A meat slicer is not just for slicing meat. I have one and use it often.
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Forgot to mention, I also get my sushi rice off of ebay. If you don’t mind having a large bag in the back of your pantry, you can get a great deal on it. I’ve used it for other dishes (not just sushi). I’ve had really good luck with this brand, so a big bag of it made sense (for me).
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No Asian stores anywhere nearby? I wouldn’t have thought to buy groceries off ebay, but if there isn’t a better source, why not.
Holy moly, that’sa big meatball!
Although you mentioned that you use the rice for other dishes, which vinegar do you prefer when making sushi?
The only rice I have is when I raid Japanese supermarkets (in Japan) before the flight back to the U.S. I tend to get a few pre-cooked packs of koshihikari, soy sauce, and shichimi tougarashi. Oh, and of course, Kit-Kats.
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I like Marukan Rice Vinegar. I tried Kikkoman, but didn’t like it.
True dat. It cuts fingers really well, too.
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You call that big? I buy rice in 50 lb sacks! Mrs. ricepad and I go through a couple of those a year. Obviously, it’s our Rice Of Choice, and even makes a decent risotto.
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I think there is an Asian market in Phoenix (45 minutes away), but I haven’t tried it. My local grocery stores all seem to overcharge for specialty items like sushi rice and nori. I guess there isn’t a big demand for it, so they have to recoup the stocking costs??
I have no idea where some of the sellers on ebay get their products, could be coming direct from a restaurant supplier. I’ve never had any problems or issues, so if its a good price to purchase in bulk… I buy it.
I’ve purchased other dry goods off of ebay… (black peppercorns, pretzel salt, alfalfa sprout seeds, bulk popcorn, etc.)
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It does have a bread blade that came with it, too, but I’m pretty used to just slicing my bread with a knife.
What all do you use yours for?
I do think it’s a big bag, primarily I don’t generally eat rice unless I’m in East Asia, or having the pre-cooked koshihikari with sashimi/jjigae.
Mostly bread and cheese. I don’t have a decent mandoline and if I need a large quantity of a veg, like cabbage or potatoes I have used it.
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Oh, man. That is a very specific item.
I have plenty of fairly specialized and esoteric stuff, but my one year rule keeps it under control. If I have not used something for a year, it is probably going off to start a new life.
I used to do that with clothing. I’d put everything in a box, label the contents with specificity, and if I didn’t open the box in a year, off it went.
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Okay, so I learned what several things were called already by reading this page (e.g. a refractometer and an offset spatula–I have one of the latter, but didn’t know what it was called…it’s also great for getting the last bits out of jars). However, try as I might, I am still clueless about what a buffalo iron might be, though I found a quiz online about Julia Child’s kitchen (and her collection of kitchen tools) with this question, “What is a “buffalo iron”? Why did Mrs. Child use it?” No answers to the quiz could I find alas! I’m picturing something you would use to brand a buffalo, but that cannot be right! I remember using something in my grandmother’s kitchen that looked like it might be called some kind of “iron.” We had a butterfly shape that we dipped in cookie batter and deep fried till the dough was crisp and fell off the iron and had to be fished out of the hot oil. Turned it over and sprinkled with powdered sugar. But the things I used in my grandmother’s kitchen I would like to find and have and use seldom are pots de crème pots. She had china ones with little lids, and I’d like to find the recipe we made too!
I know the point of this is not Esoterica and Ephemera we would like to have and then not use, but the other thing that appeared at my grandmother’s table were finger bowls. I’d like to have these too!
So, I have owned two immersion blenders and given them away (two adult children were happy to take these off my hands), and every time I do, I think I would like to have one, but I have a regular blender that does an excellent job…I gave away one sous vide machine and seem to have acquired another. Haven’t tried using it, but think I should either use it or give this one away too…
I had sourdough starter for a long time. It began to feel like a very greedy pet that I just wasn’t getting much from, so I let it die. Still feel guilty about that! The times I used it, I really loved having it and the loaves it produced. Still…much work there.
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We have a tight galley kitchen and have moved rarely used culinary items to a dedicated shelving unit in our garage. Off the top of my head I can think of :
A large capacity 1980’s Cuisinart FP (it’s a powerful workhorse but I seldom need that volume at this point in our lives).
A pasta maker, also circa 1980’s.
A bread machine.
A Ronco rotisserie roaster oven.
A vintage Waring blender.
A Presto Salad Shooter.
An OXO spiralizer.
A non-stick electric skillet.
An electric coffee maker with an insulated pot, and a coffee grinder (we make our coffee now a cup at a time with a Melitta pour-over cone or an Aeropress and get our beans ground to order from a local coffee roaster).
Two different sizes of Nesco countertop roaster ovens.
An ebelskiver pan
A LeCreuset fondue pot
An electric ice cream maker
An electric induction burner…come to think of it that can go. We replaced our old gas range this year with a new one that’s more compatible with propane and I finally have satisfactory BTU’s.
A few years ago I tried to give a good friend my seldom used Kitchen Aid stand mixer but she didn’t feel comfortable taking it from me as a gift, so we agreed on $50.00. I am an avid non-baker. We did manage to give away our sous vide device and the air fryer - neither of which were successful purchases. We also gave away our pizza stone and pizza peel. The shelving unit is about at full capacity.
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Julia Child named the buffalo iron in honor of a cook on a train who used one to keep boiling water boiling. It consists of a fat steel rod with a wooden handle. The business end is kept in the fire, red hot, until needed. Then it’s plunged into the water to give up its heat.
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This is a terrific thread. I failed to identify specifics. I had a spiralizer but not for long. Zucchini is not pasta. Period. I have a larding needle. A few thin strips of bacon in an eye of the round roast is quite tasty. I was just thinking the other day about truffle shavers and wondering how they would do with garlic, which I almost always seem to prefer sliced or minced. I also love truffles but rarely get them. I have concluded that despite being cool gadgets, egg toppers are not a good fit for me. Sorry, but I gave away my pot au creme cups. I still have, and use for messy finger food like crab, finger bowls. I have been known to order water with no ice for that very purpose in barbecue joints. I have a few somewhat esoteric copper pans like a pommes vapeur, a daubiere, a sugar pan, and a milk pan. Also a bit of cool but still useful tinned steel items like a pate crown mold, a fish poacher (actually more of a trout pan), and a Charlotte mold that cranks out soufflés. The soufflé dishes get used mainly for summer aspics and batches of hummus. I have a few esoteric bits of ceramic like a vinegar pot, a faux pheasant in crust pate mold, and a bean pot. I keep an old balance type scale but use the Oxo much more. I have kept an old tinned basket that is spherical but has an opening top half. It is a great salad spinner but can only be used outdoors. Inside, it is another Oxo job. Speaking of Oxo, the only item in my kitchen I wish were different is the Oxo can opener. I have a melon baller set, unused, and a scissor-like meatball meatball maker, candidates for the next purge. I would pitch the tea-ball if it were not so good for bouquet garni. I have a ravioli attachment for my Atlas, but it, too, is outward bound. I prefer larger ravioli. Espresso makers are very common these days, but lever Elektras dating to the 1960s may fall under esoteric. All in all this is a very well equipped and largely old fashioned and French kitchen in which pretty much everything, odd or not, gets used. It is, after all, assembled for cooking! Esoterica I would like? None. My house, other than the kitchen, is pretty Kondo. The kitchen is pretty darned full.
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I love my scissor-like meatball meatball maker, I just used them Saturday to make albondigas. I also use my tea ball for bouquet garni.
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I have a never-used apple peeler I bought because it looked like a great feat of engineering. But I never peel apples, so there it sits in the back of a cabinet.
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