Category — Kitchen Appliances

Electric roaster ovens are certainly convenient for roasting your Thanksgiving turkey.  Not only do they cook quickly, and retain moisture, but they also free up space in your oven for whipping all your other Thanksgiving recipes.

But, did you know you can use electric roasters for more than just your Thanksgiving bird?  Roasting ovens can actually double as a large slow cooker when you’re cooking for a crowd, or as a big soup pot for making chili or chowder. Some electric roaster ovens come with a divided insert that will allow you to warm and serve 3 separate dishes buffet style.

The Nesco roaster oven above has an 18 quart capacity, which is enough room to cook a 22 pound Thanksgiving turkey.  It has a nonstick finish, and heating elements in the sides of the roaster, for even cooking.  I found the Nesco roaster at More Kitchen Appliances for $89.99.

If you saw yesterday’s corn chowder recipe, you read that at the end of the cooking time, the recipe calls for scooping out half of the chowder, pureeing it in a blender, and then adding it back to the crockpot.  This was a bit of an inconvenience, and has prompted me to add one of these handheld blenders, sometimes called immersion blenders, to my kitchen gadgets list.

The KitchenAid immersion blender above is made by KitchenAid, and allows you to blend anything, including scorching hot corn chowder, right in the pot.  You can immerse the blender in up to 8 inches of liquid, and it comes with several dishwasher-safe attachments.  Sounds much easier than taking my blender apart, and washing the glass pitcher.  I found this immersion blender at FFEMAX.Com for $52.99.

You can use handheld blenders in many recipes, including soups, mashed potatoes, whipping up diet shakes, and quick milkshakes.

I’ve just added this great new toaster to my most wanted kitchen gadgets list.   The Back to Basics Egg ‘N Muffin Toaster will toast a muffin, and poach an egg…at the same time.  I see 3 big benefits here.  First, there’s no skillet or egg poacher to wash.  Second, I think older kids could do this themselves. Third, it’s faster than doing things separately.

The Back to Basics egg and muffin toaster makes a muffin (and egg) in 4 minutes.  There are switches to turn off the toaster or the poacher if you just want to use one feature.   The toaster will also hard boil up to 4 eggs at one time, and it shuts off automatically.  I found the egg and muffin toaster combo at In Cooking.

Whether you call them crock pots or slow cookers, these “set it and forget it” kitchen gadgets are a must have for any cook.  I recently switched from an older style, round and tall, crock pot to an oval slow cooker.  The new one is much bigger around, but more shallow than my old one.  I have to say that I’m so happy with the switch, and here’s why:

The oval slow cooker allows for  much easier, and more sightly arrangement of meats and veggies.  Rather than piling everything up, layer after layer, I can now arrange the meal (in a single layer) in the large oval crock.  This helps out with serving, too.  Instead of digging through a deep crock, “fishing” for the contents, with my new oval crock pot, I can see everything in the crock, and scoop out exactly what I want, without messing everything up.

The Hamilton Beach crockpot above is the one I recently purchased.  It is the “Stay or Go” model, and it is designed for easy travel, for taking to a carry-in meal.  Notice the metal clamps on the side that secure the lid to the crock.  There’s also a built-in spoon holder in the lid.  The Hamilton Beach Stay or Go Slow Cooker is available at Cooking.Com for $39.95.

Oh, and crock pot recipes include so much more than just pot roast!  I make all sorts of things in mine, including crock pot lasagna, and crock pot chocolate cake…deliciously sinful!

Although it’s hard to beat the taste of food cooked on an outside grill, sometimes you need something that’s convenient and weather-proof for making grilled vegetables, or juicy burgers in a hurry.  I’ve used two different indoor grills over the past couple of years, including a George Foreman grill.  I’m surprised at how many times I’ve reached for them when I need to cook something fast.  I use my indoor grills most often for pork chops, steaks, burgers and veggies.

This George Foreman indoor grill features removeable plates for easy cleaning.  It also has a 1-inch floating hinge for accommodating thicker cuts of meat.  What I especially like about the George Foreman grills is that they cook from both sides simultaneously- which cuts the cooking time in half. And, the tilted design lets grease drain away from the food quickly.  The George Foreman Grilleration indoor grill is available at Boscov’s for $99.

Did you know you can use electric griddles for much more than just pancakes and eggs?   Although I do use mine for breakfast sometimes, I use it more often for dinner meals, including fajitas, and grilled onions for hot sandwiches. When I make fajitas, I leave the fajita meat (and veggies) on the griddle set on the lowest setting, so they stay warm for the entire meal.

The electric griddle above is made by Presto, and it is large enough to cook 12 pieces of French toast at one time.  It also has a stay-cool border around the outside to prevent burns.  I especially like the tilt and drain feature of this griddle.  The back legs are slightly taller than the front ones, allowing any fat to drain into the collection container.  I found the Presto Tilt’nDrain Stay Cool griddle at Absolute Home for $50.95.

If you’re pressed for kitchen storage space, or you just like keeping things simple, you should take a look at some of the new blenders on the market that also double as a food processor.  On these models, the blender pitcher, and a food processor attachment interchangeably use the same power base.

The Cuisinart blender shown above comes with a 40-ounce glass blender jar, and a 3 cup food processor.  I especially like that the motor has a special ice crusher setting, because if you try to crush ice in a blender that’s not made for it, you can easily ruin it.

The motor of the blender/food processor combo has 7 speeds, including pulse.  For the food processor attachment, a chopping blade, and a reversible shredding disc are included.   I found the Cuisinart Duet blender at Cooking.Com for $89.95.

Here’s a list of food processor and blender recipes from Recipe Zaar.

Lately, I’ve been shopping commercial-quality countertop kitchen mixers looking for an unbeatable deal.  In fact, every time I use my hand held mixer to whip something up, I usually mumble something under my breath about how I haven’t found one yet.

I really like the look of the classic KitchenAid countertop mixers,like the one above.  As with other high-end models, there are so many attachments available for KitchenAid mixers, that they really are more than a mixer.  For example, this model comes with a wire whip, a flat beater, and a dough hook, but you can also purchase a grain mill, a food grinder, a pasta maker, a roto-slicer…and the list goes on an on.

The classic KitchenAid countertop mixer runs around $400, and the attachments I’ve priced run between $50 and $100 each. You could easily end up with a sizeable investment in one of these mixers, especially if you purchased a few attachments.   But, for those who cook a lot, perhaps the one-time purchase of something that will do the work of many small appliances, and that will last for decades is more sensible than going through several cheaper models.

I always keep Ramen noodles around for an emergency meal or a fast lunch for the kids, but I didn’t know until recently that there are hundreds of Ramen noodle recipes floating around online. People put Ramen noodles in everything from cole slaw to Jell-O (yuck)!

I’ve recently tried this beef and broccoli recipe, and it has turned out to be a Friday night favorite at my house.  You can make it in a large skillet or a wok. It makes enough to feed 6 people and have some leftovers.

Easy Beef and Broccoli Recipe

• 3 cups frozen or fresh broccoli florets
• 1 1/2 lbs. thinly sliced top round steak
• 8 packages beef Ramen noodles
• 8 cups water
• 2 tbsp. olive oil

Saute beef with olive oil in a large skillet or wok until nearly cooked through. Add broccoli florets.  Saute for another 1-2 minutes, and then add water.  Bring to a boil.  Break Ramen noodle blocks in half and add to skillet. Add noodle season packets.  Cook until Ramen noodles are tender, and most of the water is absorbed.  Allow to sit for a few minutes before serving.

You can adjust this recipe to make as much or as little as you want.  Just use 1 cup of water per package of noodles.  Ramen noodle seasoning contains a lot of sodium, so if you like, just leave out some of the season packets, or purchase the low sodium noodle packets.  Baked ramen noodles are also available if you want to reduce the fat content of this recipe.

Lately, I’ve been trying to introduce more whole grain foods to our family’s menu.  I know the health benefits of whole grain foods are amazing, but we don’t like the ‘cardboard-ish’ texture of some of them.  I have found some delicious 100% whole wheat bagels that everyone likes, and even some whole grain toaster pastries that make a great quick breakfast, but I’m going to try to make my own whole wheat bread too.

If you have a bread machine, this looks like a very simple whole wheat bread recipe:

Whole Wheat Honey Bread

• 1 1/8 cups water
• 3 cups whole wheat flour
• 1 1/2 teaspoons of salt
• 1/3 cup of honey
• 1 tbsp. dry milk powder
• 1 1/2 tbsp. shortening
• 1 1/2 tsp. active dry yeast

Place all ingredients in the pan within your bread machine.  Following the directions for your particular model, adjust to whole wheat setting, and start. Source:  All Recipes.