Unsure or regrets on Kitchen/Home products

[VandVsmama]

I thought of another one. Those Pampered Chef food choppers. The kind where you put the food on a chopping board of some kind and then you put the food chopper over the top of the food and then you pound on this lever, which is supposed to chop, dice, and mince it all up into little bitty pieces.

I was given one once as a gift. It was the biggest pain in the neck. I was told, "Oh! This makes chopping onions so easy!" Nope. It couldn't even chop through a tomato, let alone pieces of onion. It was a pain in the neck to clean, too. I threw it out.

 

[Mackenzie Click-Mickelson]

it was in all likelihood a problem with the water but we have a whole house filter and a second filter on the water coming out of the fridge. It could also be we had a defective Keurig. We were following the manufacturer instructions for cleaning even spent money to purchase special cleaner.

Well that's a bummer sorry it just didn't work out

 

[DLgal]

I regret buying cast iron skillets. I hate seasoning them, cleaning them, and anything I have made on them tastes funny or ends up cooking weirdly. They now stay in my cabinet and I should really just get rid of them.

Now I love my air fryer. It’s a fantastic alternative to using my oven in the Florida summer. I use it almost every day

I agree with cast iron. I don't understand all the hype. Mine get DIRTY with burned stuff caked on and no, I can't just "wipe it clean." I have always properly seasoned the pans, but in the end, they end up rusty and I just chuck them. The idea that some people keep these pans forever and never actually wash them is lost on me. How do they avoid the caked on grime? Do they never season their food? Because it's the spices that always end up burned on the bottom of my pans.

 

[DLgal]

I'd say my regrets are also cast iron anything. I've bought and tossed so many different cast iron things (skillets, pizza stones, griddle pans). They never make my food taste good, and frankly take forever to heat up amd actually be ready to cook stuff in. I prefer just using my gas grill year round, which is possible where I live. much better tasting food and less clean up!

I also have a large food processor that only gets used a couple times a year, but I store it in a cabinet, so I don't mind.

I've never owned a crock pot, insta pot, or anything similar. I am not a fan of the kinds of foods that come out of those things. I have an enameled cast iron Dutch oven and use that for things like stews or braised meat dishes. Anything else is easy to make on the stove.

 

[Eeyore daily]

I agree with cast iron. I don't understand all the hype. Mine get DIRTY with burned stuff caked on and no, I can't just "wipe it clean." I have always properly seasoned the pans, but in the end, they end up rusty and I just chick them. The idea that some people keep these pans forever and never actually wash them is lost on me. How do they avoid the caked on grime? Do they never season their food? Because it's the spices that always end up burned on the bottom of my pans.

Yes! I don’t understand that either. It seems so gross to me when I think of that.

 

[Mackenzie Click-Mickelson]

I've never owned a crock pot, insta pot, or anything similar. I am not a fan of the kinds of foods that come out of those things. I have an enameled cast iron Dutch oven and use that for things like stews or braised meat dishes. Anything else is easy to make on the stove.

We find our crock pot to come in handy more in the fall and wintertime with a lot of those foods being heartier. While I haven't tried it dump cakes also appeal to me. That said some people cook things in crock pots that don't always turn out right. Just last night in-laws made some chicken wings in the crock pot. They were a soggy mess. It's not that the crock pot was necessarily the issue but that they felt maybe if they had baked the wings a bit first it may not have been as bad. I'd probably not do chicken wings period in a crock pot but that's just me I'm sure other people have had great success with it.

For us I wouldn't want a gas stove running for several hours, a crock pot allows less supervision (though still comes with its own electrical risks). Being able to set something in the morning and it be done for dinner is great. We love this chili recipe that taste-wise is hands down amazing in a crock pot but just so-so on the stove.

 

[DLgal]

We find our crock pot to come in handy more in the fall and wintertime with a lot of those foods being heartier. While I haven't tried it dump cakes also appeal to me. That said some people cook things in crock pots that don't always turn out right. Just last night in-laws made some chicken wings in the crock pot. They were a soggy mess. It's not that the crock pot was necessarily the issue but that they felt maybe if they had baked the wings a bit first it may not have been as bad. I'd probably not do chicken wings period in a crock pot but that's just me I'm sure other people have had great success with it.

For us I wouldn't want a gas stove running for several hours, a crock pot allows less supervision (though still comes with its own electrical risks). Being able to set something in the morning and it be done for dinner is great. We love this chili recipe that taste-wise is hands down amazing in a crock pot but just so-so on the stove.

I get that. Chili is one of those "never" foods for me. My mom made it SO often growing up and I just never liked it even then. I have literally never made it as an adult. I only have maybe 2 or 3 recipes that require a long cooking time and they are all "cold weather" dishes, but I don't work outside the home so can tend to stuff on the stove when needed.

 

[FigmentSpark]

I use my KitchenAid for mashed potatoes. Weekly. I do love my immersion blender for soups.

What attachment do you use for mashed potatoes?

 

[Lumpy1106]

What attachment do you use for mashed potatoes?

Speaking of - that's another FANTASTIC use of the Instapot! They cook so much faster and come out perfect.

 

[barkley]

you've all inspired me-i'm going to go through my appliance closet and purge today. some items i will store for when dd has a larger kitchen b/c she loves to cook but is limited on space but the rest are out of here.

I DID IT!!!!! made 3 piles-toss, store for either dd/ds to go through before i toss, store just in case i need it but if it's not used w/in the next year it gets tossed. ended up ridding myself of 5 appliances w/assorted attachments, 3 banker boxes of various kitchen tools and food transport containers, and 8 dinner plates that are no longer safe to use in the microwave. i can actually easily get to the appliances in the areas they are kept

If your Keurig is getting clogged every week and certainly twice something is wrong there.

The hardness of your water can be a factor in mineral build up (we don't have hard hard water but enough that build up can occur). De-scaling should be done and the needled carefully (as it's sharp) cleaned out every so often so the grounds can be cleaned out. I can only assume the black chunks you were talking about was ground coffee.

Obviously y'all got rid of the Keurig I just hope there was some looking into to see what the issue actually was. I've had mine since 2011 with minor issues here and there but nothing like yours.

As far as expenses you can buy a reusable filter and purchase ground coffee and use that.

there is a spectacular product called 'brew rite' that works wonders on any kind of hard water build up. we have well water which can be terrible on our appliances. we treat our coffee maker with it and the results are fantastic. the stuff is also incredible for getting hard water stains off glass shower doors.

Vitamix. I used it at first for smoothies, but fruit is expensive to just mash it up and drink it. And we don't always have ice, so that's a problem. I do use the dry container to make break crumbs, though. I wonder if a cheaper mixer would do both jobs just as well?

[/QUOTE]

the thing is-with the money you've already invested into a vitamix makes it hard to let go of AND-they provide the best parts support ever. if something goes out, even if they don't make that model anymore, they will have parts for it. i've got my mil's-over 40 years old and i can still get parts and seals for it (the old school one-metal container that you can make hot soup or grind peanuts into peanut butter in).

 

[Mackenzie Click-Mickelson]

there is a spectacular product called 'brew rite' that works wonders on any kind of hard water build up. we have well water which can be terrible on our appliances. we treat our coffee maker with it and the results are fantastic. the stuff is also incredible for getting hard water stains off glass shower doors.

Ooohh thanks for mentioning that. I'll go take a look at it!

 

[3boymthr]

They have a great return policy, I’m on my second in many years, did have an issue that couldn‘t be resolved once so they just sent us a new one.

Oh...when it went out the window it smashed into a hundred pieces so I don’t think they’d warranty replace it.

For twenty bucks we bought a cheap old fashioned coffee maker. He’s been very happy with it.

for anyone who has too much kitchen clutter. I got rid of ten boxes of “stuff“, the you got to have it kitchen gadgets, extra pans, mismatched dishes and cups, toddler dishes my kids have long outgrown, extra spatulas, etc. extra salt and pepper shakers, the 50 different “crystal” wine glasses I got as wedding presents. All the stuff that I didn’t use. It was amazing. I actually have room in my cabinets and drawers for the stuff I do use, even the stuff that’s used just once a year.

 

[ronandannette]

DH was into juicing things for a while, that phase ended, and now I have a Juicer and a Ninja Bullet that just take up space on my shelf. I also agree with the Air Fryer. It's not that I don't like the appliance, it just is a pain to clean, and you can only fry things in small batches. It's really just a form of a convection oven, so I've gone to "frying" things in my oven on the convection setting using a baking sheet. Holds a lot more and much easier clean-up.

Thank you for this very smart comment - I don't know why I've never thought of it. I've got no use for an air-fryer but I do have a high-end oven and the convection feature is very under-utilized. I roast potatoes pretty often - I'm going to use convection next time and see how it does!

It took me a while to figure out that when you season a wok, they mean to use a tiny, tiny, TINY amount of oil. Like a drop or too, spread it on, then use a paper towel and wipe off as much as you can. Doing that multiple times and heating it got me a good season. When I tried to do it with a thicker coating of oil, it would season, but the seasoning flaked off. But I do think you need gas for a wok, and frankly, you need higher BTU than a typical home kitchen. I love my wok and use it almost every day, but I can't get it as hot as I'd like to. We are going to improve my setup someday, either by putting in a commercial stove with a wok burner or setting up an outside propane wok burner.

Agree. I paid a pretty penny for a heavy, flat-bottomed wok to use on my glass-top electric stove and it's impossible to get it hot enough to actually flash-fry anything. It's only use to me now is as an extra-extra large sauce pan.

I thought of another one. Those Pampered Chef food choppers. The kind where you put the food on a chopping board of some kind and then you put the food chopper over the top of the food and then you pound on this lever, which is supposed to chop, dice, and mince it all up into little bitty pieces.

I was given one once as a gift. It was the biggest pain in the neck. I was told, "Oh! This makes chopping onions so easy!" Nope. It couldn't even chop through a tomato, let alone pieces of onion. It was a pain in the neck to clean, too. I threw it out.

I've got one of the original "Slap Chop" gadgets sold on TV by that Vince guy. I use it tons and it works just like advertised. Maybe you're just not whacking yours briskly enough? (Wow, that sounds weird - sorry. )

I agree with cast iron. I don't understand all the hype. Mine get DIRTY with burned stuff caked on and no, I can't just "wipe it clean." I have always properly seasoned the pans, but in the end, they end up rusty and I just chuck them. The idea that some people keep these pans forever and never actually wash them is lost on me. How do they avoid the caked on grime? Do they never season their food? Because it's the spices that always end up burned on the bottom of my pans.

A really great way to clean cast iron is to scrub it with a good amount of salt and a damp sponge/cloth. If the pan is really seasoned properly it will also stand up to a reasonable amount of washing/scrubbing with soap and water but you will then oil it again afterwards and never soak or put one in the dishwasher.

 

[VandVsmama]

I've got one of the original "Slap Chop" gadgets sold on TV by that Vince guy. I use it tons and it works just like advertised. Maybe you're just not whacking yours hard enough?

Nope. I pounded that thing like I was Mike Tyson. It was a piece of poo. Lousy product. No way would I spend good money on that waste of plastic and metal ever again!

 

[ronandannette]

Nope. I pounded that thing like I was Mike Tyson. It was a piece of poo. Lousy product. No way would I spend good money on that waste of plastic and metal ever again!

FWIW, I may be the only person on earth that has never liked anything that comes from Pampered Chef. It's always a let-down. At least my Slap Chop only cost $14.95 for two and came with free shipping! It's pretty old now; I don't think infomercials are even a thing any more.

 

[tallygirl]

I love my 25 year old Kitchenaid mixer, use it often. Just replaced our old toaster oven with a toaster oven/convection/air fryer one, like it so far. DH drinks one cup of coffee a day (I don’t drink it) so I bought him a Kuerig about ten years ago, has held up well. Have a Cuisinart food processor that’s rarely used. Bought an Instapot on a great sale two years ago, hasn’t been out of the box. Use our waffle iron frequently.
One thing that’s only used during the winter is the hot cocoa maker. But it’s so easy to use, makes great cocoa, the real stuff with milk. Always the right temperature, never scorches like on the stove.

I forgot about my crockpot. I have one with three crocks, I guess you’d say. One is deep for large amounts, one is shallower for smaller recipes (perfect for the two of us) and the third one is divided so you can cook two things at once.

 

[disykat]

My chopper from pampered chef works great. The thing that is supposed to crumble ground meat while it cooks that people seem to swear by doesn't work at all!

 

[tcufrog]

We've had a George Foreman with removable griddle plates that can go in the dishwasher for more than a decade. While we don't use it as much as we used to, we still use it for quesadillas and paninis. Back before we had a grill, a waffle maker, and a kitchen with a built-in griddle, we'd use the grill plates for grilled chicken and burgers, the waffle plates for waffles, and the griddle plates for breakfast. We still get it out if we're hosting a large brunch to use as an extra waffle maker. When you have the removable plates then cleanup is easy.

I never had luck with my slow cooker though because everything came out mushy. Somehow, I even turned chicken breasts green. I ended up giving it away and now I use my Lodge dutch oven. I love using it and everything turns out great. I even purchased a larger Martha Stewart one on sale because I sometimes need a larger one when I make pot roast. I like to use the leftover roast to make stew or shepherds pie.

 

[barkley]

FWIW, I may be the only person on earth that has never liked anything that comes from Pampered Chef. It's always a let-down. At least my Slap Chop only cost $14.95 for two and came with free shipping! It's pretty old now; I don't think infomercials are even a thing any more.

the best way to buy pampered chef is.............at goodwill. every one i go to has TONS of brand new items that i am convinced were gifted as shower and wedding gifts. you can get them for a fraction of the cost. as far as buying them myself-got my first ever 'stone', a pizza stone which i love to death. i also got the (older style) 'cut and seal'. it works really well for making mini pies and such. BEST hands down purchase though-their cookbook b/c it has all the goodies the reps prepare for the parties to sell the products (brownie pizza and our fav-taco ring).

 

[Bianca and Bernard]

Thank you for this very smart comment - I don't know why I've never thought of it. I've got no use for an air-fryer but I do have a high-end oven and the convection feature is very under-utilized. I roast potatoes pretty often - I'm going to use convection next time and see how it does!


A really great way to clean cast iron is to scrub it with a good amount of salt and a damp sponge/cloth. If the pan is really seasoned properly it will also stand up to a reasonable amount of washing/scrubbing with soap and water but you will then oil it again afterwards and never soak or put one in the dishwasher.

I rub baby potatoes with olive oil, salt and pepper; toss 'em in a pan and throw them in the convection toaster oven. They get super crispy on the outside, soft on the inside.


That's how we clean our cast iron. A little bit of elbow grease, some salt and a clean sponge. I like to use them, to sear off steaks and to cook burgers in. I also use the big one to fry fish and fritters in. I've also braised short ribs and made roasts in them, and they've came out perfect every time.