Best budget gadgets & tools

morning glory said:
This is a microwave dish cover. It was stupidly cheap. I now use it all the time. No more fiddling about with cling film. Its slightly larger than a dinner plate so covers most things. I store it in the microwave. Sorry about the lousy photo.

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My aunt Lily has one of these that is plexiglass with a red vinyl (or silicone) handle. I have one very similar to yours that is heavy duty microwave safe plastic. I have two, actually, one that's for bowls and is smaller and then the dinner plate size.

I want one like hers, though. It's very fancy.
 
I put a spongy mat in front of my sink for that purpose, but my dog appropriated it. I finally moved it out of the way so she could lie on it and not be right in front of the kitchen sink. :laugh:
 
I have one in front of my sink and one in front of the oven. It's nice to have a bit more cushion. Yes, they catch crumbs and drips. Oh well.
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Okay, kitchen gadgets!

  • Cork screw.
  • Wine stoppers (for closing up that unfortunately-unfinished bottle of wine, when the cork won't go back in).
  • Wine glass markers (so guests don't lose their wine glass at parties - assuming people can ever entertain again).

kitchen-wine-markers.jpg

Stemmed wine glass identifiers. You can get more brightly-colored ones, too. But I just liked the styles here.

I don't have a dedicated bar in my house, so yes, the above are kitchen gadgets. :drink:

  • A flat grater for cheese. I put it over a bowl to grate. It has two sizes of holes, and I 99% time use the larger holes, and for grating cheeses. There's also a central slit for making slices but I never use that.
  • Microplane, for garlic, nutmeg, small jobs requiring small microslivers.
  • A spider, for dredging hot items out of pots, or for gently laying eggs into boiling water. Great for use in some Asian cookery.
  • Narrow measuring spoons - for getting accurate measurements of herbs, spices, and baking powder out of their containers without making a mess. (If I am making something for a recipe I plan to post, I typically do measure.)

kitchen-measure1.jpg

To the right: Narrow spoon set for fitting into almost any jar or spice container you might have around. To the left: Dash, pinch, smidgeon… for fun, though I have used these...

  • Immersion blender.
  • Citrus squeezers - I have three styles.
    kitchen-citrus.jpg

    Left to right: Mom’s old glass citrus squeezer, works great on larger citrus. Middle: plastic one that will catch seeds. Right: Very efficient for limes and lemons.
  • Ergonomic can opener.
  • Two "analog" (as in not digital) scales. What is great is i can read metric and US ounces at the same time. Also that when my digital bathroom scale went buggy, I figured it was less likely that the analog variants of these things would. The small one reads to 500 grams, the larger to 1 kg.
  • Sturdy tongs.
  • Kitchen mitts, silcon.
  • Spice racks. They cost about $18 apiece when I bought them. I now have five. They won't hold large containers, but they take care of everything else, and help me keep the vast majority of spices at readable eye level. (Salt, pepper and garlic powder are kept near the range, and certain large quantity Indian spices are kept in another cabinet.)
 
KitKat said:
I love my salad spinner and mandoline.
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I don't have a salad spinner - small kitchen - would take up too much space. But then, I don't tend to wash leaves unless they are really dusty or dirty. Same with herbs. I usually buy cos lettuce where only the outside needs a rinse. Or I buy ready washed. The leaves I'm using from the garden don't seem to be dusty - but I do sometimes rinse them and pat dry in a kitchen towel.
 
Morning Glory said:
I don't have a salad spinner - small kitchen - would take up too much space.
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I couldn't be without my salad spinner. Whilst I don't always wash bought salad, the stuff we grow always needs a wash before eating. We have an Oxo one which is pretty compact and stores away inside one of my mixing bowls.
We also have a mini salad spinner for the motorhome - that one can't be more than 15cm diameter so its pretty easy to store, but its still just about big enough for two.
 
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I've been using my melon baller a lot recently - good for plenty of other fruit/veg besides melon. Its great for avocado as it scoops close to the skin so you get a pretty dark green/light green effect. The one pictured above is on sale from Amazon for less than £2.

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Mountain Cat said:
Okay, kitchen gadgets!

  • Cork screw.
  • Wine stoppers (for closing up that unfortunately-unfinished bottle of wine, when the cork won't go back in).
  • Wine glass markers (so guests don't lose their wine glass at parties - assuming people can ever entertain again).

View attachment 41669
Stemmed wine glass identifiers. You can get more brightly-colored ones, too. But I just liked the styles here.

I don't have a dedicated bar in my house, so yes, the above are kitchen gadgets. :drink:

  • A flat grater for cheese. I put it over a bowl to grate. It has two sizes of holes, and I 99% time use the larger holes, and for grating cheeses. There's also a central slit for making slices but I never use that.
  • Microplane, for garlic, nutmeg, small jobs requiring small microslivers.
  • A spider, for dredging hot items out of pots, or for gently laying eggs into boiling water. Great for use in some Asian cookery.
  • Narrow measuring spoons - for getting accurate measurements of herbs, spices, and baking powder out of their containers without making a mess. (If I am making something for a recipe I plan to post, I typically do measure.)

View attachment 41670
To the right: Narrow spoon set for fitting into almost any jar or spice container you might have around. To the left: Dash, pinch, smidgeon… for fun, though I have used these...

  • Immersion blender.
  • Citrus squeezers - I have three styles.
    View attachment 41671
    Left to right: Mom’s old glass citrus squeezer, works great on larger citrus. Middle: plastic one that will catch seeds. Right: Very efficient for limes and lemons.
  • Ergonomic can opener.
  • Two "analog" (as in not digital) scales. What is great is i can read metric and US ounces at the same time. Also that when my digital bathroom scale went buggy, I figured it was less likely that the analog variants of these things would. The small one reads to 500 grams, the larger to 1 kg.
  • Sturdy tongs.
  • Kitchen mitts, silcon.
  • Spice racks. They cost about $18 apiece when I bought them. I now have five. They won't hold large containers, but they take care of everything else, and help me keep the vast majority of spices at readable eye level. (Salt, pepper and garlic powder are kept near the range, and certain large quantity Indian spices are kept in another cabinet.)
Click to expand...

Oh my, I just love those Stemmed wine glass identifiers. They could be also fantastic earrings!
 
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