8 Near-Useless Things You Come across Way Too Often in Kitchens

1. Article 8 Near-Useless Things You Come across Way Too Often in Kitchens Okay, we get it, you think you’re a pro chef! But chances are, you’re not, and even more likely, you’ve not got access to a professional-scale kitchen. That means you’ve got very real cost and space constraints on the equipment that you can use. The good news is that the vast majority of food, including extremely interesting, intricate dishes and desserts, can be made with the simplest tools. Sure, there are some things on this list which might be necessary for you, if you need home-made bread on the regular, or can genuinely taste the difference in tagine-dish-made tagines, but for the most part, these pieces are a waste of time and space. If you need homemade pasta and ice cream every day, by all means, keep the machines. In the spirit of functional kitchen minimalism, however, here are 8 pieces of common kitchen which are not only take up lots of room, and are potentially expensive, but are also next to useless in day-to- day life! Big Cheap Kitchen Knife Sets First off, the problem with cheap knives. You might think having a huge array of cheap blades, one for every imaginable task is a great way to ensure your kitchen can handle everything you can throw at it. You’d be wrong! Cheap knives are not worth the trouble, especially when you buy a big set of them. They break, they rust, they’re awkward to learn and develop essential cutting skills on. They require habitual sharpening to keep safe, and worst of all they clutter and mess up your kitchen! Clutter is the polar opposite of efficiency and minimalism, so get rid of them. What’s the alternative? Two or three basic professional quality blades. A chefs 8” knife, a paring knife and a bread knife is all any kitchen really needs, so get rid of that cleaver, you don’t need it! A minimalist chef knife set only needs three blades to be totally effective.

2. Article Electric Carving Knife These can come in handy when dealing with big chunks of meat, but as previously mentioned, if you’ve got quality knives, properly sharpened, they’ll be able to deal with absolutely anything you can throw at them. Electric carving knives can be expensive, and for such an occasional-use tool, just aren’t justifiable. Keep to the professional knives, and not only will you be able to cook everything you need to, you’ll keep improving your cutting and blade control skills, perfect for any budding chef. The easier route isn’t always the quickest or most effective! Ice Cream Machine There was a trend a few years ago now, where everyone ended up going out and buying these bulky contraptions, which admittedly do make good ice cream, if you know what you’re doing. The trouble is, how often do you need homemade ice cream? Especially considering the availability of cheaper, higher-quality ice cream nowadays. Ice cream machines are a pointless and frivolous addition, and unless you’ve got a lot of space to waste, don’t bother! There are plenty of recipes out there for ice cream that don’t require a single-purpose machine, so just get browsing, and clear some space. Pasta Maker Sure, homemade pasta can be absolutely great, but do you really need a specialised machine, stood at the ready, just in case you decide to turn into an Italian restaurant instead of family home? Of course not! Pasta makers are bulky and expensive, and ultimately a waste of money, if you’re only going to use them a couple of times. Plus, much like with ice cream, if you’re only going to make it a couple of times, make use of all the great recipes out there that don’t require a machine! It’s not absolutely necessary to have very occasional homemade pasta, just a bulky, expensive time-saver.

3. Article Wok Quality wok pans are expensive, and they take up a lot of room in whatever cupboard you keep them in. You’ve really got to ask yourself the question; how much Asian food am I really going to be cooking? More than once a week, get a wok, less than that, stick to the frying pan and you’ll do absolutely fine. Bread Machine Has anyone ever eaten bread from a bread machine, and genuinely thought to themselves; that was vastly superior to a cheap crusty loaf from the local bakery, and at half the effort and cost well worth my time! Nope, they haven’t. Sure, you can make nice enough bread with a machine, but the set-up costs; machine, yeast, flour, seeds, etc. can run into moderately expensive, and you won’t see any real return unless you’ve been getting through two loaves of shop bought bread a week. On top of that, they take up loads of room in the kitchen! They’re bulky, expensive and have no place in our minimalist, sensible kitchen! Specialised Cooking Pans and Dishes I’m talking paella pans, tajine dishes, bamboo steamers. These are cooking apparatus that you use for exactly one or two dishes, exactly once or twice a year. They can be expensive if you’re going for authenticity, and sadly, nine times out of ten, you won’t even be able to tell the difference in taste. Make do with a basic pan and pot set, and leave the specialised stuff to people with too much room and money to spend. It’s all about the skills, not the equipment! Single Use Machines Similar thing here really. Like mentioned with pasta makers, ice cream machines, and break makers, if you’re not mad keen on the one itemyour machine creates, you shouldn’t own it. If you’re not making pasta once a week, or constantly having homemade ice cream on the go in the freezer, there’s simply no point to occupying a big chunk of your kitchen space with an expensive machine you rarely use.

4. Article Plus shortcuts come with a real cost; they’re a barrier to actual practical cooking skills. If you always use a mixer, how will you learn to mix properly by hand? All those things listed here can be made without the fancy machine too! About The Company Samura started its journey in 2003. They made their first product lines with the Japanese companies MAC and Mcusta. Japanese philosophy and traditions run deep in their DNA. They experimented for four years and created Samura — a symbiosis of Japanese knife tradition and European reliability. Samura knives are made from the best Japanese and Swedish steel, hardened to 58 - 61 HRC. The blades have a Japanese shape and fine taper from the spine, which gives them their fantastic cutting performance. Samura have wide range of kitchen knife, chef’s knife, cutlery knives, fillet knife, boning knife and much more.