I’m a certified gadget freak.
In the immortal words of Sheldon Cooper, “My mother had me tested.”
Looking over at my counter right now, I can see an air fryer, coffee maker, sous vide, a full set of pots & pans, microwave, deep fryer, standing mixer, Dutch oven, blender, toaster, knife set, vacuum sealer, dehydrator, Instant Pot, two crock pots, and three different fondue sets. Part of the reason everything is out is because I’m slowly working on a kitchen makeover. The cabinets are being emptied, cleaned, and rearranged. Of course this project has been taking a while and Hectic Mom is getting fed up with the mess. I can’t blame her, it’s bad right now. I need to hurry up and get this done.
But despite her unwillingness to realize it, all those gadgets play a vital role in my ability to get meals on the table in our Hectic Life.
Could I do it with fewer gadgets, absolutely! If I was starting out today I’d be hard pressed to decide if an Instant Pot or Multi-Cooker was the one device I would need. Both provide a smorgasbord of functions that cover many cooking tasks. In fact, add knives, pots, and pans…there’s not much I couldn’t make.
But I’m not at that stage of life right now. Currently I’m rushing to get dinner on the table just before we scramble out the door for the hour drive to Wichita three nights a week. Next week we up that to four. Depending on the schedule for the day, dinner has to be ready quickly and wolfed down before we leave, or it has to cook while I’m not here and be ready when I get back home.
It’s a finely choreographed dance, with the food changing every day and every week. I’m working extremely hard to not fall into a rut with the same meals, but that takes a lot of effort. So I use my gadgets to add variety and flair.
The addition of the air fryer has also had some significant health benefits. You see, “My name is Jeff and I’m in love with fried foods”. There, I said it.
Judge me if you will…but there’s nothing better than fried chicken, French fries, donut holes, onion rings, breaded shrimp, fried okra, chicken strips, or corn dogs. If you’ve ever eaten at a state fair you know what I’m talking about! But those delicious fried foods aren’t the healthiest. Nevertheless, starting with a Fry Baby in the mid-1970’s…I’ve been frying foods and gobbling them up for years.
Then along came my air fryer.
Now I’m converting loads of recipes from the deep fryer to the air fryer. I’m scouring the internet. I’m reading everything I can about the tricks (and traps) of using this appliance. There are a few things that are a bit difficult to cook and once in a while I find a complete dud…but for the most part I’m in love with this device. It won’t be long and I’ll be doing a series on using an air fryer and some of the tricks I’ve picked up along the way.
Another new gadget for me is my Anova Sous Vide. This one is taking longer for me to master, but I love the fact that I can put something in there, set the timer…and let it go. If for some reason I’m delayed (happens more often than I’d like to admit), the food won’t overcook. It’s kind of a miracle in the cooking realm. While it doesn’t save a ton on cleanup (since most foods have to be finished in some other pan), it does save a ton of time and worry during the cooking phase. Plus I can be somewhere else. Try doing that with pork chops in the frying pan!
The chief sidekick to my sous vide is my vacuum sealer. It makes packaging the foods for the sous vide so much easier.
After a bit of thinking, I also hit upon the idea of vacuum sealing the foods headed to the freezer. Now freezer burn is a thing of the past! I’ve also started vacuum sealing bread products that we’ve not going to eat immediately. When I stock up on baking essentials (flour, sugar, etc.), the spare bags are sealed to keep the critters out.
Did you see my social media posts about the 85 pounds of dried garlic I bought? Sounds ridiculous anybody would ever buy that much, but it was a one day flash sale for 90% off. We go through garlic like crazy around here, and I also knew I could distribute some to each kiddo, saving them a bundle of money. When the box arrived it was bulk garlic. 85 pounds in one large bag. So I whipped out my vacuum sealer and quart-sized bags. Scoop, scoop, label, seal. Over and over and over. But after nearly 80 bags…all that garlic was put up for who knows how long. I’ve still got bags of it and they’re as fresh as the day shipment arrived.
I’ve bought other bulk spices and have done the same with them. They keep so much better in a sealed environment. If I’m being honest, my vacuum sealer is one of my all-time favorite gadgets. Now if somebody would just develop a static free bag..it’s really tricky trying to pour oregano into those bags without the spice trying to go everywhere!
But my favorite device is my Keurig Coffee Maker. During college I was a coffee addict. There were four of us who lived in our dorm suite and we owned three traditional carafe-style coffee makers. We kept our common room open for everybody on the floor and had the coffee makers running 24×7. We bought bulk coffee, bulk filters, bulk creamer, and even designed a filtered water system. One year we purchased a bunch of different coffees and created our own blend. It was honestly the elixir of Heaven. And man did I down the stuff.
After college I was accosted by the awful coffee from the break room at work. It was such a letdown I quit drinking the sludge. I found my caffeine in other ways, and frankly lost a taste for it. Then my oldest daughter moved to New Jersey and asked if I would get her a Keurig so she wouldn’t have to spend so much money at Dunkin on coffee. I happily obliged, and even sent her a couple sample packs of various blends. On one of my visits I tried some of the coffee and it was good. Then I had a Texas Pecan blend K-Cup and I was hooked again. I got home and immediately ordered a Keurig. The love affair with java began all over again. Because I’m weird I keep track of the different coffee blends I try. I still buy variety packs, but when the arrive I sort them into groups of those I like, those I don’t like, and those I haven’t tried yet. I parcel out the ones I don’t like to friends and family…in trade for ones I do like. We’ve got our own little barter system. Ha!
But seriously, I drink somewhere between 6 and 12 cups of coffee a day and I simply love my Keurig. I also use it to make soup, tea, and hot chocolate…so it’s not a one-trick phony. But among all my gadgets, it’s the one that I think I love the best.
Over the next few months I’m starting series about the various kitchen gadgets I have. As you can guess, I’m always looking for new things to try…so if you’ve got something you’d like me to review or test, drop me a comment and I’ll get right on it. I mean, Hectic Mom can’t complain if I’m doing a review for work, can she?
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