Kitchen appliances chat

@TW
get the Le creuset sauté pan (stainless not non stick)

It has a lid, is oven proof but also works well on induction hob.

Yeah, £100 is a lot more reasonable.
Yes more material is better, copper would be ideal but is expensive that's why it's mostly alu.
The reason you see it on thicker cast iron is that it spreads heat really slowly but holds it really well.
I was never happy with the high temp performance of my 3ply pan and found that Demeyere made a pan with 5.5mm all around and it does make a big difference but only if you blast it, with gentler cooking not that much.

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Demeyere

Nice. But makes Le Creuset look like the TKMax option.

Before brexit you could buy it from Belgium for a lot less.

Nisbets have a sale on at the moment. Anyone after a Kenwood chef they have this one:
Chef Major KVL8300S

Also a fancy ice-cream machine

Talk to me about washer dryers. We currently only have a washing machine and no immediate place for a dryer. We’ve toyed with having a unit made for the corner of our kitchen/dining room to stack a drier on top of a washing machine and have it hidden away, but it would look out of place, and by the time we buy a drier and have a unit made, we’re probably not far off the cost of a top end washer dryer anyway. We’re also getting close to urgent with a 4 month old that’s getting more druelly vommy by the day, and once weaning starts a dryer will be very urgent.

EDIT: Bosch WDU28561GB is listed as a fairly well rated which best buy and available fairly locally for €880 delivered and installed - anyone in here used one? Is there a better option? Budget is around the €1k mark plus/minus 10%.

Maybe use a dehumidifier with a specialised laundry setting. Meaco Zambezi is pretty decent or their compressor version (Zambezi is dessicant). You hang the washing in a room, set the dehumidifier to laundry and shut the door. Drying times vary of course and it's not going to make your towels hot and fluffy, at the same time it probably kills fewer polar bears.

We’re currently using a dehumidifier but getting tired of tripping over the clothes horse

Ahh... As far as I know the biggest problem in a family household with the washer dryer is you can't get enough loads through in a day to keep up with the amount of washing the family generates.

I've heard from washing machine engineers that the recent crop of washer dryers are all pretty hobbled by power consumption regulations but the old ones burn electric like it's not the 21st century.

We have one, a Zanussi. Mainly for the same reasons as you (small child and constantly drying stuff indoors).

It's OK and it's useful but it doesn't solve all your problems. It's pretty slow to dry stuff, slower than standalone ones by all accounts, it's obviously not that cheap to run and it will shrink some stuff.

Saying that, we tend to use it for most baby clothes and underwear, etc (the stuff that is all a ballache to hang up) and it does make things easier.

Also, for weaning get some of these https://www.ikea.com/gb/en/p/kladdig-bib-multicolour-80307223/

Availability of sensible kitchen appliances seems to be zero. Should I bust my arse to get Miele? Possibly ex demo stock.

Opinions please.

Not sure if modern Miele is the same but I have 20 year old items that still work. They've had some spares, nothing massive. Must be good value by now.

On that tip, second hand Miele is not a terrible choice if you are careful.

Can't really go wrong with Miele.

Anything at their Abingdon outlet store? Buying ex-display isn’t a terrible idea imo

That's where I'm looking. No warranty though

Thanks for the push guys. Miele combination microwave ordered from the outlet, brand new unboxed. As I was on the phone their system updated and took an extra £150 off what I was expecting to pay. Madness but I'll take it.

Yeah it’s always worth checking - nice result!

Frying pan - cast iron or non-stick? For a gas hob.

cast iron can last forever but takes more care, not leaving wet, oiling after washing etc. Non-stick is disposable, expect to replace it no matter how fancy it is.

My preference is anodised aluminium. It's not quite as non-stick as teflon but you can't scratch the coating off and isn't a carcinogen if you do.

Neither is Teflon, is it?

the first non-stick was Teflon under the brand Tefal. Most ones you buy these days aren't specifically Teflon but very similar.

Edit - I read your question wrong. There's studies that say teflon and similar aren't carginogenic but if I remember right their independence was questionable and they focussed on heating the teflon to failure rather than real world use and how it acts when scratched and chipped. The basic outcome was they're fine until they start chipping and then you'll be ingesting loads of it and no one wants to be full of flourocarbons so chuck it.

not the best source but I'm lazy https://www.nestandglow.com/life/teflon-dangers

Carbon steel.
Lasts forever, can get it pretty non stick by seasoning, more so than cast iron.
Also a bit lighter.

I’m enjoying my De buyer pan.
Also intrigued by the Netherton Foundry spun steel pans, which come pre-seasoned.

Any anodised aluminium pans that aren’t coated?
Most I’ve come across has some kind of Internal Teflon or ceramic non stick coating.

I have anodised aluminium baking trays and while nice, they are incredibly sticky.

Anyone got any nice options for kitchen soap dispensers?

Not sure about any of the Joseph Joseph ones I'm finding on amazon.