I need to get a few items for the kitchen and since there a lot of cooking aficionados on this fine site, I’d ask the hive mind for opinions on what I should get. Specifically I need 5” and 8” skillets or pans, a garlic press that lasts more than 3 months, a mandoline and a dehydrator that uses little heat.
Belinda Ridgewood suggested I put this forth and it’s a good idea.
One thing I should note is that my budget is limited and price is an important consideration. I’m looking for the best bang for the buck.
5” and 8” pans/skillets are small but I’m a single guy and cook mostly for myself. Cast-iron skillets are trendy right now and if you season them right they’re good for frying. However, non-stick pans are much easier to clean and food doesn’t, well, stick. Which one do you think is better? What is a good brand that’s not too expensive?
I’ve used many garlic presses over the years and unless I’m doing something wrong, they all break within a few months. Some have only lasted a few weeks. I need something sturdy.
I do a lot of stir-frying and chopping vegetables takes forever. Would a mandoline make my life easier or is there another option? I don’t need to make crinkle cuts or super-thin slices so something that could slice or chop between 1/4” and 1/2” would be ideal. It needs to be something that’s easy to disassemble and clean.
I have small peach and plum trees on my little parcel and I tried drying the fruit in my oven with disappointing results. Is there a small unit drying that uses little or no heat (so I can leave it running while I’m at work) that won’t break the bank?
If you have opinions on any of these I’d love to hear them. In a more general sense, what are your favorite kitchen time savers?
Kitchen Table Kibitzing is a community series for those who wish to share a virtual kitchen table with other readers of Daily Kos who aren’t throwing pies at one another. Drop by to talk about music, your weather, your garden, or what you cooked for supper…. Newcomers may notice that many who post in this series already know one another to some degree, but we welcome guests at our kitchen table and hope to make some new friends as well.