# Most useless kitchen gadget/utensil/appliance you got suckered into buying? **URL:** \ **Category:** Cafe Society\ **Created:** [April 13, 2011, 12:02am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/most-useless-kitchen-gadget-utensil-appliance-you-got-suckered-into-buying/578166 "2011-04-13T00:02:41Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 4
**Author:** ![Jaledin](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/f9ae1b/32.png) [@Jaledin](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Jaledin)\ **Post date:** [April 13, 2011, 5:39pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/most-useless-kitchen-gadget-utensil-appliance-you-got-suckered-into-buying/578166/61 "2011-04-13T17:39:15Z")
I’ve got it – microwave. Useless POS. I only bought it because my then Father In Law wanted to make his “waist-line reducing” porridge in it. Also, dishwasher. I never use mine, but I didn’t buy it, so it doesn’t count for the purposes of this quiz. ---
**Author:** ![joebuck20](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/74df32/32.png) [@joebuck20](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/joebuck20)\ **Post date:** [April 13, 2011, 6:05pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/most-useless-kitchen-gadget-utensil-appliance-you-got-suckered-into-buying/578166/62 "2011-04-13T18:05:15Z")
> [@Anaamika](#): > > I am shocked at people who don’t use a colander for their pasta. Your hand? **A cloth?** Great way to get burned! Anyway I have one of those pots now that has a colander self-contained so I just lift it out. And I have a sieve to wash fruit in, too. I was wondering, how would that even work? Would you just stretch the cloth over the top of the pan and hold it in place with a rubber band? ---
**Author:** ![Hampshire](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/hampshire/32/4887_2.png) [@Hampshire](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Hampshire)\ **Post date:** [April 13, 2011, 6:06pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/most-useless-kitchen-gadget-utensil-appliance-you-got-suckered-into-buying/578166/63 "2011-04-13T18:06:35Z")
For all you colander haters out there: Could you please describe your method for draining an 8 qt. pot of pasta? I’m just not picturing how it’s done. ---
**Author:** ![Hockey\_Monkey](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/h/a183cd/32.png) [@Hockey\_Monkey](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Hockey_Monkey)\ **Post date:** [April 13, 2011, 6:09pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/most-useless-kitchen-gadget-utensil-appliance-you-got-suckered-into-buying/578166/64 "2011-04-13T18:09:51Z")
> [@freckafree](#): > > My husband bought one of [these](http://www.pamperedchef.com/ordering/prod_details.tpc?prodId=210&catId=123&parentCatId=123&outletSubCat=) overpriced plunger measuring cup gizmos from Pampered Chef. I’ve never used it. (I don’t think he has either.) While the theory is that the plunger enables you to cleanly push out shortening or peanut butter or the like, but I always end up using the water-displacement method for measuring. It makes for a much easier clean-up. I use mine all the time. Love it for measuring peanut butter, mayo, or generally things that are thicker than water and are hard to get all of out of the measuring cup. I love it so much I have 2 more now. ---
**Author:** ![Jaledin](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/f9ae1b/32.png) [@Jaledin](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Jaledin)\ **Post date:** [April 13, 2011, 6:15pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/most-useless-kitchen-gadget-utensil-appliance-you-got-suckered-into-buying/578166/65 "2011-04-13T18:15:54Z")
I see the problem with the colander-haters (including me). I only ever cook spaghetti or other longer noodles, so I just fish them out with tongs. Works dandy, and I can just reheat the salted water in a few hours if I’m in a pasta mood. But, being a neat-freak, the Hughes in me objects to splash-back from possibly infective surfaces, such as would be encountered in the usual colander-straining of otherly-formed pastas. but if I were to cook a ziti or something, I’d just grab some towels and use the lid to strain – I’m 6’3" 210lbs, so I don’t have the limitations that others may, though. Of course, there was a write-in to Cooks Illustrated a while ago about using a half-sheet or an inverted jelly-roll pan over the drain of the sink, but that’s another thread (but good idea, IMO). ---
**Author:** ![Wile\_E](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/w/c37758/32.png) [@Wile\_E](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Wile_E)\ **Post date:** [April 13, 2011, 6:21pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/most-useless-kitchen-gadget-utensil-appliance-you-got-suckered-into-buying/578166/66 "2011-04-13T18:21:30Z")
Okay, I think I win. I bought one of those potato cutters that makes curly fries. I think it’s called a Tater Twister. It actual does curly fries and larger slices that you could cut down the middle and then have lots of slices. I was young and naive and had money burning a hole in my pocket. I actually did use it a lot when I first got it but then I realized I was eating too many potatoes and it has lived in the bottom of a cabinet for about 20 years now. I also have a couple of those plunger choppers and a single pancake maker but they were given to me. The plunger choppers work best for nuts (you’re gonna love my nuts!) because you can stop yourself before you make nut butter which is what happens when you use a food processor to chop nuts. I keep meaning to get rid of at least one but they never seem to be in the same room together for me to figure out which one looks better for keeping. Now I’m afraid that two of them together could cause a rip in the space time continuum. ---
**Author:** ![bump](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/7c8e57/32.png) [@bump](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/bump)\ **Post date:** [April 13, 2011, 6:27pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/most-useless-kitchen-gadget-utensil-appliance-you-got-suckered-into-buying/578166/67 "2011-04-13T18:27:03Z")
> [@Zsofia](#): > > Oh, you need a good fuzzy logic rice cooker. Does its own thing, knows when it’s done (you don’t have to tell it anything, it just knows), keeps rice warm as long as you want it. One of my favorite appliances. That’s what I was about to say. Only the cheapest ones do what **Dogzilla** describes, and the newer fuzzy logic ones are terrific! They take monitoring the rice away as a kitchen task, and it’s perfectly done every time. Back to the OP.. I’d say the most useless kitchen item I have is probably the freaking cake stand/server thing that we got for our wedding. Sure it’s gorgeous, but it’s huge, made of fragile glass, and gets dirty if you blink at it. Plus, (and more importantly), I think we’ve used it exactly one time in 3.5 years of marriage. ---
**Author:** ![Lukeinva](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/lukeinva/32/17872_2.png) [@Lukeinva](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Lukeinva)\ **Post date:** [April 13, 2011, 6:46pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/most-useless-kitchen-gadget-utensil-appliance-you-got-suckered-into-buying/578166/68 "2011-04-13T18:46:19Z")
> [@jabiru](#): > > A V-slicer. And it looked so good on the ad. ☹ > > Maybe it really does slice and dice but it’s a bugger to wash up so I tried it once and went back to using a sharp knife. My sister gave me a v-slicer and I have to say it works quite well! Several times I have used it for making gratin potatoes, it works great. But never, and I mean never ever use it without the blade guard. Or you will be scraping up the tips of your fingers. ---
**Author:** ![pulykamell](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/pulykamell/32/3166_2.png) [@pulykamell](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/pulykamell)\ **Post date:** [April 13, 2011, 6:46pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/most-useless-kitchen-gadget-utensil-appliance-you-got-suckered-into-buying/578166/69 "2011-04-13T18:46:49Z")
> [@Hampshire](#): > > For all you colander haters out there: Could you please describe your method for draining an 8 qt. pot of pasta? I’m just not picturing how it’s done. You can do it with the lid, if you’re dextrous. That’s what I do if I’m somewhere without a colander or big strainer. Personally, for me a colander is near-essential. It’s great not only for draining pasta or stocks, but also for rinsing greens and other vegetables, as well as for steaming (fit it inside another pot and, voila, you have a steamer.) ---
**Author:** ![joebuck20](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/74df32/32.png) [@joebuck20](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/joebuck20)\ **Post date:** [April 13, 2011, 6:52pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/most-useless-kitchen-gadget-utensil-appliance-you-got-suckered-into-buying/578166/70 "2011-04-13T18:52:23Z")
> [@bump](#): > > Back to the OP.. I’d say the most useless kitchen item I have is probably the freaking cake stand/server thing that we got for our wedding. > > Sure it’s gorgeous, but it’s huge, made of fragile glass, and gets dirty if you blink at it. Plus, (and more importantly), I think we’ve used it exactly one time in 3.5 years of marriage. Don’t forget, because of their fragility and the way they’re shaped, there’s really no easy way to store them either, so they just end up taking a lot of space in your cabinets. My wife bought one of those at a flea market once. But really, we just don’t have that much use for it. When we make cake, we usually use a rectangular pan, so it wouldn’t even fit on the round stand. And typically we don’t even take the whole cake out of the pan. We just cut it up in there and take out a slice whenever we want one. And when we do make a round cake and take it out of the pan, it’s just easier to put it on a dinner plate so we can stick it the fridge. Unless you plan on eating the thing quickly, it’ll just dry out on the cake stand. I guess it makes sense if you do a lot of entertaining, but we rarely have guests over. Anyway I think we’ve used it once. ---
**Author:** ![Cheesesteak](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/cheesesteak/32/3694_2.png) [@Cheesesteak](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Cheesesteak)\ **Post date:** [April 13, 2011, 7:08pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/most-useless-kitchen-gadget-utensil-appliance-you-got-suckered-into-buying/578166/71 "2011-04-13T19:08:45Z")
> [@Chefguy](#): > > I hate those puny zesters, but they’ll never take away my Micro-Plane grater, which doubles as a zester when it’s not grating Parmesan. . Speaking of Micro-Plane, I have one of their box graters. I’m scared to death of the damn thing. Sure, I’ll zest a lemon or grate a little parmesan, but you need chainmail gloves to protect yourself if you grate anything you would do on a normal grater. It’s like a mandoline with no food holder. In fact, one side is just a naked blade that I guess I’m supposed to jam a potato against with my bare hand. Should’ve bought a regular $5 box grater. ---
**Author:** ![Moonlitherial](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/4bbf92/32.png) [@Moonlitherial](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Moonlitherial)\ **Post date:** [April 13, 2011, 7:51pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/most-useless-kitchen-gadget-utensil-appliance-you-got-suckered-into-buying/578166/72 "2011-04-13T19:51:21Z")
> [@Jophiel](#): > > Those green plastic bags that are supposed to keep your fruit fresh until the Second Coming. I think they actually hastened the decay. > > Luckily, I bought them for cheap at some discount store on a whim so I think the cost in lost produce exceeded the cost of the bags. I actually just tried some of these a couple weeks ago. I ran a test using banana’s (I hate mushy banana’s) and while the ones outside the bag were suitable for making banana bread those I kept inside the bag were still firm enough for me to eat. Mine aren’t green though - they’re clear, look just like plastic bags but claim to absorb or block the release of ethelyne gas. ---
**Author:** ![Shark\_Sandwich](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/f04885/32.png) [@Shark\_Sandwich](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Shark_Sandwich)\ **Post date:** [April 13, 2011, 8:23pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/most-useless-kitchen-gadget-utensil-appliance-you-got-suckered-into-buying/578166/73 "2011-04-13T20:23:58Z")
> [@tdn](#): > > I don’t even know how to describe this gadget. It’s a plastic funnel with a snap-on lid on the wide end and a grinding crank on the other. I though it would have been useful for grinding sesame seeds or something, but it could barely grind water. I never did find a use for it. I have no idea what its intended use is, as the only label on it at the store was the price tag. Sounds to me like it’s a nut grinder but you’re missing a part to it. Does it kind of look like [this](http://www.preparedpantry.com/images/view.aspx?productId=1309)? And I’ve come to add to the pizza stone love. I have one and it’s never left the oven, and never been cleaned. I used to work at a pizza place in Albuquerque when I was a kid, and we baked the pies on a slate ovens. All we ever did was brush the slate with a wire brush to get the burned crap off of them. ---
**Author:** ![Jaledin](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/f9ae1b/32.png) [@Jaledin](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Jaledin)\ **Post date:** [April 13, 2011, 8:37pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/most-useless-kitchen-gadget-utensil-appliance-you-got-suckered-into-buying/578166/74 "2011-04-13T20:37:22Z")
Those who complain of the V-Slicers have never made many batches of latkes with a box grater or used a super-sharp potato peeler, I take it? Those bitches will take your thumbs and nails and cuticles right off. Points to the above point about microplane-style graters – I live on a good Pecorino, but those things are too sharp for me to be blasé about. I shave my hard ingredients real fucking fast, and a microplane is too fast for me, as I learned when I was taught how to cook and eat a wolf. ---
**Author:** ![jjimm](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/ba8739/32.png) [@jjimm](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/jjimm)\ **Post date:** [April 13, 2011, 9:17pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/most-useless-kitchen-gadget-utensil-appliance-you-got-suckered-into-buying/578166/75 "2011-04-13T21:17:25Z")
I couldn’t cook without a collander. I don’t get how you could - not just pasta and potatoes, but what if you’re doing something like fine parboiled julienned veg - you want to get that stuff out of the heat instantly and under cold water. If you tried to pluck it all out with tongs, half of it would overcook. Collander, instant sploosh of all the shit you’re cooking, then whack the collander under the cold tap and stop the cooking process so everything’s still firm and tasty. IMO anyway. Anyway, my most useless purchase was a juicer. Not because it didn’t do the job, but because it has about 50 parts that get clogged up with pulp and need washing. The dishwasher won’t do the fine metal grilles, so you need to clean them by hand. Like most exercise bikes, used for a week then discarded. I should really give it to a charity shop but I am lazy. ETA: wonder if the pizza stone haters aren’t heating them up before putting the pizza on them? ---
**Author:** ![Max\_Torque](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/e9bcb4/32.png) [@Max\_Torque](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Max_Torque)\ **Post date:** [April 13, 2011, 9:40pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/most-useless-kitchen-gadget-utensil-appliance-you-got-suckered-into-buying/578166/76 "2011-04-13T21:40:02Z")
> [@jjimm](#): > > ETA: wonder if the pizza stone haters aren’t heating them up before putting the pizza on them? Maybe. It should just live at the bottom of your oven all the time, hurting nothing and nobody. And I don’t get the “cleaning it” talk; it’s constantly being heated to 450 degrees, no creepy-crawlies are living through that. Like someone said earlier, just knock the big crud off and ignore the rest. ---
**Author:** ![Ludovic](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/7ab992/32.png) [@Ludovic](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ludovic)\ **Post date:** [April 13, 2011, 9:45pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/most-useless-kitchen-gadget-utensil-appliance-you-got-suckered-into-buying/578166/77 "2011-04-13T21:45:40Z")
Indeed, I don’t have a pizza stone, but pizzas taste best when exposed to some crud. Of course it runs counter to keeping your oven clean to leave the pizza flakes at the bottom of the oven to provide smoke seasoning to later pizzas, but if you can accomplish the same thing with a stone, all the better. ---
**Author:** ![SciFiSam](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/47e85d/32.png) [@SciFiSam](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/SciFiSam)\ **Post date:** [April 13, 2011, 9:50pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/most-useless-kitchen-gadget-utensil-appliance-you-got-suckered-into-buying/578166/78 "2011-04-13T21:50:40Z")
3 onion choppers of varying cost bought when my wrist was broken and then unusuable for a long time. Even the 25 quid one simply didn’t chop. ---
**Author:** ![FairyChatMom](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/fairychatmom/32/21906_2.png) [@FairyChatMom](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/FairyChatMom)\ **Post date:** [April 13, 2011, 9:51pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/most-useless-kitchen-gadget-utensil-appliance-you-got-suckered-into-buying/578166/79 "2011-04-13T21:51:50Z")
I didn’t buy it, but my MIL gave me a [Salad Shooter](http://www.amazon.com/dp/B00006IV0R/ref=asc_df_B00006IV0R1505040?smid=ATVPDKIKX0DER&tag=hyprod-20&linkCode=asn&creative=395093&creativeASIN=B00006IV0R). I tried using it a couple of times and decided I’d rather cut stuff by hand. It was a pain in the patoot to clean, too. I think it ended up at Goodwill. ---
**Author:** ![Infovore](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/infovore/32/420_2.png) [@Infovore](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Infovore)\ **Post date:** [April 13, 2011, 9:59pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/most-useless-kitchen-gadget-utensil-appliance-you-got-suckered-into-buying/578166/80 "2011-04-13T21:59:12Z")
I bought two: 1. A slider (tiny hamburger) maker. It actually worked reasonably well, except that the non-stick coating was terrible and an absolute nightmare to clean. I would actually pay more money (this thing was $19.99) for a more upscale version of this gadget with a better non-stick coating if I could find one. 2. A Pasta Boat. It worked fine, it was just a pain to maintain. And the hinged top part didn’t work as advertised, making it difficult to drain without hurting yourself. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/most-useless-kitchen-gadget-utensil-appliance-you-got-suckered-into-buying/578166.md?page=3) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/most-useless-kitchen-gadget-utensil-appliance-you-got-suckered-into-buying/578166.md?page=5)