What’s the best gadget you’ve ever bought?

I’m not normally much into gadgets, but coming up to Christmas and all that wrapping. certainly a sellotape dispenser.
Also my little zester for citrus fruit. Only £7 - I can’t believe I never knew such things existed - so much less of a faff than the box grater. Esp. around this time of year - mincemeat and Chr. puds, not to mention dh’s favourite lemon meringue pie.

I have an opener for hard to open bottles and jars. I couldn't be without it now.

Slow cooker my children are now in their 50s and I still have the one I took on self catering holidays when they were teenagers . I have three in all great for doing different curries when entertaining.

Bread maker. Can’t eat supermarket bread and no bakery out here in the wilds. Usually make two loaves a week, OH slices it with his new electric slicer (he loves gadgets), then freeze it, otherwise we would eat too much.

One thing I'd hate to be without is the egg scoop which was a free gift at a Tupperware party decades ago. It's such a simple design but ideal for lifting boiled eggs out of hot water. I see they're still available online.

So many gadgets purchased over the years, and many of them really useful (others not so).
Back when my children were small I would have said, without hesitation it was my large Hi Dome Pressure cooker. Used all the time, for tenderising cheap cuts of meat, making james and marmalades, steaming marmade puddings, etc., making soup.

Of course, all these things now done in easier to use machines.

MIcrowaves have made a huge difference to my life, and I now have a wonderful combi one, which has replaced the need for a large oven.

Electric mixers, taking away that long, very difficult process oc creaming together butter and sugar at the start of sponge making.

BUT.....back to basics, pretty sure the machine I would not want to live without is my washing machine.

My automatic can opener is invaluable, I could not be without it.

Definitely agree about the sellotape dispenser.
Other one that comes to mind was actually a gift, it’s a fan that drapes round your neck. It has a fan at either end of the arms, can be adjusted for “blow” and angle, also for colour, but I never bother with that. It’s rechargeable, lasts for different periods depending on which “blow” you use. It was used a lot during the hot weather, and although it does look a bit silly, I care not a jot!

Robot vacuum, without a doubt.

Potato ricer! Makes lovely mash easily.

My microplane which I use for zesting and grating nutmeg. Only small things but a pain to do with out.

My salad spinner, my mother used to wrap her washed lettuce in a tea towel and spin it dangerously round and round.

So did my mum.

Franbern definitely the pressure cooker. DSs favourite is Lentil soup when they come home. DS2 bought me a potato peeler from Ikea a couple of years ago, don't know how I've survived 40 yrs without one.

A Kenwood mini chopper, bought many years ago on a Delia recommendation. It chops breadcrumbs, herbs, cheese, fruit, nuts... anything you need in smallish quantities. A crumble topping for one person (me) takes seconds. For bigger tasks, my faithful Magimix.

Soup maker and egg boiler/poacher.

Soup maker

Tomato slicing knife ? perfect slices everytime.?

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The Nicer Dicer. I had one way back when they were a different design. You put the food (potato, pepper, carrot) on the bottom and pushed the cutter from the top. Eventually that broke and I went back to chopping with a knife.

Then they changed the design so that the cutter sat on a container and you pushed the food through the blades. I found that this didn't work so well.

Recently I gave in and bought one of the new design. It is ridiculously complicated to put together,take apart and wash up, definitely a disadvantage, but the pleasure of having even-sized cubes of vegetables in stews, soups, salads, risottos etc has won me over again. Also use it for chips, of course, and the new one has a very sharp slicer/julienne attachment which is fiddly but gives lovely even results.

The white one is the old one and the green one is the new one.

Slow cooker, bread maker, soup maker, lithium battery lawn mower, food processor, battery operated pruning saw (from Lidl, what a bargain!).

I forgot my basic, Mouli-style cylinder grater, mostly for cheese. Absolutely wouldn’t be without it. They’re not so easy to find any more, though. Last time I looked, even the large John Lewis kitchen dept. didn’t have such a useful, basic item.

PollyTickle

My salad spinner, my mother used to wrap her washed lettuce in a tea towel and spin it dangerously round and round.

I still use a tea towel spinner! I did have a plastic bowl type but got rid of it when I moved into a small kitchen with little cupboard space. As I don’t really like lettuce, I only buy it when I’ve got visitors!

I’m a huge gadget fan. My favourite is my Instant Pot electric pressure cooker. It is brilliant and saves so much time.

MissAdventure

Robot vacuum, without a doubt.

My robot vacuum cleaner is doing his thing right now It does a great job.