(no subject)
Apr. 8th, 2004 12:18 am![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png)
shopping for kitchen electrics, and i have to ask...
why would one need:
a) a hand blender
b) a mini pre-prep chopper/grinder dealy (besides the fact that it is ikkle and wee!)
c) a food processor
d) a blender
don't these all do pretty much the same thing at some point? or am i just not getting it?
i have a blender. it's mainly used for margaritas. i just bought a hand blender that came with a nifty whisk attachment. i figured i could use that for mashed potatoes and cake mixes. i think if i get the chopper thingy, i will be set, yes?
i was forced to soothe my ego by picking up a new pair of trousers. they are green. i don't have to know if they chop or puree.
why would one need:
a) a hand blender
b) a mini pre-prep chopper/grinder dealy (besides the fact that it is ikkle and wee!)
c) a food processor
d) a blender
don't these all do pretty much the same thing at some point? or am i just not getting it?
i have a blender. it's mainly used for margaritas. i just bought a hand blender that came with a nifty whisk attachment. i figured i could use that for mashed potatoes and cake mixes. i think if i get the chopper thingy, i will be set, yes?
i was forced to soothe my ego by picking up a new pair of trousers. they are green. i don't have to know if they chop or puree.
no subject
Date: 2004-04-08 08:34 am (UTC)Now a coffee grinder? Espresso/cappuccino maker? Essential. :)
no subject
Date: 2004-04-08 10:19 am (UTC)c'mon, now. what kinda chump do i look like? ;)
have a) coffee grinder b) french press (2) c) cappucino maker and d) milk frother as well as various and sundry tea pots and cups.
i brought my extra french press to work so i can make GOOD coffee here. :)
caffeine is so awesome.
no subject
Date: 2004-04-09 02:11 pm (UTC)no subject
Date: 2004-04-09 02:14 pm (UTC)mmmmmmmmmmmmm.
no subject
Date: 2004-04-08 11:46 am (UTC)A cuisinart is good for chopping or grinding or shredding. Need oodles of cheese? That's where you go. Need lots of nuts chopped? Need to mash berries because you're making summer jam? This is your tool. Also, both the cuisinart and the stand mixer will last you a long time: our cuisinart was a wedding present, which means close to twelve years of excellent service. And these days, I think you can get Cuisinarts with minibowl attachment thingies, so you wouldn't need to get a seperate little choppy gizmo. We have a hand-little-choppy-gizmo, and we never use it. Kind of crappy and hard to clean, and it's just as easy to use a knife. Anyway, my rec is that, if you cook a lot, a Cuisinart is a must-have.
Now, a blender? I use a blender really only to make smoothies. Chopping ice, etc. But mostly, smoothies. Which are yummy and good, but it's only a single-use gig.
Hand blenders are good for blending something while it's still on the stove. Wait, though, do you have the old-fashioned kind, with beaters? Or a stick blender? Because the stick blender is great for the stove -- pureeing soups and sauces right in the pan, etc. Very cool. Also occasionally come with mini-chop bowl, if that is your wont.
no subject
Date: 2004-04-08 03:59 pm (UTC)the stand mixer, i don't think i need... really, that is more mixing than i think i will ever do on my own. and even with cookies.. i like to do that myself. :) (i promise i will not get the bread machine!!) if i ever get married (BWA!), I will add it to the registry. ;)
if i do get a food processor, it'd be a cuisinart. but i don't make big stuff, which is why i think the mini chopper thing will be good.. and the hand mixer (not the old kind with beaters!!) will be good for soups and potatoes. :)
no subject
Date: 2004-04-09 02:15 pm (UTC)We have two, because Mr. Sun thought we'd like to make both round and loaf shaped bread. I've used them once each. Such a waste.
no subject
Date: 2004-04-11 02:05 am (UTC)okay mr. sun has unseated me from the gadget throne. ;)
no subject
Date: 2004-04-11 11:19 pm (UTC)no subject
Date: 2004-04-13 04:33 pm (UTC)billie rae would make him take them to the garage. ;)
no subject
Date: 2004-04-08 10:18 am (UTC)Rich and Reina cook fancy meals all the time. They use the mini chopper (I assume you're talking about the kind that's like a tiny food processor) for things like small amounts of herbs. They make their own salad dressings fresh, for example, so for fresh herbs, a couple of cloves of garlic, and some oil and vinegar, it seems to work great.
A blender is more for the liquid-y stuff, like margaritas and smoothies, etc, although I've heard some people use it for more than that. A hand mixer does the same thing as a stand mixer, but a stand mixer is more powerful (for example, some really thick batters will apparently burn out a hand mixer's motor). Also, the stand mixer does all the work for you - no holding/turning the bowl, no weary arm while you hold up the hand mixer.
A food processor can chop hard things, like nuts, or slice/chop/grate/whatever carrots, even meat, supposedly. But then you can switch the blade out, and mix what you've just chopped with other ingredients.
Of course you can do that stuff with a knife and a whisk; it's just faster for preparation. Then you spend all your time cleaning kitchen gadgets afterwards... Anyway, I think of it like the hardcore Home Depot types. The right tool for the right job. :) Or like the type who has to have the new iPod - "I want the new toy!" ;P
no subject
Date: 2004-04-08 11:07 am (UTC)and yeah, you've basically confirmed kinda the way i was thinking about this. the mini chopper thingy looks like it can do nuts and stuff too.
i guess if i wanted perfectly sliced zucchini or julienned carrots, i'd want the bigger food processor, right? but...even meat? whoa. the neatest thing the desc tells me about a food processor is the kneading bread part. that sounds kinda cool. but not like $200 cool, you know? also, i could get a bread maker to do that, if that's what i was interested in....
and the big old stand mixer is just NO FUN. i mean, what's making cookies if you can roll up your sleeves and mix that stuff up, right? there will be NO LOVE IN COOKIES then. and my cookies are full of LOVE, yo.
The right tool for the right job.
YES! mini chopper thing being purchased at lunch. wooo.
no subject
Date: 2004-04-08 11:18 am (UTC)OH, so my mother never loved me?! ;)
Seriously, there's PLENTY of love in standing there with Mommy, watching the bowl spin round and round, carefully scraping batter away from the sides with a spatula, sprinkling in chocolate chips at just the right intervals. Spooning out just the right amount onto cookie sheets, so they'll be a little chewy and a little crispy, and not melt into each other. Lifting them off the pan onto cooling racks, then staring intently to guess when they're cool enough to eat. Daddy trying to sneak cookies away, which somehow always ends in some kind of attack by the Tickle Monster...
I am going to OD on nostalgia. And DAMN do I want homemade chocolate chip cookies right now.
no subject
Date: 2004-04-08 05:35 pm (UTC)am a tactile baking person, that's all. it's all billie rae's fault. don't feel like i'm really baking unless i have stuff all over my hands. :)
*hugs*
no subject
Date: 2004-04-08 11:09 am (UTC)no subject
Date: 2004-04-08 04:05 pm (UTC)no subject
Date: 2004-04-08 02:32 pm (UTC)no subject
Date: 2004-04-08 04:15 pm (UTC)i don't need a stand mixer... definitely no. mayhap a chopper. i want to buy it now only because if i buy a place, i won't be able to afford this sort of stuff anymore... so i want to get it while i have the $$.
hmm. have put off purchase of chopper for now. i just thought it would be nice for chopping small amounts of things, since it's just me. :)
no subject
Date: 2004-04-08 06:28 pm (UTC)Whee! This is what I love about this fandom! One minute I'm talking about H/D pr0n and the next I'm squeeing over knives! Life is good. :D
no subject
Date: 2004-04-09 12:13 am (UTC)have since seen them at bloomingdales and i saw a few (not a set) at linens and things. anyway, yes. they RULE.