Welcome to part 3 of Mind, Body and Spoons Kitchen Tips and Tools.
Kicking things up a notch, and charging meal prep with a bit more oomph. These gadgets will speed up your chronic illness kitchen’s processes, and save you some spoons.
Before getting into the nitty and the gritty, it’s worth noting that these tools are a ‘nice-to-have’ and certainly cut down personal energy expenditure. However, they do use electricity, and the more of them you use, the more overall power your kitchen will be consuming, the bigger the financial cost.
It’s also worth considering the financial cost of acquiring these tools, as some can be budget-friendly, and others are… not. As with everything related to life with a chronic illness, there are pros and cons to the decisions we make, and whether or not we have the ‘spoons’ to pay.
Now, let’s get stuck in to giving you some extra oomph and using fewer spoons in your…
Chronic Illness Kitchen Full Power Tools:
Immersion (Stick) blender
Easily one of the most versatile tools in your chronic illness kitchen, this powered device can cut down your meal prep time, add texture options, and save you spoons all at the same time.
Depending on the brand, I won’t be specifying any on this page, there’ll be either basic functions/attachments, or scaling up to some pretty impressive bits of kit. One of the first points to note is the ‘power’ on offer, or Watts.
Basically, the bigger the number, the more oomph it has, the more you can do and the less likely you are to stall the motor with harder to process foods. Conversely, the more Ws it has, the more it will financially cost to run, however this may be preferable to spending spoons.
Next, attachments! The basic unit will have just a single wand with a blade, and this is great for pureeing a smooth soup, or fruit puree, or even removing lumps from custard! But, the more pricey models will come with extra accessories that may give you greater freedom and inspiration.
Some of these accessories can include a balloon whisk, which makes a great intermediary option to a hand mixer or stand mixer. It’s not uncommon to also have a small chopper bowl, again this makes for great middle-ground between semi-mech tools and the bigger options discussed below. You may also have available jugs, specialist puree wands, baby-food wands, etc.
The more expensive models also tend to have more precise power management; anywhere from variable speed controls, to extra speed buttons.
As with any tool, it’s always wise to read all the instructions for both safety and maintenance requirements.
Hand mixer
Somewhat more of a dedicated tool, this appliance is great for those who just need a bit more assistance in one or two areas; whisking/whipping and/or kneading doughs. Most hand mixers will come with one or two insertable accessories for either whisking/whipping ingredients, or spiral rods that are ideal for mixing and kneading softer doughs – a pastry or brioche dough, for example.
More robust hand mixers may be able to handle kneading bread doughs, but these are more likely to place great strain on the motor, and could fail in their function, or even be a danger to the operator. For heavy duty kneading, it’s safer to use a stand mixer, see below.
As with immersion blenders, and all electrical goods, the higher the wattage, the greater the power, the higher the consumption of power (and increased electricity bill).
Air-fryer
These gadgets have come a long way since the first models flooded the market, and since then the technology has definitely advanced a lot. They can be anywhere from a halogen machine that circulates air over one or two wire frames, right up to multifunction multi-draw units that will do everything short of buying your groceries for you.
Without sounding like a broken record, remember that the higher powered units will cost more to run, and may or may not be the best fit for you and your needs. Instead, look at what’s on offer, and compare that with what you need.
Also, investigate the cleaning procedures, are the food receptacles dishwasher safe? If not, how difficult are they to clean? Whilst the cooking time may have been cut down for you, it’s a false economy if you then must spend more energy cleaning.
Stand mixer
For many, this is a must-have kitchen appliance, and with a variety of attachments to aid in your meal prep, it’s easy to see why. Whether you’re considering a low-profile flip-top design, or the handle-raising workhorse favoured by many chefs, a stand mixer can stand you in good stead to prepare many different types of dishes and save you loads of time and spoons.
Do note, yes, once again, watts = electricity = higher bills, but also fewer spoons spent.
To expand on the options available, most stand mixers will come with a whisk, a dough hook, and/or creaming paddle. There aren’t many things you won’t be able to do with this arsenal at your disposal. You’ll be able to bake cakes, make compound butters, whip cream, knead bread doughs, etc. Everything you need in basic functions will be on hand.
However, if cooking is your passion, and you just can’t imagine not being able to cook the things you used to, then it’s worth looking at the more professional level stand mixers. These machines are designed to add on an extensive range of accessories, with everything from grain and pasta mills, ice cream churns, vegetable processors, cheese graters, meat mincers, sausage stuffers, and so on.
Food processor
Just as with stand mixers, a good food processor can save you hours of time slicing and chopping in the kitchen. Standard features can include a selection of slicing blades, grating blades, citrus juicer, dough blades, etc.
They also come in a range of sizes, anywhere from a few cups to several liters in capacity, and of course, the power level can also be considerable in variation as well. As with the smaller chopper, it’s worth investigating the wattage, as smaller/low power units may not have the ability to process everything you plan on using it for.
Do take care to pay attention to how easily the fittings attach, and whether or not their ‘liquid capacity’ is suitable. Lower quality/size bowls can easily overflow, dumping liquids onto the rotating mechanism which is a pain to clean, at best, or can short out the motor at worst.
Cleaning and maintenance: unless you’re a fan of hand-washing everything, make sure all the parts can go in the dishwasher, and that they can be placed on a suitable draw away from heating elements on the drying cycle – some plastics that are used can deform under heat.
Multi-cooker/Slow cooker
Much like airfryers, these tools have changed a lot over the years. From the humble ‘crockpot’ of a ceramic bowl on an element, through to multifunction fully programmable designs that now grace kitchen counters.
The more functions, the greater the temptation to get lost in the inspiration of ideas of all the things you could cook. Within seconds you can dream a range of meals that seem otherwise out of reach, but are they just dreams?
Managing time and energy in a chronic illness kitchen is the reality, and whilst we can dream about the things we’d like to cook, the reality is we’re trying to do what needs doing. With this in mind, explore what the basic functions are and whether or not they meet your needs, not your aspirations.
As mentioned in other sections, how easy is it to clean? How much power will it consume? Is it easy to operate? Will it work within your kitchen, or will it be more of a hindrance? A basic unit will cook your food, a fancier one will do the same, just fancier. Don’t let temptation ultimately cost you more spoons down the line.
Steamer
If you’re someone who’s seriously into healthy eating, and who loves to batch prep steamed foods, then a steamer may well be the next best thing to hit your kitchen countertop.
Whether a single layer, or stacked high with 3-5 baskets, steamers are a great way to balance space-saving and efficient use of energy. Foods that are denser go at the bottom, with lighter density at the top, that way as the steam rises it cooks everything easily.
Whilst this is a nice-to-have, most people will find the average stovetop steamer will suffice for the odd side of steamed vegetables or pudding. An electric steamer is possibly one of those appliances that sounds like a great idea, but will probably end up in a cupboard and only used for gatherings, rather than daily.
Electric Pressure cooker/Instant Pot
Exactly the same as the semi-mechanised stovetop, only this one plugs into your electricity! Many of the newer Instant Pot machines come with a host of functions and features, and should be considered carefully for suitability to your cooking needs. As with many gadgets, it’s easy to be swept up in hype, and then burden ourselves with an expense we don’t really need.
Blender
A vertical immersion blender in a contained vessel. That’s what a blender is, just a way to blend liquids, or even crush ice. A nice-to-have that comes in a variety of wattages in various designs/colours/styles. If you blend a lot of soups, smoothies, or sauces, then this might be an option for you, otherwise an immersion blender will probably be sufficient.
Soupmaker
A cross somewhere between a multifunction/slow cooker and a blender, these machines offer those working long or awkward hours a fresh hot or cold meal when they get home. However, if that doesn’t sound like you, then this gadget may not be a good fit for your chronic illness kitchen.
Nice-to-have and certainly inspiring with their sleek design and flashy presentation, they’re also somewhat gimmicky and can perhaps be substituted with a slow cooker and immersion blender for soup making.
Ice cream maker
Much like soup-makers, this appliance really is a nice-to-have but far from essential. Unless you REALLY love frozen desserts. Whilst they can be used to make a huge variety of ice creams, you’ll also be able to make sorbets and granitas with this machine. You can also use them to ‘cool only’ sauces that you may not want frozen, but chilled down rapidly.
The next level up from a frozen-bowl attachment to a stand-mixer, a dedicated machine can come in a huge range of sizes/capacities/freezing time combinations. As with most things in life, you get what you pay for, and the machines with the greater capacity and quicker freezing time do tend to cost more – initially, and in power consumption!
Things to consider include cleaning processes; whether or not components are dishwasher safe, or handwash only? Servicing or regasing if necessary? Ease of use, weight to lift and manoeuvre if needed, and of course, storage.
Bread-maker (Non-MCAS/Histamine Intolerant only)
Whilst yeast breads are ill-advised for anyone with Histamine Intolerance/MCAS, for others with chronic illnesses that tolerate yeast products, then a bread machine may be the greatest thing since, well, sliced bread.
How great is it to wake up to the smell of freshly baked bread? It’s pretty hard to resist, and with a machine you can set up the night before, then this dream can be a reality. If you’re not a daily loaf person, these machines can also prepare dough for you, so making pizzas, doughnuts, croissants, etc just became a whole lot easier. It won’t remove all the mixing and kneading work, but the time and manual energy cut-down is considerable.
Things to consider though, include size of loaves produced and whether this meets your needs, how quickly it mixes/proves/bakes, and whether or not it can earn its place in your chronic illness kitchen.
These machines, whilst more affordable now than ever, aren’t cheap, and they do use a considerable amount of electricity to produce your daily loaf, so do bear that in mind when making your decision.
Also be sure to check out the cleaning procedures, both the loaf pan, but also the unit itself – does it have a vent that could become clogged? Can dough become stuck on any other moving parts?
Get caught up on Chronic Illness Kitchen Tools:
Chronic Illness Kitchen – Manual – Hands On Everything
Semi-Mechanised – Power Where It Matters – in the Chronic Illness Kitchen
Get to know more about Mind, Body and Spoons, TheChronicIllnessChef and TheChronicIllnessPsychologist.
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You can also join in live cook-along sessions with Chef Kit – a great way to get to grips with these tips and tools!