Good gadgets you wished you had bought sooner.

I think my vote has probably got to be for my rice cooker. So simple and no more messy rice pans or getting the rice wrong.

Doodledog

I've never had a soup maker. I make soup in an electric pressure cooker. I chop the veg and sauté for a bit then add stock and pressure cook. When it's done it releases the steam and I either keep chunky or blend, add cream if required and that's all there is to it.

Would a soup maker be even easier?

Yes. Chop ingredients and put into soup maker, saute if needed. Select smooth or chunky. 21 or 28 minutes later (when summoned back to kitchen by loud beeping) stir in cream if using, and serve. No separate blending.

My Oxo Good Grips potato peeler. I love it. My mother would have done as well. She had an old fashioned potato peeler with the wooden handle which had string wound round it.

I wish she were still here to have an Oxo one.

Rice is perfectly easy to cook without a gadget. One cup rice into two cups cold water. Bring to boil, cover and take off heat until all the water has absorbed. Easy peasy.

Grammaretto

Rice is perfectly easy to cook without a gadget. One cup rice into two cups cold water. Bring to boil, cover and take off heat until all the water has absorbed. Easy peasy.

That may be true, but if you have a gizmo that you find easier, go for it.
Same debate about pressure cookers, soup makers, egg cookers, or toasters. You can do them all the basic way.

I am a bit of a gadget geek and I had my eye on a Thermomix for years. I always thought that I could not justify the price but succumbed about 6 months ago. It is the best gadget that I have had and I use it at least once a day. Wish I had bought it years ago.

ptarmigan

I am a bit of a gadget geek and I had my eye on a Thermomix for years. I always thought that I could not justify the price but succumbed about 6 months ago. It is the best gadget that I have had and I use it at least once a day. Wish I had bought it years ago.

Me too!

My DIL calls it the magic machine.

This weekend I have made soups, no fail mash potatoes, classic wholemeal bread, butter, steamed lots of vegetables, steamed fish and pea and mint risotto.

We moved home earlier this year and I said goodbye to my beautiful Lacanche range, the new kitchen just has a single oven and 4 ring hob so I felt I could justify the outlay.

Best thing I ever did.

How much counter space does a Thermomix take up, please?

I should have added alongside my wonderful rice cooker is my chopping box. This item is invaluable for both salads as well as other vegetables.

Doodledog

How much counter space does a Thermomix take up, please?

Approximately 12 inches at the widest point.
The Varoma attachment is wider but sits on top.
Here’s a pic of mine to give you an idea.

You're tempted to get another gadget aren't you Doodledog

Pressed post too soon. Fortunately for my bank balance I have hardly any counter space so won't be getting one although it sounds wonderful.

Rosie51

You're tempted to get another gadget aren't you Doodledog

😈

I could be😇

Thanks, Sago. When I googled them, a Magimix version appeared. It did cross my mind that if I got one of those I could give my Magimix to my daughter, so it would be win/win. I’d need to see if they are the same thing though, and be sure that the new one would replace my one as well as do the other things.

Or I could get a grip and save my money😂. I used to love Tomorrow’s World as a child, and am so happy to be alive in a world with all these magical gadgets in it.

Sago

Doodledog

How much counter space does a Thermomix take up, please?

Approximately 12 inches at the widest point.
The Varoma attachment is wider but sits on top.
Here’s a pic of mine to give you an idea.

Both DD have Thermomixes and swear by them.

HelterSkelter1

My Oxo Good Grips potato peeler. I love it. My mother would have done as well. She had an old fashioned potato peeler with the wooden handle which had string wound round it.

I wish she were still here to have an Oxo one.

Yes, we have the Oxo Good Grips potato peeler.

Years ago I had a Fiskars potato peeler, bought in Finland, it was excellent too but must have got accidentally thrown out with the peelings ☹

Allira. I have a very small Kitchen Devil knife which is in constant use and I have had to empty the tall kitchen waste bin to find it when thrown away by accident. I am trying to make myself concentrate more and keep track of utensils when using them. So easy to be thinking of 100 different other things.
I have had to go through the dustbin before now!!!

My air fryer and small soupmaker, both in constant use. Love them

I've never been able to get to grips with potato peelers (pun fully intended!). I always just use a small kitchen knife. I'm currently using a small wooden-handled one which belonged to my late MiL, so I dread to think how old it must be. Strangely enough, I can use a peeler on other veg like carrots, but I find a knife so much easier for peeling tatties!

Doodledog

Thanks, Sago. When I googled them, a Magimix version appeared. It did cross my mind that if I got one of those I could give my Magimix to my daughter, so it would be win/win. I’d need to see if they are the same thing though, and be sure that the new one would replace my one as well as do the other things.

Or I could get a grip and save my money😂. I used to love Tomorrow’s World as a child, and am so happy to be alive in a world with all these magical gadgets in it.

A Thermomix will do everything a Magimix does and a lot more.
Yesterday I made a plum and orange cake, tomato soup, porridge, reheated a ragu and made pastry.
Today I will make a chopped salad, quiche filling, steam salmon, asparagus and new potatoes and reheat soup.

Is there anything we should particularly look for in a soup maker?

My most used "gadget" is also the air fryer. Has anyone baked a cake in theirs? Looking at mine, the round 'drawer' is about the size of a cake tin. I just buy the cheapest as I think their only downside is cleaning. My second and most recent cost £20 in my local supermarket sale bin and it's exactly the same, with it's 'look' updated, as the original one which was, if I remember rightly, £40.

Soup makers -option to purée or not.
Cleaning button helps easy cleaning.
Quantity you want to make: mine makes enough for 6-8 bowls, great for batch cooking and freezing.
Doesn't take up much room.
Inexpensive and does the job.
Mine’s a Salter and cost £20

Others might have more suggestions.

Thanks Mollygo!

My most used "gadget" is also the air fryer. Has anyone baked a cake in theirs?

Not cake, but I bake flapjack in mine.

Mollygo you've got me thinking now! I always thought a soupmaker would be unneccessary as I usually boil/roast veggies and use my stick blender - one of my favourite gadgets.

We bought a breadmaker a couple of months ago and we love it. So many additives in pre packed bread and we don't have a proper bakery nearby.