Yes, SV is extremely easy to use and it has upsides. I think the main upsides are it's ability to pastereurise potentially dangerous proteins using time rather than temperature and it's ability to soften tissue.

Oddly with chicken the fact that you can safely eat pink chicken with SV still never managed to cheat my mind out of thinking it was unsafe. When you have lived as long as I always viewing anything red in poultry as hazardous - for good reason, SV isn't going to take those subliminal messages away. So I cannot enjoy pink chicken however safe I tell myself it is.

Also in the end softened texture has it's place but sometimes it does so much that the meat loses it's inherent character. A steak should still be chewy and in the end when you have an inside lava grill, an industrial extracter and a fast temp probe - then using fire will always be the primeval way of cooking steak rather than SV and flash fry. I am a man after all and us blokes will alwaysd BBQ a steak rather than bathe it.

To me most of the other stuff I was using it for is better done by other methods but each to their own.

:)

If I could buy one gadget for my kitchen right now, it would be the Kitchen Aid ice cream attachment. I have been saving ice cream recipes for quite a while in anticipation of being able to splurge on one sometime (not that they cost that much, but I am currently saving for something more urgent -- a new roof). If I had one, I would keep it in the freezer in the garage so it would always be ready to use.

Hi C.

If ever the funds become available don't hesitate to get an all in one ice cream maker.

There is something lovely about thinking of an ice cream recipe that plays on your mind and you have to make - and then making it. We'll never have enough discipline and keep enough space in the freezer for one of those more sensible solutions but it is great to fetch the Gaggia out in the summer to make some unlikely concoction.

:)

So I guess youre not giving yours away... :D

If you're getting mushy steaks with SV, you're not doing something right. ;)

I have no dea what you are going on about. :confused:

If I had said that I was getting mushy steaks you might have been right. But I didn't and you are not. ;)

Well, you did mention not liking the softening and wanting your steaks to be chewy... If you're losing the chewiness, you're SV'ing way too long IME.

An electric kettle is a must! Talk about the first thing I invest in when moving countries...

Which temperature do you use? I usually cook on 62.5°C and it's not pink at all...try the iOS Sous Vide App :D
It is a recommendations for temperature for all kind of food (in °C and °F) ;)

Thanks ... yes .. as an aside .. a tip is always to use F rarher than C on your SV as the calibration is obviosuly narrower and more accurate.

I can't resist anything to do with cooking. What I use constantly:

Popover pan & I'm glad I moved this with me since I've never seen one in Mexico.
Microplanes, different sizes
A ruler, a necessity for me with baking

Thermapen which I got in London & is great for testing the temp of breads in addition to meat.

I'm terrible about sharpening knives so I love the ceramic ones that are sharper than any of my "good" knives.

Silpats & parchment paper
Cuisinart Ice Cream Maker, though I have to pre-freeze the canister.
Cast Iron Skillet

I'm terrified of pressure cookers. I remember when they exploded & now I'm cooking with propane at a high altitude. I'm in no hurry anyway.

Deep fryer
Kitchen shears - used almost daily
Electric kettle. I'm a tea purist so use loose leaf tea, etc.
Bench scraper, again I use it almost daily.
Kitchen-Aid & Cuisinart
And don't get me started on cookbooks...

One of the stranger uses for my KitchenAid immersion blender:

I am a fan of a shampoo that's been discontinued and I stockpiled several liters of it before it became impossible to find. Because it's old, the shampoo has a tendency to separate a bit, so when I open a new liter bottle I dump it into a mixing bowl and go to town with the immersion blender, then funnel it back into the bottle. Works like a charm!

Saves you cleaning up with dishwasher fluid :p

I have the panny breadmaker as well. Its used three times a week and it makes very nice bread.

The only problem is that I've put on well over a stone in the last 6 months after the breadmaker arrived. :-(

I know exactly what you mean. Our regular one is the French. I book it for early morning and we have it with strawberry jam and marmalade.

By the way, I have made my wife a criminal. When no one is looking, she puts a few bread bags from Waitrose into her trolley and brings them back to me. Shameful.

Wow - so much stuff on here.

My adds to the collection:

Aga - Pizza oven and slow cooker in one
Slow Cooker for when the Aga is off for the Summer.
Kenwood Mini Chopper - Great for micro chopping onions and other veg to sneak past kids. Easy to throw in the dishwasher. Great also for herbs.

Good things
- Chef's knife
- Cast Iron Skillet
- Parchment Paper
- 1.5 qt Cuisinart Ice Cream Maker (love!)
- Dutch Oven
- Pizza Steel

Something that I want to try that I already own:
- the Instantpot that I bought during the prime sale a couple of months ago

Something that I want to try that I don't yet own:
- Sous vide

Something that I rarely use:
- at my weekend cottage I have a roll of Saran Wrap from 2002!

Things that I own but won't use again:
- Mandoline, I'm not adept and feel that my fingers would be at risk

I use my Mandolin a lot more since I got some Cut Resistant Gloves:

My best kitchen gadget is Mrs Clint Bint.I'd starve without her.
Although I suppose I could just about survive on grilled cheese on toast done sideways in the toaster. ( Thanks Jamie Oliver.)

I have to use my bosch mixer and a few other gadgets like griddles - I have like 4 in my kitchen - zester, sandwich press to name a few

what abut clever cutter? like here:
http://www.piratebest.com/items/23

i think it's very useful

Egg slicers for boiled eggs are great. A cucumber peeler is great for kiwi as well. Neat gadgets.

Interesting thread which I missed before. No one mentioned having a Thermomix. That would be on my list.

Just coming across this thread. A couple ones I like:

1) Girlfriend got me hooked on Nespresso (she had machine before I moved in) and now I'm a big fan to the point where it serves as a tiebreaker between hotels

2) Won an Aroma rice cooker / pressure cooker at trivia night 3.5 years ago at State Chicago. Shipped it home (it was right after the Boston bombing - didn't want to be carrying a pressure cooker onto the plane). Don't use it often but when we do have rice, it really is an incredible machine that gets it done right whether white or brown rice

3) Pizza stone (brand unknown). Girlfriend's parents gave it to us and it's fantastic. We use it for pizza and girlfriend also uses it for baking bread.

4) Wine drying rack stand (don't remember brand - looks like a tree with 4 "branches") - it holds the glasses upside down by their stems to dry and makes life so much easier - no more drying glasses by hand or finding space on the counter to leave them to dry overnight

Have a few other gadgets (KitchenAid, ice cream maker, etc.) but when I cook it's usually on the grill so most of of the gadgets aren't important to me (though I enjoy the output!)

1. haha we use the same logic.

2. zojirushi rice cooker. no equal. staple of my household.

3. im sold on this steel (rather than stone) slab... but unfortunately ive got a smooth induction top and im not convinced its the best partner for one. http://www.seriouseats.com/2016/04/b...izza-deal.html

the other thing im happy with is a pressure cooker, mini food processor, blender.

criminally underused / overrated:
-big kenwood mixer (we dont bake often but when gf does she uses hand mixer)
-cast iron skillet. too much care required for upkeep/handling. enameled ones are easier. or a heavy steel one has enough thermal mass for similar purpose.
-electric slow cooker. i prefer 'manual' cooking via enameled dutch oven.

Weber kettle charcoal grill
Weber natural gas grill
Both are my go-to for making or reheating pizza.
I can't remember the last time I turn on my oven but it's good storage space. I'm a grill girl.

Do you actually carry a supply of pods with you? My SIL brought her machine to our house when my wife was first diagnosed and went through FBR. She was staying overnight as I was working and kept an eye on her so if anything came up we could take her to the hospital right away. I still have a couple of boxes of her pods in my house although she took her machine home when she was done.

I am not much of a coffee drinker and we have a Keurig machine at home that on occasion I will buy the Wild Blueberry from Green Mountain K-Cups. My wife was told to avoid caffeine as it effects her continuing Chemo oral pill.

sometimes we take this to hotels or airbnb places when the machines are furnished. a stack of capsules doesnt take any space.

funny enough on my last flight at the security line i saw a guy getting the full-on SSSS scan..... amongst his fully-exposed luggage items was a (used) nespresso machine. cant be surprising because ive read on FT some people bringing it with them also :eek:

I couldn't do without the Creuset cast iron pans and large pots. Those things are indestructible.

I don't use many kitchen gadgets (I don't like excess clutter when a knife will do the job), but I love my mango cutter...never tackle a mango without it @:-)

I love my kiwi spoon. Takes up no space. Knife blade on one end, spoon on the other. I keep one at work as well. The only way to eat a kiwi.

Zoji rice cooker
automatic coffee/espresso maker
slow cooker
gas range

yard sale finds I use

rice cooker ,
Toaster oven
double wide bread toaster ( for "real" bread )
George Foreman grill
George Foreman Roaster ( rare but very useful)
electric can opener , and hand can opener if the power goes out !
Oval crock pot
electric water boiler ( quicker than microwave)

all the above were a few dollars each at yard sales......

Can these even be found outside of yard sales anymore? ;)

Not quite kitchen, but love my little pizza oven...

http://uuni.net/

Now planning on a woodpellet wifi controlled smoker...

Never was good at using a conventional corkscrew to open wine. This product is great.
Secura Stainless Steel Electric Wine Bottle Opener with Foil Cutter (Stainless Steel)

That does look like one great gadget.

I wish I had a bigger kitchen. ..I want some of these things but my kitchen is tiny and filled to capacity. :(

Possibly too late for you now, but I love Trader Joe's corkscrew. $2 and it works great.

But this looks so cool and is so easy;)https://www.amazon.com/Secura-Stainl...01261VEOG?th=1
Thermometer is not necessary.