Kitchen gear

I saw this on Aliette de Bodard’s blog and figured I had to join in.

Bold the ones you have and use at least once a year, italicize the ones you have and don’t use, strike through the ones you have had but got rid of.

I wonder how many pasta machines, breadmakers, juicers, blenders, deep fat fryers, egg boilers, melon ballers, sandwich makers, pastry brushes, cheese knives, electric woks, miniature salad spinners, griddle pans, jam funnels, meat thermometers, filleting knives, egg poachers, cake stands, garlic presses, margarita glasses, tea strainers, bamboo steamers, pizza stones, coffee grinders, milk frothers, piping bags, banana stands, fluted pastry wheels, tagine dishes, conical strainers, rice cookers, steam cookers, pressure cookers, slow cookers, spaetzle makers, cookie presses, gravy strainers, double boilers (bains marie), sukiyaki stoves, food processors, ice cream makers, takoyaki makers, and fondue sets languish dustily at the back of the nation’s cupboards.

I am the breadmaker. The pizza stone — that wasn’t a conscious “Oh, we never use this any more.” It broke during a move, and I’d love to replace it. I just haven’t gotten around to it. The conical strainer is a new thing, and it’s not even in the kitchen; it’s part of my husband’s homebrew apparatus. I noticed cheese wire wasn’t on the list, although it is something I’d like to get.

The sandwich maker is part of a combination device — panini press, grill, griddle. I’ve used it just this summer to make panini (which did not thrill my kids), but it’s usually the griddle I use for pancakes, which they love.

Cake stands — I don’t have a stand per se, but I think I have those plastic things with fluting around the edges for making tiered cakes. I’d have to check. Clearly, not something I usually use — I put cakes on dinner plates, generally. (The most recent one, a crème brûlée cake, vanished quickly.)

What gadgets do you use around the kitchen?