New Appliances

[GadgetGuy]

So you might hate me cause my neice always does when i tell her of my bargains. This past labor day my local thrift had a sale...50% off all donated goods... i was there looking for jeans but i look at everything. And there on the bottom shelf push all the way in the back was a pasta machine, new in the box with all the part including clamp and that extention thingy with the extra rollers. Now i am not sure i am going to make pasta with it...it might find its way out to my art studio and join my other one i use for clay but i could not pass it up cause after my on sale discount it was $2.50...it had a original price of $35. It has already trapped my finger once before i even bought it but i won't hold it against it as i still use my mandolin slicer even tho it has bit me on more than one occassion. By the way i got 2 pairs of jeans too.

I don't hate you, never will.

Im just no paying close to $200 for a pasta attachment to use with my mixer, The machine was relatively reasonable. But to pay ridiculous prices for attachment for it is ridiculously outrageous!!

 

[oddduck]

I have a fancy mixer that you can get attachments for but i don't even use the mixer normally...its a big heavy thing that was my mom's. It looks pretty. I tend to just mix by hand cause thinking about cleaning all the parts involved with a mixer i would rather spend the time mixing with a slotted spoon or hand mixer. I have a big ole blender too, was mom's too..but i tend to use my stick blender cause it is just easy to clean.

 

[GadgetGuy]

Yeah, getting a appliance with all that stuff means that there are more things to clean. Plus you have to have room to store all that stuff when not in use!

My Cuisinart food processor take tare of chopping & grinding as well as slicing. I have a little chopper for those pesky small chopping jobs that don't require the big machine. Washing it immediately after use helps get off food residue so that it does not harden. Used it the other day while prepping for chicken pot pies.

 

[GadgetGuy]

It looks something like THIS. Beats the slowness from the knife & tedious cleanup of processor parts for small chopping jobs!.

 

[Morning Glory]

I have a fancy mixer that you can get attachments for but i don't even use the mixer normally...its a big heavy thing that was my mom's. It looks pretty. I tend to just mix by hand cause thinking about cleaning all the parts involved with a mixer i would rather spend the time mixing with a slotted spoon or hand mixer. I have a big ole blender too, was mom's too..but i tend to use my stick blender cause it is just easy to clean.

That's my position really - as well as having lack of space for a stand mixer. Its a question of quantity. If I was churning out 5 loaves of bread or more a day then I'd probably use a stand mixer to help knead the dough - but the maximum I cook is one loaf of bread at a time. Ditto with cakes. So its not worth using a large machine. I use the stick blender a lot - probably more than any other small electric appliance. Its brilliant for making sauces and you can use it straight into the pan and then just rinse the blending end under the tap.

I do use a mini chopper a bit like the one @Shermie has pictured above - but not really very often. Again, its easier to chop by hand and there is less to was up.