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Another thing I've noticed is that lots of newer model toaster ovens have an air fryer capability, at least if you're willing to spend $100 for a toaster oven instead of $50. I have no idea if a separate air fryer + basic toaster over = more than fancier toaster oven that does both, but at least you'd reclaim some counter space.
I have a Hamilton Beach air fryer/toaster oven. It has its uses, but plain toast is not one of them.
Time to make nicely browned toast:
The above appliance: 7 minutes
The top oven of my dual electric oven: 5 minutes (actually four minutes and forty four seconds)
A small plain pop-up $10 toaster: 3.5 minutes
As an aside, toasters that I bought in the 1970s were 1,000 watts. In the 1990s - 800 watts. The one I bought this year - 700 watts. Toast used to be almost instantaneous. No more.
Trendy kitchen gadgets? Anything by Ron Popeil. Juicers. Salad spinners. Plastic pasta makers. Waffle makers. Apple peelers. Panini presses. Those giant backyard propane grills.
I've broken my promise to myself to not buy anymore cooking things. But the other day I saw I had a lot of points on my Amazon account and decided to treat myself with a few inexpensive items.
I bought a new, sturdy pastry cutter to replace my second-generation one from Mom which has seen better days. Sure would like to see some of you cut your pastry with two forks, a skill I don't have.
A small nonstick crepe pan with a good heat resistant handle.
And the thing I can't wait to try out for Christmas - an embossed rolling pin for cookies.
Rice cooker is mandatory in my kitchen although not sure if that's considered a gadget. The horizontal (right angle) potato peelers were a game changer when they came out. I will never go back to the straight style. That little doodad that slices boiled eggs into perfect slices is a winner as well.
When I got my immersion blender I started using it for potato soup and some other soups that contained potatoes. I noticed something was off with the taste and texture and I learned that it was because the blender was tearing the starch molecules and releasing starch and making the potatoes more gummy and less tasty. My potato soup returned to it's former glory when I switched back to just mashing some of them by hand after they were cooked.
Is parchment paper a gadget? It's replaced a lot of tinfoil in my cooking.
what caused trendy kitchen gadgets before social media?
Magazine articles, magazine advertisements, TV ads, point-of-purchase displays and demonstrations ... etc.
Quote:
Originally Posted by karen_in_nh_2012
I have to admit I'm a sucker for many kitchen gadgets and small appliances. But at least I usually USE them!
Same. I have specialized gadgets upon gadgets that I use for home canning and usually not for anything else - apple wedger, apple peeler/slicer, tomato corer, Foley food mill, funnels that measure headspace, that little magnet wand that picks up the lids, racks, jars, and steamers, and pots and kettles ... !
Glad I never fell for the spiralizer! No room on the shelves with all the canning stuff. LOL
My kind of kitchen gadget - simple, and with no electric motor. This simple juicer is inexpensive and well-designed. It will get a lot more juice out of a lemon or an orange (or a lime I suppose) than you'd get by cutting it in wedges and squeezing them in your hand. Just cut the fruit across in half and rotate back and forth on this thingie while squeezing on it, and the seeds and pulp are caught in the top part while the juice goes down into the bottom part.
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But at least I usually USE them!
No room on the shelves with all the canning stuff. LOL
