My top 12 kitchen appliances for preparing vegan food

[SquirrelSpider]

Dehydrators, frozen dessert makers and others... Here is my list - please post yours, your comments etc

1) A quality food processor - for chopping and mixing food, preparing vegan fruity/nutty chocolate etc.

2) A quality blender - for preparing mixes, shakes, smoothies

3) A quality grater - for preparing salads etc

4) A quality slicer - for preparing salads etc; I have very good experience with the Selkin Borner V1 V

5) A quality dehydrator - for preparing dried fruits, snacks, biscuits etc.; I love the nine-tray Excallibur dehydrator; set the thermostat to 35C/95F and your food will be dried overnight while still remains raw!

6) A quality "frozen dessert maker" - my favourite is the Yonanas frozen dessert maker; just put frozen banana with frozen strawberry or other fruit into it, turn it on, and in a few minutes you have all-vegan ice cream; I would suggest buying the stronger pro version though

7) A quality steamer - for steaming vegetables

8) A quality "multicooker" - check out this link ( http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/1500-Watt-Multi-
Cooker-with-Large-42cm-Diameter-Non-Stick-Electric-Frying-Pan-/350870130312?
pt=UK_HGKitchen_SmallApp_RL&hash=item51b17d4e88 ) to see what I mean - it is so convenient, so much faster than your usual fireplace/grill, you can use it to cook, bake, fry, roast, even "grill" ... even without any oil added

9) A fridge with nice size freezer

10) A quality "whole orange presser" - for quickly pressing oranges, lemons, grapefruits etc. - I like the semi-professional ones that make the job in one go as you pull down the arm/lever

11) A quality "whole fruit juicer" - for juicing various fruits; usually the larger and the more powerful the machine is the better

12) A "wheat grass juicer" - if you grow you own wheat grass this can be very useful

What do you think? What appliances do you use everyday? What appliances did you buy but never really use? Any more to the list? Any models and makes you prefer?

[harpy]

Hi, I think it's fine to collect gadgets if you enjoy and can afford them, but I wouldn't want any "casual readers" to get the idea that you need to buy a lot of equipment in order to cook enjoyable vegan food. I agree a fridge-freezer is very useful, as are a sharp knife and something to chop things on Also, a salad spinner thing is handy, though there are other ways to dry salad if you haven't got one.

[CurrantCottage]

I just bought a really cheap electric waffle maker from Lidls - not at all necessary but I've been eyeing it up for weeks and couldn't resist any longer - I made a load of yummy pumpkin waffles last weekend !!!

[SquirrelSpider]

True, it is perfectly possible to make delicious vegan foods using just a knife.

[Daffodil]

Well I use a knife and combination of saucepan, wok and steamer and sometimes my soup maker if i'm feeling lazy. Nothing out of the ordinary needed just a good imagination (or maybe a recipe book)

[veggiegirl3]

I barely have any kitchen gadgets, but I love my blender. It's really good for smoothies, sauces, soups, etc. I also have a belgian waffle maker, which is great but I haven't used it in quite awhile. Other than that, I have a tiny food processor, a pot, and a wok.

[khadagan]

I wouldn't know 12, but I adore my Vitamix blender. Especially now that I'm going through an ice cream phase. It makes wonderful instant ice cream (frozen fruit, coconut milk, sweetener) in minutes. I do use my dehydrator a lot too, my very favourite is dried bananas. And obviously my kitchen stove or doesn't that count as an appliance? A proper sharp knife to cut your veggies with and a good cutting board doesn't hurt either.