Let me see...
I have a lot of gizmos I have a big ass Kitchen Aidstand mixer with all the attachments, but I seldom use it. i don’t bake seriously, and the main reason we got it was to use the sausage-casing stuffer attachment. But we stopped stuffing sausage casings, and now we just make the meat into chubs- much easier to work with for SO many reasons.
Mom bought me a Masterbuilt electric smoker, but I’ve barely used it. Mom also just bought a Cuisinart multifunction toaster oven that I have to admit is pretty nice. Easy to use and does the job well.
But I have to say, some of the stuff that gets the heaviest use are the ”basic” things- knives, pots, etc.
One of the biggest surprises was our acquisition of a few Cutco paring knives. Not exactly a premium name in knives, nonetheless, these are some of the best I’ve handled. Why? The handle is a full-sized, ergonomic grip that nearly anyone- even my Mom whose hands are starting to give her fits- can get a secure grasp on. MIT looks funny, but it’s SO functional.
Another surprise was my 30qt. stock pot (Hamilton Beach?) that I use primarily on holidays. (See post #299.)
i have a couple of really good seasoned cast iron pans that I love, but I also got a Matfer Cougat carbon steel pan as a gif a little while ago. I’m loving it, but I’m also having problems getting and maintaining a proper season on it- not sure if my seasoning method isn‘t right or if I have a defective pan. But when it works? Damn it’s good! Think of a good cast iron pan...but with something like half the weight. They’re sometimes as cheap as $50 on Amazon.