After several bad experiences lately, I am interested in grinding meat at home. Does anyone have experience in this practice? I have a KitchenAid stand mixer and after some research, I am interested in buying the meat grinder attachment. However, there are literally dozens of weird Chinese brands on Amazon purporting to sell an identical set for much less. AliExpress is even cheaper.

Has anyone bought and used the KitchenAid version? Has anyone tried a cheaper version?

Thank you for your advice.

Thank you to everybody who commented; I'm going to look for the official KitchenAid attachment at a good price.

I live in what is basically a studio apartment in someone's basement with a little cobbled-together kitchen in a small room attached to my bed/sitting area. My cooking is done in a largish Cosori convection toaster oven (mine) with a double-hob induction hotplate (kindly provided by landlord) sat on top. The hotplate is from Nutrisystem (not sure of model exactly) and it's definitely a step up from the electric one I brought from my old place (My kitchen was the laundry room there!), but over the last few years there's been a few things about it I don't like so I'm considering buying a new one.

The main problem I have with it is the lack of specificity in the temperature settings: it goes 140°, 210°, 260°, 300°, 350°, 400°, and above that I never really use, but I often have trouble with something cooking too fast at, say, 300° but too slow at 260°. I'd like a device that lets me make smaller, (like maybe 5-10 degree) adjustments at the very least. Also there is the issue that if you go above a certain temp on one hob, it will dial down the other automatically to keep from going over max watts, but it also means I can't boil water on one while searing a steak on the other. Not sure if there's a way around that what with the limitations of current portable cooktop technology and American house wiring codes. As you may have gathered from my living arrangements, I need to keep the cost down to a reasonable <$300, preferably <$200.

Because it needs to sit on top of my toaster oven, I need a side-by-side arrangement. I was gifted Amazon cards for Xmas so I'm hoping to find something on there to defray the cost, but if anyone can point me to the perfect solution somewhere else, I'm interested. Everything I've looked at there so far has preset temp settings and I can't tell if they are fine enough to be any improvement.

Bonus points if anyone knows of an induction-compatible stovetop griddle that heats evenly and isn't heavy-ass cast iron.

Thanks in advance for any advice!

I'm trying to put together a small amount of kitchen equipment that I can take with me when we travel. And I'm looking for suggestions. I've been stung by holiday let kitchens before missing seemingly small but essential items.

So far I've got:

• Digital scales
• Good sized chopping board
• Sharp knife + sharpening stone
• Peeler
• Tongs
• Measuring spoons
• Small jars of salt, sugar, and oil
• Coffee grinder (yes it is essential)

Edit (community suggestions)

• Swiss army knife
• Probe thermometer

Any recommendations on other things you've missed in holiday houses before?

I am moving apartments soon and will likely not have as much space in my kitchen. Specifically, I am most concerned about an oven, as I doubt I'll be able to get a full sized one.

Has anyone solved this issue? Know of any good, reliable brands (ideally with global shipping)? The last janky toaster oven I ordered from Amazon could barely get a good brownie out, so I hope to make a more solid investment this time that can actually bake things, if it even exists. That said, any compact, high-quality appliance is appreciated.

My wife is thinking about purchasing a soda stream or similar variant for Amazon prime day. I would like to hear the pros and cons of owning one. Are there any costs of ownership that were not apparent? I don't want to buy another kitchen appliance only to stop using it because we couldn't keep up with the maintenance or other required issues. We do buy regularly la croix like drinks from Costco so if there is truly a cost savings that would be great. Thanks for everyone's time and opinion.

Edit: Wow thanks everyone for the responses and insight. I will have to sit down later and work through the posts. I know I will have more questions.

With all that's been coming out in recent years about the negative health impacts of burning gas indoors even with good ventilation, I've been looking into replacing the cheap gas range that came with my house which had been less than amazing to use anyway with a nice induction range.

I have no experience with induction ranges however and have no idea what idea what to look for. I grew up with traditional coiled-eye electric ranges where even "bad" models are still functional, but slow to heat up.

What models have those here had good experiences with, and what are the gotchas? I've done some looking around already and it seems like it's not as simple for going for a high-end option… even top of the line Bosch units seem to have a surprising number of "it ate my dog and insulted my grandmother" types of 1-star negative reviews, and it's hard to tell if that's just noise or something that should be paid attention to.

EDIT: Specifically, I'm looking for standard 30" oven combo slide-in unit. Storage drawer is preferred over second oven.

Thanks!

I've got a small collection of equipment. I've been really cautious about buying more. There are a few things I regret buying.

1. A series of knives that were good enough, but actually garbage, rather than just spending £30 on a victorinox or similar.

2. A garlic thing which looks cool but is hard to use. Garlic crusher by Royal VKB

And I was wondering, are there any bits of kit that you thought were going to be great but which ended up in the back of a cupboard or drawer?

If you were to set up someone with a brand new kitchen, what are the components that you would suggest to them for getting that 80% of functionality for 20% of the investment (Pareto Principle)? These are especially things that I would consider to be worth a healthy investment as a buy-once-have-it-forever situation. Some things that come to mind:

A cast-iron pan: high skillcap and can cook almost any type of food
Stainless Steel Stock Pot: cooks most things stovetop that the pan can't handle
Chef's Knife: A good quality, sharp knife makes all the difference in the kitchen
Mason Jars: Preserve food, bring them to bulk stores, drink water out of them... top-tier utility

Things that are on the fence in my mind:
desktop blender/immersion blender/food processor: I love all of these appliances, but how important are they? A food processor is maybe the highest utility & makes meal prep way easier. Also unlocks recipes like hummus and salsa.
a large cutting board: small cutting boards suck, but how high of a priority is upgrading it?

Let's have a discussion where you state your case for an individual appliance/tool (or argue one of these suggestions) and see what other people have to say!

Seeing that this is taking off a bit, I'm going to try compiling some of the response data here:

Level 0 - Starter Kit

• Stainless Steel Pan (+3)

• Aluminum Stock Pot (+3)

• Vegetable Peeler (+3)

• Plastic Cutting Board (+3)

• Spoons / Spatulas / Ladles (+3)

• Chef's Knife (+2)

• Paring Knife (+2)

• Serrated Knife (+1)

Level 1 - Booster Pack

• Weighing Scale (+4)
• Baking Trays (+2)

Level 1a - Cooking I

• Immersion Blender (+2)
• Box Grater (+2)
• Dutch Oven (+1)

Level 1b - Baking I

• 2L jug (+1)
• Measuring Cup (+2)
• Pain De Mie Tin (+2)
• Wire Rack (+1)

Level 2 - Intermediate

• Instant Read Thermometer (+1)

Level 2a - Cooking II

• Food Processor (+1)

Level 2b - Baking II

• Immersion Whisk (+2)

Level 3 - Advanced

• Cast Iron Pan
• Mason Jars
• Air Fryer

Hello everyone,

I'll be moving to a new apartment where the kitchen does not have any kitchen appliances. From my searches on /r/BuyItForLife, it seems everyone usually recommends Bosch and Miele appliances, but they are usually a bit on the expensive side. I'm not sure about buying for life at this stage in my life because I think this is not my final home, and I think in the future I won't be bothered to take everything with me. Also, it will be always be easier to sell the apartment in the future with the equipped kitchen.

It seems Panasonic and Mitsubishi appliances are actually quite good and cheaper than Bosch and Miele, but unfortunately, these brands are basically non-existent here in Europe (regarding kitchen appliances, I mean).

So, basically, is there still any brand left that might be as good as Bosch and Miele but slightly cheaper? Maybe Whirlpool or Electrolux brands?

Hi, I'm pretty new to browsing coffee at home.

Currently using aeropress, timemore c2 titanium, and electric gooseneck kettle with no temp control.

The coffee I'm making is pretty good (to my novice taste buds) but I'm looking to elevate that. I'm planning on upgrading either the the grinder or the kettle.

From what I understand, grind quality can affect taste, but consistent water temperature should also help improving workflow and taste as well.

Which one do you think is the better upgrade in terms of producing better coffee?

For grinder I'm now considering 1zpresso K-plus. For kettle, I'm looking at Timemore fish kettle.

Thank you.

What piece of kitchen equipment do you regret buying? Why?

I bought a garlic masher. (I don't think it was anywhere near £26 when I bought it!) https://www.amazon.co.uk/royalvkb-VP303-370-Royal-Garlic-Crusher/dp/B000OW58D8/ It looks really heavy, but it actually isn't. I regret it because it's not nearly as much fun to use as it looks. It's safer than mashing garlic with a knife, and it's easier to clean than a press. But other than that it's not worth the money. The garlic cards (credit card sized bits of plastic with embossed letters) that you rub garlic over are better.

Coming up to Christmas and gift-giving is on my mind and I wondered if you've ever been given food or a food-related gadget that you liked? I guess we can also talk about the misses too.

I like chocolate, so small amounts of nice chocolate are something that I like.