We have become a nation of kitchen gadget obsessives. Drawing inspiration from popular cookery programmes such as The Great British Bake Off and hit by tough economic times, practical-minded Britons are increasingly choosing to make food from scratch and are being tempted by the growing number of innovative products on the market. In some stores, sales of upmarket kitchen gadgets are growing faster than those of tablet computers. According to market analyst GfK, sales volumes of small kitchen equipment in the UK have risen for the first time in three years. The number of items sold rose 1.9 per cent in the year to October, while the value of sales rose 5.7 per cent as people chose to invest in more expensive gadgets.
Competition for the country’s top kitchen gadgets going to be fierce this year – so it’s time to get snappy and put these handy culinary contraptions on your Christmas list.
A fruit or vegetable juicer
Sales of juicers have doubled since this time last year. Juicing proponents claim that it is better for you than eating whole fruits and vegetables because the body absorbs the nutrients faster and boosts your digestive system. Juicing is also thought to remove toxins, boost immunity, aid with weight loss and reduce the risk of developing cancer. Juicing is also a great way of adding fruit and vegetables to your diet if you struggle to get through your five a day – there are endless recipes online and clever ways of concocting your own combinations to suit your taste.
Juicing is a cinch with the Philips Whole Fruit Juicer .
With a hefty 550W motor and a large feeding tube, it demolishes whole fruits and vegetables in one fell swoop and there’s no need for pre-chopping – just select one of two juicing speeds. The result: copious quantities of fresh juice or an instant smoothie. The juicer comes with a two-year manufacturer’s guarantee and is easier to clean than many other such devices on the market. It also comes with a micro-mesh filter which captures ‘bits’ before they find their way into your drink and a juice jug that keeps up to 700 ml of juice fresher for longer.
A food mixer
If you’re a keen foodie but have never experienced the wonders of a mixer, you’re in for a treat. One machine comes with numerous attachments that enable it to perform a multitude of functions, from mixing and chopping to whisking and beating – you’ll be able to make quick work of those Christmas chores and get more creative with your cooking.
The Kenwood Chef is something of an iconic kitchen gadget developed by Briton Ken Wood in 1950 – you may have memories of your mother or grandmother owning one.
Today, the Kenwood Classic Chef KM330 has the same timeless look but has been updated over the years to become an excellent, multipurpose all-rounder. It takes on soups, sauces, curries, mixes, pastries and dough with ease – it’s easy to assemble, use and clean. There’s a powerful 800W motor with variable speeds, the famous K-beater, a giant whisk and a nifty dough hook for kneading bread. The bowl has a capacity of 4.6L, making it possible to cater for large numbers. The Kenwood Chef’s power outlets are a major perk – they can take on up to 20 attachments, such as liquidisers and mincers, which are available separately. You can be safe in the knowledge that because it’s a Kenwood, it will live a long life. And given the sheer number of functions it can perform, it represents excellent value for money.
A slow cooker
If all Christmas means to you is an exhausting cookathon where you’re tied to the kitchen producing back-to-back meals and having 19 nervous breakdowns, there is a solution – a slow cooker. Simply throw your ingredients into a pot and let the slow cooker do the hard work for you by tenderising the meat and infusing the flavours to produce a magic pot of delicious loveliness.
The Morphy Richards Flavour Savour is one of the best slow cookers around.
There’s a large capacity cooking pot, a pre-programmed base and a variety of cooking functions and settings, enabling you to seal, fast cook and slow cook in just one pan. The friendly digital display lets you specify your programme and cooking time so that your meal is ready exactly when you want it to be. Brown and seal your meat, before chucking the vegetables and stock into the same pot, then set to either stew or slow cook on the hob of your cooker if you want to. The Fast Stew setting is a brilliant time-saver, and can help whip up a tasty casserole in 90 minutes while tasting like it took nine hours. If you have the time, the Slow Cook setting allows you to cook your meat for up to 10 hours, transforming even the gristliest cuts into sumptuous stews and curries. The countdown timer and transparent glass lid let you monitor the progress of your cooking without lifting the lid and affecting the temperature, too. If you’re delayed, there’s a warming function which will keep your food warm for up to two hours.
With the use of one or all these gadgets, you can be sure you’ll spend more time savouring the taste of your (shortened) labours than you will on them.