I disagree with Alton Brown on the following point:

[xiphias]

Alton Brown has said that the only uni-tasker in his kitchen is the fire extinguisher, but I actually have a number of uni-taskers in my kitchen which I find genuinely useful.

The most obvious two, the two that everyone I know evangelizes about, the two that I got BECAUSE everyone else evangelizes about them, and they were RIGHT -- electric kettle, and rice cooker. If a person eats rice more than, oh, a couple times a month, it is SO worth it. And, of course, if a person eats rice a couple times a month, then gets a rice cooker, the person will start eating rice a couple times a week. It changes making rice from a cooking task, if not a particularly difficult one, into something that doesn't even count as cooking -- just something else that you do WHILE you're cooking.

Alton Brown has tried to claim that a rice cooker isn't ACTUALLY a multi-tasker, because you can make any type of porridge in it, and that some of them can also steam vegetables, but I think that's a bit of pilpul.

An electric kettle is a uni-tasker, too -- the only thing it does is boil water. Which it does better than anything else does. And since boiling water is one of the most common things one does in a kitchen, it's quite reasonable to have a specialized tool to do it.

Then there's my ice cream maker. It's one of the cheap ones, where you leave the bowl in the freezer overnight, and the bowl is made with that stuff that gets really, really cold and stays cold for a long time in it. Which is the cheaper kind. And I don't make ice cream all THAT often, but I do make it sometimes. I don't think it's possible to make ice cream without an ice cream maker, so there's a uni-tasker, necessary for the task.

I use my waffle iron fairly rarely, but that's because it's SUCH a pain to clean, and the waffles it makes aren't even that good. When I was growing up, my parents had a waffle iron that was much sturdier, easier to clean, and which had interchangeable plates so that it could be used as a sandwich press, or opened flat and used as a griddle, too. THAT'S a tool I'd buy. I've not seen it in my parents' house in the past, oh, twenty years or so, so I suspect it died somewhere along the way. So I guess I'm not going to count the waffle iron as a useful uni-tasker, since my ideal waffle iron wouldn't be one.

Any favorite uni-taskers you guys have?

Comments

[browngirl.livejournal.com]

[Refrains from comment on rice cookers]

You have me pondering the definition of 'unitasker' -- an ice cream maker only makes ice cream, sherbert, and sorbet, but you can make any flavor you want from gazpacho to saffron to quince and rosehip. I'm not sure I'd call it a unitasker, or that Mr. Brown would.

Along those lines, I loved my bread machine, back in the day. I no longer use it (I live with tigerbright, who bakes the best bread I've ever eaten) but I did adore it for doing the kneading for me.

I also adore vegetable peelers. They're so much easier for peeling than knives (which sounds very mundane, but I never used one till I was an adult).

[xiphias.livejournal.com]

Alton Brown's feeling about ice cream makers is that they're not worth it, but that he might change his mind someday if he stops having easy access to liquid nitrogen.

[greenlily.livejournal.com]

I suspect he's not counting veg peelers as unitaskers because you can also use them to shave very thin slices off blocks of cheese or chocolate if they're chilled enough.

Veg peelers are awesome...my siblings and I were allowed to use them way before we were old enough for knives. Peeling a whole carrot, and then having that carrot be part of a dinner that the whole family is going to eat, is a really big deal when you're 4.

[gingicat]

I'm thinking that since I'm unlikely to get my Fridays back any time soon, that perhaps we should get another bread machine. Which would also lessen the activation energy for experimenting with different kinds of breads.

[bercilakslady.livejournal.com]

I adore my sodastream. It only carbonates water, but that saves me time and money and haulage of seltzer.

[xiphias.livejournal.com]

You're the second person I know who feels that way. One of my friends personally goes through at least two liters of seltzer herself per day, and then there's the rest of her family. I think they probably manage a gallon a day of seltzer, and would have a great deal of difficulty doing that without their seltzer maker. I think the only things she drinks significant amounts of are seltzer, decaf coffee, and herbal tea.

[ceo]

A fire extinguisher is not a uni-tasker. I know this because I once used one to roll out pie dough, when I was moving soon and had packed my rolling pin.

Speaking of which, a rolling pin might be considered a uni-tasker, though it does have potential self-defense applications.

I was quite fond of my pump oil sprayer, but it started leaking after I made the mistake of leaving it pressurized.

Interestingly, I didn't find the rice cooker all that much of an improvement over the stovetop, but that might be because it was a really cheap one we picked up at a yard sale.

Of course, as a software engineer, I am somewhat drawn to the philosophy that a tool should do one thing and do it really well.

[xiphias.livejournal.com]

I am very much a fan of that theory for software, but that's because hard drive storage is so much cheaper than cabinet storage.

Then again, when I think of my toolkit, I'm not so sure. A plumber's snake does exactly one thing, but, when you've got a clogged drain, that's exactly the thing you want done. My most frequent go-to tool is my cordless drill, which is actually quite the multi-tasker, as it is my primary screwdriver as well as my primary put-holes-in-things-er.

[cbpotts.livejournal.com]

I have one, and I love it to pieces, although it is the kitschiest thing ever: it's a 'sandwich maker' that you put a sandwich in, it gets toasted for about 3 minutes and then you have these little hot pocket thingies. And I tell you verily that my children will eat little hot pockets by the bushel. Grilled cheese, tuna fish, apple butter on toast, you name it, they disappear faster than the speed of light (not previously thought to be possible, but today, why not?) I LOVE my unitasking sandwich maker.

[ailbhe]

I want one, but I want the kind I grew up with, which is incredibly easy to clean. I love egg sandwiches followed by banana, in those. Awesome winter breakfast or lunch.

[jazzfish]

The crepe maker. I've actually got TWO (same model, different thrift stores) because that cuts down the time spent standing around waiting for them to cook. I justify this on the grounds that a) crepes are cool, and b) breakfast crepes are totally different from dinner crepes.

I /have/ a waffler, and it's even one of the kind with removable and reversible plates for sammiching/griddling. I'm not very fond of it, though, and if there were another purge it would be one of the things in line to go.

I suppose the toaster's a unitasker as well, and I'm rather attached to it since it's a work of art in its own right.

My Uni-Taskers include

[unquietsoul5.livejournal.com]

Toaster
Coffee Machine
Hand Mixer

Re: My Uni-Taskers include

[ragman-jack.livejournal.com]

These. Though I once used a hand mixer as a blender to make a milkshake.

[desperance.livejournal.com]

Okay, so evangelise at me. What is it about rice cookers? As far as I can see they take up a lot of space in order to do one of the simplest kitchen tasks I know, for which a saucepan is perfectly adequate. I cook rice four, maybe five times a week, and I would no sooner think to buy a machine to do this for me than I would buy pre-chopped onions (which I have just discovered, to my horror, that my supermarket sells).

Unless, of course, you can persuade me differently...?

[xiphias.livejournal.com]

You don't take up a burner, and can just throw it on and ignore it. You have to actually pay attention to cooking rice in a pot. I throw rice into the cooker, THEN start thinking about what to cook for dinner.

[snippy]

I have an apple peeler-corer-slicer, because I like to eat fried apples-n-onions in the winter and I like to cook them for guests, and it's much faster and easier to run half-a-dozen apples through the tool than to peel, core, and slice them by hand. For one or two apples I just do it with a paring knife, but for any more than two, I pull out the tool.

I've heard it also makes nice potato chips. I've sliced potatoes with it for scalloped potatoes but found it didn't improve the ROI enough over using a paring knife given the less regular shapes of potatoes.

[greenlily.livejournal.com]

Fried-apples-n-onions! That is one of the recipes in my Little House cookbook that I have always wanted to try.

[seventorches.livejournal.com]

Can Opener.

[xiphias.livejournal.com]

True. Interesting historical fact: the tin can was invented in 1810, and was in wide use by 1846. However, the can opener wasn't invented until 1858.

So, yeah, you CAN use a hammer and chisel to open a can, and I suppose that means that a can opener is a superfluous unitasker, but I've got, like, three.

And, of course, I have a brand preference. Just as the Dixon-Ticonderoga #2 pencil is the best pencil ever invented, and the Pink Pearl is the best eraser ever invented, the Swing-A-Way Model 407 is the best can opener ever made.

The sucky thing is that it is not as good as it used to be. Amco outsourced manufacturing to China, and the ones you get today have a slightly looser top cutting wheel, and a slightly lower quality steel. The result is that you have to replace a modern Swing-A-Way every five to ten years, as opposed to the old ones which would last twenty or more.

[linenoise.livejournal.com]

I'm in the anti-rice-cooker camp, because it takes up counterspace that I can't spare, and I've made perfect stovetop rice for enough years that it doesn't require much thought.

I am totally an evangelist for the electric kettle, however. Mine is almost due for replacement, I think, after years of near-daily use.

The toaster is another obvious one, although for the first week I was in the new apartment I didn't have it, and actually made toast under the broiler. It was actually better toast, but not even *close* to being worth the labor.

The Sodastream is another brilliant unitasker that I wish I had again. Had one at the old house, but it wasn't mine, so I didn't get custody when we moved out. And I haven't justified the replacement cost to myself, yet, I just drink still water. But the only thing it does is make seltzer, but it does it beautifully.

The silliest unitasker I ever saw was on someone's wedding registry. It was an asparagus pot, for boiling asparagus. Hugely tall and skinny, to the point where I can't imagine it had good heat-transfer at all. And really, you can't just put more water in a plain old stockpot? You have to cook the asparagus standing upright? Who even eats *that* much asparagus?

[xiphias.livejournal.com]

I've used an asparagus pot. Once. It doesn't do as good a job as my 12-inch frypan. I cook my asparagus on its side, rather than vertically.

The theory behind the asparagus pot is that the base of asparagus is tougher than the tops, and therefore need more cooking. The problem with this theory is that the base of asparagus is tougher than the tops and therefore needs to be broken off and used for stock, rather than cooked and eaten. No matter how much you cook the woody part of asparagus, it's still woody. You break the asparagus, and the point where it naturally breaks is the point where it's tender enough to be worth eating. Throw the rest of it in your "scraps for stock" pile, put a steamer in a deep frypan, and cook the asparagus on its side so the whole stalk cooks evenly.

Much better results, and doesn't need a dedicated utensil. A unitasker that does the job WORSE than the general tool is the most useless kind.

[ailbhe]

Electric kettle, toaster, avocado slicer, apple slicer-and-corer, corkscrew, corn-on-the-cob holders (though actually we mainly use ours for eating olives these days), butter knives, jam pots, egg separator, egg slicer (does slices or wedges), citrus juicer, pepper mill, screwtop-lid opener, tin opener (two, because Rob likes the kind with no moving parts and I like this kind, coffee filter paper holder, potato masher, toaster tongs, milkjugs, sugarbowl, coffee measure, spirits measure, jelly mold, carving fork... Gosh.

[nellorat.livejournal.com]

What's an avocado slicer like?

I have a collection of Jell-O molds, candy molds, cookie cutters, muffin tins--often related to hearts, sun/moon/stars, and/or cows. I hadn't even thought of them as related to cooking, but of course they are, and the ultimate uni-taskers!

[rosefox]

Wooden spoons. They stir things.

The microplane. It grates things.

...I am maybe not understanding what makes something a "uni-tasker".

[ailbhe]

things plural is why yours aren't.

[phaedra-lari.livejournal.com]

Coffee maker, toaster, SodaStream, rice cooker, electric kettle, salad spinner, citrus juicer, ice cream machine. I think that's it.

[kiya]

I believe our salad spinner is also doing duty as "awesome toddler toy".

... this is perhaps not kitchen usefulness.

[yehoshua.livejournal.com]

Soda Stream and kettle. That's about it. I have a coffer percolator, but I use the coffee to develop film sometimes (a variation on cafenol), so I'm calling that a multi-tasker.

Honestly, I have never been impressed with any rice cooker I've ever owned, from the $20 one I got at Ann & Hope to a fancy Japanese one that would play the manufacturer's glorious zaibatsu anthem at me when the rice was done. I've gone back to just cooking on the range, for the quiet if nothing else.

For an unexpected multi-tasker, I have an enormous cast-iron two-burner griddle that makes an absolutely fantastic print press for drying/flattening photographic prints. It does, however, sometimes make the eggs taste like photo fixer. Another reason I should switch to using cafenol for everything.

[cellio]

Garlic press, can opener, toaster, kettle, vegetable peeler, bread machine (theoretically it does jam too but I don't), one-cup coffee maker (K-cups), pepper mill, meat thermometer, egg slicer... or do I misunderstand what Alton Brown means by "uni-tasker"?

[dianavilliers.livejournal.com]

The only alternative to a rice cooker is the stovetop? I use a one litre pyrex jug in the microwave as my rice cooker, for the microwave's built in timing abilities and variable energy input, and the pyrex's non-stick-ness.

[submarine-bells.livejournal.com]

I was starting to wonder if my household was the only one that cooks rice in the microwave. It's dead simple. Put twice as much boiling water as rice in a largeish container. Bung it in the microwave (uncovered) for 5mins. Stir, repeat. And there you have cooked rice, with very little effort or attention.

Would a rice cooker really be a noteable improvement over this approach? I'm all for simplifying cooking tasks, but it's a tradeoff between labour-saving and surface space, and my surfaces are rather crowded already.

[thnidu.livejournal.com]

French press. No, it's *not* naughty! (Though it's fun to imagine what might be and deserving of that name.) We have two, one for 1 cup and one for up to 4.

(Ooo, my userpic really suits this one!)

[nex0s.livejournal.com]

SODA STREAM!!! Use this at least once a day. I pretty much never drink still water. Even my 2 year old likes seltzer!

CAPPUCINO MAKER OMFG. Yeah... I guess I *could* use it for the hot water stream to make tea, but I never do. I just use it to make cappuccinos and lattes and love it. I use it every morning without fail. I adore it, and it was worth every cent we spent on it.

Bread maker. We use this about once a week. Sometimes less, sometimes more, it depends. Fantastic machine.

Soymilk maker. You can make other kinds of milk in it (nut milks especially) but we never do. Right now I'm taking a break from it, because I'm overwhelmed with everything ELSE I have to do.

Oh, and my favorite uni-use tool that has turned out to be the biggest multitasker in my kitchen? My oyster shucker. I bought it to shuck oysters with 3 years ago, and I have yet to buy oysters to shuck. However, I use it every day - to pry open a package, score a plastic bag, bust through seal tape on packaging, lift up stuck flaps, break apart the glue that holds boxes together so I can recycle them... on and on and on. It was $1.50 at a restaurant supply store, and I intend it to be my housewarming gift for friends for the rest of my life. So amazingly useful.

N.

N.

[adrian-turtle.livejournal.com]

I have a non-electric kettle, rather than an electric kettle. I think my kettle still counts as a unitasker, though. (I would much rather take up the burner space than the counter space. Counter space is quite a bit more precious.)

My dishwasher is definitely a unitasker. I might appreciate one that worked really WELL, but I've never encountered one that meets my standards. (Not that I have free rein to buy one, as an apartment dweller on a tight budget.) I want it to get dishes thoroughly clean without scrubbing before or after. I don't want it to smell bad in use or afterwards, and I don't want it to leave any perceptible residue on the dishes. I would really prefer a cabinet or shelves or something in that space, rather than the current dishwasher which I need to fuss with every week or so to keep mildew from growing in it.

[kerrypolka.livejournal.com]

I ruined rice every single time I tried to make it until I got a rice cooker. It's completely equivalent to an electric kettle.

A garlic wheel is my favourite uni-tasker - it was the least pricey wedding gift we received, and by far my favourite.

We also have an olive stoner, which has made tarts and pasta dishes a lot easier to make.

[fatpie42.livejournal.com]

Does the toaster count as uni-tasker? All it does is toast bread. Sure it'll toast muffins, pitta breads, crumpets, etc. but it's all BREAD right?

I kinda already have a rice cooker. It's called a saucepan. What's the uni-tasking rice cooker do differently?

[xiphias.livejournal.com]

A pop-up toaster is a unitasker; a toaster oven is not.

[jehanna.livejournal.com]

Maybe my set of cake decorating tips? I don't use them often now that I'm out of pastry school, but they're awesome and single-use.

I've been considering buying a rice cooker for some time now, since I am entirely capable of letting the water boil away from rice if I get distracted. If it can steam veggies also, that'd be handy. Does anybody have a favorite brand?

[interactiveleaf.livejournal.com]

I use large cake decorating tips when I make deviled eggs, to get the egg mixture back into the egg shell.

And speaking of deviled eggs (I'm making several dozen tomorrow, I think, or later today) my electric kettle isn't a unitasker; I use it to boil eggs. I wouldn't have one without a mouth wide enough to admit eggs.

Add eggs, add water, bring to boil, let set for 15-30 minutes.