What are your favorite, most practical cooking appliances?

Fraulein

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If I were to tell you, then that would be cheating
I just bought a mixer and a small George Foreman grill... well... actually... my mom bought them for me. :tongue

I used the George Foreman grill today to make a cheese quesadilla appetizer and a grilled burrito. They were good. :D

So what are your favorite cooking appliances and why?
 

RLB

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My food processor. It does quite a bit of prep work for me. Last night I used it to make basil pesto. Yum.
 

Ol' Fashioned Girl

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Gotta say my Kitchenaid stand mixer. I refused to pay $400 for a new one, so Ol' Boy tracked down a refurbished one on their website for $200. That was ten years ago and it's still goin' strong. I went out and bought some attachments: ice cream maker, pasta maker, meat grinder. Priceless!
 

Shadow_Ferret

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I like our George Foreman, although I think it needs to be a tad larger. Depending on the size of hamburger patties you can only make three at a time, which means someone in our family (me) has to eat last.

it's great for grilled cheese, even if it puts little dented rows in the bread.

I like our crockpot, too. It's great for rib-sticking winter meals.
 

JLCwrites

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Toaster Oven - Its like having a mini oven that doesn't heat up the kitchen. I use it more than a microwave. (It makes perfect toast too)
Blender - Makes great smoothies, mixed drinks, and I use it to make pestos and such.
Electric Griddle - Makes the best pancakes!
 
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Alvah

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A can opener.

:)
 

CACTUSWENDY

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My local fast food joint.

Sad, huh?
 

brianm

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Cuisinart Everyday 12 inch domed non-stick pan – The best pan I have ever owned and I do use it just about every day. I love this pan so much I bought a second one.

Rice cooker – The only time I don’t use the rice cooker is when I’m making a pilaf of some sort.

Ronco Rotisserie oven – Love this little oven and I use it at least once a week.
 

Unique

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Stainless steel pans and a bamboo spatula.
 

L M Ashton

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A stick blender is a blender on a stick. Also called a hand held blender or an immersion blender. Braun was the first company - that I'm aware of - that came out with them about 25 years ago or thereabouts.


My stick blender's at the top of my list, as is my rice cooker. Wish I had a toaster oven - really really wished it. Oh, my whir whir - the blender/grater/mincer thingie.
 

Claudia Gray

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I use both my dutch oven and my crockpot a lot. The crockpot is not the most nutritious way to cook veggies, but it is great for pot roasts, stews and chili The dutch oven is the only way to do soups, IMHO. Both are good for spaghetti sauce.
 

Pomegranate

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I use my toaster, rice cooker, bread machine (although I only use the dough cycle), and blender/foodprocessor the most.

When the bread machine croaks I'm replacing it with a stand mixer.
 

Disa

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A stick blender is a blender on a stick. Also called a hand held blender or an immersion blender. Braun was the first company - that I'm aware of - that came out with them about 25 years ago or thereabouts.

Oh yeah, thanks for the info- I think I saw that on TV once. Can't imagine what I'd do with it but you know, I stay pretty far away from the kitchen.

Oh not an appliance but my Pizza cutter is the most used gadget. Mostly I use it to cut quesadillas.
 

stormie

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I have a blender and a bread machine I use a lot. But the one favorite, most practical cooking appliance that I have found I can't do without:
~~~~Microwave~~~~
Over the years I've had some die untimely deaths. Thought--Hey, I can do without it! No problem. Uh-uh. Within three days I was at Sears, carrying out a new Microwave.

It saves a lot of time with the prep work on many dishes. Cook the potatoes for a potato salad. Melt chocolate for cake icing. Melt butter. Cook onions, peppers, and garlic in olive oil....
 
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