Hi All,

Hopefully you can help me. I need some recommendations for some of your favorite, most useful kitchen gadgets for raw food preparation. I like to keep things simple, but I'm not 'lazy'. Making food look appetizing is also cool.

I already have a citrus juicer, a Breville fruit and veggie juicer, a blender, and a spiral slicer. The spiral slicer is a cheap 'as seen on tv' model, and any recommendations for a better model are welcome.

My purchase priorities are a food processor, mandoline or other type of slicer, and a better spiralizer so I can make zucchini spaghetti. Please also include your recommendations for a dehydrator which I will purchase at a later date. It will be used to dry fruit for snacks...banana chips, pineapple slices, apples, etc.

Thanks to all in advance for your recommendations.

Happy Raw New Year!
Seajaee

i have a blender which i use frequently, wish i had a vita-mix though, wow.
i have other tools that i hardly ever use, a food processor, saladacco (spiral slicer), a fantastic juicer that i hardly ever use right now, a dehydrator that i never use, i had a mandolin that i never used too. i don't know about lots of gadgets unless you're really into preparing food stuffs. a good cutting board and a great knife are just about all you really need.

I have a spirooli, which I use to make pasta out of enlish cucumbers or other cucumbers. The pasta comes out pretty thick, like a linguini, as opposed to the angel hair pasta of my saladacco. It can also slice and make chips. I enjoy the pasta that comes from this machine over what I get from my saladacco, although the saladacco is probably better for hard root vegetables like beets and carrots.

I prefer to use cucumbers to make noodles. When I made more of the raw recipes etc I just used a cheese slicer I had to slice strips of cucumber down to about a fettucini (maybe a bit bigger).

I think I would get one of the better mre convenient blenders like the vitamix or magic bullet. My blender is just a standard one, my juicer hasn't really got a look in since I discovered the wonder of green smoothies.

The two best dehydrators seem to be L'equip or Excalibur. It seems that you can get the L'Equip 528 Dehydrator cheaper if you live in the UK and the Excalibur Dehydrator cheaper if you live in the USA.

Phil.

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"Those who say it cannot be done should not interrupt the person doing it" (Chinese Proverb)

My favorite kitchen appliance would be a Vitamix but I can't afford one at the moment. For me, a high power blender is what I use most in raw food prep.

We sell a spiral slicer which doubles as a mandolin and has 4 different blades. I've got one and I like it, although I've not used any other type of spiral slicer to compare - [www.funkyraw.com] (and it's on special offer right now!)

Rob

--
Rob Hull - Funky Raw
My blog: [www.rawrob.com]

i love my presto salad shooter for fast grating and slicing.
i've had it at least 8 years and use it daily.

my standard blender does a fine green smoothie but
i replace it every year or so.

i have a brand new $295. samson juicer that i've
used maybe 5 times in 5 years (and would sell in a second.)
i just like chewing.

fruitgirl Wrote:
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> my standard blender does a fine green smoothie
> but i replace it every year or so.

Why not just buy a Vitamix which will last you for many, many years before needing to be replaced, will probably work out cheaper in the long term and also much better environmentally!

Rob

--
Rob Hull - Funky Raw
My blog: [www.rawrob.com]

kitchen scissors....

my favorite cause i can chop NE thing in a bowl.......

MUAH

tiffntwins

funkyrawbob,

you are so right
and the vita mix will
also break down the veggies more
for greater nutritional value

where is the best place to buy it?

thank you i should have done it long ago

We tried the Vitamix 2 hp household model, but it wouldn't blend flax seed batters very well, so I sent it back and got the 3 hp Vita Prep commercial model. I'm very happy with that, even though it was a lot more $$$. It's a workhorse of a machine. I found it at the best price through an eBay store. The best price I found for the regular Vitamix was through the manufacturer's factory reconditioned unit eBay auctions (same warranty as new units).

For a juicer, my roommate and I use a Champion. Mostly we love making bananna and fruit "soft serve style ice cream" with it in endless variations. I used to have an expensive centrifical juicer with the citrus reaming attachment. Now I use a cheap (less than $20) Black and Decker citrus juicer purchased from my local True Value hardware store. I easily removed the adjustable pulp strainer mechanism to get more pulp in the juice without the seeds. It's the best buy for the bucks I've made in a kitchen gadget and we use it almost daily in citrus season.

Bryan turned us on to a must have for mango lovers last year. It's an Asian mango peeler for under $5. Looks kind of like a longer version of the standard vegetable peeler with a plastic handle. We're going to Costa Rica in February (mango season) and you can bet that those peelers will be packed. Look for them in Asian markets or Asian Hardware stores. Ours is called "Barbarian" brand with an American Indian head logo.

I loved to cook and used to be a knife collector in my SAD days. I had a whole block full of expensive German knives for every kitchen task. I kept a few, but I could live with only a Japanese vegetable (santoku) knife, a "birds beak" paring knife or inexpensive Japanese "fruit knife" and maybe a standard 6 to 8 inch standard chef's knife. In watermelon season I haul out the big chef's knife.

Old favorites: the Spirooli slicer that Bryan already mentioned for veggie pastas. English or Japanese cucumbers are our favorite pasta subjects. The old Cuisinart food processor which gets used from time to time with the standard S blade. The Excalibar dehydrator.

Recent hits in our kitchen: the thin flexible plastic cutting mats which get used several times a day and are easy to rinse and dry - we hardly ever haul out the wooden or bamboo cutting boards anymore. A $2 little gadget that cuts the stem area of a tomato core out - it looks like a little serrated half sphere on a handle. A wonderful little mini blender called Tri-Best which replaced the old coffee grinder that finally gave out. It's great for blending one or two servings of dressings, sauces and the like, or grinding nuts, seeds and dried fruits/veggies . We got the one that comes with extra jars in 2 sizes, 2 different blades (blending or grinding) and storage lids so you can blend and store in the same jar.

Our little raw kitchen is in a constant state of evolution. If something isn't getting used, it's gone to free up the space. I turned the stove gas pilots off and the oven is now extra storage space. We covered the top of the stove with a piece of sealed plywood for extra prep space. There's a section that's removable over one burner in case we want to heat something. Have fun!
Love from Uti.

Can you provide a link to the Asian mango peeler?

Sorry, I don't have a link to the Barbarian Head Brand Mango peeler. It's about 8 inches long, made of stainless steel and has an orange plastic handle. Bryan got ours in a San Francisco Chinatown store. You'll have to do some searching to see if anyone carrying Asian culinary specialities sells them online.
Uti

fruitgirl Wrote:
-------------------------------------------------------
> funkyrawbob,
>
> you are so right
> and the vita mix will
> also break down the veggies more
> for greater nutritional value
>
> where is the best place to buy it?

Well, if you are in the UK, then the Funky Raw shop of course (it's even on speical offer at the moment), but if you are elsewhere, I really couldn't recommend anywhere.

Rob

--
Rob Hull - Funky Raw
My blog: [www.rawrob.com]

I only use my Champion juicer about once a week, but I love it for the banana ice cream it makes, I put coconut through it too. The only thing I don't like about the Champion is that the blade always gets stuck on the shaft, I seem to spend as much time breaking the suction on the blade as I spend using the machine.

I think that the most essential tool is a food processor, mine is a cheapie, I've made ice cream in a food processor too by just letting the bananas thaw about 15 min first.

The one tool I want to get is a citrus juicer like my parents had.
[www.americhefusa.com] I loved it because you didn't have to do any twisting, or get your hands dirty and a quick rinse was all it needed for cleanup. While I was looking for this one I see that there are a lot of different models of citrus presses on the market.



Edited 2 time(s). Last edit at 01/04/2007 05:30PM by tropical.

here it is:
[importfood.com]




uti Wrote:
-------------------------------------------------------
> Sorry, I don't have a link to the Barbarian Head
> Brand Mango peeler. It's about 8 inches long, made
> of stainless steel and has an orange plastic
> handle. Bryan got ours in a San Francisco
> Chinatown store. You'll have to do some searching
> to see if anyone carrying Asian culinary
> specialities sells them online.
> Uti

My favorite kitchen gadget is the sauerkraut , kimchi , and pickle maker jar. I also love the wooden mandoline slicer to slice up veggies for the kraut.

Mike

wooden mandoline? post a link, that sound great! i don't like plastic.
the kraut maker is one thing i would like to invest in since i love fermented foods so much.

A few Christmas' ago, I received a toss & chop salad scissors. I used it once or twice then stuck it in my drawer and forgot about it.

The other day I "rediscovered" it. I think it helps to solve the salad dressing problem, since it sort of makes a dressing from cutting up all the various salad ingredients. Especially if you include some avocado, you have a creamy dressing without having to add the questionable oil and vinegar. If you want you can toss in a few herbs or seasonings and you are good to go.

The only thing I'd suggest is to eat all of the salad up and don't leave leftovers because the salad will be wilty unless you prefer that!

Coco wrote
> wooden mandoline? post a link, that sound great! i don't like plastic.

The links are

Wooden mandoline / cabbage slicer:

Sauerkraut makers (made of glass, or lead-free ceramic):

Mike



Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 01/10/2007 04:51AM by Bryan.

oh mike, those are so cool! which do you recommend, the glass or the ceramic crock? would it be better (mailing cost) to have it shipped to michigan in the US or ontario in canada?

Hi Coco,

Sauerkraut and kim chi are two of my favorite foods to make!

The Harsch crock is better quality material than the glass jar. The jar works great and is the one I use. Both the Harsch and the jar will make great tasting kraut.

With the jar, shipping will be the same for Michigan and Ontario. For the Harsch, it weighs 30 pounds and will cost more going to Canada.

Mike



Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 01/10/2007 04:50AM by Bryan.

Benriner makes good inexpensive mandolines and turning/spiral slicers.
Bron makes expensive professional mandolines and turning/spiral slicers.

Cuisinart makes a mini-prep food processor which is great for chopping ingredients to a chunky consistency where high-powered blenders seem to skip right to puree consistency. It's just the right size for individual ingredients or small batches of mixed ingredients but it won't process 14 cups at once like full-sized food processors. It also won't slice or grate anything but that's why you have a mandoline. It is also very easy to clean and takes up very little counter space.

Excalibur is the most popular raw food dehydrator. I would recommend the "T" models with the built-in timer.

It sounds like you have everything else you need. Get uncooking!

that's awesome mike, i'm going to order one, i just have to decide Which one! are there any consumer reviews of the two of them to help me decide? i love pickles but lactofermented ones are impossible to find where i live and you never know if they've been pasturized or not.

Thanks No5,

I will look into the products you mentioned. Benriner, Bron, and Cuisinart are all brands I have heard of.


I am just so excited. This is my 6th day after my 7-day fast and I am at least 90% raw. It might be more as I've only been muching on Garden of Eatin Organic Yellow/Blue corn chips. I feel good, my skin/eyes are clearing and I'm losing weight.

Thanks to all for your comments, and suggestions.

Seajaee

I use my food processor several times a day. Usually I just rinse it good with hot water and it's ready to go again.

Mine is the Hamilton Beach Big Mouth Model 70590. About $50 at Walmart.

I make dressings for apple salad or cole slaw, and our favorite: Strawberry Banana Cake.

Coco,

I bought the jar kind from Mike along with the E3 probiotic he recommended and it works just perfectly. The kraut is delicious and it ferments a lot faster with the E3.

seajee:

Have a few appliances I use a lot:

The Cuisinart gets used maybe once a week for seed cheese but almost every day for fruit pureed with greens (kind of a green 'pudding' instead of a green smoothie)

I also love the Tribest blender. It's so compact and easy. The container has screw on lids so it goes from the blender straight to the fridge. I bought extra containers and lids in different sizes. This gets used a lot, mostly for salad dressings.

My beloved K-Tec blender gets used a lot, too, for green smoothies and nut milks.

I have a Champion juicer that is collecting dust. I never juice anymore, I like green smoothies better. As for using the Champion on the frozen bananas for ice cream, the Cuisinart works just as well with less mess and clean up time.

The Champion will get some action in the next weeks because I'm starting a cleanse/fast that involves juices. A local supermarket makes organic juice three times a week ($4.99/quart!) but I'll want juice on the other days, too.

i dropped by a Thai market today to buy a crate of persimmons, and ended up finding the Barbarian Head mango peeler...can't wait to try it out! thanks Uti (and Bryan) for the recommendation.

uti Wrote:
-------------------------------------------------------
> Sorry, I don't have a link to the Barbarian Head
> Brand Mango peeler. It's about 8 inches long, made
> of stainless steel and has an orange plastic
> handle. Bryan got ours in a San Francisco
> Chinatown store. You'll have to do some searching
> to see if anyone carrying Asian culinary
> specialities sells them online.
> Uti