Kitchen Appliances That Never Quite Fullfilled Their Promises

[daveamkrayoguy]

Aaaarrrggghhh! The TOASTER OVEN!

This is the one in-laws had given to us a few years ago, as the one I'd attempted to get for our wedding eleven-years ago looked like it would take up more counter space than used well or appreciated and it's the time and temperature regulations I have a hard time with determining how long and how high the temp should be when I'm toasting, not to mention that the cavity is admittedly too small...

There is an even smaller white Black And Decker one I bought for myself long ago left at my parents' house that I supposedly had an easier time with but just didn't bother to make use of in my own living quarters, post-marriage as it had fallen a bit dirty, and with which ever more over the years and ocasionally looking at it sitting on the basement bar, noticed the cord for it, excessively frayed...

And long ago some childhood friends of mind toasted in a mini oven like that, as opposed to ever owning a pop-up, which I prefer, but the four-slice I got from my late brother-in-law (a Chefnan from Ollie's) broke and I could never figure out how to open/remove the crumb tray from it, so my Cuisinart (soon to be a no-name, the writing is rubbing off!) two-slice still after these many years still works and does its job![this post was last edited: 12/29/2018-18:15]

 

[daveamkrayoguy]

Okay, get ready for this one, that will cause argument or challenge a debate:

The slow cooker!

The food is mushy, 9-out-of-10 times the modest amount of liquid is excessive and even oozes and drips out of there, while maybe that "statistical one time" some spaghetti I made was too dry...

In any event, what I bought a newer, slightly larger model (though the stoneware had a hole in it, and the flawless one that Sunbeam sent me was for the big sized, while sadly right at the day I wanted to make that first meal in it, I have to contend with another (though smaller hole) and got too late for them to send me another!) the semi-successful AMKrayoRoast Duck:

(And maybe the dried duck grease that leaked on my ice cream scoop when making that drink made me sick!)

 

[lordkenmore]

I actually like toaster ovens. It's funny, because I think my mother always said they weren't worth bothering with or some such thing. I got one at a yard sale...and grew to like the thing. I've had several since then, most of which weren't special. Oddly the only one I didn't like was the DeLonghi that I got from some thrift shop. I'd sort wanted one, remembering when they were sold at the Bon for $$$, but mine never really worked that well for me. Maybe it was the design. Maybe it was just the condition (e.g., worn down by the previous owner to a mere shadow of its former self).

Although I've mostly used these as small ovens. I do use my current one for any/all toasting duties, but I think a toaster would work better. I don't have a toaster, although I don't toast bread very often any more.

 

[lordkenmore]

For me personally...I'd vote for the bread machine as an appliance that never fulfilled the promise. I remember when they were fairly new (at least as a more or less mass market product), and hyped for how wonderful they were. I have had at least 2, maybe 3 I've gotten dirt cheap at a thrift store the last 15 years or so, and they never impressed me. Convenient? Easy to use? Yes. But the bread wasn't very good. One is better off just using a mixer or food processor to do the hard mixing/kneading work. (Plus the mixer/food processor can be used for more than bread.) For that matter, one can buy bread. Grocery stores in my area offer breads much better than "traditional" grocery store bread (like Wonder Bread), and these better breads are often better than what I recall ever eating from a bread machine.

Of course, "milage varies." I know a lot of people loved their bread machines. And it's entirely possible I'll try one again.

 

[DADoES]

 
Used my GE (WM exclusive) toaster oven reasonably often for baking, not so much for toasting.  I find that a traditional toaster does that quicker and better.

The GE's thermostat went wonky at 12.25 years.

Have a Breville Mini Smart Oven now.  Like it a lot.  I don't use the included porcelain baking tray, dark color browns too much.  I kept the aluminum tray from the GE, works better.

 

[launderess]

Bread Machine

Have a Phillips that got for a very good price at local thrift. Used the thing to death for a few years when going through a bread making craze. Even purchased the book "Breadmaker's Bible" and so forth. Not to mention a job lot of SAF yeast packets that still are sitting in freezer.

Liked the bread machine because it allowed one to bake bread even under less than optimal conditions. Read very warm and moist summer weather, and or other times of year when house was cool (like to shut down most of the radiators in winter), and so forth.

After awhile things went they way always do; all that baking either by machine or whatever fell out of favor and machine has sat sitting haunting me ever since.

That being said the one thing can always count on finding at thrifts is the odd bread machine. *LOL*

As for quality, most things came out pretty well. Thanks to that bread maker's book and learning a few tricks could turn out decent to good brioche, raisin & cinnamon, whole wheat, seven grain and a few other breads.

 

[gansky1]

Speaking of piles at thrift stores -

Remember the Black & Decker (et al) electric jar opener? There were stacks of those at the thrift stores for a while a decade or so ago.

Add to the breadmaker department at the thrifts were all the accessories made to complement them, the slicing guides, bread storage containers and similar wares to make your bread-life easier.

The air popper that Glenn mentioned was an excellent example of larger-than-life hype for a product that basically manufactured marginally edible packing peanuts. That said, I just let mine from the 80's go last year.

This youtube channel is fun to watch now and then, he reviews many of the "As Seen On TV" products. Some results are pretty surprising, some, not so much.



https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCTCpOFIu6dHgOjNJ0rTymkQ

 

[xraytech]

Speaking of popcorn making, we had a WestBend hot air machine from the 80s, that was the most horrid popcorn.

In 1994 or 95 we bought this Presto Power Pop at Hill’s Department Store as a Christmas gift for dad.
From what I recall it actually worked well in our JCPenney microwave and made good popcorn. We used this a lot and for quite a few years.

While I wouldn’t exactly call it a bad product, it certainly was a one trick pony

 

[xraytech]

Grandma Rose had one of these gadgets in her 1980s GE spacemaker microwave.
I don’t remember this working well, and I don’t think it lasted very long

 

[earthling177]

Rotating devices like that had a funny hit ratio -- some people loved them and some hated them. My feeling is that for people who had a good microwave oven with a decent stirrer fan probably didn't care for them much, because you only had to rotate the food a couple of times during cooking, while the folks who had an oven with no stirrer fan or a badly designed one were the ones to perceive the most difference.

That being said, for people who absolutely hated paying any attention to their food and wanted a set it and forget it thing, the rotating trays seemed to help some.

 

[lordkenmore]

I have vague sense I may have seen Presto Power Pop ads in the 90s, but can't say for sure.

I can say that I got one, used. I was not terribly impressed by it. It did pop popcorn, BUT the popcorn was no better than air popped popcorn. Plus the paper disks on the bottom needed regular replacement, which meant one more thing to buy every so often. I eventually lost interest, and donated the Power Pop to some thrift shop.

Of the options I'm familiar with, a better choice--much better--would be a US made West Bend Stir Crazy. Yes, it's an appliance that is limited to one job, and takes cupboard space... And the popcorn was admittedly not as low calorie, since you needed oil. But it did the job really well--the popcorn, from what I recall, was MUCH better than air popped or microwave.

 

[lordkenmore]

>As for quality, most things came out pretty well. Thanks to that bread maker's book and learning a few tricks could turn out decent to good brioche, raisin & cinnamon, whole wheat, seven grain and a few other breads.

Perhaps should have experimented more...and possibly read bread machine books. Maybe next time a bread machine turns up at 99 cent clearance day. LOL

BUT I can say that I at least did use recipes specifically intended for bread machines. It wasn't a case of taking my regular recipe, trying it, and then getting frustrated because it didn't work right.

 

[kate1]

I’ve always been pretty averse to any gadgety type kitchen items. My mother was a gadget fanatic and had an entire corner of our pantry filled with one trick ponies and as seen on tv garbage. I can’t remember a single thing that performed as advertised. I went so far opposite of her as an adult that I didn’t even own a microwave until a year ago, and it was a gift from my sister! The only thing it gets used for is reheating leftovers. I did get an air popper as a wedding gift, but I’d had one as a kid and knew better. It ended up at the Goodwill and I make our popcorn on the stovetop instead.

 

[ea56]

The older I get, the fewer extra gadgets I want in the kitchen. I really enjoy doing much of my cooking and baking as simply as possible.

I own a KA Classic Stnad mixer, but I haven’t used it for months. I use my KA 3 speed handmixer for all my baking needs. It can handle just about anything I need to do. I chop nuts by hand with a french knife, I can’t see dragging out the Cuisinart to chop a 1/2 cup to a cup of nuts. Likewise, I shred and grate cheese with a hand grater, much easier to clean, and in the end faster than the food processor.

And like Kate, in the post above, I make our popcorn in a pan on the stove, tastes much better, and is an easier cleanup too. I really like being a hands on cook. I do however use my MW oven a lot, its a great time saver for the things it does well, like making white sauces, puddings and pie fillings softening or melting butter or chocolate, reheating leftovers, cooking boneless skinless chicken breasts for salad or casseroles, heating flour tortillas.

I did however get an electric knife sharpener for Christmas, and my knives haven’t been so nice and sharp since they were new, great and useful kitchen gadget.

Eddie

 

[suebutcher]

Toasters and Microwaves

Toaster ovens are useful for adding a baked finish to food heated in a microwave. It's quicker than using a large oven go to whoa.

The Breville sandwich toaster was considered a disappointing gadget because it was difficult to clean. If you don't use it every day and only clean it when it's really necessary it's tolerable.

 

[polkanut]

Thanks Sam,

My mom had one of those Micro-Go-Rounds that she loved.  We had a 1984 Amana Radarange that it was used in.  It was a Christmas gift from my aunt & uncle.  When it quit working I think they were no longer available in stores.  I remember mom was kinda bummed about it.

 

[drhardee]

I have to wonder about those Samsung "Waterwall" dishwashers that supposedly clean your dishes with a spraybar that runs on a track along the bottom of one's dishwasher. They have a fairly high failure rate, and reviews have NOT been kind....

https://www.consumerreports.org/cro...er-fails-consumer-reports-wash-test/index.htm

 

[rp2813]

The waterwall system is yet another Samsung "revolutionary" feature that's already been tried before (by Ling-Temco).  Except LT's eye level dishwashers were infinitely cooler.

 

My mom's late '70s Montgomery Ward (of course) MO, a Tappan re-badge, had a Micro-Go-Round.  It got used a lot because, like everything from Ward's, the MO had an issue -- a hot spot that even the stirrer that made a scraping sound (of course) couldn't remedy.  The MGR was still working fine when that microwave was sold in 2008.

 

[wayupnorth]

I had a Micro Go Round in my 1979 Whirlpool Mark Series MW and I thought it worked well and did make for a more evenly heated dish. After about 10 or so years the spring broke in it so you couldnt wind it anymore.