Trying to
figure out the arrangement of my kitchen cabinets is forcing me to make some decisions about various items and what to do them. I'm not especially enamored with gizmos and gadgets. I don't have a lot of so called time saving devices in my kitchen (which, I think, often take more time to clean up than are worth the trouble.) I do have a few items however, small appliances, that I use a lot. So much so that I've taken them for granted because now that they are all falling into various states of disrepair, I really miss them.
The three I particularly like and miss, are my Kitchen Aid mixer, my toaster oven, and my bread machine.
 |
Stock online photo of a
Kitchen Aid mixer |
My mixer is over 8 years old. Ever since I lost the paddle to my bread machine, I've been using my Kitchen Aid for kneading bread dough. I use it occasionally for cake batter, whipped cream, or egg whites for meringue. Batters aren't much trouble to mix batters by hand, but whipped cream and egg whites are another matter. Plus, the dough hook frees my hands for other tasks, and does a much better job of developing the gluten.
The problem? The motor. It won't turn the mixing arm. A new mixer would cost $200 - $300, which isn't in the budget at present.
Now, I do have one of these....
 |
| Egg beater |
.... an old handheld egg beater. And I do use it, but it works best for eggs. Anything thicker binds the beaters. Fortunately Dan found a place to
buy Kitchen Aid replacement parts, so perhaps my mixer is one small appliance I won't have to do without.
 |
| My old Breadman Ultimate |
My bread machine is an 8 year old Breadman Ultimate. For it's age, it's held up amazing well. In fact, I used to go through a bread machine a year, even my Zojirushi! This one though, has held up admirably. After losing the kneading paddle I still use the bake cycle for baking loaves of bread.
Eventually I found the paddle when I was putting compost on the garden last year. Now that my mixer is kaput, I really need to see if the old Breadman is up to the task of kneading these days. If not, I have my eye on a
Panasonic SD-YD250 
.
But why get a new bread machine at all? I can still knead by hand after all. True, but what I really like it for is the bake cycle. It takes a whole lot less energy to use, and in the summer especially, it doesn't heat up the kitchen like baking in the big stove. Plus, I can keep it in
the summer kitchen so even the little bit of heat it generates stays outside. In the winter, I'll bake bread in
my wood cookstove gladly. The disadvantage to a bread machine, is that it makes only one loaf at a time. Fortunately it's no trouble to bake a loaf daily if needed.
 |
| My old Euro-Pro has seen better days |
The third small appliance I absolutely love is my toaster oven. Not only does it make toast, but it bakes as well. I've used it for small cakes, muffins, meat, casseroles. It's perfect when cooking for just the two of us. I admit I wasn't much impressed with the convection feature (fan now dead anyway). This didn't actually seem to cook the food any faster, but I'm sure eliminated hot spots, so is probably a good thing. Now, the oven's upper heating element has died.
Mine is about 5 years old and the brand, Euro-Pro, is not one I would buy again nor recommend. It did a fair job, but in accommodating two baking racks, the heating elements are too far from the slices of bread to toast them quickly. After reading endless customer reviews, I'll replace it if I ever can, with the
Cuisinart TOB-195
.
The reason I like a toaster oven, is for the same reasons as the bread machine. It's portable so I can move it out of the kitchen in the summer, plus it's more energy efficient than turning on the big oven every time I need to bake a small item for two, or heat up leftovers.
There are a couple of possible alternatives I'd like to try. One is a
cob oven. The other is a solar oven.
This website (link courtesy of
Dani) has loads of excellent DIY solar cooker plans. I've had my eye on the
Windshield Shade Solar Funnel Cooker all summer. Unfortunately I haven't been able to find any of those windshield shades. Both a cob and solar oven would have their limitations and wouldn't be for year round use, but would be excellent for outdoor summer cooking. Some day (after the house is done?) Dan hopes to work on a barbeque / smoker / outdoor oven. But as with all things around here, it must await its time.
One small appliance that I do not / will not have, is a microwave oven. They are touted as being time and energy saving, but when
our cat Rascal developed feline lymphoma I researched his diet. I learned some things about microwaves that caused me to immediately throw ours out. This is not simply, beware if you have a pacemaker, but what microwaving actually does to the food. Several good articles (if you're interested) are:
Now that I've started working on
my kitchen cabinetry plans, I need to make some decisions. I'm working on where things will go, and have to ask myself, do I want to fix or replace these three items, or learn to do without? I like them all for the reasons I mention, especially the energy savings. Still, if we are on route to becoming self-sufficient and all that this implies, why would I want to replace them at all? If we can ever get off grid, these may no longer be practical, depending upon how much of our own electricity we can generate. Then again, considering how far in the future that probably is, even new appliances will probably have worn out by then!
and 
And there are certainly apprenticeships and hands-on classes to gain a working knowledge, although none anywhere near us. Even so, in the end it all boils down to our piggy bank, which usually houses more moths than cash. Still, it's a wonderful dream and I wish I could make it come true for him. 
