Originally Posted by
milepig
Kitchenaid Ice Cream attachment. We're really happy with the results and I like the idea of using a single appliance in multiple ways. Only hassle is remembering to put the bowl in the freezer several days before you're ready to churn.
This is why I lust after an ice cream / dessert machine with internal refrigeration. Like most pro-kitchen gadgets, consumer models are actually getting fairly affordable... now to clear some counter space.
Originally Posted by
milepig
Ditto on Kitchenaid meat grinder. Use it all the time, and not only for meat - my mother has an amazing gelatin recipe where you mostly use ground up entire oranges and apples. 2 minutes work with the Kitchenaid.
Yep, this is a very useful attachment--of the various ones I have for my KitchenAid mixer, the meat grinder is the most frequently used. I've gotten to where i just buy Costco ground sirloin frozen burger patties rather than grinding my own burgers, but we make a ton of other ground meat with it. And, as you say, it works for other things, too.
2nd-most used is the pasta roller attachment, though I'd love to get one at least 24" wide instead of the piddly 6" one for the KitchenAid. (I think I posted about this in OMNI a long time back and got some good suggestions I've just never followed through on, FWIW.)
Originally Posted by
milepig
Kitchen scales. Now that I have one I use it all the time, especially for things where the recipe calls for something impossible to measure, like 2 cups bread cubes, but also gives the amount in ounces/grams.
Absolute necessity if you use any pro baking recipes (and I cook a lot from
The Professional Pastry Chef).
Originally Posted by
milepig
Mistakes from the past:
Hand operated nut chopper thing - hard to use and bad results.
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Originally Posted by
milepig
Kitchenaid pasta extruder. Hard to use and not good results.
Agreed. I used it ... once or twice. The pasta roller I use quite often, but the extruder just doesn't work well.
Originally Posted by
milepig
Fancy corkscrews. In the time it takes to get the rabbit set up I can just grab old faithful.
What's the "set up" for the Rabbit? I do find higher-quality Rabbit-style ones work far, far better than el cheapo models, FWIW (we have a decent one; my parents have the cheap one). I can open a wine in ~5 seconds, from grabbing the bottle and Rabbit to tossing the cork into the basket for recycling...