What do we NOT have in the kitchen these days??

Goodness me how this reminds me of my past. I was a gadget girl and had a kitchen full of them. Most ended up in the cupboards, I might add. Usually too fiddly to assemble or wash (pre dishwashers, of course) and often 'I could do this quicker by hand' prevailed. My transformation makes me smile unbelievably. I've become the girl who spends as little time in the kitchen as possible. Admittedly no one to cook for so pretty much the pleasure of that aspect has gone. I keep my butter - French at the moment and wondering if it will become unavailable or double in price - in the fridge and only cut off the portion I plan to use and give it a quickie softener in the Micro. Perfect. Lovely reading all the accessories I once had and even managed to forget about them completely. Joyful nostalgia. Thank you all

I have a pie funnel, a Nutbrown one, it belonged to an old auntie, it is in the shape of an elephant, the trunk sticks out the top.

A bit stained round the trunk, but still used and loved.

Procook, a kitchenware company in Gloucestershire, make a porcelain ‘pie bird’ funnel and its £2.50 at the moment.

procook.co.uk

(I bought saucepans from them recently).

My reply was to Llamedos

We don't have a microwave. Can't see the point .

I have a grapefruit knife, recently rescued after spending several years under the cooker. I also have a an old balance scale -with a set of metric and imperial weights.

I have recently disposed of my pressure cooker. Between the microwave and the slow cooker, it hadn't been used in decades.

We’ve a kitchen drawer full of useless stuff! Anyone need sugar tongs or grape scissors? Thought not.

Slightly off track but... When I lived in China, I couldn't find a potato masher for love nor money. So when she visited, my mum gave me hers. I couldn't afford to ship all the stuff I acquired there back home when I left, so my mum's wedding gift spud masher now resides in the kitchen of my lovely Chinese friend.

Another here who has disposed of many gadgets because they are too fiddly to clean and yes, I can do it quicker by hand.

We do have a tea strainer. The grapefruit knife lives with wooden handled cutlery my parents bought us for an engagement gift. We don’t use the cutlery as it’s not dishwasher safe and usually forget the grapefruit knife is there.

We no longer have a Spong mincer or a similar clamp on gadget to slice runner beans as we no longer grow them in agricultural quantity. Various gadgets for slicing have also left the building as has an electric steamer.

We have and use bone handled knives for butter that were my ma-in-laws and many cups with saucers. My grandfathers silver tablespoon measures flour and sugar for baking. Pie making brings out a very old wooden rolling pin and my mums blackbird pie funnel.

Got rid of the ice cream maker and the deep fryer years ago when the kids left home. I nearly chucked out the bread maker but very glad I didn’t because I have used it a lot lately whilst we were in isolation.

I’d love one of the old fashioned mincers that you clamp to a kitchen table - I’d also love the kitchen table to clamp it to. And of course the bigger kitchen to fit the table into.

I do actually have a mincer attachment for the Kenwood, but it’s rather too much of a faff to bother with.

I got rid of a potato ricer - took far too long for the amount of mash I usually make. A good masher is vital though, which reminds me, must buy a good one for a dd before we’re next allowed to visit - hers is rubbish.

I do have a teapot and tea cosy but the teapot is never used now - bags and mugs. Bought the teapot decades ago, after a tea loving dd at about 10 went to stay with some Irish friends where there was always a pot of tea on the go - she thought a teapot was seriously swanky!

Tea cosy was bought by a male friend who used to visit now and then, and had to have his pot of tea (and biscuits) first thing.
It does fit our cafetière nicely so still used for that!

Bread bin. Now take slices of bread out of the freezer when required.

minimoon - I had a bomb thing too. Inherited from my mother... no idea where it is!

My mum had a butter pat made of wood which made a pattern on the block of butter she made herself. She had a small hand churn, and she also had cheese moulds. Wouldn't happen unless you were into craft food these days.

I really like my mum’s brass balance scales and weights but what a pain to clean.
We’ve always used cake forks - don’t know why really, daughters liked them and now granddaughter insists on using one.
I used a silver decorated spoon for my porridge when young (only silver thing in house) and now granddaughter uses it for her porridge - it’s her Princess spoon ? It must have been in a box in loft when daughters were young but I worked full time so little time in those days - love having time now.
Wish I’d kept Mum’s double egg poacher - a tiny pan with two poacher inserts on top of each other and tiny lid. Didn’t realise people poached eggs in pan of water until I was in my thirties - still seem very odd!
Dad took enamel jug thing with lid for drink at work/building sites and of course his ‘snap’ tin.
We always had a dripping pot too, earthenware with lid, kept in pantry, no fridge, spread on white bread with salt on - yikes!
Got loads of Mum’s old earthenware in my kitchen - very useful.
As you can tell I could go on and on .....?

Carpet! - thank goodness
My parents used to have carpet put in the kitchen AND the bathroom!! Why oh why??
More irritating, this very morning, I don't have orange juice or sparkling water - it would seem my online grocery store do not have such things!

Esspee, lots of people buy butter, sales are going up. The brands you mention are processed in some way. Butter, actual butter that goes too hard in the fridge is purer and that’s why more people are buying it now. Does anyone remember in the 60’s the cream maker was very popular? You put in whole milk and hand pumped the handle on the side and ended up with cream. Noe batteries or electricity required. I can’t remember the name of it and will annoy me all day. Can anyone help me out here ?

Butter dishes. Larders. Hot water geysers over the sink.

Always considered that I have a modern kitchen as far as gadgets and equipment, but since lockdown I have unearthed my lovely old set of scales with brass pans, and the weights, neatly standing on a purpose made small cast iron plate. I have been making bread, and agree with others on this post that the accuracy of balance scales is second to none.
Melon ballers, butter pat makers, pressure cooker, deep fat fryer - these have all gone over the years.

Kittylester: I too still have all these articles. I LOVE my potatoes to be smooth! Grapefruit spoons are good for scooping out aocado pears.

You are not alone!

Kittylester. One of my butter dishes is in the shape of a sitting cow.

Oh my goodness, I now realise I really am the hoarder everyone says I am. I’ve got just about every gadget mentioned in this post and more! I could set up a museum of kitchenware, the grandchildren love trying to guess what some things are used for. I dread having to downsize, I can’t imagine a kitchen without my gadgets, even though I use hardly any of them any more. The popcorn maker comes out when the GC visit, so that hasn’t seen the light of day for many, many months, as with jelly moulds of all sorts of shapes and sizes.
I have one gadget that baffles everyone, and it’s actually very modern - it stands in a saucepan on its three legs, is battery operated, and it moves around the saucepan when switched on.......it’s a sauce stirrer!

kittylester

I have modern electronic scales that go back to zero at the press of a button and which weigh 1 gram (I still have my balance scales)

I have 2 butter dishes in daily use kept on the bread bin.

I have a tea strainer and a tea caddy.

I also have saucers, grapefruit knife and cake forks.

Am I really odd?

I got rid of my potato rice as the potato was too smooth!!!

Yes, I have them too, although only one butter dish (I will aspire to be a two butter dish family though)?

Loose tea is just so much better! We do have tea bags as well, but if you have forgotten how good loose tea is, try it.

I no longer have a bread bin, I just take from the freezer as required. Long gone is the spong mincer replaced by the food mixer which minces the meat up. I have my Grandparent's pickle fork, butter knife and small ladle for gravy. A friend has recently given me a gadget for lifting the toast out of the toaster - I do have to remember to use it.

Helligirl1 I have one of those double spoon things. Definitely for making a cuppa with loose leaf tea. The standard tea strainer I use for sifting icing sugar onto cakes.