On Thu, 21 Apr 2005 23:02:14 -0000,
(Alex Rast) wrote:

>at Thu, 21 Apr 2005 19:14:50 GMT in <1114110890.887833.128590
>, (Dr. Dog) wrote :
>
>>Anyone have any nominations?
>>
>>I'm loath to laugh at any of the things for sale now. Even a slotted
>>olive spoon turned out to make sense when one came our way. But is
>>there anything truly useless and preferably expensive that is on the
>>market now for chefs who have everything?
>
>Chocolate temperers
>Electric deep-fryers
>
>At a lower price point:
>
>Pizza stones
yes
>Charlotte moulds
>Herb mincers
>Preformed pie shields
>Donut cutters
>Muffin-top tins
wouldn't mind one
>Bagel slicers
>
>Actually, though, my favourites are ones many people would dispute the
>"useless" tag. My personal opinion is that the following are truly useless
>and people only use them out of habit.
>
>Microwave ovens
>Nonstick pans
>Stainless steel knives

Three of my favorite things! I wouldn't be without a microwave.

After reading these lists, it seems that I use many of the things
other people find useless, inluding the garlic press.

I never had an electric can opener, but since they started putting
pull-tops on cat food, I don't use my Swingaway as much either.

I have drawers full of gadgets! None very expensive though. I have
resisted the Eggstractor.

Sue(tm)
Lead me not into temptation... I can find it myself!

Curly Sue wrote:
> Three of my favorite things! I wouldn't be without a microwave.
>
> After reading these lists, it seems that I use many of the things
> other people find useless, inluding the garlic press.

Gee - who doesn't like a garlic press? I couldn't livewithout mine!


>
> I never had an electric can opener, but since they started putting
> pull-tops on cat food, I don't use my Swingaway as much either.

You don't used canned tomatoes? Or do you can them yourself?

>
> I have drawers full of gadgets! None very expensive though. I have
> resisted the Eggstractor.

A recent review said it doesn't work. Not that I was tempted, in any
way...
-L.

-L. wrote:

> Gee - who doesn't like a garlic press? I couldn't livewithout mine!

What does it do that my knife can't? I manage quite well without a
press. One less thing to wash too.
Goomba

Goomba38 wrote:
> -L. wrote:
>
> > Gee - who doesn't like a garlic press? I couldn't livewithout
mine!
>
> What does it do that my knife can't? I manage quite well without a
> press. One less thing to wash too.


But don't you have to wash the knife, Goomba?


Dog
(who swears by his garlic press)

"-L." > wrote:

>Gee - who doesn't like a garlic press? I couldn't livewithout mine!
>

I don''t use mine a lot, but I do really like it if I have to do a
huge load of garlic at once. Don't even peel the stuff.

One time on Usenet, x-no-archive: yes said:
> "-L." > wrote:

> >Gee - who doesn't like a garlic press? I couldn't livewithout mine!

> I don''t use mine a lot, but I do really like it if I have to do a
> huge load of garlic at once. Don't even peel the stuff.

I love my garlic press, but I've never tried putting unpeeled
garlic through it. Does the skin stay in the press or break up
and go into the dish? If it's the former, I'll have to give it
a try -- anything to save work... ;-)

--
Jani in WA ~ mom, vid gamer, novice cook ~
"The ships hung in the sky in much the same
way that bricks don't" - D. Adams, HGTTG

"-L." > wrote in message
ups.com...
>
> Curly Sue wrote:
>> Three of my favorite things! I wouldn't be without a microwave.
>>
>> After reading these lists, it seems that I use many of the things
>> other people find useless, inluding the garlic press.
>
> Gee - who doesn't like a garlic press? I couldn't livewithout mine!

I don't. I can chop up a clove pretty quick with my knife. Maybe I've
just been unlucky, but the two different presses I've owned both wasted
about half the garlic I pressed, because I found it to be too much work
to scrape out the mashed garlic from the press. Besides, I enjoy using
my knife.

Scott.

Re garlic gadgets: I don't use a garlic press much (we keep breaking
them) so I have no comment. The useless garlic item I nominate is the
garlic peeler. An inventive RFCer gave out home made ones once, which
is nice because they recycled bike inner tubes; I never could get mine
to work that well and failed to see the point. I just use my knife to
slit open the skin, peel it off, crunch with the flat of the blade, and
mince. No it's never as fine as a garlic press would be but it's good
enough. We like garlic around here.

Leila

Alex Rast > wrote:

>
> Actually, though, my favourites are ones many people would dispute the
> "useless" tag. My personal opinion is that the following are truly useless
> and people only use them out of habit.
>
> Microwave ovens
> Nonstick pans
> Stainless steel knives

I'm with you.

serene (but nonstick is nifty, if not necessary -- just not worth it
because it never lasts and I don't wanna eat chips of the stuff)
--
http://serenejournal.livejournal.com
http://www.jhuger.com

On 2005-04-22, Serene > wrote:

> because it never lasts and I don't wanna eat chips of the stuff)

You're buying the cheap stuff. I've got an Excalibur(tm) coated fry pan
that's over ten years old and it has never chipped. I've burned it,
scrubbed it, and just generally abused the Hell out of it and it's
still hanging in there. It occasionally losses its non-stick
properties whenever I burn something really bad onto it, but scrubbing
the Hell out it with a ScotchBrite pad to take the burnt stuff off
restores it. The teflon coating is really bullet-proof on this brand
coating. Here's why:

http://www.whitfordww.com/excalibur.html

I don't know who is using Excalibur teflon on their pans these days,
but I'm sure someone is. Mine is an older Farberware Millennium line
which they don't make anymore. Do a google search for excalibur pans.

nb

> wrote:

<Actually, though, my favourites are ones many
> people would dispute the "useless" tag. My
> personal opinion is that the following are truly
> useless and people only use them out of
> habit.

>Microwave ovens
>Nonstick pans
>Stainless steel knives

I use all three of those nearly every day.
Although not expensive, my useless items would be this metal meat
defrosting tray thing (as seen on tv) that`s supposed to defrost frozen
meat in minutes - it doesn`t.

That "bacon waves" tray for microwaving bacon.
This thing with a whole bunch of little blades and a handle that`s
supposed to slice a whole tomato at once - it just kinda shreds it,
rather then slicing it.

"Day Dreamer" > wrote in message
...
>
> > wrote:
>
> <Actually, though, my favourites are ones many
>> people would dispute the "useless" tag. My
>> personal opinion is that the following are truly
>> useless and people only use them out of
>> habit.
>
>>Microwave ovens
>>Nonstick pans
>>Stainless steel knives
>
> I use all three of those nearly every day.
> Although not expensive, my useless items would be this metal meat
> defrosting tray thing (as seen on tv) that`s supposed to defrost
> frozen
> meat in minutes - it doesn`t.

Not in minutes, but it absolutely speeds up the process. Mine is a
ribbed aluminum thing with rubber feet (I expect copper would work
better, but cost a lot more). Same thing as yours? I don't use it a lot,
but on occasion I find it useful.

Scott.

"Alex Rast" > wrote in message
...
> at Thu, 21 Apr 2005 19:14:50 GMT in <1114110890.887833.128590
> @o13g2000cwo.googlegroups.com>, (Dr. Dog) wrote :
>
> >Anyone have any nominations?
> >
> >I'm loath to laugh at any of the things for sale now. Even a slotted
> >olive spoon turned out to make sense when one came our way. But is
> >there anything truly useless and preferably expensive that is on the
> >market now for chefs who have everything?

<snip of excellent examples except the pizza stone which makes lovely crip
pizza and breads>

> Actually, though, my favourites are ones many people would dispute the
> "useless" tag. My personal opinion is that the following are truly useless
> and people only use them out of habit.
>
> Microwave ovens
> Nonstick pans
> Stainless steel knives

These I do disagree on. Microwaves justify themselves by virtue of their
ability to reheat pasta which cannot be done appropriately by other
conventional means. Without a microwave I would simply toss out any uneaten
sauced pasta as conventional heating makes the pasta too mushy.

Nonstick pans are more than just convenient even if a lower tech equivilent
(like a properly seasoned cast iron pan) can achieve similar results.
Nonsticks make omelets and similar egg dishes very easy. Ditto with making
frico or other fried cheese dish like saganaki. The list goes on.

As to SS knives what out there is a better material for kitchen use? I'm
genuinely curious.

Kate

Kate B > wrote:

> These I do disagree on. Microwaves justify themselves by virtue of their
> ability to reheat pasta which cannot be done appropriately by other
> conventional means. Without a microwave I would simply toss out any uneaten
> sauced pasta as conventional heating makes the pasta too mushy.

Fried in butter.

HTH

serene
--
http://serenejournal.livejournal.com
http://www.jhuger.com

On 2005-04-22, Kate B > wrote:

> These I do disagree on. Microwaves justify themselves by virtue of their
> ability to reheat pasta which cannot be done appropriately by other
> conventional means. Without a microwave I would simply toss out any uneaten
> sauced pasta as conventional heating makes the pasta too mushy.

Agreed, Kate. I use these 3 items daily. I boil a cup of water in 3
mins to make a cup of coffee when I awake. Great for warming
leftovers and soups. I use my non-stick pans for eggs, grilled
sandwiches, etc, even though I have an excellent set of SS/Cu pans
which see even more use. As for the SS knives, I've got those, too.
The trick is to get quality SS knives. I got nothing against carbon
stee knives, but my SS LamsonSharps will take and hold an edge as good
as any carbon steel knife I've ever owned.

If one wants to be a traditionalist, fine with me. But, calling the
newer-tech stuff useless is just silly.

nb

"Kate B" > wrote:

>As to SS knives what out there is a better material for kitchen use? I'm
>genuinely curious.
>
>Kate
>

Regular steel, I guess the "no-stain" types are a reasonable
alternative to stainless. I don't guess it's always true, but in
general it's very hard to sharpen a stainless knife. OTOH if you get
one of the "higher-end" stainless ones today, I think they probably
hold their original edge pretty well. And they go in the dishwasher,
which is good.

"Kate B" > wrote in message
link.net...
>
> "Alex Rast" > wrote in message
> ...
>> at Thu, 21 Apr 2005 19:14:50 GMT in <1114110890.887833.128590
>> @o13g2000cwo.googlegroups.com>, (Dr. Dog) wrote :
>>
>> >Anyone have any nominations?
>> >
>> >I'm loath to laugh at any of the things for sale now. Even a slotted
>> >olive spoon turned out to make sense when one came our way. But is
>> >there anything truly useless and preferably expensive that is on the
>> >market now for chefs who have everything?
>
> <snip of excellent examples except the pizza stone which makes lovely
> crip
> pizza and breads>
>
>> Actually, though, my favourites are ones many people would dispute
>> the
>> "useless" tag. My personal opinion is that the following are truly
>> useless
>> and people only use them out of habit.
>>
>> Microwave ovens
>> Nonstick pans
>> Stainless steel knives
>
> These I do disagree on. Microwaves justify themselves by virtue of
> their
> ability to reheat pasta which cannot be done appropriately by other
> conventional means. Without a microwave I would simply toss out any
> uneaten
> sauced pasta as conventional heating makes the pasta too mushy.
>
> Nonstick pans are more than just convenient even if a lower tech
> equivilent
> (like a properly seasoned cast iron pan) can achieve similar results.
> Nonsticks make omelets and similar egg dishes very easy. Ditto with
> making
> frico or other fried cheese dish like saganaki. The list goes on.
>
> As to SS knives what out there is a better material for kitchen use?
> I'm
> genuinely curious.
>
> Kate

Kate, I prefer a carbon-steel knife that I've had for 20+years that has
NEVER been sharpened. It outshines my other expensive knives. I use it
daily.
dEE

"Kate B" > wrote in message
link.net...
>

(snip)

> As to SS knives what out there is a better material for kitchen use?
> I'm
> genuinely curious.
>
> Kate

Stainless knives can't hope to achieve the edge that carbon steel can.
Stainless is great for steak knives and cutlery, but for chef's,
carving, paring or filleting knives, use a good quality carbon steel
knife and you can't go wrong.

Scott.

Alex Rast wrote:
>
> At a lower price point:
>
> Pizza stones

Admittedly I rarely use mine, but that's because hubby got low-carb
religion a couple of years ago. If you're into baking artisanal bread,
then a bread stone is really useful for getting the crust nice and
crispy dark. Pizza stone, being circular, doesn't have as much area.

What I suggest as truly useless is the item seen in (I believe) the Sur
la Table catalog some years ago: a pizza stone in a copper serving
tray, with attendant pizza cutter. The copper serving tray is just
wasteful excess IMHO. But hey, keep on giving tax cuts to the super
rich, and you'll keep on having people who need to spend their excess
cash on this stuff. They have to fill up those 42,000 square foot
houses and 10,000 s.f. kitchens.

Leila
can't help but get in a political dig

"Leila" > wrote:

>> Pizza stones
>
>Admittedly I rarely use mine, but that's because hubby got low-carb
>religion a couple of years ago. If you're into baking artisanal bread,
>then a bread stone is really useful for getting the crust nice and
>crispy dark. Pizza stone, being circular, doesn't have as much area.

Leila, the only thing we use the deep-dish stone for these days is
cornbread - it really comes out a lot better. My wife uses some of
the flat "tray-type" stones for various things, but when I bake bread,
I plop it onto a cookie sheet covered with cornmeal - it has sort of a
ball-bearing effect, and I don't have to add extra fat by greasing the
sheet. Course the lower shelf of the oven is covered with tiles, so I
guess I'm still sort of using a "baking stone", eh?

I have never actually used one, or even seen one in person, but how
about the ron popeil thing that will beat an egg within the shell?!
That seems utterly useless to me.

josie

Trouve
"Smarter Food Storage"
www.savethelids.com

On Thu 28 Apr 2005 01:11:39p, josafeen wrote in rec.food.cooking:

> I have never actually used one, or even seen one in person, but how
> about the ron popeil thing that will beat an egg within the shell?!
> That seems utterly useless to me.
>
> josie

They're good for a joke. A friend of mine had one of these some years ago.
He took it over to his parents' house while they were on vacation and mixed
all the eggs in the refrigerator, then put them back. Confused the hell out
of his mother then next time she used an egg! <g>

--
Wayne Boatwright *¿*
____________________________________________

Give me a smart idiot over a stupid genius any day.
Sam Goldwyn, 1882-1974

"josafeen" > wrote:

>I have never actually used one, or even seen one in person, but how
>about the ron popeil thing that will beat an egg within the shell?!
>That seems utterly useless to me.
>
>josie
>
>Trouve
>"Smarter Food Storage"
>www.savethelids.com
>

Yep. I listed that one as did a couple other people. I can't believe
that at least 3 people even own one of those. Ours was a wedding
present. Which says a lot about who made the guest list - not me.

"josafeen" > wrote in message
oups.com...
>I have never actually used one, or even seen one in person, but how
> about the ron popeil thing that will beat an egg within the shell?!
> That seems utterly useless to me.
>
> josie
>
===================

I don't have one but it's on my 'wish list'. Presuming it does as
advertised - which most Popeil products do - I think it would be so cool to
use it to make hard boiled eggs for spinach salad. The yolks wouldn't
separate from the whites. Hence, prettier salad...? I dunno. It's
probably silly but I'm hoping one for Mother's Day... but Christmas will
probably be more realistic. LOL

Cyndi

"Dr. Dog" > wrote in message
oups.com...
> Anyone have any nominations?
>
> I'm loath to laugh at any of the things for sale now. Even a slotted
> olive spoon turned out to make sense when one came our way. But is
> there anything truly useless and preferably expensive that is on the
> market now for chefs who have everything?
>
> A pizza-warmer is the closest I can come to the ideal.
>
>
>
> Dog

How about garlic presses? I've wasted a lot of garlic trying to justify the
expense of that piece of scrap metal.

Scott.

Scotty wrote:
> "Dr. Dog" > wrote in message
> oups.com...
>
>>Anyone have any nominations?
>>
>>I'm loath to laugh at any of the things for sale now. Even a slotted
>>olive spoon turned out to make sense when one came our way. But is
>>there anything truly useless and preferably expensive that is on the
>>market now for chefs who have everything?
>>
>>A pizza-warmer is the closest I can come to the ideal.
>>
>>
>>
>>Dog
>
>
> How about garlic presses? I've wasted a lot of garlic trying to justify the
> expense of that piece of scrap metal.
>
> Scott.
>
>

i never understood how it could be difficult to mince or crush a clove
of garlic....

--

saerah

"I think there's a clause in the Shaman's and Jujumen's Local #57 Union
contract that they have to have reciprocity for each other's shop rules."
-König Prüß

Love my:
Garlic press (for LOTS of garlic at one time)
Zyliss chopper
Cheapo mandoline
Standard #11 blade Xacto knife (deveining shrimp)

Hate(d) my:
apple-peeler-corer-slicer
cookie gun (cookies on the floor, the walls, the ceiling . . . )
Pampered Chef killer garnishing knife/guillotine
Strawberry Huller
Tomato Slicer
Expensive (Pampered Chef) Egg Slicer (broke 3)

Learned to love my:
Cheapo Egg Slicer (from the $1 store - buy 'em 2 at a time)
Pizza stone - call for pizza delivery. Put stone in 450 oven. Wait 20
minutes for delivery. Take stone from oven. Put pizza on hot stone.
Pizza stays hot & crust stays crisp for over an hour.

Lynn from Fargo
Gadget Queen No More . . . (some damn jerk stole my baby Cuisinart when
I took it to work!)

Lynn from Fargo > wrote:

> Hate(d) my:
> apple-peeler-corer-slicer

Ooh, I love those things. Wish I had one.

serene
--
http://serenejournal.livejournal.com
http://www.jhuger.com

Useless:

Garlic peeler
Strawberry huller (both of these were given to me)
Pasta measurer things, they used to come in the mail
Pasta pot with the insert colander

Actually, all of these were given to me.

Rich bought an electric reamer at goodwill, I use it if I have a lot
of citrus to juice, but other than that prefer the glass one which only
needs a little space in the dishwasher to the electric one which
requires space for three parts.

Regards,
Ranee

--
Remove Do Not and Spam to email

"She seeks wool and flax, and works with willing hands." Prov 31:13

See my Blog at: http://arabianknits.blogspot.com/

On 2005-04-28, Ranee Mueller > wrote:


> of citrus to juice, but other than that prefer the glass one which only
> needs a little space in the dishwasher to the electric one which
> requires space for three parts.

My frugal gourmet recommended wooden lemon/lime reamer was recently
rendered completely useless by the purchase of one of those cheapo
cast aluminum Mexican lime squeezers. Those things are excellent!
....squeezing every last drop, sans seeds, in a couple seconds. It
only cost $3 at my local Mex fruit stand and may be the most handy
effecient gadget I've bought in years.

nb

Scotty wrote:
> How about garlic presses? I've wasted a lot of garlic trying to
justify the
> expense of that piece of scrap metal.
>
> Scott.

Seriously, I don't get this. I have a couple and love them. How do
you waste garlic with a garlic press?

I used to curse at the thing when I had a cheap one. So I invested in a
couple heavy-duty SS ones and they're awesome.

-L.

Dr. Dog > wrote:

> Anyone have any nominations?
>
> I'm loath to laugh at any of the things for sale now. Even a slotted
> olive spoon turned out to make sense when one came our way. But is
> there anything truly useless and preferably expensive that is on the
> market now for chefs who have everything?
>
> A pizza-warmer is the closest I can come to the ideal.

We found a quesadilla kit. We laughed our asses off. Then we found a
*smores* kit, and we nearly died.

serene
--
http://serenejournal.livejournal.com
http://www.jhuger.com

Dr. Dog wrote:
> Anyone have any nominations?
>
> I'm loath to laugh at any of the things for sale now. Even a slotted
> olive spoon turned out to make sense when one came our way. But is
> there anything truly useless and preferably expensive that is on the
> market now for chefs who have everything?
>
> A pizza-warmer is the closest I can come to the ideal.
>
>
>
> Dog

I found a device on Amazon.com called the Breville Muffin Magic. All it
does is bake muffins and it can only bake 3 at a time. So if you have
a whole batch to make by the time you get to the last ones all the
leavening action in the batter is gone.

"Dr. Dog" > wrote:

>Anyone have any nominations?
>
>I'm loath to laugh at any of the things for sale now. Even a slotted
>olive spoon turned out to make sense when one came our way. But is
>there anything truly useless and preferably expensive that is on the
>market now for chefs who have everything?

These are both cheap but absolute travesties. The hinged flip-flop
"omlet" pan, and the battery-powered "insde the egg" egg scrambler.
Somehow we have both, but never used them Don't know why they didn't
make it in that garage sale 15 years ago.

From: (AlleyGator)

>These are both cheap but absolute travesties.
> The hinged flip-flop "omlet" pan, and the
> battery-powered "insde the egg" egg
> scrambler. Somehow we have both, but never
> used them Don't know why they didn't make it
> in that garage sale 15 years ago.

Heh. I had one of those hinged omelet pans. I forgot about that thing.
Bought it at a garage sale, and ended up selling it at another garage
sale.

One time on Usenet, x-no-archive: yes said:
> "Dr. Dog" > wrote:
>
> >Anyone have any nominations?
> >
> >I'm loath to laugh at any of the things for sale now. Even a slotted
> >olive spoon turned out to make sense when one came our way. But is
> >there anything truly useless and preferably expensive that is on the
> >market now for chefs who have everything?
>
> These are both cheap but absolute travesties. The hinged flip-flop
> "omlet" pan, and the battery-powered "insde the egg" egg scrambler.
> Somehow we have both, but never used them Don't know why they didn't
> make it in that garage sale 15 years ago.

Aw, I love my hinged omelet pan, it makes thick, fluffy omelets.
Unfortunately, DH doesn't like them that way, so we don't use it
very often. Now the "in-the-egg" scrambler is just silly, IMHO...

--
Jani in WA ~ mom, vid gamer, novice cook ~
"The ships hung in the sky in much the same
way that bricks don't" - D. Adams, HGTTG

Gal Called Jani wrote:
> One time on Usenet, x-no-archive: yes said:
>
>>"Dr. Dog" > wrote:
>>
>>
>>>Anyone have any nominations?
>>>
>>>I'm loath to laugh at any of the things for sale now. Even a slotted
>>>olive spoon turned out to make sense when one came our way. But is
>>>there anything truly useless and preferably expensive that is on the
>>>market now for chefs who have everything?
>>
>>These are both cheap but absolute travesties. The hinged flip-flop
>>"omlet" pan, and the battery-powered "insde the egg" egg scrambler.
>>Somehow we have both, but never used them Don't know why they didn't
>>make it in that garage sale 15 years ago.
>
>
> Aw, I love my hinged omelet pan, it makes thick, fluffy omelets.
> Unfortunately, DH doesn't like them that way, so we don't use it
> very often. Now the "in-the-egg" scrambler is just silly, IMHO...
>
Oh, I don't know. It might come in handy when you have a houseful of
people for breakfast and don't feel like cooking. simply get DH to
scramble a couple of eggs and you will quickly find yourself on the way
to a nice brunch

In article .com>,
Dr. Dog > wrote:
>Anyone have any nominations?

I nominate the Ronco electric egg scrambler. It's a motor with
a vertical shaft having a bent needle connected to the end. You
impale an egg on the needle, turn it on, the needle spins around
inside the egg, scrambling it. Then you break open the egg, and out
comes perfectly scrambled raw egg.

-A

axlq wrote:
>
> I nominate the Ronco electric egg scrambler. It's a motor with
> a vertical shaft having a bent needle connected to the end. You
> impale an egg on the needle, turn it on, the needle spins around
> inside the egg, scrambling it. Then you break open the egg, and out
> comes perfectly scrambled raw egg.
>
Are you kidding?! Wow, that's hilarious! Now if you had a syringe you
could add a bit of water or milk, and if you had a tiny funnel you
could add salt and pepper. Then you could put the egg in the microwave
and cook it. Serve scrambled egg in an egg cup....-aem

"aem" > wrote in message
ups.com...
>
> axlq wrote:
>>
>> I nominate the Ronco electric egg scrambler. It's a motor with
>> a vertical shaft having a bent needle connected to the end. You
>> impale an egg on the needle, turn it on, the needle spins around
>> inside the egg, scrambling it. Then you break open the egg, and out
>> comes perfectly scrambled raw egg.
>>
> Are you kidding?! Wow, that's hilarious! Now if you had a syringe you
> could add a bit of water or milk, and if you had a tiny funnel you
> could add salt and pepper. Then you could put the egg in the microwave
> and cook it. Serve scrambled egg in an egg cup....-aem

LOL
>