Kitchen Appliances Galore

It's my turn to take a stab at the Roundtable post today.  Thank God I have a knife sharpener to make my stab cleaner and just plain better.  That reminds me.  There seems to be an appliance for everything in the kitchen these days whether they are electric or hand-operated.  These are becoming so numerous and specialized that I doubt even Bill Gates and his wife Melinda have enough space on their kitchen counter (or below it), to accommodate every type.  Some extraneous examples include the electric peeler, the garlic press, the coffee roaster, the ice crusher, the egg cooker.  Perhaps it's just me who doesn't get it.  Perhaps us men would feel more involved if gas-powered kitchen appliances were developed, exhaust fumes be damned.

Getting back to discussion, I ask the women and men of the Roundtable (and others who would like to comment), which type of kitchen appliance is the most unnecessary?  What do you think the manufacturers of these appliances expect us to do with such an assortment?  Is this the ultimate expression of marketing types providing us too much choice to squeeze out more profit, or is it just a case of companies making sure there's always something else to put on a bridal registry?

Step up to the counter and plug in with some comments.

+ Atul

Comments

[Incurable Insomniac]

I think the gadget that scrambles eggs right in their shell is the stupidest thing I've seen to date.

Ronco has a million of these innecessary appliances and gadgets; when I see their commercials, I ask, "Who buys this stuff!?"

[Incurable Insomniac]

Hope you feel better fast!

[chancelucky]

I've personally never understood the trash compacter.

[Joe Wack]

Good luck with the knee, sir.

Years ago, on reading Anthony Bourdain's Kitchen Confidential, I was struck by the deep, inherent truth in his take on the garlic press.

The things are just such a pain in the keister to clean. I've left mine untouched since and have saved time and energy by just mincing garlic with a knife.

I would say, however, that there are many other kitchen gadgets that I love, even though they're not gas-powered.

[Suzanne]

I know everybody loves wooden spoons, but lately I've found them to be totally useless--or at least, redundant. They're fine for stirring, esp. when you have a pot you don't want to scrape, but then you usually end up having to take out a deeper spoon or ladle to actually serve whatever you're making.
P.S. I'm a friend of Lauren's (round tabler). Come visit my blog!

[Sereena X]

I hate potato peelers. We have one, but I always use a sharp paring knife instead. The potato peeler is just for threatening the dogs.

I harbor some lust in my heart for a certain kitchen appliance. The lovely KitchenAid stand mixer. It would make a perfect housewarming gift for my new kitchen. The colors...

[Stephen V Funk]

We never use the microwave oven for anything other than popcorn.

Hm.

[Suzanne]

This is a tough one, as I really love me some kitchen gadgets, but there is a distinction to be made between gadget and appliance.

There are far too many unnecessary small kitchen appliances, most of which I believe were designed to aid lazy cooks reduce the intricacies of complex dishes to pour, close and open--like the pizzelle maker you have pictured above. To me, half the fun is the actual food prep.

That said, I have a waffle maker that I've used maybe twice in 15+ years. That and the handheld stick blender are probably the most unused appliances in my kitchen.

There are many others to which I just say "No!" Lack of storage & counter space can also help keep useless appliances from creeping in and taking over.

As far as gadgets go, Alton Brown has a great book called Gear for Your Kitchen, which has clever recommendations for how to reduce kitchen gadget clutter by weeding out the redundant & unnecessary, and sticking with multi-taskers.

I hardly use my garlic press anymore, but still cannot bear to part with it. I did dump my egg slicer in favor of a multi-tasking mushroom slicer, and then turned the kitchen upside down looking for the egg slicer one day, not remembering it was gone.

Hope the knee surgery went smoothly and recovery is quick!

[Atul]

Hey gang,

I'm back home. The surgery wasn't bad at all and thanks for the well-wishes. My meniscus needed some trimming and sewing up due to a soccer injury. I have some moderate pain, but I wasn't aware of anything during the surgery, just had a nice long sleep.

Back to the kitchen...

Thanks for the comments about kitchen gadgetry and making me feel better knowing that I'm not the only one who doesn't use most of these devices.

Steph - I agree that Ronco may be responsible for much of this trend in kitchen gadgetry, didn't know about scrambled eggs in the shell. Does it taste better? :-)

Chancelucky - The trash compactor helps us save the landfill workers from having to do more work.

Joe - When it comes to garlic, a sharp knife does work great, and I see from your blogpost that you might be an addict to kitchen gadgets waiting for the enabler of a larger kitchen. Perhaps then, you could rent the appliances out and consider it a business venture.

(New) Suzanne - Welcome and thanks for stopping by! I took a quick look at your blog, will visit for longer a bit later. Wooden spoons should just be considered effective stirring sticks.

Sereena - As an unskilled peeler, I do need the hand potato peeler, also works well on apples. Mixers and food processors truly are useful as my mother proved to me while growing up.

Steve - Perhaps you need a more specialized microwave made especially for popcorn popping. But then, maybe you just need a popcorn popper!

Suzanne - Wow, a real kitchen expert. I think you hit the nail on the head. These gadgets are "designed to aid lazy cooks reduce the intricacies of complex dishes". Companies are basically profiting from our laziness or lack of culinary skill.

[johnsadowski]

Yeah, kitchen gadgets. That's a whole little ecosystem right there. I don't know about the most useless one, but I can definitely name the most disturbing.
It's the Ronco Solid Flavor Injector.

You just know someone, somewhere is doing something not-quite-right wth one of those.

[Incurable Insomniac]

I can't believe I typed "innecessary".....

[blush]

[Howard]

I find kitchen gadgets so useless I used the term as the tag line of my blog. "Incorrigible. Like a kitchen gadget."

Your post has made me realize that it should read, "Incorrigible. Like a kitchen gadget inventor." Thank you for your insight.

My vote is for the George Formen Grill. I might as well throw out my frying pan and my grill.

[Atul]

John - Flavor injectors sound a little risque to me.

Steph - Innecessary may not be a word, but I know what you meant.

Howard - Thanks for commenting. I was given a sandwich maker (which reminds me of the George Foreman grill) that I have yet to use. I also prefer the traditional frying pan. As for the incorrigible inventor, I wonder who came first, the marketing idea or the invention idea?

[Stephen V Funk]

Ahhh the George Foreman Grill! I have one of those too... in a closet... still in the box.

[Carrie]

I have never understood the electric knife.

[Atul]

Carrie - The electric knife may be the original unnecessary kitchen gadget with probably 90% of sales during Thanksgiving. I forgot about that one.

[prego]

Hey...

I had my knee cleaned out years ago (soccer, contrary to popular belief, is not a game for wusses). Eventually I had to get the knee reconstructed.

Anyway, when my wife and I were engaged she asked for my input for the wedding registry. My instructions? "Don't get anything for the kitchen that needs to get plugged in."

My sister registered for a bread maker that has yielded one loaf in eight years. It must have seemed like a good idea at the time.

On the other hand, my ice cream maker has gotten some healthy usage. Every year for the O-Dog's birthday people have come to expect one of my special recipes. Next on the menu, pumpkin ice cream for Halloween.

[Mrs RW]

Sereena: I love my Kitchen Aid stand mixer. It was my mother's and still works great. Get one!

Useless appliances I no longer have (or had space for): electric bread machine, hot dog cooker, food processor, garlic press, strawberry huller, mushroom brush, cherry pitter, apple peeler/slicer/corer

Atul: had an ice cream maker but it was the kind you had to crank - so, also gone. When Ben and Jerry's have so many great flavors, why bother?

[Suzanne]

I so covet the Kitchen Aid mixer! Sadly, it's not in my budget for the foreseeable future, so I'll just have to make do with my trusty Sunbeam mixmaster, in the meantime.

Electric knives are handy for upholstering and propmaking, as they make quick work of cutting foam, but nearly useless in the kitchen, I agree.

[Joe]

Mrs. RW--
I'm with you on the hot dog cooker and the garlic press, but on those rare occasions (and they are truly rare) when I have a large number of cherries to pit, I really like my little pitter.

[Bob]

Great discounts on high quality electric kitchen appliances found at FoodSaver store.....!