Most useful Kitchen Gadgets and equipment?

[RitaCeleste]

Okay, since some of the most useless equipment is in my kitchen already, I'd like to hear about products that make cooking on Atkins better and easier. So what is useful to you?

[liv]

Blender.
Could not live with out I think
Oh and mircowave (but maybe that one is not a gadget)

[barrnone]

my scale, I never weighed things before, now I have a postal scale on my kitchen counter. I just like to check my weights now and again [ie cheese] - just to make sure! I'm getting pretty good at cutting an ounce.

[JulieB]

Food Processor with grating disk (cheese, cauliflower) and my crock-pot (whole chickens, soup, etc). Silicone baking mats - oopsies come off fairly easily.

I also found a use for my carrot peeler I use it to make zucchini noodles.

I don't know if you noticed, but Linda's site has a whole page on kitchen gadgets...

[Georgiana]

I lived 21 years without a blender (I'm 21 and a bit ), but now that I have one, I'm not giving it away for anything! I use it for soups, to rice cauliflower, to make pesto, to make hummus, etc.

I love my coffee grinder too. I use it to make flax meal, nut flours, ground spices (e.g. I make my own mustard from mustard seeds).

[RitaCeleste]

Microwaves COUNT! I've even got that one. Okay some of the paint chipped off last cleaning and I had to stick electrical tape over the exposed metal, but its still working. My oven needs a $249 part. I am hopeing to get a used one that's only slightly defective instead. I ordered a small convection oven that claims it can rotissere a chicken. I went to fire up my crockpot last night and when I picked up the lid, the plastic handle broke right off. The pressure frier still works but has a large chunk missing from the handle you tighten down the lid with. My scales have children's handwriting on them and the battery seems dead. My kitchen is DOA! So somethings didn't pay off, like the pressure frier. Too much spent to not get parts for anymore. A big pot and time work for me. I did see a juliane peeler and a potato ricer and some stuff like that to try with veggies. Are food processors worth it? I had one once but never wanted to use it cause I'd have to clean it then.

[not2late]

For me: sharp knives.

[ErinB]

I use the microwave, my new range/oven (gave up on the 35-year-old one because I couldn't get the burners fixed anymore). I'm for the sharp knives, too. I have a good set of Chicago cutlery and a really easy to use and handy knife sharpener. Digging through storage, I unearthed a multitude of food processors and am in process of experimenting with all of them since I hate scraped knuckles when grating jicama. The best one, a really uptown Kitchen Aide is left to try. I suspect I'm going to like that one best and I already know its parts and pieces are really easy clean. That one is expensive, however, and I only have it because it came with daughter who moved back in a few years ago.

My most favorite tool I have actually purchased since starting Atkins must be my food scale (Who knew what a small amount of lettuce is actually a whole cup?). If anyone is looking for a new one, this one is awesome for ease of use, accuracy and for doing just what it is advertised to do. I could go on about it, but the reviews on Amazon tell it all.

Amazon.com: EatSmart Precision Pro Digital Kitchen Scale, White: Kitchen & Dining

[soon2bslim]

I have this V-Shaped Mandolin Slicer - i use it almost everyday for slicing vegetables. My husband calls it the guillotine - it's really sharp and has a tendency to cut fingers really badly, but if one is careful it's a great, versatile tool, and easy to clean.

Quality sharp knives, my microwave, my cast iron omlet pan and my really old pressure cooker are also mainstays in my kitchen.

[Alexa]

For Atkins I could not do without: my cup measures, my salad spinner (no more watery salads!) and my vegetable steamer which is just a stacked up pan one that goes on the hob. The stand-alone grill (lean mean, fat reducing blah blah) is pretty useful too, but dull to clean.