I cant live with out a stick mixer, especilaly for those quick mixes one might need. I have one of the better Hamilton Beach ones , its great but I also have one I paid a paltry $10.00 for over 10 years ago that still works hard making laundry soap.
My old one went through a fire and still works like a charm. I couldnt live with out either one.
Wow! I use my coffee maker daily. I have a food Cuisinart fp that I got off ebay and I love it~pie dough~
I also use my pressure cooker 2 times weekly.
I have everything you listed but the toaster oven. If I can find counter space I plan to get one but have never decided on a model. I just have plans to have one. lol
Thank you all for your input! I found this very interesting and even discovered appliances I never heard of, including the Miele Steam Oven and the Flavorwave Oven. After much thought, I decided that a slow cooker would most enhance my kitchen--for now, anyway.
Then came the decision of which one to choose. I first saw the KitchenAid in Bed, Bath & Beyond and felt that since I have thoroughly enjoyed my KitchenAid stand mixer for many, many years, this was likely to be the best one. Fortunately, I decided to do some research and read numerous reviews. Surprisingly, the reviews for the KitchenAid slow cooker were overwhelmingly negative due to a problem with the crock cracking with very little use. I certainly didnt want to spend $130.00 for an appliance that could cause me unending grief. Actually, I thought the price was rather high from the start but since I had confidence in the KitchenAid name, I felt it was probably justified and would last a long time. WRONG!!!
I have included the following information in case any of you are considering the purchase of a slow cooker
So now I had to start from square one and figure out which slow cooker to purchase. There is one available from All Clad, but the price is an outrageous (for me, anyway) $180.00, but it does have good reviews. However, I thought that was just TOO MUCH for a slow cooker. But when reading reviews, I noticed several positive references to Hamilton Beach slow cookers. So I looked into them further and found that they were rated as generally very reliable, good quality appliances with unusual, very helpful features, and not terribly expensive. I purchased my Hamilton Beach at Sears for $49.99, much less than other brands I have seen. And I dont know how much more a higher priced one would do, as this one certainly does the job.
I purchased the programmable 6 quart stainless steel cooker which has a clamp-down lid (great for taking to a potluck, church affair, etc. and not spilling the contents all over your car) and a temperature probe for large cuts of meat, plus a plastic serving spoon. It is VERY easy to use, basically intuitive to program. I set it up with no problem without reading the instructions (a bad habit). Another great feature is that it automatically shifts down to the Warm setting, either when the probe has reached the preset temperature or when the programmed cooking time has ended. This way the food doesnt overcook if the balance of the meal is not ready at the same time, or there is some interruption delaying dinner. This seems to happen to me a lot! I think the Warm setting will also be very useful when entertaining.
I just cooked my first meal with it, a whole chicken with vegetables and gravy. The vegetables were still tasty but overcooked (I expected that with cooking for 8 hours) but the chicken was perfect, couldnt ask for more! And it does really slow cook, not boil the food as I have read others do. Of course, the heat radiates from the outer part, so there may be an insignificant amount of food that gets cooked a little more around the edges.
I will keep this out on the counter as when I put something in the closet, it never seems to get used--an out of sight, out of mind kind of thing. And sometimes it just seems to be to much trouble to extricate something from my cluttered cabinets. Also, my cabinets are SO FULL of pots and pans ( I do love to cook and cant resist a nice pot when I see one) that the cooker is likely to sustain some damage from being jammed in with them. And, last but not least, this is quite a handsome piece of kitchen equipment, especially for the price. Take a peek
I did have an old Rival Crock Pot stashed in my closet for years which went unused. First of all, it cooked too hot and left a badly burned ring around the inner edge of the crock and secondly, it was just plain UGLY, so much so that I wouldnt even consider leaving it out all of the time. Instead of the neat, clean-looking stainless steel housing, it was surrounded by that old 1970s harvest gold plastic with an inner brown crock. It also had a clear plastic cover instead of the nice tempered glass lid on my new one.
I am, at this very moment, cooking up a pot of pasta sauce with meatballs and sausage. Since I have to go out to the store and bank today, I would normally never have done this--dont trust my old stove all that much. But now I can just leave it and go! And pasta is DHs favorite, which is great since one of my greatest challenges is finding something that he will eat. PICKY, PICKY, PICKY!
So now on to the next appliance Im sure there will be at least one more, just not sure which one!
Thanks again for all of your help and I hope the information I have provided about the slow cooker has been helpful.
I am not sure what I would do without my food processor!!!!! I make my salsa in it, and with three teens at home I shred 10 lbs of cheese in about 2 minutes. For that alone I would never give it up.
And, because both of us work full time, I would be hungry without my crock pot.
I have many of the appliances that were mentioned. One that I saw mentioned only once, that I wouldn't want to be without - the Nesco roaster. I have two sizes and I do use the smaller one weekly. I try to use the oven for baking only to save on lp gas. Plus, meats cooked in the Nesco come out tender and delicious.
Recently, our toaster stopped working. We decided on a toaster oven to replace it. It toasts better than any of the 3 toasters we've had in 3 years (we seem to have a problem with toasters) and we can bake in it. It sits nicely on top of seldom used microwave.
We are currently looking for a Food Saver. It is to replace the old model (V 750) that we purchased at a yard sale for $5.00. We got a few years out of it, but now we are hooked and think we "need" a replacement.
