Kitchen Items

As a person in need of further kitchen cupboard space, it was with great interest that I perused an article which promised to tell me about 9 kitchen items I could get rid of immediately. I don’t know what I expected, but some of the condescending fuckery I found made me laugh in surprise. So I thought I’d go through the list more thoroughly to see if there was anything we should ditch, based on the article’s advice.

The Thermomix

First on the list? The Thermomix (or equivalent).

The Thermie is one of my most treasured kitchen items. But I should throw out this $2000 appliance because a chef called “Fast Ed” says there is “no reason” to have one. Our daily usage is irrelevant; Ed says thermocooking is a “vacation from real food”. Interestingly, one of the main selling points of thermal cookers is how easy they make it to cut out additives and preservatives from our diets. But I guess we just cook fake food in them, Ed?

Ed also reckons the food is “insipid and uninspiring”, yet many people (including me!) rave about making dishes they’d never have attempted without a thermo cooker.

It’s almost as if Bitter Fast Ed has it feels a little threatened by an appliance…

Should you throw out your Thermomix?

Bread Machines

Full disclosure: I don’t own a bread machine. I don’t need one. I have a Thermomix. However, I have had one and it was great! The smell of fresh bread is hard to beat. But Fast Ed is unimpressed. He says the bread they make is terrible and we should instead support local bakeries. Ed says there is “incredible” bread being baked all over the place. I guess this is true. Our local bakery makes a sandwich loaf that is soft and palatable for up to a full week. Incredible, indeed.

Should you bin your breadmaker?

Electric Salt and Pepper Grinders

Fast Ed said that he “couldn’t believe that such a thing actually existed, or needed to exist”.

Perhaps Fast Ed has never met a person who has a disability that affects their grip. Maybe he’s never met an elderly person or someone with arthritis. When my carpal tunnel was at it’s worst, I couldn’t use a manual grinder to save my scrambled eggs. Some of these electric grinders  even have built in lights, helping people with sight impairments to see their seasonings- awesome! And even without a physical need, these grinders are pretty nifty.

Fast Ed says “This is a product answering a question that does not, and should not, exist” but I reckon he’s being judgy, narrow minded and ableist AF.

Should you throw out your electric salt and pepper grinders?

Mechanical Choppers

A different chef, Nicky Riemer, says these handy little gadgets are “redundant” because we have knives. We should all just learn how to use knives properly. I’m not sure about you, but I can’t lay claim to a chef’s skill. And I have no idea where I’d learn that. Can you YouTube knife lessons? 🤷🏼‍♀️

I don’t actually have a mechanical chopper, because Thermomix. However, I don’t see why these choppers are a bad idea. What if you want to chop a bunch of nuts but down have the patience or the coordination? Choppers seem like a much safer option.

Should you ditch your mechanical chopper?

Plastic Egg Poachers

Riemer reckons it’s “easy” to poach eggs in water in a little vinegar. I can see that this might be the case for her, because she is head chef of a fancy restaurant. For us mere mortals, though, it may be a different story.

Those microwave poachers are actually pretty awesome. But Riemer says we have enough plastic in the world. So, be sure to take your plastic egg poachers and throw them into landfill. Because reasons.

Should you toss your plastic egg poachers?

Roll-up Chopping Boards

“Slippery and unstable”, according to Nicky Riemer. And yes, I agree. They’re unpleasant to use as a primary cutting surface. That said, they’re fine for rolling out dough or chopping something small. I don’t recommend them in place of a good, solid board but they’re better than chopping food up directly on the bench. That’s something!

Should you bin your roll-up chopping boards?

Portable banana containers

Another chef, Kristian Vale, says plastic containers to carry bananas are “unnecessary” and defeat the purpose of the bananas own skin.I say that Kristian has not seen a banana that has spent several days “in it’s own skin” at the bottom of a school bag.

Should you abandon the plastic banana containers?

TV infomercial kitchen gadgets

They’re all redundant and pointless and will break within two months. Apparently, we should just “learn to cook naturally”. *rubs sticks together to light fire*

I’ve not actually tried an infomercial gadget. But I imagine some are useful, or no one would buy them, right?

Should you get rid of your infomercial gadgets?

The Garlic Crusher

Just use a knife because you will leave more garlic in the crusher than you will cook with, apparently. Theres no easy solution, like scooping out and re-crushing, available. Once it’s in there, that’s it. 😳

The garlic crusher isn’t essential, it’s true . I mean, you could just throw garlic cloves into your Thermomix or mechanical chopper, after all. Assuming you haven’t binned them already…

Should you give up your garlic crusher?

So, should you ditch any of this stuff?

You could literally keep anything from this list. Don’t ditch the stuff you like to use because of some random chef’s opinion! Where did this smug condescension over kitchen items even come from?!

If you do have stuff you don’t use, take them to your local op shop. As someone who scored a near-new air fryer last week, I can tell you that someone might really appreciate the things you don’t make use of!