Household gadgets best and worst

[merryone]

I managed to stop myself ordering the potd spiraliser and book from IW a few days ago when I had a sudden unexpected last minute surge of questions popping into my head - It went something like this. "Think for a minute, you saw the demo, this is basically a courgette cutter and little else - will you get much use from it?" " won't it just end up cluttering up the back of your already cluttered cupboard?" Do you also need a book showing you recipes and ideas you can get on line for free?" Ok, I'll lose the book....looked at my basket and was about to strike the flexi pay button, and again thought - You've seen the demo, it works wonders with courgettes, but you've had a look at the reviews elsewhere and by all accounts it either turns everything else into a messy pulp, or won't touch anything hard like a carrot, which incidentally needs to be peeled first and be perfectly straight - I emptied my basket and walked away from the computer - well done me!

This set me to thinking about other spectacular wastes of money I have knocking around the various corners of my flat. Juicer - Big, clumsy, a real pain to set up and an even bigger pain to clean up. Only ever use my cheap countertop juicer (the one with the pull down arm, it does a brilliant job).
Stand mixer/food processor.....my small handheld mixer and a bowl is easier to use, easier to clean and tbh actually mixes better as you have control over where the beaters go, as for the food processor part - see what I've writer for juicer! A good set of knives and a cheap mandoline works just as well! Also I would recommend a good quality stick blender.
Pasta maker - Biggest waste of time and money EVER. Have tried manual and as a food processor attachment - both awful!

Upright steam cleaner - unless you've got a massive expanse of steamable floors in perfectly square shaped rooms - don't bother...get a cheaper handheld with attatchments if available.

Garment steamer..take up too much room do a lousy job - I think that industrial ones probably work brilliantly, but their poor cousins that the regular consumer can buy from my experience just end up soaking the clothes in water, burning the operator are backbreaking to use and don't actually iron clothes properly. Just get a decent iron!

My best buys .

Upright Rotisserie - Yes it's big and bulky and I have to store it upstairs in a cupboard, and I don't use it all that often, but I know that when I do I'm going to get delicious results from very little effort!

small slow cooker - Worth its weight in gold! Buy yourself a good slow cooker recipe book such as 1001 slow cooker recipes and you'll not look back.

Magic bullet (not nutri/ninja) Just the original small one. It isn't quite as magic as the ads would have you believe, but it's pretty close. Easy to use, really versatile and totally easy to clean and what's more takes up very little space!

What are your go to gadgets, and what in your opinion are a total waste of time?

 

[Loveinamist]

As mum never used gadgets I don't either. Bought cheese graters, cylinders with lids that grated cheese inside, sent them back they were cr*p as basically the cheese had to be rock hard for the blades to work (from Q). Toastie maker I hate cleaning so it's been jibbed. The Ninja sits on the table that I may as well use as a vase for all I do with it. Slow cooker ditto, prefer my huge pan with lid. Received electric knives as a wedding present which I cut the cake up with and put away until Christmas used it to cut the meat one year and put away forever. Suppose my microwave, which I only use for heating never cooking, is my only vice ha!

 

[rosey]

I too have the usual cupboard full of wonderful/useless (delete as appropriate) gadgets.

My slow cooker is used 2-3 times a week - makes the perfect roast beef. Just put beef in (no water or stock) and switch on before work. Come home, throw some frozen roasters, veg and yorkies in the oven and a quick mid-week roast. Casseroles, gammon and even rice pudding. So simple and delicious.

I could not live without my Candy Apple Red Kitchenaid mixer. Use it all the time and it looks beautiful on the worktop

I have just purchased a yoghurt maker from Lakeland and at the moment we have home made yoghurt every week now - don't know how long the fad will last though. But it is delicious and cheap. Love that it makes individual pots, reminds me of being on holiday and having yoghurt, honey and nuts for breakfast.

But I do have a cupboard full of redundant others e.g. bread maker, George grill, waffle maker, Easiyo maker - very expensive to keep buying sachets.

 

[Letz-be-avenue]

Great thread, I have had lots of gadgets in my time, bread maker ( used a couple of times, then given to a coeliac friend, who never used it!) , ice cream maker (couldn't be bothered with it, and all that cream bad for my cholesterol!) soup maker ( prefer to make on the hob in a saucepan!), pasta machine, ( too much hassle and not worth the effort when dried pasta so good), juicer, ( too much mess, hard to clean) even my microwave gets rarely used, but I do love my simple and cheap electric steamer, use it such a lot for veg, and my nespresso coffee maker,

 

[merryone]

forgot about the ice cream maker, although it cost next to nothing - it was next to useless. Took about 6 batteries and a lot of room in the freezer, but worst of all, it didn't really work and just made this inedible slop. I seem to remember giving it to my mum as it had twin bowls to use as a feeding/water dish for her cat! Had a George Foreman grill but realised that many things will dry fry perfectly well anyway and that fat will drip away using a normal grill pan. Also now come to think of it remember that god awul omelette cooker that made half moon shaped meals out of everything you put in...everything came out rubbery and totally unappetising!