We circumvented the earth to avoid I-10.
Actually I thought I posted this was my first visit west of Beltway 8 in several light years.
Haven’t been back across Beltway 8 in two years with apologies to my good friend Jaymes.
Look for a Galveston/Surfside review in minutes or days.
In my youth I’ve been well known to take Alternate US 90 through Richmond and hang a right on 71 at Altair through Columbus.
Underrated:
Strainers - sieves, colanders, chinois, etc. I have at least 9 of different diameters and mesh/hole size. I use at least one a day and would have a hard time being without them.
Overrated (for my kitchen):
Food processor. A knife is easier for the quanties that I usually am cooking. Most years I’d be surprised if I use it 3 times.
I just acquired a Viking stand mixer. It has some drawbacks but I like it a lot. I have no other experience with any Viking stuff.
The prior owners picked out the appliances, which I would never have chosen. Viking is very expensive for sub standard products, design, service etc. God forbid you try to get service on an item Viking no longer manufactures.
Our wall ovens take much too long to preheat (one hour minimum to get to 400*), the vent hood is so poorly designed that it’s a hazard to one’s forehead (have bled multiple times), the ignition system in the range is utter crap, and the dishwasher that did not wash anything had baskets that were rusting prematurely - it was an Asko that Viking re-branded. Viking’s “'service” involved endless run-around that resulted in nothing getting repaired, no one knowing anything, and zero service. We looked into getting replacement baskets, but they cost nearly as much as a brand new Bosch Benchmark dishwasher. Every time I do the dishes, I am thankful we got rid of that horrid dish"washer." The only thing that is OK is the overpriced wine fridge, which does nothing special besides keeping the temperature to +/-2 degrees of our setting.
Rant over. 
Came back to the thread to add wafflemaker to the Under cat.
While we make a fair amt. of waffles in our home, the whole will it waffle thing is just as much fun. We use the iron for grilled cheese, eggs, hashbrowns, rice cakes, reheating french toast, tofu, and a few experiments…the book celebrating this has plenty of inspiration via the archived webpage. We like the crispy edges and it works faster than a pannini or pan press…you use less oil/butter too.
I don’t make enough waffle anymore, but when I did. A waffle maker is simply irreplaceable.
Haven’t seen it posted yet but one thing I think is underrated is a spider. I use it for small pastas all the time and anything I need to fish out of liquids. 
Hi hi hi. I just bought my friend a spider. She asked me why it is called a spider and I said that it really should be called a spider web.
Ours came with a wok and we probably use the spider more than the wok.
Fantastic jar opener inherited from my Mom.
overrated- dedicated popcorn maker. Works no better than a saucepan
Actually, I just bought a Whirlypop. I have an induction stovetop, and I can’t shake the saucepan on it like I could on my old electric burner stove. So for me, it works!
Try the Lekue Microwave Popcorn Popper. I love mine and use it at least 5 times a week. Unfortunately Amazon has increased prices on most everything recently. I purchased mine for $15.
I received some 1/8 teaspoon and 1/2 tablespoon measuring spoons last year and I love them. I often cut recipes in half, or even quarters (especially new, experimental recipes), and these make breaking down recipe ratios much easier.
I now only buy measuring spoons sets that go down to 1/2 and 1/8 teaspoon. I like the black Oxo set best. I have 5-6 sets. One in the kitchen, lab, and in each of my bar tool sets, as well as my portable knife roll and cooking tool kit I take with me traveling and to work events. Like you, I use the small measures when testing cocktail and food recipes where I make smaller batches to sample, then scale up later. I also have them on my bar tool purchase list for training and opening new bars.
I have the exact same one I got from my mom, in the exact sake condition. I recently got similar ones new on Amazon to replace in my mom’s kitchen (where I do the cooking for them) and as gifts for several friends. They are great for those whose hands are a bit weaker than they used to be, or with arthritis. They make opening jars pain free. Something a few years ago I never knew I would need.
Underrated, odd size measuring spoons. I just got a set with 2 TBSP, 1.5 TBSP, and 2 tsp, and I am using them far more than I thought I would. At least once daily.
Even more underrated than that, for me, were heavy gauge half-size and quarter-size sheet pans. I finally purchased these and I don’t understand how I lived without them. Silpat sheets fit perfectly in them. And they are not just for use in the oven, but serve as prep trays, too. And I realized that many recipes are written specifically with half sheet pans in mind. They don’t warp like my cheapo pans. I’ve baked bread on them in a pinch. My cookies are coming out better than ever.
And finally, stainless steel /glass prep bowls. I just went nuts and purchased all sizes, even multiples, and it’s made life in the kitchen even more enjoyable.
I finally bought heavy gauge sheet pans a few years ago, and it was life changing! I used to buy the cheaper cookie sheets before, thinking they were all the same, but I realized there was a huge difference in baking quality. Items bake more evenly and consistently on the heavier trays.
What brands of sheet pans did the two of you, bmore… & boogie…, buy?
A couple years ago, Costco was carrying the Nordic Ware Commercial baking sheets. It was a set of 2 half sheets and 1 quarter sheet for $24.99 or something like that. I use parchment instead of Silpats and I get a nice even brown on my foods (I had Silpats before but I’m not a big fan).
