Kitchen/cooking things you discovered too late in life?

[justme]

My wife recently got an air-fryer, and she really likes it.

sometime i would like to try an air fryer.

[Ken]

My wife recently got an air-fryer, and she really likes it.

sometime i would like to try an air fryer.

It is basically a mini convection oven. We have one. Great for things like tater tots. Only thing that makes it different than a regular oven is that there is a small fan that circulates the hot air and makes things cook faster.

If you have a convection oven you can basically get the same effect by putting wire cookie racks on top of a cookie sheet and then baking things on that so that the air circulates around them.

[Swiss Bro]

Dough kneading machine (kitchen aid). During covid my wife started making bread because she didn‘t want to go to the shops every day. Turns out she was really good at it (and liked / didn‘t mind doing it) but all the kneading by hand was a bit tough. So I got her a Kitchen aid and we‘ve never looked back. A real game changer, I am eating home made whole grain bread with nuts and dried fruit in it every day.

[steve-in-kville]

I bought my wife a restaurant-grade waffle iron. Makes waffles in a minute flat. Even our large family can't eat them that fast!

[Soloist]

I had bought a proper deep fryer… I love it! Makes beignets so well.

[QuietlyListening]

My children got me an air fryer- we love it and use it for many things including toast.
Got a dough hook when I started making sour dough bread. Love it

[HeIsRisen]

Instant Pot.

I use it more than all other gadgets combined. Mostly for making soups and stews.

Another extremely nice tool is this little gem which lets you make microwave popcorn using regular popcorn. Which is much cheaper and healthier.

Instant pot 100%. I remember when they first got pretty popular and we resisted getting one for a long time because we thought it was just another one of those kitchen gadgets that take up a bunch of space in the kitchen and will barely get used after the first 6 months.

Our instant pot gets used at least 2x a week for the last few years.

[QuietlyListening]

Love the instant pot. Use it for many things.

[temporal1]

my family uses their air fryer for “everything” - all of the above, and, surprise, vegetables!
i like veggies, they don’t.

green beans, broccoli, brussel sprouts .. they eat like candy. me, too.

it does a nice job of reheating leftovers, including french fries.

they like their insta pot, too. the air fryer is every day, most meals/snacks.

[Bootstrap]

A good chef's knife is worth it. You use it all the time. You can do things with a sharp knife much more efficiently, like dicing onions, and you can do some things that simply don't work without a good knife, like slicing cheese very thin.

I don't need a lot of things, but for the things I use all the time, it's good to invest in quality.