Inspecting Gadgets
Balancing a minimalist kitchen that offers you space to work, meets current trends and is easy on the eye with a kitchen that offers the latest in modern technology can verge on the impossible. After all, where to put all the gadgets when you’ve bought them?
There seems little point in having them just to squirrel them away in the back of the cupboard and forget they are there, yet having them out on the counter can be – excuse the pun – counter-productive. I swear, if I was to buy every kitchen gadget and utensil that took my fancy, I’d have no room to prep anything.
It is certainly very tempting, though. I’ve lost count of the number of things I’ve bought over the years that have seemed a great idea at the time only to end up stored away in the garage or for sale on eBay. Juicer, bread maker – you name it, I’ve had them all.
Now before you get any ideas of picking something up on the cheap, the KitchenAid is staying firmly where it is. That’s the best piece of kitchen equipment I’ve ever bought. I would highly recommend it. It’s worth the space it takes up and then some. But just recently there have been two more additions to the kitchen that not only store away well, but also make life in the kitchen a whole lot more enjoyable!
Firstly the Tefal Fresh Express: this is a nifty device that not only saves the end of your fingers but also dramatically reduces mess. Designed to quickly grate, shred or slice a variety of fruit, veg, cheese and even nuts, its spout means that whatever your ingredient it all ends up in your dish – not all over the floor or kitchen worktop!
Priced at around £50 it quickly packs away and needs little room in the kitchen cupboards, let alone on the worktop. Certainly one of the best gadgets I’ve got my hands on recently.
Now this next item may not be anything to do with the actual production of food, but let’s be honest: where would we be without a little music in our lives? Especially, I might add, when we’re working hard in the kitchen. The trouble is, gigantic speakers and expensive audio equipment can be a nuisance in a kitchen where dust clouds of flour and icing sugar have been know to form.
Priced at around £45 the Bitmore E-storm Speaker tucks itself out of the way and delivers great sound – it even looks trendy too. The speaker uses either Bluetooth, wired connection or a memory card to transmit your sounds to the kitchen. Personally, I find the Bluetooth connectivity a little frustrating when switching from device to device, but the size and price more than makes up for that. With it easily available on the Bitmore website, I’m already considering one for the garden too – a little entertainment for both indoor and outdoor cooking!
Editor – Helen Bee Greener
