Favorite Kitchen Gadgets/Appliances

[Anonymous]

I have about $500 to spend at Williams & Sonoma and would love to hear about your favorite gadgets/appliances. I already have a food processor and rice cooker. I want something that I will use a lot and won't gather dust just sitting in the cabinet. Thanks!

[Anonymous]

if i were in your position i'd probably get another le creuset dutch oven and an everyday all-clad pan because those are most practical.

they have a neato gadget at w-s that freezes popsicles in record time that looks like fun. but i think that's only about $50.

[Anonymous]

An instant read meat thermometer, we use it all the time to make sure chicken/turkey are fully cooked.

You can also splurge on a Le Cruset dutch oven (but look for prior posts on that, some people think they are overpriced). But I got mine at W&S with a gift card and use it all the time for roasting chickens and doing stews.

[Anonymous]

I could spend that in 60 seconds. There's a $95 Thermapen thermometer that the PP was talking about. Microplane grater. Handheld lemon squeezer. Garlic press. Global 6" chef's knife is the perfect size for a woman's hand. A chinois. Kitchen scale. Giant copper bowl. I think I went over $500.

[Anonymous]

I just LOVE my good knives. I have the Wusthof classic but there are other brands too. They're forged with one piece of steel, so they're sturdy, just heavy enough, etc. 8" chef is my fave, then 6" chef, then probably santouku for chopping, then paring and boning (oh and serrated for bread in there somewhere). I use them every time I cook, and every time I'm in someone else's kitchen I miss them - in fact, I've bought them for mom, MIL and SIL so that doesn't happen very often! If you have good knives, agree on good pan/pot - like pp I like all-clad for pans and le creuset for dutch oven. Frankly other than coffee maker, toaster and food processor, I dont many apppliances.

[Anonymous]

Agree about good knives, big Le Creuset piece. My favorite one is called, I think, a casserole -- it's like a big deep skillet with a lid and short handles on the side. Goes on the stove and then into the oven. I use it ALL the time.

Thermapen is also great.

[Anonymous]

An all-clad saute pan, microplane grater, good and comfortable chef knives, oxo salad spinner, garlic press (french or swiss made), big, heavy roasting pan. Have fun!

[Anonymous]

Lucky!!!

Agree with PPs that good knives are a great investment (we have Global ones); All Clad pots and pans (3 qt soup pot, cassoulet, 2 qt sauce pan, 8 qt stock pot)--doesn't matter which level, the "lowest" level works great; 10 or 12 in frying pan from LeCreuset; 6-7 qt dutch oven from LeCreuset or Staub (WS just started stocking these, and I prefer them over the LeCreuset, personally).

[Anonymous]

it's interesting how everyone feels that the pricier brands do better - it's marketing at its best. i admit it works on me too. read this nytimes column by mark bittman before you spring for the big stuff.

http://www.nytimes.com/2007/05/09/dining/09mini.html

[Anonymous]

KitchenAid Mixer. No doubt.

And good knives.

[Anonymous]

Ice-cream maker. Not sure if WS sells these, but I use mine about once a week in the summer. Homemade ice-cream is just so much better than store bought stuff.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:it's interesting how everyone feels that the pricier brands do better - it's marketing at its best. i admit it works on me too. read this nytimes column by mark bittman before you spring for the big stuff.

http://www.nytimes.com/2007/05/09/dining/09mini.html

Am a huge fan of Bittman, but his goal in writing the Minimalist column is to embolden people to cook when they feel intimidated by long ingredient lists, expensive gadgets, and time. So, the cheap and simple list he has here, while it makes sense, can be tweaked by OP, who has $500 to blow at WS.

I've cooked using less expensive pans that All Clad, and heft makes a difference between burning and not-burning. Bittman also doesn't use a rice cooker, but I LOVE mine for the convenience, perfect rice, and ease of cleaning.

BTW, you don't need to spend $$$ for All Clad. I have found pieces here and there at places like TJ Maxx. Also, love my Lodge Cast Iron ($18).

[Anonymous]

slow cooker/crock pot
espresso machine
bakeware (cake pans, bread pans, cupcake/muffin pans, cookie cutters...)

[Anonymous]

The best thing about Le Creuset is the lifetime guarantee: I've gotten imperfects at Marshalls for 1/2 the cost and had two replaced (large round dutch oven and stockpot) when the enamel wore off (thus, the "imperfect"). I have two other pots that are likely to wear at some point, and plan to send them in when that happens. So, for 1/2 off and the cost of shipping I have beautiful pots (and, in the interim, the imperfects worked fine, they just wore in the course of 2 years which isn't supposed to happen).

I love my All-Clad 4 quart saute pan, that's probably the one we use the most. That being said, the 10 inch skillet is probably the next most used, and then the round dutch oven (I make lots of stews and the like in the fall and winter).

For gadgets, I love the microplane grater: SO easy to make zest, I make all kinds of things I would have avoided in the past because of the pain of zesting the lemon with a box grater (ranging from easy dressings to lemon curd tart). We also use our salad spinner a lot, but we have a CSA that delivers lots of greens all winter long (we didn't use it at all before that). Good quality knives are great, and I also bought the good quality hardwood spoons there (although I'm not sure they sell the beech ones anymore, last time I was there they seemed to have switched over to olive and to also not have the 14" ones anymore, which is a shame, those are excellent for use with the deeper dutch ovens and stockpots).

Given that I already have all this stuff, I would probably go for an All-Clad 8 quart stockpot myself. I make jams and pickles in the summer, and right now I use the Le Creuset pots for that, which I do think contributes to the hard wear on the enamel. For acidic things like making big batches of tomato-based sauce, it would also be nice to have a metal pot. After this pot, I might get a stand mixer although I (personally) would probably go for upgrading my knives.

If I weren't a big from-scratch cook and was looking for fun things, I'd probably get an ice-cream maker. Friends who have them love them, and I'd like to be able to control what goes into the mix.

Wow, have fun!!!

[Anonymous]

I wouldn't waste your money on the Le Cruset...get the knock off for $50 at Marshalls. Works the same. I'd spend your money on good utensils like flippers and scrapers and zesters and squeezers and then maybe and all clad sautee pan because that is def. worth the money. But I use a large saute pan much more then I use a stockpot. Or get some nice linens, they have great table clthes and stuff.