Made any stupid kitchen gadget purchases lately?
Well, this comes on the heels of my posting of awesome web kitchen gadget purchases. Where I was admittedly both blessed and lucky with my prepara herb-savor. That, however, was the unexpected, delightful surprise; not the norm.
Which was something driven home to me last night as I used, for the 2nd time, the Wolfgang Puck 5 Cup Rice Cooker bought from HSN a few months ago while laid up with a pulled back and massive boredom. I knew it had to be awful, but all those people were calling in talking about how awesome it was and I was on lots of pain meds. So I dialed. And bought. The first time I used it, it made white sushi rice kind of okay, though slightly burned at the bottom. The second time, last night? Brown basmati rice. It took 1 ½ hours to sort of cook it, the bottom burned black and some of the rice grains still crunchy. This included turning it back to “cook” after it would just go out for no reason every ten minutes. And I should have known better. Because I’m not stupid, and there’s no way I’m buying a good rice cooker for under $35, you know. But there you go, the call towards really, really stupid purchases.
So, how’s about you? What is your most major disappointment? Was it the Ginsu knives? The Ron Popiel Rotisserie. Are you too smart to get suckered in, and are therefore smirking at this post, very pleased with yourself?
Add a comment:
Previewing your comment:
HTML Hints
Some HTML is OK: <a href="URL">link</a>, <strong>strong</strong>, <em>em</em>
Comment Guidelines
Post whatever you want, just keep it seriously about eats, seriously. We reserve the right to delete off-topic or inflammatory comments. Learn more at our Comment Policy page.
If you see something not so nice, please, report an inappropriate comment.
Start Talking!
Need a question answered? Have advice to share? Start a Talk topic now!
Sign up to get your questions answered and share advice.
13 Comments:
This stand-mounted wine bottle opener is gorgeous, made of steel, bronze and hardwood, and is very heavy. We found it for $40 and snagged one. However, it's only when you read the instruction page that you'll find the statement, "Not suitable for synthetic corks." That doesn't show up in any ads or even on the box. We'd bought it for use in a restaurant on a new quartz bar. Do you have any idea how many wood corks are left in-use in such a place? We're thinking maybe 50%. Basically, the corkscrew itself is far too thick for use with synthetic corks. We tested it, and on the downward push when it should screw into the cork, it instead pushes the synthetic cork further down, jamming it into the bottom of the neck of the bottle. The opener worked fine on wood corks. Chef said, "The girls aren't going to have the time or the inclination to figure out which kind of cork a certain bottle has" ... and the thing went back to the store.
LunaPierCook at 11:01AM on 03/04/08
I've often been obsessed with food gadgets, especially those on infomercials, but due to limited resources (being in grad school forever) never purchased any. I've often heard poor reviews later and am glad that I didn't buy. Sorry to hear about your back (hope it feels better) and the crummy rice cooker!!
psychsarah at 1:12PM on 03/04/08
I don't even know how we got this knife - I just found it in our drawer one day. It's from Pampered Chef and is the worst knife I've ever possessed. It sharpens each time it is un/sheathed in its case. The blade edge closest to the handle has been overly ground down...probably from me fighting to get it open the two times I was curious to see the blade.
Hmm, this reminds me of when I was young, watching my mother sharpen all of the kitchen knives over her whetstone. She was great at it, as all of our knives were always sharp.
We received as a gift a steaming pan of some kind. But as I was screwing on the knob to the pan lid, I stripped the knob. We had to throw it away before even using it. What good is a steaming pan that has a hole on the top and a lid that can't be lifted... :P
Cassaendra at 3:04PM on 03/04/08
This is positively one of the dumbest inventions and I must have been stoned when I bought it. Years ago Pampered Chef sold a battery powered sifter. You put the batteries into the handle, pushed a button and it was supposed to sift flour automatically. Not only did it not work, flour was always getting into the battery compartment and making a mess. I shoved it into my "dying ground for small appliances" and threw it out just recently. I swear by Pampered Chef baking stones but this was a real dud.
RichardCrystal at 4:17PM on 03/04/08
Oh, chisai, I remember when friends were supposed to prevent each other from "drinking and dialing." Now, we have to worry about "pain meds and shopping" It never ends. Sorry to hear about the crummy rice cooker. I have been the lucky recipient of my parent's cast off Zojirushi rice cookers over the years and when I got married last year, Dad sent us a new stainless steel family sized Rolls Royce of rice cookers in anticipation of the large family I am supposed to have right away. lol.
My stupid purchase isn't a gadget, but its a set of 20 (yes, 20) pink fondue plates. The plates are vaguely squarish in shape with all these little sections for the different foods you are about to fondue. They were at Williams Sonoma, on clearance because it was leftover from Valentine's Day or something. They are really cute, but I've had them for about 5 years and never used them. I was going to use them for a baby shower until I realized all those compartments are too small to really hold anything.
wookie at 4:40PM on 03/04/08
I bought a ton of pampered chef stuff and i bought all the knives that have the holder. I HATE THEM. i threw them away as the metal got all gougy and i was worried i would cut myself on a dull blade. my sister wanted the pan set so i bought enough she could get her pots and pans for free. I only have about half left i live the pizza stone and they have lovely plates i have the whole set of squre plates but other then that.........
http://organicandnaturalmom.blogspot.com/
love2cook at 5:28PM on 03/04/08
Back when I was but a mere "child", I think I may have purchased Cutco knives from a fundraiser. I have never embraced the Pampered Chef thing.
crazyspice at 5:42PM on 03/04/08
HEY!
I bought 2 Ginsu knives back in the early 80's and I STILL use them to this day!!
Hunnyoil at 7:44PM on 03/04/08
I got home from work one day to find my husband and son watching an infomercial for the Ron Popiel Rotisserie. They were so excited about it that they ordered on right away! I was skeptical, but we have used that thing for years and it makes GREAT rotisserie chicken.
jenjen at 9:42PM on 03/04/08
We have a large ginsu knife that my husband has had since college many moons ago and although we treasure our Wustofs and treat them like gold, that ginsu is really one tough knife. It's been used to trim shingles, shrubs and at one point it was even employed as a saber to fight off a vicious killer mouse.
In a fit of boredom, my hubby ordered plastic mandolins from an infomercial. Of course, they were BOGO. So how do you decide who to gift the other piece of crap kitchen implement to? That was a tough call, so it went to a relative we never much cared for. I'm pretty sure it was regifted or garage sale fodder.
frederika at 11:18PM on 03/04/08
i was seduced by something called a safety grater. it looks like wire mesh and is supposed to grate stuff without bloodying your knuckles. it makes a bloody mess of the food, i can tell you that.
another time i was charmed into buying a peeler from that british guy at the union square greenmarket. what a piece of @)$##%.
cybercita at 11:42PM on 03/04/08
My parents bought the Magic Bullet (single serving blender contraption) and got an extra set for me...used it once, put it back in the box, and has been sitting in the basement or the garage for two years. I think my parents actually use theirs daily for their health food shakes.
wookie at 5:31PM on 03/05/08
I'm definitely not smirking at your post, although I do have a very small, carefully selected selection of kitchen gadgets/tools/appliances. I hate the idea of something simply taking up space, and will usually take great pains to find a good home for superfluous items. Generally, I only buy something if I find myself often needing it, and then I do a good bit of research or take a good look around before buying. The down side of this is that I have to improvise until I actually get a necessary item, and although this is usually fine, there have been some tragicomedies arising from this.
mongoose at 1:18PM on 03/06/08