July 13, 2023
"The graveyard of kitchen fads is wide and deep, littered with the domestic equivalent of white dwarf stars that blazed with astonishing luminosity for a moment..."
"... and then deteriorated into space junk. The allure of invention in the category is understandable, since preparing meals is a Sisyphean task and anything that promises to make it faster, or easier, or better, or healthier, or more fun, is irresistible—and often, for a while, anyway, profitable for the manufacturer. Some cooking 'tools' are so specific and inessential that they are hardly missed: cue the microwave s’mores maker, the pancake pen, the carrot sharpener, the hot-dog slicer, and the butter cutter. Many of these haven’t vanished completely; they have just transitioned from ubiquitous (or at least a fixture on Christmas-gift lists) to rarities, from being items you feel that you must have and will use to dust catchers that will end up front and center in your next Goodwill donation.
Other kitchen devices, such as the fondue pot, are so culturally and stylistically time-stamped that they become shorthand for an entire era and method of entertaining, long after anyone makes regular use of them...."
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70 comments:
Instapot is a great idea. I think whatshername has been through two already. But she likes collecting kitchen gadgets.
Carrot sharpener?
From Kitchen to Kitschy
Nothing beats a cast iron frying pan
I spent a month in a hotel recently for a fellowship that didn't cover most dinners. Brought a small instapot and it was a huge win for both food and budget.
Unitaskers are the bane of all kitchens everywhere. Alton Brown was right.
Nobody imagine that Sisyphus might like the work. He does it at a run, or one-handed, or while whistling.
Paging Alton Brown, please call the office.
"Nobody imagine that Sisyphus might like the work. He does it at a run, or one-handed, or while whistling."
Great metaphor. The right attitude can make the effort of rolling a large boulder like rolling a small boulder. But the boulder must roll, eternally. Happy or pissed, you're rolling that fucker forever. Staying mad about it profits a man nothing.
I just purchased an air-fryer. The thing is really a mini speed oven.
I love it. but it does take up a lot of room on the counter.
Mini ovens that heat up quickly should be the norm. Hurry.
"Nobody imagine that Sisyphus might like the work."
Now do Prometheus.
I used to ask people what wedding present ends up in the top shelf in the kitchen, never used. Fondue sets are a fairly safe bet, but at least one person said "we love fondue." Angel cake pans? Bundt pans? George Foreman grills? Different things that can make toast? A wok, if you're not quite as globalist as you'd like to think?
The Ninja Foodie is very useful for the counter space it occupies. Does pressure cooker for chuck roasts and whole chickens. and broiler for lamb chops and pork chops plus an air fryer and slow cooker. The rest of the article’s named items are counter junk, including the electric can opener.
Cooking is the heart of all Civilizations. Preparing food together and then eating it together is what makes humans life a pleasure. That and female companions.
Cheese Huggers are vital, if you buy brick cheese. Just snap one on the end.
Patrick said...
Nothing beats a cast iron frying pan
and a Dutch oven
From the articles last sentence. “I think we’ve reached peak Air Fryer.”
Air fryers ROCK and are inexpensive. Boil some brats in beer, throw them in the air fryer to finish, and they come out like you pulled them off the grill; mid-winter. Chicken turns out fantastic.
For reheating food the are also great. Stuff doesn't come out soggy like pulling leftovers out of the microwave.
Of course fries, and other breaded items from freezer sections. Air fryers are here to stay.
RideSpaceMountain said...Unitaskers are the bane of all kitchens everywhere
If it doesn't do a bunch of things, then it's not worth the space it takes up. The Instapot doesn't interest me, but my wife loves it and uses it several times a week. On the other hand, the tortilla press was not my wisest purchase.
Guilty.
After you taste the carnitas that come out of the Instant Pot and my oven, you'll pardon me. Pressure cookers are a gift, and the timer is too. A cheap pork shoulder becomes food for the gods. And the butter chicken. M-m-m...
It's really good to be able to eat. Never take it for granted.
As the writers name seemed familiar I used the wayback machine to confirm I've read her. Specifically a really good book about the "Life & Legend of Rin Tin Tin". I see, among the many books she's written, one which would likely trigger our hostess:"My kind of Place: Travel Stories from a Woman Who's Been Everywhere".
Instant Pot - cold dead hands. Just sayin'.
A couple of years ago I was at an estate sale and found a Veg-O-Matic in a nice clean original box and thought "I'm going to buy that and use it!" I think my family had one when we were kids, but it didn't get used much.
Brought it home and found the seals hadn't even been broken so it was Brand New In The Box. I haven't had the heart to actually use it.
You can have my butter cutter when you pry it from my cold, dead fingers.
Tell me you are an elitist snob without telling me you are an elitist snob: "Many people will tell you that they only use their microwaves to reheat coffee and to soften ice cream—hardly essential culinary activities—and yet more than ninety per cent of American kitchens have one."
In all seriousness, it's an otherwise interesting article. But that its in the New Yorker and contains the line above is the almost a parody of elitism. I do think the Instant Pot is possibly too well made (so you never need to upgrade). We use ours pretty regularly and the only reason we bought a second one I think was because I really wanted the R2D2 themed one (and I don't apologize for that). And I also use my Sous Vide cooker regularly as well (paired with my Big Green Egg). Ditto the air fryer. Those are essentials in our home. And yep, we use the microwave for reasons other than just warming coffee and softening ice cream (!).
The Instantpot is great for about a quarter of the things they advertise it for. I have a dozen great recipes that use it. It's not a "do-everything" device, and I can understand how folks wouldn't like it as a rice cooker or saute station.
Soups, stews, savory meat dishes do quite well, and very quickly.
Anyone who's read Camus on Sisyphus will understand that a meal that was made "faster, or easier, or better, or healthier, or more fun," becomes that moment when Sisyphus pauses at the top of the mountain to relish his personal and private victory over his fate.... :-)
Patrick said...
Nothing beats a cast iron frying pan
Only cooking gear you'll ever need!
Wanda Jackson says they're handy for training your husband too! My Big Iron Skillet
I agree with Patrick that nothing beats a cast iron frying pan. Ours is 40 years old by now. Use it several times every week.
We have plenty of kitchen gadgets that we stopped using, such as a food dehydrator. We still have mason jars, but haven't canned anything in a decade or more.
But the Instapot is not in that category. We bought it when our old Crock Pot failed so as to have a slow cooker, but we kept it for the automatic pressure cooking for making broths and soups. This one is not a fad.
"On the other hand, the tortilla press was not my wisest purchase."
We've all been there. Words cannot express my disappointment in myself for purchasing a Slap-Chop. It was late. I was drunk. There wasn't anything else on the TV and the ShamWow guy was super convincing. "YOU CAN HAVE THIS IN MERE HOURS WITH OUR SUPER-EXPRESS SHIPPING!" he said. I had to have one. Morning comes around and there it was...in the bed next to me. My mind racing, "What was I thinking? Did my friends see?"
We all fall off the wagon from time to time. It's a Sisyphean struggle, but we take it day by day. Pat yourself on the back for coming clean. That took guts.
Cast iron frying pan sucks in the microwave
My parents gave me a small aluminum slow cooker (in 1970's orange) in the late 70's and my wife had a large Crock Pot (in avocado green) when we married in 1982. We still use both of them after all these years.
We've never owned a microwave oven though.
Fondue set! Elegance! Those long forks with the two useless prongs. The little cooker. It conjures up an entire way of life, one where you sit around in your après-ski outfit on the polar bear rug in front of the blazing fireplace. Pure bliss.
Preparing a meal is not a Sisyphean task. If you think it is then you are doing it incorrectly.
My favorite useless kitchen gadget of all time dates from the 1960s. Did you know that you could have a battery powered device that actually scrambled an egg inside the shell?
You stuck a thin curved metal probe through the end of an egg shell, pushed the switch and the wire probe would scramble the egg. Of course when all that was done, you still had to crack the egg open and put the raw scrambled egg in the pan. And who the heck eats just one egg at breakfast? So you had to "scramble" another egg.
Wasn't that long before the "egg scrambler" became a prized item at useless white elephant exchange parties.
"Writes Susan Orlean in"
...one of the worst examples of writing ever witnessed. Seriously. WTF was that?
"Many people will tell you that they only use their microwaves to reheat coffee"
I MAKE coffee in the microwave -- Turkish -- and you will never find a better cup of coffee anywhere on Earth. Ever. And it only takes two minutes.
- In a 20 ounce, microwave safe ceramic mug, place 22 grams of Turkish-ground, Guatemalan Antigua coffee
- Add 1 level teaspoon of turbinado sugar
- Add one green cardamon pod
- Add 12 ounces cold water
- Place in microwave, setting timer at 3:33; hit start, and watch VERY closely
- When coffee begins to climb to the top of the mug (about two minutes), stop the microwave
- Add about 4 ounces of water to cool to a drinkable temperature
- Add a splash of Half & Half if desired
Heaven.
"Just then the whole kitchen exploded
From boilin’ fat
Food was flying everywhere"
Live off a Nemco steamer.
Instapot: don't use because it's just the two of us now and eating low-carb results in a very simple meal plan consisting of mass-produced protein (this week it's twelve pork chops grilled over the weekend and used throughout the week) plus a large amount of veg with dinner.
Air Fryer: used frequently, mainly for roasting veg quickly and easily. Last night it roasted broccoli, the night before it was roasted green beans.
Crockpot: used frequently. Last week made a big batch of Crack Chicken. Next week I'll probably get flank steak and make Ropa Viejo.
We got couple of Insta-pots on sale, gave one to the kids. I think it's been used twice. In our kitchen, cast iron is the rightful king. Skillets or all sizes, griddles, Dutch ovens (enameled and bare). I have a very nice English stainless pressure-cooker, the kind with the oval-inset lid instead of a locking breach. But it doesn't see much use these days, even as superb as it is.
"preparing meals is a Sisyphean task"
Only if Sisyphus pushed a different stone each time.
My cook-all is a 10" steel copper-bottomed pan. Exactly the width of my plates, it easily doubles as steamer/warmer.
Cook it fast, cook it slow, cook it wet or cook it dry.
All variations on a theme. Anything else is just a better mousetrap.
My air fryer is used only for halibut cutlets slathered in Zartarain’s Cajun fish breading powder. Worth every kilowatt.
Made the mistake (in hindsight) of buying an instapot because I saw all these recipes at various cooking sites. Used it twice in a year. Yeah, I gave it away so someone else who thought they wanted one didn’t waste their money. Not saying the product is bad, just that it didn’t suit me.
I would use the air fryer more, but chicken fat can get up in the heating element, and it makes your kitchen smell like some last resort diner. The rice cooker, though, is a regular, steel cut oatmeal, or sushi rice, it is just too easy. Instapots are great for bachelor chow.
We (OK I) have a lot of "kitchen tools" (don't dare call them gadgets). The air fryer and Instapot get used almost daily as well as the iron-cookware. We have lots of different grills, smokers and a thing I won at a Wild Turkey Federation banquet that is a LP gas powered plancha, wok, flat-top and fish fryer. We have a 2 tortilla presses and an awesome comal I use in an outdoor wood fired oven/stove. An electric wok was a Christmas present, but it is hardly used. Speaking of Christmas, we cook diner food on a flat-top grill the week between Christmas and New Years or waffl-ize everything ((I always wanted to be a Waffle House cook). We have tons of presses, molds, pasta machines, grinders, stuffers, vacuum packers, slicers, dicers etc, etc, but, not a microwave. Sam the Cooking Guy on YouTube is great for learning new things to cook in the air fryer or Instapot.
We (OK I) have a lot of "kitchen tools" (don't dare call them gadgets). The air fryer and Instapot get used almost daily as well as the iron-cookware. We have lots of different grills, smokers and a thing I won at a Wild Turkey Federation banquet that is a LP gas powered plancha, wok, flat-top and fish fryer. We have a 2 tortilla presses and an awesome comal I use in an outdoor wood fired oven/stove. An electric wok was a Christmas present, but it is hardly used. Speaking of Christmas, we cook diner food on a flat-top grill the week between Christmas and New Years or waffl-ize everything ((I always wanted to be a Waffle House cook). We have tons of presses, molds, pasta machines, grinders, stuffers, vacuum packers, slicers, dicers etc, etc, but, not a microwave. Sam the Cooking Guy on YouTube is great for learning new things to cook in the air fryer or Instapot.
Don't use my instapot every day, but it is in use regularly. Thanksgiving time I use it to make the rutabaga, then the potatoes. Doesn't make all that much total time difference for the taters. It does for the rutabaga- that's one tough root.
The crockpot is in use several times a year. I never use it- my wife does.
Now here's the funny thing. You can use the instapot as a crockpot. My wife makes a ground beef concoction Tavern Burger, similar to Sloppy Joes. My son prefers it in the crockpot- which leaves crusty edges. I think of that as burnt- and prefer it in the instapot where they don't develop...
The microwave? The only food I actually cook in it is meatloaf, and that's 2-3 times a year. Otherwise- it heats things up. Veggies, frozen or canned. Things we but from a store that have microwave heating instructions.
We've had an undercounter space saver toaster oven for years. It's relatively small, useful for a lot of things. I actually never used it for toast until my kids started using it for toast. Our toaster now sits forlornly on the counter, unused. Sheer inertia keeps it there. I cannot recall the last time it was actually used. I bought a larger Cuisinart air fryer/toaster oven. Tried the air fryer part- nope, not for us. I have a deep fat fryer and a local Mennonite butcher from whom I get tallow. Anything fried goes in that. But- we now rarely use the full size oven.
Since the last of our 5 children moved out- the waffle maker and the griddle rarely get used. A few times a year we'll decide on breakfast for dinner and have pancakes or waffles with bacon or sausage. Grilled cheese sandwiches are now a thing of the past. Not that we don't like them, just that we decide on other things. But the griddle is great for cooking 6 at a time. Also great for 6 burgers at a time. Small pan on the cooktop now for two. The induction cooktop.
When we first married we had an air popper for popcorn. We used it all the time. That was the pre-microwave era. They're still sold, but I wonder who buys and uses them... I threw mine out a few years back. We had it put away- and when I looked at the dust on it all I thought was- this is going to catch on fire if I try to use it.
But yes, there is a certain faddishness to single use cooking items, and has been my entire life. We're a rich society- we can afford faddish things that we'll eventually just throw away. Someone mentioned cast iron- I gave my pans to my daughter who uses them. We never did. My wife insisted on using soap and water to clean them... and that's all I'll say to that.
We have cast iron of all kinds. It's great for many things but the big skillets are no friends of 'glass' cooktops (we have induction - love it).
Daughter has an instapot. Tried making a chicken/pasta meal in it when I came for the birth of a new grandchild.
Unmitigated disaster.
I’d love to know where people get their recipes for the thing.
Nothing beats a cast iron frying pan
Pro tip - you can fill a cast iron frying pan with oil and put it in the grill to deep fry fish (beer battered is best) without making a mess of your stove.
Cowboy Kent Rollins does miracles with his cast iron. I like my Sous Vide for chicken, crock pot for pulled pork, smoker for jerky and air fryer for wife's onion rings and tater tots. Life is good (and crunchy)!
My daughter got married last year and one of the items on their registry was a waffle warmer. They got it. I hope it was cheap.
When I got married, my wife was anxious to get a rice cooker. I think we used it once or twice over the years.
My advice- if you're jonesing for a small appliance, don't buy a new one. Go to Goodwill and buy one that was probably never used.
Bread making machines are nice. Crockery slow cookers do well.
Jane Galt / Megan McArdle wrote nice things about a gadget called the "ThermoMix" over a decade ago and I don't think she's retracted her remarks. https://www.theatlantic.com/health/archive/2011/12/in-defense-of-kitchen-gadgets/249624/
It's great. But it is not necessary for anyone who already knows how to cook.
My most-used gadget is a little plastic-dome-over-hot-plate thing that makes hard boiled eggs via steam.
The Drill SGT said...
Patrick said...
Nothing beats a cast iron frying pan
and a Dutch oven
My mom's frying pans have a hook thing, so that you can Either
Use both (the ~3inch tall one, and the ~4 inch tall one) as individual pans..
Or hook them both together, to make a dutch oven.
It's the coolest thing(s) ever
I'm having to get by, with my grandmother's dutch oven, and the iron skillet that my mom got me when i left for Iowa State (1982). BUT, SOMEDAY, my mom is Going to Die.. And the DAY that happens; i'm SWOOPING IN, and Taking hers before my sister Even knows she's dead..
So, i've Got THAT to look forward to
rhhardin said...
Cast iron frying pan sucks in the microwave
Many people Think that they suck in the microwaves..
This is NOT TRUE, they just reflect them back at the klystron tube (or, whatever emitter they use now)
Come On, rh! you're a radio man.. you Know better :)
"Sisyphean task?"
I disagree with the premise.
White dwarf stars don't blaze with astonishing luminosity for a moment, they last for billions of years and will eventually, uneventfully fade. Orlean is probably thinking of a nova.
I still like my Instant Pot. A lot more than that prose, in fact.
Back in the old days, young women were taught to sharpen a carrot by hand.
When I'm too lazy to cook burgers/ steaks on the grill, Mrs. Dink uses the George Foreman. Uses it more often in the winter. Blender is used for smoothies several times/ week. That's all the countertop mini-appliances that get any use. Bread is out, so the toaster is long gone. The microwave, which hangs from a top cabinet, is used for leftovers.
As I recall the Veg-a-Matic was about $7.++ new.
Microwave. Crockpot. Foreman Grill. Air Fryer. Electric Frypan. Mini one egg frypan. Generic pots and pans.
All get well-used.
"Cowboy Kent Rollins does miracles with his cast iron."
Best youtube chef Hands down. His dogs are awesome, he supports veterans, and is a real down to earth guy in person. And he even dances!
I forgot the hot air popcorn popper. That works much better than microwave without all the burning of the popcorn.
For the melted butter place the butter into a coffee cup and cover with a saucer. Microwave. When the lid rattles it is done.
PS. The Foreman Grill is great for bacon. All the spatter is contained, the grease drains off, and it comes out crispy.
I was an early adopter of the Instant Pot and still love and use it often. But not as often as my sous vide.
What I see a lot of, though, is people who buy one because it's the thing to have even though they've never used a pressure cooker before and they assume "instant" is literal.
The banana slicer?
If you have not checked out the Hutzler banana slicer on amazon, you're missing out...on the comments. There are over 7000 comments...some a pretty funny,
paminwi said: I’d love to know where people get their recipes for the thing.
For sure I wouldn't recommend pressure cooking pasta to a first-time Instant Pot user (or at all, actually). I usually point beginners to Hip Pressure Cooking School.
tim maguire said: I can understand how folks wouldn't like it as a rice cooker or saute station.
It's the only way I make rice anymore. Rinse rice, put in pot with 1:1 rice:liquid, a teeny bit of butter, high pressure for 3 minutes, natural release for 10 minutes.
But how many of you have used an electric weiner cooker? Imagine a rectangular box with opposing electrodes. Just plug the ends of that doggy into the electrodes and turn on the juice. They writhed a bit at first, but soon went slack, then started to smoke at the ears. By then the dogs adopted a grayish hue and tasted of aluminum.
There used to be a thing called Presto Hot Dog cooker. It had prongs that went into each end of the dog, then you plugged it into a power outlet and it basically electrocuted them.
I never knew anyone to admit owning it though.
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