Best Small Appliances
Paleo Kitchen Tools We Can't Do WithoutBest Small Appliances for the Paleo Kitchen
We strive to check out the latest, greatest and then settle on the best small appliances for our paleo kitchen. Here are a few of the appliances that we rely on almost daily.
Cuisinart Smart Stick
We use our handy immersion blender for fast and easy jobs, like homemade mayonnaise and creating gravy from slow cooker jus. The Cuisinart Smart Stick is a quality device that goes well beyond the occasional milkshake in a hurry.
Vitamix Blender
The Vitamix does it all with gusto! Powerful and thorough, the Vitamix is essential for everything from protein shakes to enchilada sauce and everything in between.
Breville Smart Oven Pro Convection Toaster Oven
The Breville promotional material tells the truth in stating, “Every Breville product begins with a simple moment of brilliance. The Breville Smart Oven began with the simple fact that different foods require different methods of heating: some, like baked goods, need to be cooked evenly; others, like meats, need to be seared on top. Most toaster ovens fail to distribute heat in a consistent way throughout their interiors, let alone change heat distribution to suit the different foods being prepared. This is how the Breville Smart Oven stands apart: whatever the food, it adjusts its heat distribution for perfect results.”
Breville Quick Touch Microwave
The Breville Quick Touch is is one powerful and compact microwave. This easy to use microwave knows the power level and time to suit the food you’re cooking. Adjust power and time on the fly! Smart settings take the guess work out of cooking, reheating and defrosting foods. We like to auto rice cooking feature and the fact that two cups of water for our French press coffee boils in absolutely no time.
Kitchen Aid Mixer
Suffice it to say, like may kitchens across America, the Kitchen Aid stand mixer is a fixture of the Byrd House kitchen. This workhorse will do just about everything, especially with the numerous special attachments. Where this mixer does fall short, the Vitamix blender and Cuisinart food processor pick up the slack.
Food Processor by Cuisinart
The Cuisinart Food Processor is the gold standard of food processors. Everything from Thai curry paste to to pesto to pie crusts to authentic Mexican mole are processed to perfection by our Cuisinart.
Vacuum Sealer by Food Saver
The Food Saver Vacuum Sealer is the best way to store foods for the freezer, not to mention being the best way to wrap foods for the Sous Vide. Certainly, Ziploc type freezer bags are a less expensive alternative, but we have been disappointed with the short life of frozen foods in freezer bags and have had poor success with freezer bags in the Sous Vide.
Crock Pot
Like most folks who like the marvelous meals that emerge from slow cooking, we have a Crock Pot slow cooker, and we use it often. We rely heavily on Cook’s Illustrated “Slow Cooker Revolution” and a multitude of other cookbooks to inspire our slow cooker recipes.
Sous Vide
The Sous Vide is simply a temperature controlled water tank where the water is set to the desired cooking temperature and the food is placed in a regular or vacuum sealed plastic bag and submerged for the chosen time. The result is a food cooked to the selected temperature, and no higher, and tenderized by the process. We bring New York strip steaks to 130 degrees for four hours, then sear the steaks in a fry pan, broiler or charcoal grill. Tougher cuts can be cooked for 24 to 48 hours to fully tenderize the cuts.
Portable Induction Cooktop by Nuwave
Our Nuwave Induction portable cooktop is an amazing tool that brings food to precise temperature through futuristic energy efficient technology. I take it outside to boil chilis so we don’t sneeze too much, and anything guaranteed to smoke heavily gets a trip outside with the induction cooktop. Also, precise hearing of frying oil can be controlled by the exacting temperature settings.
Kitchen Aid 5-Speed Ultra Power Hand Mixer
Finally broke down and bought a hand mixer, and the Kitchen Aid is the best for all the times when a stand mixer is not the right tool.
Waring Deep Fat Fryer
Our Waring Professional Mini deep fat fryer is just the right size for serving up a paleo meal for two or for hitting the spot with the kids. Fry up chicken nuggets, onion rings, French fries and more in a jiffy.
