Fun cooking gadgets

[applestar]

I want this! Something Doc E. Brown might have invented....

Barisieur — Joshua Renouf
https://www.joshrenoufdesign.com/new-gal ... 5krbv3n90c




THE BARISIEUR
The Barisieur is an alarm clock and coffee brewer. It eases the user into the day with the subtle movement of stainless steel ballbearings that boil the water through induction heating, accompanied by the smell of freshly brewed coffee. It encourages a ritual before going to sleep, signalling to the body and mind that it is time to unwind and relax. Living slow even when times are fast.

[rainbowgardener]

Here's my entry:


home butter churn for small batches of fresh butter. People say in reviews that the butter is delicious. And you can add your own herbs or whatever as you churn.


and of course, I love my wine cork puller . Mine's about like this, but prettier, all shiny chrome and black:

Put the horizontal handles around the bottle neck so the screw is just sitting on the cork and the vertical (top) handle is down. Pull the vertical handle up and over (to the position shown in photo) and it pushes the screw into the cork all in one smooth move. Pull the handle back up and over and the cork just slides out with it.

[tomf]

We love gadgits

[gumbo2176]

One of my most used gadgets is so simple and practical. It is a heat diffuser that I use under my heavy pots when cooking things that have to simmer or slow boil for hours on end. They diffuse the heat very evenly across the bottom of the pots and that allows me to go about doing other things than standing near the kitchen to stir the pot every 5-10 minutes so things don't stick.

I have 2 different types, one is a multiple layer mesh style that is flat and the pot sits directly on top of it as it sits on my burner. The other is one that is designed to be used on both gas and electric stoves. When used on the gas stove you place the flat side on top of the burner and the other side has a dozen or so raised bumps stamped into the metal that holds the pot's bottom up about 1/2 inch off the surface. To use it on an electric stove, simply turn it over and have the bumpy side on the burners and the flat side for the pot to sit on.

[Gary350]

I like the old gadgets from the 1950s much better than the new gadgets made from thin metal the break and bend. The crank $2 yard sale grinder makes great chicken salad, ham salad, turkey salad, Italian sausage, turns pickles into relish. The wine bottle cork remover is the best I have found it works on any size bottle. The 1/4, 1/3, and 1/2 measuring cups are much faster and easier than a large glass measuring cup. The pie crust gizmos are fun and make nice looking pies quick and easy. The 1950s wooden handle spoons and dippers will never burn your hand. The scraper blade is fast for scooping up chopped, onions, garlic, cracker crumbs and other things. I love to make french fries with the red handle potato cutter.

[webmaster]

Oh wow, I need one of those French fry potato cutters! I didn't even know it was a thing!

[Dirt]

I'll play.

I love my FF cutter. This one is tough enough to handle sweet potatoes, turnips, rutabaga, parsnips etc. It also dices a whole onion in a single pass. 1/4, 3/8, and 1/2" fries, or wedges. I like to run the aforementioned veggies through, ad some broth and seasoning and roast them under a rotisserie chicken or pork loin on the grill.



Kind of silly, not the one I was looking for but now that I have it, this Dr. Seuss-looking tomato corer is incredibly fast and easy.



My favorite though is my turn of the century sausage stuffer. All cast iron, it holds 12lbs of meat. It will stuff the smallest snack sticks with ease and no leak-by. This was before I cleaned it up. It had to be completely disassembled and soaked in kerosene to get the old encrusted fat and crud off of the threads. The interior of the cylinder and platten are still like new.

[pomerinke]

I have two I really like, my microwave egg "boiler" and the egg slicer.

I eat a lot of eggs, but I don't like boiling them until I use them, because a lot of the foods I eat need them raw as well. (and boiling one or two at a time just seems ridiculous) I just put a few eggs, put the water in and throw them in the microwave. It only takes about 10 minutes for two perfectly cooked eggs.

The slicer isn't just for eggs either. I've used it for strawberries, chunks of banana and kiwi will fit if its cut in half. Both of these alone are amazing and save me so much time!

[imafan26]

I put a few eggs that I can use that week in my rice pot and cook the eggs and rice at the same time. At the end when the rice are done, I just take the eggs off the top of the pot, wash off the rice and store it in the refrigerator until I need it. I don't like to waste any energy on boiling water or washing another pot if I don't have to.

Rice cookers here are necessities.

Here's my entry for a fun? cooking gadget. The mochi usu and mallet and the crazy people who coordinate the dance. Mochi is a traditional New Year food. I don't really like the taste. Mochi pounding is usually a family affair and requires coordination and an act of bravery in the case of the rice turner who also has to have asbestos fingers because the rice is steaming hot.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5AZ-R3VondI


Mochi pounding is hard work. But for the lazy there is the mochi making machine.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LoahSY38IAY

[gumbo2176]

That machine has absolutely no entertainment factor going on. Give me the 3 guys with the huge wooden mauls and the potential smashed hands any day.

[applestar]

"OK! Everyone who wants to try the just-pounded mochi, please come this way!"

That was really fun! Even the timing with which the guy slid the glass over so no one would get spattered by the final slap into the usu.

...too bad that's not a time portal and we can't just jump in there and get in line for the mochi tasting

[pomerinke]

I have a rice cooker as well, but I never use it. My wife always makes the rice. I just take it from the fridge whenever I need it for some meal.

I'm not a fan of mochi either. Actually, I think I had a conversation with applestar just a few days ago about mochi.

As for boiling the eggs with the rice, I have never seen anyone here put anything other than rice in a rice cooker. I wouldn't dare try it. I once tried to use the rice spoon/scoop for something I was cooking with. My wife was not happy at all. She doesn't usually tell me how to cook, but boy did she have something to say about that.

[imafan26]

Rice scoops are a different matter. it is a single purpose tool and especially annoying when you can't find it . I like the wooden spoon better but the plastic one works o.k. It usually is never used for anything else.

Mochi pounding is hard work, a few people can keep it up but I am only good for 3 pounds, the mallet is heavy and it is hard for me to keep it straight. The guys in the video are experts. Once a year mochi makers don't pound that fast and the pounders usually stop to let some one turn the rice and add more water so the mallet doesn't stick as much. It takes a bit of coordination and a rhythm to have 2 pounders at the same time. Once the mochi is pounded it is squeezed out into small balls and the balls are flattened, stretched and folded over the an. The last step is to rub out the creases and smooth the dough then coat the mochi in rice flour or kinako. The mochi will sink and flatten out if it is left in a ball but the final shape must be flat not a ball. Ball or sphere shapes and even numbers are for sad occasions. Odd numbers and corners are for happy occasions. That is why rice balls are usually flat triangles and the ingredients inside a sushi roll is an odd number.

[pomerinke]

I never knew that about the shapes and numbers of ingredients. That's pretty interesting. I know there are a lot of rules on gift giving here. Don't offer potted plants in a hospital, because the superstition says your sickness will root itself and the person won't recover. Don't give white flowers, I can't remember why for that one. I have heard the even and odd number gifts, just never known so for a number of ingredients in onigiri.

[imafan26]

Round musubi are made only for funerals. Mandarin with the leaves still attached are good gifts. It is especially good for the new year.

[Gary350]

That machine has absolutely no entertainment factor going on. Give me the 3 guys with the huge wooden mauls and the potential smashed hands any day.

You should have seen my $2 yard sale bread making machine when it self destructed I used it only to kneed bread. One day it went through the whole 90 minute cycle at the end it spins fast for several minutes but on this day it got out of balance like the washing machine often does it was jumping all over the country top then flew off onto the floor and smashed into a bunch of pieces. That is what plastic is good for lots of pieces. I saved the bread dough but the bread maker went into the trash dumpster. I wish I had that on video it was very entertaining. LOL. It scared us to dead when it started jumping all over the counter top then jumped to its death.

[SQWIB]

Here are my favorite (s)

My pit






Schwenker




Sous Vide



Slicer

[webmaster]

Nice set up! You know how to live!

[imafan26]

I'm hungry now. I want some of that BBQ.

[SQWIB]

I'm hungry now. I want some of that BBQ.

How about some Sous Vide Chuck

[imafan26]

Yum! That too!