Kitchen Gadgetry

Jeff I forgot to mention, there is a saute setting on the instant pot. With the cover off you can hit that and brown anything you want, then add liquids/ingredients, pop the top on and set for your pressure cycle. Extremely easy to make just about anything that way and it comes out well cooked and quite flavorful.

What timex said. Any moist-heat based cooking, braising, stewing, rice making, stock making, simmering, sauce making, etc. You can even steam in them.

All good stuff, thanks, that should get us started!

Something that I saw somewhere… You know those can openers that open the can from the side instead of the top? So that the lid doesn’t fall into the can?

You can use any hand can opener to do that. I just did it tonight. Color me pleasantly surprised.

Saw that recently too. It’s pretty great. I was sure it did something like put burrs in a weird place or whatever. But no, it just works.

A very interesting story. And I have one of those OXO peelers.

As do I. I’ve had it for so long that one side of the blade got dull. So I just pulled it out and flipped it around. Brand new peeler!

I do as well. Best peeler ever. I’m also partial to the OXO salad spinner, the OXO mixing bowls and OXO meat tenderizer. Overall I love -most- of their designs, you can tell they actually design for making the work easier.

I’m not a fan of a few things though. The measuring cups tend to hold on to oils through the wash sometimes, I replaced them with stainless and love those so much more. And the can opener broke within the first month.

So how do people clean these things without losing layers of skin each time? Every time we have shredded cheese, I know this monster is in the sink waiting for my blood again.

Use a sponge with the grain, not against, homie.

With this

And yeah, go with backwards so you don’t shred the bristles (or sponge if you use sponges).

I have one of those peelers as well. It’s a go-to everyday when I make my son dinner.

Also…I met a woman who works in testing at OXO recently. It was one of those awkward social moments where I suddenly got all excited and started asking dumb questions and everybody else in the room was all, “Hey. We were talking about the boyfriend’s job. What’s wrong with you?”

Like the time I met the woman who has a job collecting and storing seeds that are native to California and I couldn’t resist shifting the conversation to her.

-xtien

But if you go with the grain, it doesn’t dislodge the bits of cheese that are stuck in there. You go against to get them out, and the thing eats your knuckles.

Wait… You’re not supposed to do this? So like, you’re all interested in what one person does, get all excited, ask questions and everyone else doesn’t like it??

I’m not being sarcastic here, I am processing. You’re saying that not everyone else shares my enthusiasm for the same things and you’re supposed to actively keep conversation as some sort of game where each person has equal time and approval?

You go with the grain, but you need to do it on both sides. That should get everything off. Admittedly harder with a narrow box grater.

Ah. Thanks all! Brushes ordered. No more sticking my hand in the box!

And that’s why I have a dish washer.

I approve, a dishwasher in the kitchen is probably more useful than a Bene Gesserit.

My microwave died over the weekend. Apparently the internal light – but not cooking – was causing a surge of some kind, and kept tripping the breaker until the third time killed the microwave outright. Nothing else on the same circuit was running at the time. Well, my Echo was, but I doubt that counts.

Anyway, now I find myself researching microwaves for the first time in many years. From what I can tell, there’s really nothing cool and interesting about microwaves these days. Even the microwaves that have convection oven features are, according to a friend, not really worth it.

Recommendations?