Frugal kitchen

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Posted at 4:25PM, 25 October 2010 by Sarah Sysum - Assistant editor, Easy Cook magazine

We all know that making your own food at home is great for the budget, but with more labour-saving kitchen appliances about, we don't necessarily have to sacrifice time in order to save money. This got me thinking: what would my favourite thrifty gadgets be? It was tough making a final choice, but I settled on the four below.

You have a lovely home-cooked meal waiting for you as soon as you come through the door

Because slow cookers use a small amount of energy over a long period of time, they use much less electricity than a traditional oven. But they save money in other ways too. Slow cooking means you can use cheaper cuts of meat (which become meltingly tender after a full day of cooking at a low temperature) and you'll relinquish that takeaway as you have a lovely home-cooked meal waiting for you as soon as you come through the door.

Of course the classic in the make vs buy argument is the coffee machine. If you drink two cups a day of chain shop coffee, you'll spend around £110 a month. For that amount you can buy yourself a decent machine, plus an electric milk frother if you're a latte addict. Forgo the takeout coffee for three months and you can buy a seriously good piece of kit.

You might be surprised when I suggest that a mini chopper is also a great thrifty buy. But it allows you to grind your own spice mixes (so much cheaper and nicer than anything bought) and whizz up the ends of bread to make crumbs to freeze. Mini choppers are great at making pastes too. You could say that buying all the ingredients is more expensive, but if you're anything like me you'll have six different half-used jars of ready-made pastes at the back of the fridge at any one time.

Finally we come to the breadmaker. I know it's better to make it entirely from scratch, but if you don't have time to bake bread by hand, it can save a lot of time. There have been plenty of studies on how much it actually costs to make a loaf in a machine. Generally it works out at around 40p for a 10-slice loaf.

So there you go, my frugal four providing cheaper and tastier food. Now who's going to argue with that?

Comments

Belinda

26 October 2010, 8:26PM
Belinda

My four: Slow cooker = steamer (you get your home made ready prepared deepfrozen meals piping hot in just 30 min (ok defrost in fridge during the day)) mini chopper = fully agree Coffee and bread maker = magimix for batchcooking (price is about even ....)

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Belinda

26 October 2010, 8:27PM
Belinda

Sorry forgot number 4: good old fashioned handheld mixer (here on the continent that means you whisk, knead and mix) so great for soups or quick cream wipping!

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Dan Thunder

27 October 2010, 9:27AM
Dan Thunder

Slow cooker all the way. You can buy them for less then Â£15 and you don't even have to do anything with them. Just throw in the ingredients in the morning and hey presto, you've got a lovely warming stew ready when you get home! Though I would argue that Â£300 for a coffee machine isn't really that frugal when you can buy a decent stove top pot for under Â£20.

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Jemimapuddle

27 October 2010, 10:25AM
Jemimapuddle

I had all four gadgets. Use slow cooker at least once a week, coffee machine 4 times a day and bread maker every other day. Mini grater broke but I do miss it sitting on the work surface. Have to get out food processor and make breadcrumbs and then freeze them in bags.

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rozmorgan

27 October 2010, 11:29AM
rozmorgan

We have the coffee maker, slow cooker and mini chopper and all get used regularly. The mini chopper has been a god-send because it's just so easy to use.

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Cassandra Amy Rose

27 October 2010, 6:31PM
Cassandra Amy Rose

Our slow-cooker is a steamer, slow-cooker, rice cooker and porridge cooker all in 1 and I definitely wouldn't be without it! Also my K-mix (hand-held mixer), which has a kneading attachment so it means I can bake bread for our whole family almost every day without it taking to long! A blender is good as well because you can use it to make smoothies and soups at a fraction of the shop-brought price! A food-processor is great to have but I don't use it much now I have a blender and K-mix!

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liz

27 October 2010, 8:35PM
liz

Slow cooker great for cold weather ,no hard work and you can use the cheaper cuts of meat.

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Elaine

28 October 2010, 7:10AM
Elaine

Find my blender v quick and easy for big batches of soup and also making breadcrumbs. Not too much bother to clean, either. As well as saving me money, it sits neatly on the worktop and looks smart. Pretty and practical!

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Quokka

28 October 2010, 8:16AM
Quokka

Couldn't live without my slow cooker, food processor or hand held whisk!

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Lushious

28 October 2010, 8:25AM
Lushious

Slow cooker is a god send, also my gaggia coffee maker which is used every single day for about 5 cups of coffee. My bamix hand held blender which also comes with a chopping attachment and my breadmaker. Cannot have a curry without home made naans. My kids would not allow it!!!!

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jansrecipes

31 October 2010, 2:56PM
jansrecipes

I wouldn't be without my hand held blender - also coffee machine is wonderful. I also have a great mini chopper - you may know him! But maybe a slow cooker should be on my Christmas list.

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vegetarian recipes

10 November 2010, 10:49AM
vegetarian recipes

i would definitely rate breadmaker top of my list both for good bread and also my husband insists he is the only one to use it. one less job for me!!! wonderful.

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jogreen68

10 November 2010, 2:34PM
jogreen68

I coul not do without either my slow cooker or my artisan mixer. Dinner and baking all wrapped up in two gadgets!

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Jean

10 November 2010, 9:52PM
Jean

I am the Gadget Queen! I would love every gadget in the world if I could fit them on my bench top. Bread makers are great...especially for focaccia and pizza. Slow Cookers? not a big fan of stews.....although with beef at a high price it is the only way to cook a bolar roast if you want it tender.

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