Kitchen appliances: what do you use?

[Anonymous]

Tea kettle - most used item in the kitchen

Le Creuset cast-iron pot - every day in winter for delicious stews!

Microwave

Toaster - every morning

Zojirushi rice cooker - though not every day

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Op, you make waffles every day??? Can I come over sometime??

No . But I make them at least 2 times a week. My son also takes them for his school lunch.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:For those of you who use a rice cooker, what kind do you have? In mine, the rice always sticks and I don't think it's any better than boiling it on my stove.

Ours is a Zojirushi. I think the insert is non stick and we've never had a problem.

We have one as well and use it at least 4 nights a week.

Also use our coffee grinder, microwave, and toaster ovendaily.

Waffle iron weekly (Sunday mornings) and Cusinart / mixer probably every other week.

[Anonymous]

I could not live without my immersion (stick) blender! Great soups and quick smoothies. No messing with transferring in and out of a blender. Plus it is cheap and takes up no room at all.

[Anonymous]

Microwave
Rice Cooker
Food Processor
Coffee Maker
Toaster
Kettle

[Anonymous]

We have a microwave vegetable steamer and use it almost every night. Bed Bath and Beyond has them for $10.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:For those of you who use a rice cooker, what kind do you have? In mine, the rice always sticks and I don't think it's any better than boiling it on my stove.

I grew up eating rice daily (Korean family), so I definitely have my biases towards rice cookers! I think that if you are going to be or would like to eat rice at least 3x/week, I would invest in a "fuzzy logic" rice cooker (try to find one still made in Japan--even Zojirushi now has rice cookers made in China). We use a 3.5 cup-size Zojirushi, but we are a small family with small appetites and little space. I think that the 5 cup ones are ideal for most families. These cook rice (white, brown, jasmine) perfectly, keep rice warm without drying them out, and can be timed so that the rice is ready when you come home from work. The other ones, the $30 ones, are going to yield better results than the stove top, but they are messy because they splatter a bit. If you cook rice maybe once a week, I think that the $30 ones are fine. If you cook rice less often than that, I would just stick to the stove top.

How does this work, where you set it up to have rice ready when you are home? Does it keep the water in a separate reservoir and begin the cooking at a certain time? I'm only used to doing rice on a stove, so it's hard to imagine.

[Anonymous]

I use my rice cooker once a week. I forget the brand (Oscar comes to mind), but it has a timer on it, so I can set it to be ready when I get home. I personally could never get real rice to cook right on the stove, and I hate minute rice. For the person who was having problems, do you rinse the rice before use? Mine says to rinse it. It also says you can gently coat the pot part with oil.

My other can't-live-without appliances are toaster oven/convection oven, microwave, coffee maker, and crock pot (actually three crockpots).

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:For those of you who use a rice cooker, what kind do you have? In mine, the rice always sticks and I don't think it's any better than boiling it on my stove.

I grew up eating rice daily (Korean family), so I definitely have my biases towards rice cookers! I think that if you are going to be or would like to eat rice at least 3x/week, I would invest in a "fuzzy logic" rice cooker (try to find one still made in Japan--even Zojirushi now has rice cookers made in China). We use a 3.5 cup-size Zojirushi, but we are a small family with small appetites and little space. I think that the 5 cup ones are ideal for most families. These cook rice (white, brown, jasmine) perfectly, keep rice warm without drying them out, and can be timed so that the rice is ready when you come home from work. The other ones, the $30 ones, are going to yield better results than the stove top, but they are messy because they splatter a bit. If you cook rice maybe once a week, I think that the $30 ones are fine. If you cook rice less often than that, I would just stick to the stove top.

How does this work, where you set it up to have rice ready when you are home? Does it keep the water in a separate reservoir and begin the cooking at a certain time? I'm only used to doing rice on a stove, so it's hard to imagine.

Mine you put the rice and water in the same "pot", but it turns out great. I think soaking the rice actually makes it better.

[Anonymous]

Does anyone else use a microwave rice cooker? Best invention ever -- and only like $10 (might be more now, mine is 10 years old). The rice takes about 15minutes and turns out perfectly.

I use daily:

Automatic espresso maker
toaster
microwave

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Does anyone else use a microwave rice cooker? Best invention ever -- and only like $10 (might be more now, mine is 10 years old). The rice takes about 15minutes and turns out perfectly.

I use daily:

Automatic espresso maker
toaster
microwave

Yes, I bought one from Pampered Chef and I love it. The rice does come out perfectly!

[Anonymous]

Daily/Multiple times weekly: Toaster, microwave, coffee grinder, coffee maker, immersion blender (the mini food processor attachment is one of the most practical things we have in the kitchen, while the whisk attachment is useless)

Weekends, or once a week - Cuisinart, mandoline (though not really an appliance).

Less often - stand mixer, crock pot, waffle maker, sandwich maker, regular blender.

Want to get a Zoj rice cooker (and breadmaker) but having a hard time justifying the money. Our cheapo American one gets the job done, but not very well.