I need assistance
I really do. I have too much time on my hands, one activity (if it can be called that) I’ve found to fill my time is researching items for our registry. Yes, yes, I know it’s self serving, consumerist and kinda lame but it’s raining, I’m bored and I can’t drive on the left side of the road. I have fears like, what if I register for the wrong food processor and it breaks after the warranty and is suddenly possessed then attacks the cat? Or equally bizarre things fueled by Amazon.com reviews.
Another plus (minus?) to an Amazon.com registry is that you can see what other couples in your area registered for, what couples with similar items registered for, the top registered items, etc. The lists go on and on and on. Do all these couples know something that I don’t know? Why is a Le Creuset dutch oven considered a holy grail? I thought the Kitchenaid was it!
Not to mention this Bed Bath and Beyond registry check list is HUGE, but it only leaves me with more questions! How can we possibly register for bathroom items or towels when we don’t even have a bathroom yet? Does anyone really want to buy us curtains? What pots do I need to have a decent kitchen? Do I really need an ice cream maker (I’m thinking no…).
In an effort to educate myself I turned to the most reliable of sources (wikipedia) to find out what exactly a dutch oven is and to find out if i need a slow cooker. As it turns out, most of the same things can be made in each – do I need a dutch oven AND a slow cooker? What on earth is a pressure cooker? I’m out of my depth here and my non-existent kitchen is becoming very confused.
What advice can you offer this kitchen novice to register for? Are you overwhelmed by these check lists (and feeling like they’re just trying to get you to register for stuff you don’t actually need)?
March 1st, 2009 at 5:24 pm
Here’s what I understand:
-A dutch oven goes in the oven to be cooked. Advantageous for recipes that need to be cooked at a specific temperature (which you can’t always do in a slow cooker)
-Slow cooker is good b/c you throw everything in and let it go!
-Pressure cooker uses heat & pressure, to cook faster. Not an area you want to cheap out, if you get one. Older pressure cookers were very unsafe due to a design flaw – pressure would build up, there wasn’t a relief valve, and they occassionally exploded. New pressure cookers are very safe – the relief valve is properly designed to ensure pressure cannot build up so high that it’s a hazard. However, pressure cookers still have a reputation as being unsafe due to their former design flaws.
If you haven’t used a pressure cooker, I’d say you don’t need one.
You may or may not want/need a slow cooker.
You might want to consider a dutch oven.
Don’t worry about brands as much as you are. Yes, LeCreuset is amazing, but Lagostina, Paderno and Kitchenaid are good, too.
For slow cookers, Oster, KitchenAid and other brands are all very good.
You’re going to get lots of conflicting advice on weddingbee about this subject. Take it with a grain of salt – a lot of it is preference.
March 1st, 2009 at 5:26 pm
P.S. If something does fail the day after the warranty expires … well, look at it this way: you didn’t pay for it so you’re not out any
(My point is – don’t overanalyze the reviews. Stick with established name brands, not new companies no one has ever heard of. It’ll be fine.)
March 1st, 2009 at 5:52 pm
Thank you Krista! I think I probably have too much time on my hands.
I don’t think I want a pressure cooker, I have enough things exploding in the kitchen. The cookware set we registered for comes with a dutch oven, but I just couldn’t understand why people were going gaga in the reviews for some items.
March 3rd, 2009 at 1:12 pm
Hey, Christi – I found your blog through Rachel’s and, since I’m kitchen obsessed, can kind of help. Bon Appetit has a list of must-haves:
http://www.bonappetit.com/tipstools/tools/2008/04/the_well_stocked_kitchen
That’s for people who basically live in their kitchen. I think we can agree, for example, that waffle irons, ice cream makers, and four different sized baking pans are extreme. Maybe start trying some new recipes that interest you, and see what’s missing. For example, I really like making cupcakes and just recently ran into a recipe where I didn’t have a candy thermometer. Not a need-to-have, the icing made it without being scorched, but I’ll probably end up getting one in the future…
Good luck with everything!
March 3rd, 2009 at 1:16 pm
Thank you, that is so handy! We’ve been so nomadic we’ve sort of made do with what we have. I can’t wait to actually cook multi pot dishes!
March 6th, 2009 at 10:18 am
ok le creuset dutch IS THE HOLY GRAIL. they are the most amazing pans to cook with bc they distribute heat evenly…