Discussion Board

what kind of kitchen appliances and tools do you consider essential and what do you use them for?
thanks

I'm a slave to my Vitamix. I use it to chop veggies, make hummus, sauces, dips, puree, breads, grind/crack grains, and more.

I had no idea how much I would use it when I got it. If I knew, I would have bought it years ago.

The workhorse in my kitchen is my Kuhn-Rikon pressure cooker. I also use greatly my $10 rice cooker, food processor, panini press and make bread effortlessly in my KitchenAid stand mixer. I'm in the market for a nice slow cooker as well.

My magimix food processor. We wouldn't eat as well without it. I don't have a garden, but now that tomatoes are getting cheap, I never buy canned, just throw them into the machine and there you go, tomatoe purée ready to go. It also has a dicing attachment which has changed my life, not to mention the citrus juicer

A lot of the McDougall (and other fat-free) recipes call for a food processor. I have a fairly powerful blender, but have been debating whether to get a food processor, a Vitamix or neither. Are the food processors and Vitamix comparable in what they can do, in terms of purées and blending foods? (I try not to clutter the kitchen with appliances, so it would be one or the other.)

1 - It has to be my pressure cooker. I use it almost everyday to steam veggies or make soups.
2 - Soft skin peeler...It peels all veggies with ease
3 - Vitamix. I use it for making salad dressings, creamed soups, bean dips
4 - Really good knife

I think the ideal combination would be a great food processor and a vitamix, although I would choose the food processor over the blender in terms of all around usefulness. It's all about the attachments - I have a great citrus press attachment and I juice a ton of lemons in my kitchen. My dicing attachment is genius, as I make a lot of Mexican food. The only thing the vitamix would be great for is crushing nuts to a fine powder, but I get around that now by soaking my nuts for 24 hours prior to making tofu cashew mayo. http://blog.fatfreevegan.com/2012/04/to ... naise.html

I have three Progressive Lettuce Keepers that are always filled with ready-to-eat mixed green salad. I love these things because they keep salad crisp and good for as long as a week.

I love my crockpot for cooking beans overnight, and my food processor for making the whole chopping and shredding thing so easy.

I guess I am low tech, but I love my 2 knives, a cutting board and a can opener. I also use a big pot and a teflon "fry" pan and a crock pot.

I love my new Zojirushi 3 cup rice cooker. I make all my rice, grains, quinoa and steel cut oats. I just set the timer in the morning, put in my rice or whatever grain im cooking, and set it to be done when i get home from work. SAVES SO MUCH TIME, and I have hot steel cut oats waiting for me when i get up in the morning, great great appliance.

I wouldn't say they are comparable, vitamix blends/purees, whereas a food processor can do that plus chop, slice & shred. If you already have a good blender, why not look into getting a food processor.

Nordgirl, may I ask what food processor you have? I'm in the market for a new one and your's sounds great!

I'm pretty low-tech, too, but I couldn't make it (so easily) without my microwave--my potatoes are done in 10 minutes, my oatmeal in 3, with less cleanup. Good sharp knives and good cutting boards are essential!

On the question of food processor vs VitaMix, I'd come down on the VitaMix being less replaceable. I have both, because the food processor is genius for hummus and banana ice "cream" as well as micro-salads. The VitaMix, though, is a blender--and a food processor can't whip up liquids and the like.

Rice cooker, blender, mandolin, food processor, steamer, microwave, good set of non-stick pans.
Kate

see this link from July 2011 :

http://www.drmcdougall.com/forums/viewt ... =1&t=23662

my list:

two medium sized pots and a large soup pot
8 inch chef's knife
smaller paring knife
spatulas
peeler
wire sieve
salad press
VitaMix blender
kitchen scissors
wooden spoons
can opener
crock pot
dutch oven
pressure cooker

here is Mary Mc Dougall's list for a well stocked kitchen:
http://www.drmcdougall.com/misc/2005nl/ ... 00mary.htm

I chop/dice/shred veggies daily in my Vitamix.

That only works in the variable speed models, but I haven't used my food processor since I got the Vitamix earlier this year.

I just got the dry grains canister this week, and have made dough in it and this morning I was out of flour so I quickly ground some up fresh and made pancake batter in it in just a few minutes.