What Are You Coveting/Waiting /Saving For?

Better that your passion is degustation rather than elimination.

My BIL and SIL installed a Toto toilet to go (literally) with their Squat-a-Potty. The Toto even has a remote!

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Although it is not something I covet, since we already have it: a second refrigerator stored in the garage. This was a purchase in response to Covid weirdnesses about food in stores.

Very handy. My lifestyle dissuades me from buying fresh every day or two. I go to the grocery store about twice a week. I now have the luxury of freezing ducks and small turkeys when they go on sale.

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The Vitamix is on my short list! I just need to see how much space I have under the cabinets. I know they make a more compact sized one, as well.

They used to (the “S” series), but now a days the bases are all pretty much the same size (except the Vitamix “One” - which is not really a Vitamix)… the difference is in the size of the jars.

Best deal on a low profile jar unit is currently:

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Because many VM buyers are merely covetous and don’t use theirs a lot, there are lightly-used units in thrift stores, Craigslist and at yard sales. I found a good all-metal 3600 awhile back for $15.

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I have used a Waring for may years. It has a nice, small footprint, a glass container, and simple two speed operation. The commercial ones are ridiculously expensive and make me wonder what they offer. My home use model is quite efficient.

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I wouldn’t mind a fancy new food processor, as the one I own is ancient. Maybe Black Friday or Prime day will make this possible.

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I’m saving up for a Molteni stove with a French cooktop, 8 gas burners and 2 ovens.

I’m waiting for a Demeyere Proline 20 cm frying pan - I took my first one to my fathers place to cook two chicken breasts in it, and I forgot it there. My father loves the pan so much on his induction stovetop, so I gave it to him.

Now I need a replacement - I’ve become quite a fan of my two Demeyere Proline frying pans (24 cm & 28 cm), and I want the 20 cm size also for cooking smaller stuff.

If you want fancy, the Magimix, the consumer branded Robot Coupe, is pretty amazing.

That is def out of my budget.

Two things come to mind. Ever since we moved into our current house (~30 years ago) I have wanted to convert the electric cooktop to gas, but I made do with electric while the funds went to more important things, like college funds and just putting food on the table. Now that the kids are grown and gone, I’m in a position to pull the trigger on gas, but I’m hearing a lot about how gas has a greater carbon footprint, and that kind of thing is important to me, so I’m rationalizing and second guessing my wants and needs vs what has worked for decades and with which I can obviously live. Sigh.

The second is a good yanagiba. I have not had one since my itamae days back in the early 80s. It had been on my wish list for a long time, and a few years ago, Mrs. ricepad told me that she’d get me one for my (milestone) birthday that was coming up, I just needed to choose one. After much deliberation, I decided on one that was, IIRC, in the $300 range, so not terribly exorbitant as good knives go, but clearly a significant purchase nonetheless. I thought about it, and realized that I could do a lot with that $300. Also, how often did I cut fish? I had been doing just fine using either a standard chef’s knife or my 10" slicer for the three times per year I made sushi/sashimi, so could I really justify the outlay? No, I could not.

Both the cooktop and the yanagiba linger on my wish list, but they’re a lot further down than they used to be.

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Not sure what went wrong with the oven. We’ve had it for a very long time - my guess is at least 20 years. We had no success finding someone to come look at it. DH decided to mess around a bit with it and the self-clean cycle seemed to work but kept setting off the smoke detectors and freaking our dogs out so he turned it off. This will be the 3rd major apppliance we’ve had to replace during Covid. We waited 6 months for a dishwasher. Also had quite a wait for a stacked washer/dryer - fortunately the old one never did quit entirely but the writing was on the wall…fingers crossed that the refrigerator stays functional.

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The issue for us wanting a gas range is power outages. We live remotely and get coastal storms - our power can be out for 3-4 days and has been out even longer. Even though we can’t use the oven, we have the gas cooktop.

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Plus one on Le Creuset. I just splurged on an 8qt oval Dutch oven, after filling my 4.5 qt to the brim on too many occasions…

And, DANG that thing is HEAVY. ( which is why they perform so well)

A stove!

My 5-burner 40” Kenmore “Elite” is over 20 years old, and showing its age. The oven has bowed out at the sides, so that the bottom shelf is the only one that stays put. I use my oven a lot so this is a real PITA. Also, the left rear burner barely works.

But the real problem overall is its design. There is 2 inches of wasted space around the perimeter of the burners, and the second oven is so small that it’s barely useful. When I bought it I thought it was the bees knees, but with experience, the design flaws became evident. They very easily could’ve increased the burner spacing without changing stove dimensions, But they didn’t. I have a number of rather large pots and pans, by which I mean 12 inch diameter, and there’s always a traffic jam on the burner surface when I’m using more than one pot at a time, which I frequently do.

So my dilemma is twofold: which brand, and what size… I have tentatively decided on blue star, because I like the simplicity, by which I mean the lack of electronics and their potential for failure and expensive repair. The 36 inch model won’t get me any increased burner space over my poorly designed 40 inch model. But the 48 inch model would take up more room in my crowded kitchen, and it costs a BOMB, especially when you factor in the hood that I would need…

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That’s interesting. I’ve got a GE cafe that’s only 30" wide, but comfortably fits 5 burners (center elliptical) with what is to me good spacing except in the case of trying to have too many larger pans at the same time as you mentioned.

I can’t imagine why they would have designed yours, 10 inches wider, without spacing them out more. It’s like whoever did it was only focused on having a big oven and the stovetop was just an afterthought, as to space utilization. I did a quick look and, 20 years later, Kenmore stovetops still look like that with all the wasted space (image below).

Those Blue Star ranges look really nice - but wow, they’re expensive. But it seems Blue Star doesn’t make a 40". Another peek online found several makers that do (no idea if these are no-name brands or not), and which seem to have much better top space utilization than the Kenmores.

I think needing the new hood and losing another 8 inches in a crowded kitchen would be the deal killers for me, and instead I’d try to stick with 40" models unless I couldn’t find anything I liked.

What’s that door next to the oven in the picture?

I do use mine a lot and I still feel like it will qualify as “lightly-used” when I eventually croak (no intention of giving it up until then!). They are built like absolute tanks.

I still use a two speed Osterizer that was a college graduation present. They don’t make stuff like they used to!

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Soapstone countertops. I’m planning my kitchen remodel and have it mostly worked out and hoping they can fit into the budget.

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