The Everything Pantry Essential Tool Kit:
Tools and Appliances For a Successful Frugal Kitchen
A successful "Sweat Equity" approach to your grocery budget begins with your kitchen tool choices.
With that in mind, I thought it might be helpful to provide a list of the "cannot live without" tools I use in my own frugal kitchen.
I am a huge fan of versatile multi-use tools. They save money, time and take up less space than cupboards stacked with single use tools and appliances.
Over the years I have brought home many an exciting gadget only to find myself popping it into the donation box a year later after realizing the advertising oversold the usefulness of the item.
My revolving door of gadgetry and thing-a-ma-jigs will at least have been useful in that I can advise you on the benefits of a pared down kitchen tool kit and what is actually worth spending your hard earned pennies on.
I will be adding to this post as I have time to complete reviews on each tool. Please check back regularly for updates.
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Excalibur 9 tray food dehydrator - Summary
Overall Rating:
4.5 / 5
Quality
The quality of the construction is sturdy. The fan is a little on the noisy side.
Ease of Use
Extremely easy to use.
Cost
It is on the more expensive end of the spectrum, but ultimately, it's versatility makes it worth the cost.
We Like
We Don't Like
I love this dehydrator BECAUSE IT IS SO VERSATILE! I use it for everything from "living" food (buckwheat crispies cereal from Ani Phyo's book Ani's Raw Food Kitchen), fruit leather to beef jerky. You can also use it to make yogurt or proof your bread!
The Paraflexx sheets that lay on top of the polyscreen tray inserts make fruit leather a snap to make. You can fit 9 quarter cup cookie scoops of "batter" per tray and it makes a really nice thin "fruit roll-up" style finished product. My kids won't touch prunes, but stew up Italian prune plums, throw them through a food mill and make leather out of them and the kids hoover it down.
Excalibur Dehydrator - Fruit leather "batter" prior to drying.
I also make beef jerky out of ground beef seasoned and spread thinly on the Paraflexx lined trays. It only takes 5 minutes of prep to have a hearty snack for lunches or adventuring.
Excalibur Dehydrator - Beef jerky made with ground beef.
My only frustration with this unit, at first, was that the size of the trays were fantastic for making product, but a real pain to clean because they didn't fit in my sink.
I found a solution with a Sterilite Modular Stacker which doesn't appear to be available anymore, but a Type A Clarity Container, 25L from Canadian Tire measures larger than the 15" x 15" tray size as well.
I put my container in the bath tub, fill it with warm soapy water, Excalibur trays/polyscreens and Paraflex sheets, let them soak for 15-20 minutes and then scrub them clean with a brush and rinse. Easy peasy. I also store my Excalibur trays/polyscreens and Paraflex sheets in this container when not in use to keep them dust free in the garage.
T-Fal Clipso 6l pressure cooker - Summary
Overall Rating:
4.5 / 5
Quality
I find this cooker to be well made and sturdy.
Ease of Use
Extremely easy to use.
Cost
Reasonable.
We Like
We Don't Like
My grandma instilled a healthy fear of pressure cookers and caners into me ("you'll blow yourself up!") as she had incidents with the pressure technology of the past. I remember a story about having to dig a hole and bury a pot that had welded itself shut during the cooking process.
It took me a year and a half to pluck up the courage to use this cooker after I purchased it and I have been enjoying it ever since.
You will never buy canned beans to use in a recipe again. It is so quick and easy (not to mention super inexpensive) to cook them from soaked dried beans. A freshly cooked bean tastes nothing like a pre-canned bean in my humble opinion.
As a terrified new user to this technology, I was grateful for the 5 safety feature system on this product. It has allowed me to learn how to use this cooker with less fear and master this fantastic cooking method.
