I hate 1-use items (stove, cost, vent, mattresses)

[Sand&Salt]

I had a food processor that turned out to be single-use. Broke the first time.

Didn't replace it, but once in a while, a recipe does need a food processor but usually I can get away with a blender or stick-blender.

Used to use the juicer every day, but not for years now....

Then there's the ping-pong table in the garage, sigh.

[rabbit33]

For the kitchen I prefer general purpose tools. Kitchenaid mixer with bread hook and standard oven rather than bread machine. Knife and cutting board rather than food processor.

It's been my experience (been doing home cooking for 45 years) that unless you're doing mass quantities and using the specialized-purpose appliances constantly, they end up taking up space and not being used.

[JonahWicky]

As Alton Brown says, the only unitasker in my kitchen is a fire extinguisher.

[oregonwoodsmoke]

I don't have an ice bucket or a fondue set, but I do keep a tamale pot that only gets used once a year, and I'm keeping it because it is difficult to make tamales without it. It can be done, but is so much easier with the correct equipment.


Oh, and I keep a blender for making Blue Cheese salad dressing. For some inexplicable reason, it comes together perfect in the blender and the recipe won't work any other way. My mayonaise won't emulsify in the blender, but works like magic with the immersion blender. So I have to keep both of them and neither one of them gets used very often, but when I need them, I need them.

[kjg1963]

I have a quesadilla maker (I just use a fry pan)
I have a three-level steamer (I use a sauce pan with a steamer insert)
I have a cutesy hot dog roller (I just toss a dog in the microwave or when feeling ambitious - on the grill)
I have a food processor (I just chop everything with a knife)

They were all great the first time I used them but setting them up and cleaning them was a pain. It's quicker just to cook everything the old fashioned way. Now, they are just dust collectors waiting for a new home.

I did get rid of the George Foreman Grill at least

[Tzaphkiel]

i don't even know what an "immersion blender" is, or how it is any different from just a "blender"

i'm old enough to remember when the "electric knife" was all the craze. i remember thinking even as a little kid what a silly thing that is.
oh, and the "Veg-O-Matic" was a big thing then too. It now resides in the National Museum of American History.

[Tzaphkiel]

the less stuff i have (inlcuding gadgets in the kitchen) the happier i am, and the easier my life is.

[Toxic Waltz]

I bought a knife once that was specifically made for scraping peanut butter out of the bottom of the jar. My wife said I'd never use it but she was wrong, I use it all the time! She and the kids do as well, for peanut butter and jelly and Fluff and Nutella...so I guess technically it isn't single purpose.

[KCZ]

The only single-purpose gadget I've found that doesn't have a substitute is a waffle-maker. Of course, some things make life a lot easier. I make a lot of soup and it's way simpler to puree it with an immersion blender than pouring it into a blender pitcher in batches.

[ChessieMom]

Originally Posted by Diana Holbrook

Well those are odd examples because they do perform a unique function other items in the house could NOT do. If you want to put flowers in a vase, you need a vase.

The single use items that my mother always complained about were hot-dog cookers and egg-cookers and George Foreman grills that only do one thing that could be done just as well with a regular multi-purpose pan.

Too funny! I use my George Foreman grill every week to cook up my chicken for the upcoming week. Definitely not something that could be done "just as well" in a pan. I put foil on, put chicken in the grill and close it. A few minutes later and it is done. Remove chicken, toss the foil. Perfectly grilled chicken. That's it. No turning, no checking it. No cleaning. Super easy. One of the most used appliances in my kitchen.