Unsure or regrets on Kitchen/Home products

[3boymthr]

Keurig. Husband tried it for coffee. I thought that in addition to being not environmentally friendly the coffee was just way too expensive compared to regular coffee - even buying the expensive organic beans was less expensive. Hubby hated that the dang thing kept clogging so that once a week we would have to clean it. Then it got to be twice a week. Final straw was black chunks coming out when cleaning. Husband literally chucked it out the window in frustration. This whole process took about two months.

 

[disneychrista]

Keurig.

I have a Starbucks Verismo that I got for free from Starbucks. I only used the pods that came with it. It has been in the garage for about 6 or 8 years.

 

[Mrs. Ciz]

DH bought a juicer he saw at Costco once. He thought he’d make tons of healthy juices out of fruits and veggies for the family. I think he used it 3 times. Now it sits in a cupboard under our kitchen island.

Bread maker - remember when they were all the rage? We got one for my parents one Christmas. I think they used it a handful of times before it set, collecting dust, for years.

 

[klacey1]

I used to be big on crockpots—we have three. But lately I’ve been way more into using our cast iron Dutch oven for the same type of cooking. I like that I can sear in the same pot. I’ll probably donate at least two the next time we do a purge.
Our mandolin is also a pain. Pain to clean and takes awhile to prep ingredients in bulk with the food guard. I pretty much exclusively use it for slicing potatoes for au gratin. None of the julienning attachments really work.
On the other hand...I love my meat thermometer. I use our food processor pretty much exclusively for shredding cheese in bulk and making salsa and it’s so worth it for those alone.

 

[jo-jo]

Bread maker - remember when they were all the rage? We got one for my parents one Christmas. I think they used it a handful of times before it set, collecting dust, for years.

My daughter got a breadmaker a few years ago. Every time we see her , she brings us 4 or 5 loaves of rye bread and/or cheese jalapeno bread. We put the extra loaves into the freezer. I try to stick to one loaf a week, by the time we finish, we are seeing her again.

 

[jormom1030]

Instapot

 

[VandVsmama]

Oh I have had so many of these things over the years, thanks to the fact that DH loves kitchen gadgets. Let's see, there's....

• At one point, we owned 4 Crockpots. FOUR! Now we're down to 1 and DH is sad about it.
• Instapot - I only use it to make yogurt. So it's an expensive yogurt maker. But I make yogurt often enough that I want to keep it for now.
• Apple slicer thingy that is round & you shove it over the top of the apple - impossible to clean properly. Hate it.
• Meat thermometers - We have about 4 right now. We really only need 1.
• Boiled egg gadget - DH has used it 4 or 5 times. It'll probably sit in the cabinet for 10 years unused and then the week after I give it away to Goodwill, he'll decide to boil an egg in it. Because apparently, boiling an egg in a pot is too hard?
• Juicer - we have 2
• food processor - our hand mixer-pulverizer thingy is far more versatile and gets used almost daily. It's been 2 yr since I used my food processor.
• Electric kettle thingy - you have to plug it in, the kettle with the water in it sits on this stand part. Boils water in 3-4 minutes. But so does a regular kettle on the stove. Or the microwave. Total waste of space and money.

 

[NannyBeBe]

My oven is both regular and convection. I have never used the convection because I have no idea how to do it.
I have a toaster oven but don't use it anymore because it takes too long to make toast.
I have three bread makers in my garage, two of which I inherited. I also have two brand new bullet blenders that I never used.

 

[RamblingMad]

Oh I have had so many of these things over the years, thanks to the fact that DH loves kitchen gadgets. Let's see, there's....

• At one point, we owned 4 Crockpots. FOUR! Now we're down to 1 and DH is sad about it.

I used to have three. For a while after moving out of parents house, I received these as gifts. Folks always told me about putting stuff in the morning before work and having a meal ready when getting home. The reality is that I'm usually in too big of a rush to do this in the morning. I have one now that I rarely use even with the pandemic and working from home. If I'm going to wait on food, I wait on my souv vide for steaks.

 

[2China2009]

May I ask the kind of things you are cooking in your instapot? Some things i have
fixed have been just as easy with stove/oven or tasted better. I may be using it
wrong.

Rice, any vegetable that is fresh, frozen chicken, I use the sauté method all the time to brown hamburger or any meat for that matter. I sautée garlic with butter and onions and add frozen shrimp then toss with pasta. Oatmeal, baked oatmeal, steel cut oats. There are millions of recipes on the internet. It saves me so much time. I can set it and leave the kitchen. Less dishes to clean up.

 

[jo-jo]

I used to have three. For a while after moving out of parents house, I received these as gifts. Folks always told me about putting stuff in the morning before work and having a meal ready when getting home. The reality is that I'm usually in too big of a rush to do this in the morning. I have one now that I rarely use even with the pandemic and working from home. If I'm going to wait on food, I wait on my souv vide for steaks.

I have three crockpots, but the only time I need three is for church dinners. Not as many dinners as in the past (not including Covid era) are being held. I do use the different sizes depending on what I may be making. Is it just us or is it Sunday dinner with DS, DDIL and DGS.

 

[Tallis]

While I have no regrets about either, I've personally only used my air fryer once and only use my instant pot for eggs. Made a roast in it once, then went back to my crock pot for that. I'll admit that my instant pot is a pricey egg boiler, but I make so many, that I'd buy it again in a heartbeat, only years sooner. The eggs practically peel themselves.

My youngest son uses the air fryer everyday, he heats everything in it in place of the microwave, so it lives on the counter. I don't mind the space because I have a ridiculous over abundance of counter and cabinet space. Not intended to be a brag, I own an inexpensive home, the kitchen just happens to be gigantic. Like everything else, be careful what you wish for ... it's a daily struggle to keep all the counters from becoming giant junk collectors.

The most giant appliance that we don't use often is a Showtime Rotisserie. It lives in one of my cabinets. Again, I don't regret the purchase because it was only $15 brand new and sealed at a thrift store years ago.

The only appliance I have to say I would never buy again is a Keurig. Turned out to be too pricey for the pods, so just used regular coffee with the plastic cup. Then it started leaking went in the trash. Big waste of money and now have a $10 coffee maker.

I would love to have a bread machine, even though they are on someone's regret post. I had an upright model back when they were big. I would like to have one now that makes a horizontal loaf. They are pricey, but will buy one eventually.

 

[RogueX]

My mom bought my sisters and I Instapots for Christmas a few years ago and swore that I would like cooking with it (I am not a fan of cooking). Well, it's a good thing one of my sisters lives in a house with a lot of people, I gave mine to her and she was eternally grateful to have 2.

 

[jujubiee4]

Ninja Foodi Grill.

Saw they were the rage on youtube. Used it a few times and on the fence about returning.
Honestly my indoor/outdoor george foreman seems just as good but getting old.

My threshold for a positive on any kitchen "gadget" is ease of use ...cooking time and
CLEANUP.

 

[Bianca and Bernard]

Today i went to drop off some things to Goodwill. My neighbor saw me and asked if i could drop off a box
for her. In her box was a rice cooker and a food steamer. I asked her if anything wrong with them and she said
neither came in as handy as she thought.

Made me wonder if you have bought something for kitchen/or in home and 1. regret 2. on fence about 3. Love it
more than you thought you would.

My instant pot. I make rice in it (and got rid of my 10 year old rice cooker because of it), and occasionally I'll make chicken in it, when the chicken is still frozen and we need food. I have a crockpot that does a much better job for crock-potting and I prefer my roasts/short ribs done in the cast iron, in the oven. I'm keeping it, simply for the easy rice cooking (I heat the water in the electric kettle first, and instead of taking 20 minutes to come to pressure and 3 minutes to cook, it comes to pressure and cooks in about 12 minutes), but I'm meh over it overwise.

My mandolin. I wanted one forever, DH got me one, and I've used it twice, he's used it two or three times. It scares me. Just sits in my cupboard now.


Things I got rid of when we moved last year:
The big and little muffin pans (I also have normal size pans, which I use all the time), but I hate the big muffins because it takes forever to cook them, so the outsides get overdone; and the minis are so hard to time. Also the 'cake pop' pan DD#2 bought me; the one that you seal a top and bottom pan together and pour in batter through holes on the top. I lost the silicone clips the 3rd time I used them, and I hated the mess of coating the pops. I don't like 'regular' cake pops, that are cake mushed together with frosting and then formed into balls, because it is just mush, either. The 'gift tags cookie pan' (that you pat dough into the molds and bake; this one looks like gift tags. I've never used it, in 10 years.

Love it: my Echo Dots (I have four in my tiny house, lol). Great for timers, and for talking to the guys without me having to get my lazy behind off the couch. haha Also, love my tabletop convection toaster oven. I use it for everything...from toast to baking cookies to frozen pizza and pork chops. Also, love my Kitchenaid stand mixer, cause, duh.

 

[jujubiee4]

My instant pot. I make rice in it (and got rid of my 10 year old rice cooker because of it), and occasionally I'll make chicken in it, when the chicken is still frozen and we need food. I have a crockpot that does a much better job for crock-potting and I prefer my roasts/short ribs done in the cast iron, in the oven. I'm keeping it, simply for the easy rice cooking (I heat the water in the electric kettle first, and instead of taking 20 minutes to come to pressure and 3 minutes to cook, it comes to pressure and cooks in about 12 minutes), but I'm meh over it overwise.

My mandolin. I wanted one forever, DH got me one, and I've used it twice, he's used it two or three times. It scares me. Just sits in my cupboard now.


Things I got rid of when we moved last year:
The big and little muffin pans (I also have normal size pans, which I use all the time), but I hate the big muffins because it takes forever to cook them, so the outsides get overdone; and the minis are so hard to time. Also the 'cake pop' pan DD#2 bought me; the one that you seal a top and bottom pan together and pour in batter through holes on the top. I lost the silicone clips the 3rd time I used them, and I hated the mess of coating the pops. I don't like 'regular' cake pops, that are cake mushed together with frosting and then formed into balls, because it is just mush, either. The 'gift tags cookie pan' (that you pat dough into the molds and bake; this one looks like gift tags. I've never used it, in 10 years.

Love it: my Echo Dots (I have four in my tiny house, lol). Great for timers, and for talking to the guys without me having to get my lazy behind off the couch. haha Also, love my tabletop convection toaster oven. I use it for everything...from toast to baking cookies to frozen pizza and pork chops. Also, love my Kitchenaid stand mixer, cause, duh.

Honestly i think the echoes are so underrated. I love mine and also use as a "intercom" to call upstairs
that dinner is ready. Also you mentioned convection toaster oven. I bought one couple weeks ago.
I only made banana bread and some garlic toast but they were perfection! I'm suspicious of anything
not cooked in a full sized oven so I was pleasantly surprised. Pork chops eh? Did you use bake or
convection setting? thanks

 

[Hook326]

A couple Christmases ago, I got one son an ice cream maker and one son a shaved ice maker. So fun I thought! The shaved ice has been made more because it’s easy, always have the ingredients but the ice cream maker has only been used twice.

I love my rice maker, keurig and bread maker though! And I use all my crockpots (2 large, another that has three smaller ones together, and a small one for dips) often to keep food warm for parties. Luckily I have a large closet to store them all!

 

[Bianca and Bernard]

Honestly i think the echoes are so underrated. I love mine and also use as a "intercom" to call upstairs
that dinner is ready. Also you mentioned convection toaster oven. I bought one couple weeks ago.
I only made banana bread and some garlic toast but they were perfection! I'm suspicious of anything
not cooked in a full sized oven so I was pleasantly surprised. Pork chops eh? Did you use bake or
convection setting? thanks

I've used both settings to cook pork chops, pork tenderloins, and various chicken parts. The convection does a better job with equalizing the cooking, but doesn't really cut down on the cook time.

I also use it to reverse sear ribeyes.

I like using the convection for frozen fries and frozen fishsticks, as it gives me more of a 'double fried' fry texture. I have a pizza setting, so I can toss in two Totino's and have them done in 15 minutes (without preheating time).

You just have to be careful to not use glass or foil in it, as the glass can overheat and shatter, and the foil heats very hot and can cause a fire (according to the instructions I have).

The best part is the not heating up the whole house!

 

[fly girl]

Bread machine was probably the gadget we used the least. We donated it years ago.

Couple of years ago I finally ditched the Showtime Rotisserie we got way back in 2000. Before I donated it my husband said, "hey, look on eBay to see what they are going for." O. M. G.! Up on eBay it went, and we got $200 for it. If you have one sitting in your cabinet never getting used, clean it up and sell it!

May I ask the kind of things you are cooking in your instapot? Some things i have
fixed have been just as easy with stove/oven or tasted better. I may be using it
wrong.

I received an Instapot for Christmas last year. It took me a month to get it out of the box, but I do use it. I use it in spurts. Sometimes several times in a week, other times once every three weeks.

I have found by far and away the BEST thing to use it for is cheap cuts of meat. Beef especially. Beef and broccoli, stroganoff, pepper steak all come out so tender in the instapot (beats the pants off crockpot with how tender it becomes). Chicken thighs come out fantastic too. I have made bourbon chicken, butter chicken, and some other kind that the sauce stunk but the chicken was super tender (lol).

 

[Tallis]

My instant pot. I'm keeping it, simply for the easy rice cooking (I heat the water in the electric kettle first, and instead of taking 20 minutes to come to pressure and 3 minutes to cook, it comes to pressure and cooks in about 12 minutes), but I'm meh over it overwise.

Hmmm, you may have just found me a use for my instant pot, other than egg cooker. Thanks, going to try this.

Also the 'cake pop' pan DD#2 bought me;

This reminds me of another useless appliance buried in my cabinets. I had completely forgotten about it. It's another thrift store find, that was new and sealed for a few dollars. Even so, I should have left it on the shelf. It's the completely useless Rival Cookie Factory. For the life of me, I don't know how it has five stars on Amazon.