Kitchen Gadgets, best and worst?

[Mr_Moustache]

Gotta have my stovetop moka pot.

[NCPearlie]

Ninja Foodi 6.5 qt. The inner liner is nonstick, unlike the Instapot. I love how it does air fryer foods. Pressure cooker works great. My favorite recipe is frozen chicken wings to crispy air fried buffalo wings.

Induction cooking plate. Boils water quickly, does not heat up the kitchen and is generally more safe than cooking with propane.

Keurig because my husband and I like different kinds of coffee. We got the kind that allows you to choose how strong you want your coffee.

[JFXG]

Originally Posted by JollyCamper

I guess I might also add this bit of info...Family of 5...Me, DW, and a 2, 7 and 10 year old...

We are definitely looking at an Instant Pot..

The one "gadget" out of the ordinary I do have in our rig is my Grandpa's old coffee percolator pot........So no coffee maker in our rig!

Jolly..... with a family of 5 you’ll definitely find the instant pot useful. We’ve had one for a few years now, but find we don’t use it as often as we thought we would. With just the two of us it produces too much. We’re either eating the same meal for several days, or taking up valuable freezer space. We’ve tried several of the functions and mostly use it as a slow cooker, which in our opinion it does not do as well as a dedicated crock pot type. Perhaps we need to try a smaller size.
As to the coffee, I agree! My daughter loves her Keurig, and DW does too. So I bought her one for Christmas a couple of years ago. She’s ecstatic! Breakfast tea, cocoa, latte, she loves it all. As for me, IMHO I’ve yet to get a good cup of coffee out of the thing. I’ve figured out how to get a decent cup from the drip maker, but I’m about to go back to the old line percolater, as soon as I figure where to store a few things so I can keep the cooktop accessible!

[SomeDay]

Being avid boondockers and homebody cooks more than eating out, we tend to not have many gadgets at all. Years ago I used to be sucked into all these latest greatest gadgets = you know you go to RV shows or Stampede shows and there's those great foodie and floor cleaning demos and the like. Yep, that was me, always worked different for me than when demo'd at the shows. I knocked that on the head.

Bought insta pot for daughter in house = she's used in maybe 3 times in the past couple years. On the road I cook full english roasts, pies, stove top meals and lots of baking as and when using the regular oven and stove top.

Many years ago when we used to hooked into campgrounds I would put a slow cooker outside the rig and plug in to cook all day whilst we were away.

By all means to each their own, but be careful on buying too many gadgets at the front end you won't end up using. There's only so much these rigs can comfortably hold. Ask me how I know? Downsizing more and more year after year going through the bays and cupboards questioning "when did we last use that or have we ever?".

[GypsyR]

We bought one of those $100 or so countertop ice makers and really like it. It won't keep up an ice chest but makes plenty to keep a full bucket in the freezer.

Downsides: Takes up some room. Since we rarely use our stove it sits there when we aren't rolling. It's a bit heavy for its size. I imagine the larger capacity ones might be a pain to move around. A bit noisy. I don't mind it during the day. But at night there's no one to empty the ice tray anyway so I shut it down. With the generator on I do run it going down the road. Sitting on the floor though. Has to be manually be refilled and emptied.

Upsides: We aren't constantly buying ice. We particularly like the "soft" ice in drinks. Portable, so it can get around or even be lent out. Requires no additional plumbing or anything.

Out particular one is a "Magic Chef" from Home Depot. I normally don't go for the extended warranty thing but I did on this. We had a previous one of another brand that made six trays of ice and quit. While shopping for a new one I noticed a LOT of these look suspiciously similar. Like they're coming from the same factory but with slightly different exterior detailing.

Anyway, within its limitations we really like ours. Especially for the price. Our daughter borrowed it for a weekend and now she wants one for Christmas.

[JollyCamper]

I have wondered about the countertop ice makers myself...I have access to all the ice I want (we run a church camp and have a 500lb ice maker in the kitchen), but then we need to get a high end cooler to keep the ice for multiple days, and store that cooler somewhere...

[astrnmrtom]

We brought an Insta Pot with us but what we use almost every day, and has turned out to be a wonderful RV kitchen appliance, is the Ninja Foodie Digital Air Fry Oven. We loved our dedicated air fryer at home, but it's just so bulky on the limited counter in the RV, that we'd always have to stash it in the closet and get it out anytime we wanted to use it. Saw an ad for the Ninja, looked at it on the shelf in Walmart and ordered one. When not being used it flips up, slides back and is only 6" thick. It's large enough for a 14" pizza and is a jack of all trades - a toaster, oven, convection oven and air fryer. What takes a little getting used to is the interior height is low so we had to buy some lower pans for baking things like meatloaf. If you can adjust your cooking for thinner pans, it's a fantastic device. When flipped up, the bottom can be opened for easy cleaning, as easy as cleaning a "toaster oven" can be. My wife was skeptical at first because we've tried other air fryer ovens that simply didn't work air frying, and she LOVED our regular air fryer. Now that we've been on the road full timing for four months, she loves the Ninja. I replaced our convection oven/microwave a few years ago with a regular microwave and we don't miss the larger oven. You have to adjust your cooking times and temperatures with the Ninja because the elements are closer to the food. It pre-heats in 60 seconds and has a light inside. We were worried the limited height - (just under 3") - might be an issue, but it hasn't. We bought a couple smaller, lower pans, and changed the shape of our meatloaf from bread-load shaped, to brownie shaped, and never looked back.

[TonyDi]

Keurig coffee maker, a portable induction unit and our Weber Q grill are all pluses.

I have a drawer full of useless gadgets that seemed good when they were demoed and we have never used.

[BeaverDen]

how is it attached to your counter, and where does it ride when on the roadways. I too have a Beaver with Corian counters

[Lt Dan]

Originally Posted by flaglercpl

how is it attached to your counter, and where does it ride when on the roadways. I too have a Beaver with Corian counters

My Keurig just rides on the counter top and has never moved. I just push it back against the backsplash when not in use.

My best additions are: Keurig mini, Weber Q Grill, Blackstone griddle and under slide lighting.

Useless now are my three burner Coleman stove and cast iron griddle now that I have the Blackstone.

[Wrascal]

Sorry for being off topic a bit but - LT DAN ...
have you any involvement in the breeding of GSDs?

I ask because that name appears on my GSDs AKC papers.

I still believe my best RV appliances are the Keurig Coffee machine and a Baby Q Weber. Runner up would be a Dyson Vac (now replaced with a built in Dirt Devil).


The previously mentioned counter-top ice maker was a two time crap shot for me.

[akeagle]

My DW has fallen in love with Hot Logics. They can be used while on the road with an inverter and no need to run the generator. A Hot Logic is somewhat similar to a slow cooker but only gets hot enough to thoroughly warm up your dinner or any food that needs only low heat to cook.

[Wrascal]

Beyond coffee I'm a kitchen appliance novice; how does a 'Hot Logic' improve upon a crock pot - or even a microwave?

[akeagle]

Originally Posted by Wrascal

Beyond coffee I'm a kitchen appliance novice; how does a 'Hot Logic' improve upon a crock pot - or even a microwave?

Although the Hotlogic is AC powered, with a small 150 watt inverter it can be used on the fly without having to run the generator. Also, since its a small device, it would be good for a single person or a couple.