Kitchen appliances chat

Non stick coated pans will kill you. You end up eating the coating which is carcinogenic. Good quality stainless steel pans needed.

I'm using the same uncoated stainless frying pan from JLP that I've been using for the past 40 years.

Hex clad is not very good
, not worth the price. While Teflon Non stick pans are not going to give you cancer (under normal use), they are consumable items and if you don’t treat them well/ use them a lot the coating will wear. You could get stainless steel pan which, won’t be non stick. You could get a carbon steel pan and season it well and get a pretty good non stick coating but not as good as Teflon though. Both will last a long time, probably forever at home use levels.

Nisbets has nice for price cookware ime. https://www.nisbets.co.uk/kitchenware-and-knives/cookware/pots-and-pans/frying-pans/_/a33-4

For pans go to a commercial cookware place and get carbon steel and cast iron frying pans. They're oven safe and will take temperatures that non stick coatings will give up the ghost (my last teflon pan lasted 2 days)

Also get wooden or silicone utensils, bin any metal ones.

Tumble dryers I like Samsung and the Miele heat pump ones. But really anything goes. Maybe consider one that can be plumbed rather than having a container to empty.

I would ditch non stick and learn to use stainless, carbon steel or cast iron.

As for tumble dryers, how much do you use it? Are you sure you want a condenser?

You can use metal utensils on stainless, carbon steel and cast iron without issue

Very much this. Buy decent stainless steel ones and they will last a lifetime. @bobble

And will work if/when you move to induction hob.

Thanks for all the replies. Super helpful. I do have a le cruset cast iron pot which I really get on with. Currently on induction and will be forever now I imagine

@Grumpy_Git @mcmyk on the tumble dryer. No idea if I really want condensing. However, from my limited knowledge, I need something that won’t produce loads of steam and cause damp problems in my not very well ventilated room. It also needs to go on top of this washing machine. Could be plumbed in I suppose as the washing machine has plumbing going to it ..

In terms of use, hope to not use it too much but it’ll probably get used a lot. I live with a housemate in a flat, and we don’t have a garden, and without a tumble dryer, there are permanently 2 clothes horses in the lounge with each of our week’s washing which is a PITA.

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One kind of alternative to a tumble dryer is a dehumidifier. Not as quick as a tumble dryer but if you can put the clothes horse in a room with the dehumidifier and the door shut it will dry most stuff overnight.

I’m going to somewhat disagree with the non stick haters. It really depends on your level of cooking, and how much upkeep you want.

Saucepans don’t need to be non stick, so replacing with unlined is a good idea.

Good quality non stick pans are excellent as long as you use them within parameters (no forks or metal utensils even if they say you can) and don’t overheat them. Most non stick issues have been from surface damage and overheating.
Also lower heat cooking of eggs and fish is so much easier on non stick, unless you use 3 tablespoons of oil / butter per egg.

Have a cast iron / stainless / carbon steel pan for cooking with lots of oil, high heat cooking.

I highly rate the IKEA Sensuell range of pans, though they look like they’ve had a price increase and not quite as good value as they used to be. Unlined 3 ply heavy stainless, quite a bit cheaper than similar quality from other brands.

A fairly cheap non stick Tefal pan for example for eggs and fish.
I wouldn’t bother with expensive pots and pans with non stick, because the non stick is never as durable or as good quality as the rest of the pan. I’ve had plenty of issues with non stick on my Le Creuset pans, though they have replaced on their lifetime guarantee.

Sure but if the non stick are hanging around for a bit then consider non metal utensils.

We need some sort of thing veg rack thing ideally on wheels, 60x80cm.

Anyone got anything smart they use?

We’re looking for an integrated dishwasher, neither of us has owned or bought one before…

Budget under £800, what should we be looking for? Auto door opening? Noise levels? Brand? No idea…

I have a Baumatic one which is very much at the cheaper end of the scale (it's this or something very similar https://appliancepeople.co.uk/products/baumatic-bi6e4lb-80-92408 ) which for the past 3 years has been absolutely fine at washing a load of stuff each night on the 30 minute cycle. The top shelf comes out so you can stick a highchair or a barbecue grill in there which is occasionally useful.

It's got a slightly annoying design where you have to clean a bit of gunk from under the door seal every month or two but other than that I'm not sure what else you really want from a dishwasher to justify the extra price.

I'd avoid Bosch, I have one (six series) and think it's a bit disappointing - wish I'd stuck to my guns and insisted on Miele but stock levels when we bought it were rubbish so I couldn't find one.

£800 should be able to get you something pretty bling. Can't remember what we paid for our non-integrated one but it was comfortably sub £200 and it's been pretty much faultless for 7 years.

wish I'd stuck to my guns and insisted on Miele

You're flirting with the GC thread here... ;)

I liked this on the Miele one I looked at:

Built to last
Because Miele’s appliances are tested for the equivalent of 20 years’ use, you can trust that you’re getting a durable and reliable machine. Every product is put through its paces, making sure it can wash for 10,000 hours – that’s 5 washes per week for 20 years. So you know you’re getting an appliance that’s truly designed to last.

We provide a 2-year warranty from the date of purchase for all Miele household appliances.

2-year warranty

wow, so much trust in their product to provide the minimum warranty.

Haha maybe - although I think being overruled by my partner and buying the cheaper one is definitely anti-GC

We've got a couple of these with some wire baskets, better looking verions are available. They fit perfectly under an average kitchen counter
https://www.ikea.com/gb/en/p/nissafors-trolley-white-40465733/

When I was searching before....

From a well know consumer website....

Budget = Beko DIS16R10
Integrated = Bosch SMV6ZCX01G
On here Integrated = Miele G5260 SC
On here Freestanding = Miele G 5223 SC
Energy efficient = Bosch SMS4HCW40G
Slimline = Bosch SPS4HMW53G

Our Bosch one is fine except for not being that dry, and importantly it can't take our wine glasses without lowering the basket to a level which won't fit our plates! Wtf!

It replaced a 20yo Miele. I've got to say, if I were planning on staying in a place I'd definitely go Miele based on the strength of our old one. If seals weren't £150 all in and we weren't having a new floor we'd have kept it.

If we didn't need a hard to come by semi integrated, I'd have been very, very tempted by a 2nd hand relatively modern Miele.

Cheers. That looks exactly the sort of thing.

Sorry to be lazy, but do you have a link to the baskets?

This is the one we're getting soon. Main criteria being not terrible energy rating and has a cutlery tray at the top
https://ao.com/product/dw60a8060bb-samsung-series-11-standard-dishwasher-black-89249-23.aspx