Now I don’t know about anyone else but I quite fancy myself in the kitchen. I enjoy the creating, but hate the washing up afterwards. So I am always looking for ways to reduce the pain of the post-cookingtidy up.
The other thing you need to know about me is that I love John Lewis Partnership – more specifically the Audio and Kitchen departments. The answer is obvious, it’s the gadgets. Just love the gadgets. It’s the only way my wife will go shopping with me. I am deposited in either department and told not to spend anything.
That’s hard isn’t it? But I have satiated my desire for everything Audio and have now turned my attention to everything Kitchen. I am looking to find tools or gadgets that save preparation time or washing up time.
So what do I need? A kettle to boil water, obviously, but it’s got to get past the ‘wife’ test. i.e. it has to be matching, functional and reliable. Simple you would think – but for those in the know – this is not as easy as it may seem.
How much do you pay? What do you want it to do? Boiling water is not as easy as you may first think. Does the kettle have to be automatic, cordless, metal chrome or silver plastic? Black, pink, green, red or blue? What brand do we like, aspire to or expect? Do we want the design to be retro or modern? How will we fill it and where will we fill it from? Do we want a built-in water purifier, and, if we live in a hard water area, how long will it be before we have to de-scale it? Therefore what kettles are compatible with what de-scaling products?
Now, as a bloke I started a spreadsheet however, for my wife all this was in her head. I was being very scientific and as objective as the analysis would allow. After many hours of research I concluded that the kettle my wife had selected in John Lewis, 2 weeks previously, was the same as the one my spreadsheet had chosen.
Rule 1: Women are always right (unless they are multi-tasking of course)!
This exercise got me thinking – what time saving devices do we have and why? Here is a selection:
- Toaster Dualit – has been replaced twice in 18 months. 6/10
- Kettle Morphy Richards – perfect. 9/10
- Coffee Maker Nespresso – fantastic but the coffee has to be bought on-line. 4/10
- Ice Cream Maker Magimix – used 3 times – pointless. Too much faff. 3/10
- Pasta Maker Jamie Oliver – one failed attempt. 0/10
- Cooker Britannia – 2 cookers and 6 rings – why? 5/10
- Slow cooker Slo Cook Used 3 times – just use a saucepan. 5/10
- Sandwich maker Tefal – simple. 8/10
- Electric Grill George Foreman – bought and binned. 0/10
I am sure that kitchen manufacturers are colluding with the fashionista buyers of kitchenware who demand more kitchen storage. Tupperware falls into this bracket. We have yards of the stuff.
Best device so far is the kitchenette blender. The design is suitably retro and the speed, function and noise is understated. I am sure we all have similar stories of ‘must-have gadgets’ that never see the light of day.
I know that we, the shallow shopper, only have ourselves to blame, but the books – where did they come from? Just look around your kitchen and ask yourself, where did that cookery bookshelf come from? How did it get there and where did all those celebrity chef cookery books come from?
Then ask yourself, when did you last cook from the ingredients upwards? I ask this as I make a Spaghetti Bolognese, using my Paul Newman sauce, Napolina spaghetti and organic Waitrose mince.
Utensils used include: two wooden spoons, two saucepans and 4 kettles of hot water, bread from the supermarket and a lovely bottle of fridge cold Montana Rose.
Now that’s cooking, man-style!
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How much do you pay? What do you want it to do? Boiling water is not as easy as you may first think. Does the kettle have to be automatic, cordless, metal chrome or silver plastic? Black, pink, green, red or blue? What brand do we like, aspire to or expect? Do we want the design to be retro or modern? How will we fill it and where will we fill it from? Do we want a built-in water purifier, and, if we live in a hard water area, how long will it be before we have to de-scale it? Therefore what kettles are compatible with what de-scaling products?
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