All my favorite cooking gadgets
I have a fascination for cooking gadgets. I discovered long ago that being a gadget lover doesn't necessarily mean being fascinated only with electronics and technology. High tech or low tech, it doesn't matter. Cooking gadgets are just as addictive. :)
Misto Olive Oil Sprayer for Sale in Brushed Aluminum
The Misto Gourmet Olive Oil Sprayer is a great replacement for non-stick spray. If you’re a regular purchaser of non-stick spray, you can save a lot of money by buying an oil sprayer.
This economical addition to the kitchen costs about the same as 2 or 3 bottles of the leading non-stick spray (at the moment – click here to check the current price).
By using the Misto sprayer, you can avoid additives in your spray and use the best quality oils to create your own. You can also make gourmet flavored oils and use them in the Misto Olive Oil Sprayer.
Click here for the Misto Olive Oil Sprayer price and reviews
Features of the Misto Gourmet Olive Oil Sprayer
- Has a sleek design made of satin-finished aluminum
- Easy to clean: just fill with hot water, a little soap, and spray through the nozzle to remove residue, then rinse the same way with clear water
- Light-weight and a good fit for your hand
- Excellent price for the Misto while it’s on sale
You can actually spray any kind of vegetable oil from the Misto Oil Sprayer, so you can buy a Misto Sprayer to use for each kind of oil you like to cook with.
What I like about this little thing is the ability to lightly spray things like bread (for homemade Texas toast or garlic bread, grilled sandwiches and more) or to coat a pan. It can be used to mist oil across a chicken you’re getting ready to put in the oven or even to coat oven baked fries for just that perfect amount of oil to help spices stick and keep the potatoes from drying out.
Kitrics Digital Food Scale Calculates Nutrition Info
This digital food scale from Kitrics takes weighing food to the next level by also calculating the nutrition information for the food. This is an excellent feature for anyone needing to buy a digital food scale for dieting purposes.
The Kitrics Digital Nutrition Scale makes counting calories, fat, carbohydrates, sugars, and more easy (click here to see the full description of what this Kitrics food scale will calculate).
When you’re dieting, watching portion sizes is critical to success. A food scale helps you keep those portion sizes under control by telling you exactly how much you’re preparing to consume. This particular Kitrics food scale has also got a lot of great reviews and ratings by users!
( Click to read reviews and ratings of the Kitrics Digital Nutrition Scale )
Kitrics Food Scale Price Range
The price for this particular Kitrics food scale is less than $50 currently. It’s actually on sale at the moment, so you can get it at a discount. At its current price, it’s a very competitive product since many regular digital food scales cost more but don’t offer the same great features. This food scale is low cost and has plenty of good features.
Features
- Calculates calories, etc for 1999 foods
- Ability for 99 custom food code entries by the user
- Weighs in grams or ounces up to 72 oz
- Runs on AA batteries so no special batteries required
On Buying the Kitrics Digital Nutrition Scale
Buy the Kitrics scale if you want an easy way to count calories, sugars, and other nutrition info in the simplest way possible.
I personally love my digital food scale, even though it doesn’t calculate nutrition info. However, this particular food scale from Kitrics is tempting me to upgrade. I’ve studied the features and looked at the excellent reviews for the product and decided this is some that might be perfect for me.
Buy the OXO Good Grips Salad Spinner – Cheap but Great
This OXO salad spinner is rated 4.5* out of 5 Stars from more than 500 customer reviews.
I know why. I own this salad spinner and I use it every time I make a salad or want to spin the water off lightweight fruits such as grapes and cherry tomatoes. I love this spinner, in fact. I gave my old one to my mother and bought me a new one. No more watery greens diluting my salad dressing, no more wet lettuce on my hamburgers and sandwiches!
I haven’t used every salad spinner you can buy, but I have had several and the OXO Good Grips Salad Spinner
OXO Good Grips Salad Spinner Features
- Operates with only 1 hand
- Nonslip grip on the plunger
- Had a brake button to slow the spinner manually
- Top rack dishwasher safe
- Knob locks down for compact storage
*Ratings were accurate at the time of this post
Hot Cocoa / Hot Chocolate Makers
As a regular drinker of hot chocolate made from scratch, I find it hard to admit that I never even knew there was such a thing as a hot cocoa maker until today.
I’ve always made my cocoa in a pot on the stove, or in a cup in the microwave. I use organic milk, Hershey’s cocoa powder, organic sugar, and drop of pure vanilla extract, mix it all up, heat it to just the right temperature, and then drink.
Looks like I’ve found a new cooking gadget worth exploring!
Three Fabulous Hot Cocoa Makers
Bialetti Hot Chocolate Maker & Milk Frother
Click here to check the current price…
This Bialetti Hot Chocolate Maker is a great for creating Eureopean style hot chocolate and has a 3.5* out of 5 star rating from 29 reviewers! Most reviewers say this machine is easy to clean and works great. The price for this hot chocolate maker is mid-range–not high-end, but a more comprehensive cocoa maker than less expensive machines. For the price you get the ability to blend, heat, and froth your cocoa and lattes or cappuccinos. It works with chocolate shavings, drinking chocolate, or cocoa powder, melting and mixing for a great cup of frothy hot chocolate.
Bonjour Pink Hot Chocolate Maker and Mug Set Square Design
Click here to check the current price…
This Bonjour Pink Hot Chocolate Maker has a 5 star* rating. Inspired by the design of traditional antique hot chocolate vessels from the 1800s, this set is pink in honor of the fight against breast cancer. The ceramic pot and mugs are dishwasher safe, and the automatic battery-powered mixer mixes up your hot milk and chocolate thoroughly. When you buy this hot chocolate maker you get a good deal on the price and support breast cancer research. It doesn’t get much better than that.
Back to Basics Cocoa-Latte Chrome 32-Ounce Hot-Drink Maker – CM300BR
Click here to check the current price…
Out of an amazing 302 customer reviews on Amazon, the Back to Basics Cocoa-Latte Chrome 32-Ounce Hot-Drink Maker has received an excellent 4* out of 5 star rating. It has a 32 ounce container so you can create enough hot chocolate and cocoa for the whole family, and it’s made of only two pieces for easy cleaning. The Back to Basics Cocoa Latte Hot Drink Maker price is also super cheap, making this cooking gadget a reasonable and affordable purchase for your kitchen.
*Ratings could change, but were accurate at the time of posting.
Cuisinart Digital Kitchen Scale
Sold by Amazon.com
I came across the Cuisinart KML-10 Perfect Weight Digital Kitchen Scale at Amazon where the price was amazing the last time I checked. (The list price is $90.00 but Amazon had it for less than half that – click here to check Amazon’s current price.)
Cuisinart Digital Kitchen Scale Features
- Glass platform for weighing items
- Stainless steel cover that can be removed and is safe for the dishwasher
- Touchpad buttons make cleaning easy
- Large LCD readout is big enough to read at a glance
- Imperial (ounces and pounds) or metric (grams and kilograms) mode
- Batteries included
- Special feature called “Add on Weight”
- Weight capacity of 5 kilogram or 11 pounds
Kitchen scales – digital and mechanical – can improve your cooking – recipes come out better, make it easier to count calories or points for a weight loss program – no more guessing at portion sizes, and help out around the house when you need to weigh something small – like a package that needs to come in under a certain weight.
I’ve had a digital food scale (not the same brand, but it looks nearly identical to this Cuisinart) for about 2 years now and I use it constantly, for all the reasons I mentioned above.
Digital food scale reviews can tell you if someone is happy with a particular food scale model or brand. Amazon is a great place to shop if you’re looking for reviews before you buy.
Link: Read the Cuisinart digital food scale reviews at Amazon.com
Digital Vs. Mechanical
Digital kitchen scales aren’t necessarily better than mechanical kitchen scales but I do like mine. The ease of setting the “tare” weight makes it especially useful to me. Digital scales are also easier to read for most people.
As for this model – the Cuisinart Perfect Weight Digital Kitchen Scale – what I like about it and my own digital food scale is that the weighing surface is flat. I often put my plate on the scale, set the tare weight, and then place my food directly onto my plate or bowl to weigh it. Models that have bowls built onto the base can be useful – sometimes the bowls or containers can be removed if needed, but not always, but I find this kind of kitchen scale the most versatile.
If you need a good quality, long life digital kitchen scale, you should give this one a try. Of course, you can find digital kitchen scales at Walmart and Target also, if you prefer to buy in a physical store, but you might not get as good a deal as this.
Bread Machine Madness
Bigger than what some might call a gadget, a bread machine is a tool that seems to have only one function in a kitchen. I disagree, however!
I use my bread machine for pizza dough, breakfast breads, and cakes. There are also lots of bread machines that claim to be able to do even more than that, like the Zojirushi bread machine, which says it can make jams and meatloaf! I haven’t ever used a bread machine for that, but I don’t doubt that it’s possible.
Grocery list gadget
How cool…!
I saw this video on the Rachael Ray website: www.rachaelrayshow.com/…/easy-grocery-shopping/
Found this: Save Time and Get Organized with SmartShopper USA
And can’t resist this:
How cool is that? I admit, without the voice recognition, it wouldn’t be much better than just keeping pencil and paper stuck to the fridge with a magnet (and probably isn’t even with it) but I love the idea of being able to just talk into the SmartShopper and have it add my items to a list all organized and neat. Oh, and it does errands too. That’s possibly where it becomes invaluable. I’m always forgetting where else I need to go when I go shopping if I don’t write it down somewhere.
Realistically, I’m not 100% sold on the cost of the gadget, but it’s oh so tempting…
Cooking gadget: Mini-chopper madness
I’ve owned a mini-chopper for years (not the exact model pictured below, but similar).
I don’t always use my motorized mini-chopper because I also have a Pampered Chef Food Chopper and it’s easier to use for some things, like onions, garlic, M&Ms, and Butterfinger candy bars. :)
However, my motorized mini-chopper is indispensible in some cases. Although it just throws M&Ms around the bowl like colorful confetti, my mini-chopper can turn any kind of bread into fresh breadcrumbs in seconds.
Since I’m the only meatloaf lover in my house, I use it to mix up a mini-meatloaf for myself. When I need some tomato puree, I pour in a cup or so of fresh home-canned tomatoes, store-bought canned whole tomatoes, or just plain tomatoes (whatever I have on hand, really) and I get fresh tomato sauce for making my own salsa, homemade spaghetti sauce, and homemade vegetable soup or beef stew.
As for my hand-powered food chopper, it’s easier to control the size of the chopped onion, garlic, and herbs. And when I want to imitate a lovely Sonic or Dairy Queen ice cream treat, I pull out my food chopper and chop away. I end up with bits of Butterfinger, Oreo, M&Ms, and whatever else I want to mix with my ice cream. For the money, you can’t beat the deal of making your own!
Motorized/electric mini-choppers
- KitchenAid Chef’s Chopper Mini Food Processor
- Cuisinart Classic Series Mini-Prep Food Processor
- Cuisinart Mini-Prep Plus Food Processor
Manual food choppers like my Pampered Chef Food Chopper
I most recommend the Pampered Chef Food Chopper, since that’s the one I use. I like it and it chops most foods very nicely.
However, there’s a trick to using these choppers most effectively, or at least there is for mine. Avoid squishy foods like overripe tomatoes, and don’t forget to put on the plastic piece that fits over the blade. Without it, there’s nothing to push the food back to the bottom of the blade with each plunge of the chopper and you’ll end up with food stuck in the blade and nothing getting chopped very well!
The Slap Chop appears most like the Pampered Chef chopper that I use, but it costs quite a bit less. I would probably try it if I didn’t love my PC brand chopper the best!
- Slap Chop
- Zyliss Easy Chop Food Chopper with Smart Base
- Oxo Good Grips Mini Chopper
- Cuisinart Food Chopper, Pink
- Norpro Stainless Steel Vegetable Chopper
Which type do you like best, or, like me, do you find that each type of mini-chopper has its best uses?
Three kitchen and cooking gadgets I want
I would love to say I have every cooking gadget I could ever want, but that’s not quite true. Like most other people, I have a budget that I try to stick to and that means I can’t always buy every gadget I want to buy.
However, that doesn’t stop me from want them and adding them to my Want It list of to-buys for the times that I have a little extra cash.
Cooking gadgets are a hobby obsession of mine. Even if I can’t collect what I see, I can add it to my list—and I do!
Here are three gadgets currently on my Want It list.
UV Light technology deactivates and eliminates germs. Small and unprotected, microbes just can’t stand to live in such powerful light. Many pools and cities now use UV Ray Technology to eliminate dangerous, even life threatening microbes in the water.
It’s for cleanup, but oh, the things I could do with this.
Get rolling in the kitchen as you mince and chop herbs and other leafy greens. Designed for small prep jobs, this stainless mincer is easy to control as you roll it back and forth on your cutting surface. The smooth housing fits easily in the palm of your hand, and protects you from its five super sharp blades. Blades remove for cleaning.
I like the idea of using the herb cutter for garlic and onions, herbs, and lettuce for tacos (it’s never fine enough). It also looks like it might be good for cutting extra fine strips of dough to use as latticework on pies. :) Of course, that would just be a bonus.
This heavy duty 18/10 stainless steel potato ricer makes extra large portions of riced potatoes and features pot rest extensions. Santoprene handle ensures a comfortable grip.
There’s only one reason I want this potato ricer, and it’s because I’m the only person in my house that likes mashed potatoes. You might never have thought about how hard it is to make good mashed potatoes when you’re making only one serving, but I think about it every time I use my potato masher to mash up one boiled potato.
What cooking gadgets are on your Want It list?
Cooking gadget: The multi-versatile melon baller
My much loved melon baller
My melon baller takes center stage in my kitchen more often than you might think. Although I have several gadgets that will core apples, when I’m in a hurry and want only to half an apple and get the core out, I turn to my handy melon baller. When I want a funky desert made out of bananas and chocolate, I use my melon baller. When I want to make a quick, but cute, punch, I use my melon baller.
My melon baller looks most like the one pictured here (the Oxo Good Grips Melon Baller), but there are many good brands available. Honestly, I can’t tell you exactly what brand my melon baller is. The name wore off the handle a few years ago! Here are several melon ballers I feel comfortable recommended (based on brand names and feedback on the seller’s website), although there are probably plenty of other good brands available.
- Oxo Good Grips Melon Baller
- Calphalon Easy Release Melon Baller
- KitchenAid Stainless Steel Melon Baller
Do you have a specific melon baller you prefer over others? Share in the comments, because I’d love to know about it!
Also, I’ll be posting my quick punch recipe in the recipes section and you can find it there. Kids love it!
