What specialty appliances are MUST haves in your kitchen?!

Fruit in the Kitchen
#1

I got a dehydrator last year that I absolutely love. Best purchase I made for my kitchen. Nothing special. It’s just a Nesco, but boy does it do a nice job and I can’t imagine going back.

What are your must haves for the fruit you guys rake in for the orchard?

#2

I have a Nesco as well, it’s not that fancy but it did a good job on my hot peppers. Afterwards I grinded them up for hot pepper flakes/powder.

A good price for my model, but one can always spend more money on fancier ones:

http://www.nesco.com/products/Dehydrators/FD-37-Food-Dehydrator-Clear-Cover/?ln=Dehydrators/Dehydrators/FD-37-Food-Dehydrator-Clear-Cover/

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#3

What kind of grinder are you using?

#4

I just used one of our small electric coffee grinders. You can put maybe a cup of broken pieces in it. I was worried about it stinking like peppers, but a good wiping with soap and water helped. I don’t grind much of anything with it anyways, so it’s not a big deal if it even smells a bit after cleaning. I’ve had it over ten years, it was pretty cheap then.

I forget the brand name, but it looks something like this one.

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#5

A salad spinner. I like dry lettuce, not drippy lettuce, and there’s really no good way to wash lettuce well and get it to dry quickly, except for a salad spinner.

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#6

I love the Nutribullet. Great for smoothies. Don’t have much fruit from my orchard to run through it but it doesn’t have any problems withstore bought fruit.

https://www.amazon.com/gp/aw/d/B007TIE0GQ/ref=mp_s_a_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1511201967&sr=8-1-spons&pi=AC_SX236_SY340_QL65&keywords=nutribullet&psc=1

#7

I use a 5 gallon spinner that I rigged to be drill powered for a small scale market, but if doing a pound or less it is much easier to toss it in a mesh laundry bag and spin it around outside. One key to getting it really dry with any spinning method is to mix the lettuce around a little between spins, water gets trapped in concave portions of the leaves.

#8

A Sev maker and my Nespresso machine.

#9

kitchen aid stand mixer

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#10

Definitely dehydrator and vitamix blender.
Could probably use the oven to dehydrate, but the vitamix has no substitute.

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#11

I love my Vitamix too… It’s about 4 years old and I’ve been using it almost everyday!

#12

I agree!. I have an OXO model and I love it. I do not like wet lettuce either.

#13

I’d love to have a Vitamix but then I keep thinking I could have a new stove or new dishwasher. lol They must be good for the price they are going for.

#14

Bread machine, refrigerator, stove, toaster

#15

Electric: Dehydrator, salad shooter (old, simple, irreplaceable for making veggie sauté to freeze for winter ), blender, meat grinder(can also grind other staff).
Manual: Weston Roma Tomato Strainer, Onion chopper( for garlic actually, not for onion)
Day Dream: Induction stove :stuck_out_tongue:

#16

Nicer Dicer

#17

We also have a Ninja blender, that thing just shreds stuff, almost too well. The Doodette uses it mostly to pureé Garbanzo beans for hummus.

#18

The Victorio food strainer is a big time saver.
https://www.amazon.com/Deluxe-Strainer-Sauce-VICTORIO-VKP250/dp/B001I7FP54/ref=sr_1_6?ie=UTF8&qid=1511364014&sr=8-6&keywords=food+mill+for+applesauce

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#19

Pillow case works for this also.

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#20

Same here! …Less clutter in the kitchen. But I use a flour sack towel - there’s always a clean one in the kitchen drawer, and the water goes right through it as you stand out on the back porch step, spinning away. As a bonus, outdoor spinning has some entertainment value when having guests. A friend who showed me this years ago, when over to my house for dinner, called it a “French salad spinner”.

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