vegetables. I don’t use it often, but when I packed it up to “set” our house to sell, I missed it! Absence makes the heart grow fonder (and more hungry).

Here’s a very inexpensive one like I have (under $20), one step up with various guards (can shred cheese), and a bit higher end (can slice tomatoes). If you want to spend $60 and more, you can find those, too.

Is anybody hungry? I just want to go play in my kitchen now, excuse me. If you’ve got any winner ideas to add, join in the comments, or feel free to ask me questions about my personal experiences with the items I own.

Every cook loves kitchen gadgets. Hey, that's part of what makes cooking fun. Here is a list of my top ten favorite gadgets. From a microplane grater to a kitchen. Top 10 Kitchen Gadgets for your 2010 Wish List | Kitchen Who needs toys when you can have high-powered kitchen tools that satisfy both your inner Tim Allen and Julia Child? I have to admit that I'm kind of.

Acme Natural Top/White Kitchen Cart - Portable Kitchen Island Acme Natural Top/White Kitchen Cart - Portable Kitchen Island. ... Kitchen Gadgets, Kitchen Garden, Kitchen Radios & TVs, Kitchen Robots There are days where having a 20"W 20"L 36"H kitchen cart would just help in our kitchen Best New Kitchen Products - New Kitchen Gadgets 2010 - There is always a new gadget to add to the kitchen to brighten up the decor, ease cooking prep, or store things more efficiently. Check out our cool new kitchen gadgets online

You may interested this related articles

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