thinning out my kitchen gadgets, what to keep?

[Henrietta23]

So I guess what I'm asking is what can you not live without as far as kitchen gadgets go? I see to have developed a habit of collecting them and really don't have room for a lot of what I've got, especially since I hardly use some of them. Can I live without my waffle fry potato slicer? Two different sized crockpots? Looking to see what others can and can't live without in order to simplify my space and life. Thanks!

 

[the simple life]

I do not like gadgets and don't have any.
I have a handheld can opener.
My canning equipment and a dehydrator.

Someone just gave me a blender/food grinder and I used it to grind up the chick starter crumbles for the new chicks that can't handle the big pieces.
Thats it.

 

[Dace]

I have a lot and only use the same 20% of it all over and over.

Multiple crock pots, I say keep

My must haves are my knives, strainer, measuring cups, rubber spatula, rolling pin, electric knife, wooden hand held juicer.....hmmm, I need to do some serious cleaning out!

 

[user251]

have you ever watched Good Eats with Alton Brown? Like him i like multi-taskers you know things that have more than 1 purpose, and refuse to buy gadgets like all the ginsu junk from yesteryear, especially things that require electricity like can openers, knife sharpeners, electric waffle irons, sandwich makers that sort of thing and NO crockpots. Good luck

 

[enjoy the ride]

I'm a serious gadg-aholic- I love my garlic peeler, and my apple corer and my three sizes of ice cream scoop, my coffee bean grinder (use for grinding herbs,) my green bean frencher, my sprouting jars, my two kinds of cheese slicers, etc,etc etc. I come by it honestly as I have my Mom's toast-tite (makes toasted sandwichs on the stove stop) from the 1930's, her assorted strainers, pizza stone, egg beater, pastry cutter, rolling pins, flour sifters, spatchlers, etc etc etc.

I do use a lot of them every week- some only once or twice a year.

Keep them all- you never know when it might be just what you want. I had a stainless steel oil spray bottle that never worked quite right and sat around until someone on this forum mention using a spray bottle for dishsoap- now I use it a dozen times a day.


Having a lot of kitchen gadgets makes me feel wealthy beyond all counting............

I should mention that I don't spend a lot of money on them- discount houses, thrift stores, garage sales......................

 

[reinbeau]

I've got gadgets, I do like them, but I like the simple things, too, like a nice sharp knife...I like to mince things, like garlic and ginger, I'd never use one of those choppers to do that. I do like my food processor, I use it for specific purposes, as well as my Kitchen Aid mixer, but I'll mix by hand with a wisk if it's easier, no problem. I have gone through my junk drawer every once in awhile and cleared the decks - I need to do it again, soon! But I won't throw out things that I know I use. I'll regret it a month from now, or six months from now, and it isn't doing any harm sitting in the drawer until that moment.

 

[sufficientforme]

Would not give up would be for me: food processor I use a lot
Kitchenaid for kneading bread
Rice cooker use weekly
coffee pot obvious reasons (somebody might get hurt)
occasional but would miss: crockpot
toaster
Ok, but I really don't consider them gadgets. What drives me nuts are the item that clog down my precious drawer space like chopsticks, garlic peeler, turkey baster, wine bottle opener, blades for my cuisinart and kitchenaid, that kind of stuff.
Its the same for me I know the instant I get rid of something I need it. I do not encourage my mother in law or Mom to buy any of that stuff, however its like that's all they buy me.

 

[Henrietta23]

LOL, okay, I'm feeling better about it all now! I went through two drawers and got rid of some extra measuring cups, lots of little kid stuff that my 6 yo is now too grown up for, and a few gadgets that I just won't use. Some were door prizes from Tupperware parties or impulse buys from same. I've got a big box full to Freecycle. Some I'll hold onto because they were passed down from my husband's grandmothers. I found a shrimp deveining tool and realized I've probably deveined fish with my paring knife 20 times since the last time I remembered I owned a shrimp deveining tool. And bought deveined shrimp 100 as well! That went in the box. Got rid of three extra sets of measuring spoons. Haven't tackled one cupboard of stuff yet. That's got some Pampered Chef stuff that I was too stupid to walk away from. Ugh, that reminds me of the cupboard of pots, pans and baking dishes that I can't get anything out of anymore......
back to work!

 

[dacjohns]

Gadgets versus utensils.

A spoon and a knife. That's about all you need when backpacking.

Not real practical though.

If it uses electricity and can be replaced with something manual then it is a candidate for removal from the kitchen. A good example would be an electric can opener. You can toast bread in a skillet but a toaster is so much nicer. Can you live without a waffle iron and substitute pancakes for waffles.

Crockpots are good to have. We have a large one for potlucks and family get togethers and a small one for the two of us. I would keep the crockpot. It isn't safe to leave a pot on the stove unattended.

I still haven't really answered the questions. Get rid of the slicer thingy. Use a knife.

 

[Henrietta23]

It's more like a thought process than actual question I think. I do have both an electric and a hand turn can opener. I broke my wrist 10 years ago and turning the hand crank one is hard for me. Still we have it because the electric one is useless in a power outage.
Oh, and I'd dump the microwave in a heartbeat but DH won't hear of it. Takes up more space than any other small appliance and I use it maybe once a week. Thanks for all the input. It's kind of set me up to look at the stuff in my kitchen through another's eyes if that makes sense. And reading Alton Brown's Kitchen Gear (I think that's the title) is what got me started on this!

Gadgets versus utensils.

A spoon and a knife. That's about all you need when backpacking.

Not real practical though.

If it uses electricity and can be replaced with something manual then it is a candidate for removal from the kitchen. A good example would be an electric can opener. You can toast bread in a skillet but a toaster is so much nicer. Can you live without a waffle iron and substitute pancakes for waffles.

Crockpots are good to have. We have a large one for potlucks and family get togethers and a small one for the two of us. I would keep the crockpot. It isn't safe to leave a pot on the stove unattended.

I still haven't really answered the questions. Get rid of the slicer thingy. Use a knife.