Kitchen Tools

[Sue_CT]

Still can't beat my kitchen mixer juicer add on when I need to juice a lot at once. But this still takes hand strength and I have arthritis in my hands. I can still use it but probably not quite as easily or get quite the last drop of juice like I am sure I could have a decade or two back, lol.

[worth1]

Ever since I saw these citrus juicers in action on YouTube cooking videos I was sold.
I have a hand wooden one but this is by far the best I have ever used.
Even had an old glass one I found buired in the dirt at an abandoned homestead growing up.
Whoever invented it deserves a Nobel prize for cooking gadgets.

[worth1]

Who has an electric hand mixer?
Who has one this old and still uses it.
It's from the early 80's and still going strong.
General Electric made in the USA.
Got it for a wedding gift.
Just used it yesterday.
Gets used a few times a month on average.

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[Amateurinawe]

Childhood memories of being handed the detachable mixer blades once the mixing is done...

[worth1]

Childhood memories of being handed the detachable mixer blades once the mixing is done...

Me too.
My mom was always making cakes and homemade doughnuts cookies and so on.
From scratch not the box.
She had an old stand mixer that the bowl turned on its own.
No idea the brand but it lasted for years and never broke.
Then one day I just started cooking on my own.
Never asked permission I just started doing it.
That's when I discovered that a boy cooking and growing flowers was a girl magnet and the rest is history.
I was 22 years old when we got the mixer in the picture.
By then my friends didn't have to worry about getting so called man gifts for me because I cooked.
This was easy for them because the gifts were ours not just for my wife.

[pepperhead212]

My Mom used to have one of those Sunbeam mixers, on which the bowls turned, as the two beater blades turned inside. They gave me a KA mixer for Christmas in '76, because about the only one in stores back then that kneaded dough, and I had broken my back that year, and had already started making my own bread! I gave that 4½ qt mixer to a friend, so I could get a 6 qt model, and my old one is still working, while I replaced my 6 qt one about 20 years later.

[worth1]

Bread dough is hard on these mixers.
Especially if you load them up to the maximum.

[pepperhead212]

Bread dough is hard on these mixers.
Especially if you load them up to the maximum.

My old mixer had a limit of about 6½ c of flour, while my new one is over 8 cups, which I rarely get to. But the good thing I like about it is that it will automatically shut it off, if it is overheating, and turn it back on in 15 or 20 minutes - I was looking for this feature when I replaced my old one. It also has 100 more watts than my old one that died - 625 vs. 525. The older one has 425w, and a lot of cheaper ones now are way under that.

[worth1]

Bread dough is hard on these mixers.
Especially if you load them up to the maximum.

My old mixer had a limit of about 6½ c of flour, while my new one is over 8 cups, which I rarely get to. But the good thing I like about it is that it will automatically shut it off, if it is overheating, and turn it back on in 15 or 20 minutes - I was looking for this feature when I replaced my old one. It also has 100 more watts than my old one that died - 625 vs. 525. The older one has 425w, and a lot of cheaper ones now are way under that.

It's the gear box that fails.
I read where the gear box was the same for at least two of them.
The Artisan and the Pro.
Putting more horses in front of a weak gear box does nothing but create more failures.
This is why Chrysler put Dayna 60 rear ends behind the high performance motors in place of the 8 3/4 and even much weaker 7 1/4 they put behind the slant 6 and 318 motors.
I might machine some air vents in mine to release hot air.
Maybe a blower.

[worth1]

Does anyone here have and use a tortilla press?
Really considering getting one.
Then considering how simple they are I'm thinking of just making one.
I need to go look in my exotic lumber collection.
But then I wouldn't be able to make my mind up whether to use Brazilian mahogany or Australian red gum.
Maybe some ebony?
Maybe a nice mix with a little purple heart included.
So many choices.

[worth1]

The smaller 8 inch cast iron model was back in stock so I picked one up.
Gonna go great with my cast iron collection too.

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[pepperhead212]

I have a few of them, that I rarely use now, but used to use them all the time, before tortillas were available around here. One cast aluminum one I have does best - looks like the cast iron one you bought - making it the perfect thickness, while another bright aluminum one pressed them too thin, though occasionally I would want them thin, for something. And a wooden model did well, for much larger tortillas, but slowly warped, and eventually, I threw it out.

[worth1]

@pepperhead212
If I make a wooden one like I want it won't warp and be adjustable for thickness.
I saw the ones made from pine on line.
What I want one for is mainly corn tortillas.
I can always tell at a Mexican restaurant if they make their own corn tortillas fresh.
Most use store bought.

[worth1]

Made two test flour tortillas this morning.
Before I pressed them I made two plastic disks out of plastic filling cabinet dividers.
So it was art's and crafts day with scissors.
These work better than plastic bags and other things people use.
Just wipe them off and put with the press for storage.
The tortillas were a little thick for my tastes but this is due to the mix I used and the amount of baking powder that comes in it.
White Wings is the brand.
In my opinion it rises too much.
But alas, I bought the contraption for corn tortillas not flour.
That will be the true test.

[worth1]

Really struggling with the corn tortillas.
By the time I get it perfected I'll be as fat as a pig eating the culls.
Well I discovered a few tricks.
But still haven't perfected the puff.
Very tasty fish taco for a reward.
You can't buy corn tortillas like this fresh and hot off the comal.

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[worth1]

Not to sound stereotypecle but I feel an afternoon siesta coming on.

[svalli]

My old meat grinder has only one plate with holes and I wanted a coarser one for grinding moose meat for our raw food eating cats. I could not find a plate, which fits the grinder, so I had to buy a new grinder. My husband told that I should buy one of those big ones with induction motor, but I wanted more versatile machine for kitchen use and not some big industrial grade machine.

I found this Bosch grinder with juicer and grinder attachments and was a bit suspicious about the quality and function of it. Bosch used to be a quality brand, but now these small machines are made in China and the materials and structure of the machines do not feel as durable as before. So far I am still happy with the machine and the attachments.

I have had a lot of tomatoes ripening on dining room table and needed to process those. I have a Back to Basics food strainer, which I have used to make tomato sauce for many years, but it hurts my operated shoulder to turn the handle. Juicer in the meat grinder is quite small, but the motor runs so fast that processing tomatoes does not take long. Sunday I made a 10 liter kettle full of tomato sauce, which I cooked to reduce it to about 4 litres and last night I strained yellow and green tomatoes to make spicy tomato jam.

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Meat grinder works well also. Last night I ground about 10 kg of moose. Half of it was lean and tendonless for human consumption and rest to cats, which part also contained a heart.

Sari

[worth1]

@svalli
What size was the old grinder?
Can you measure and take picture of old plate.
Metric will be fine if you choose center hole diameter too.
If you wish.

[worth1]

With a little rotating and manipulation the tortilla press makes a great hamburger patty press.
Just put down cling wrap on both sides and press away.
Got two giant thin but flat hamburger patties from a pound of ground chuck.
Without over working the meat.
The size should allow them to stick out past the sides of the buns.
I hate it when the patty is smaller than the bun.
Drives me nuts.

[Julianna]

I have an electric hand mixer! I have wanted a kitchenaid for decades now.

My husband wanted a tortilla press but didnt want to pay lile $40.

I just ordered an embossed rolling pin. Coming from Russia. We will.see how it is when it comes which should be December or January.