What would you buy with $100 on Amazon?

Question

I have been collecting Amazon gift cards from various sources (mainly from online surveys) and I have probably a little over $100. I want to splurge on something for my birthday and I'm thinking something cooking-related. I love to cook but don't do enough of it, mainly because I work a lot. I'm looking for suggestions for cookware/tools available on Amazon that would make cooking more fun, easier, etc. Here's what I already have: KA stand mixer, Oster blender, breadmaker, rice cooker (small), Cuisinart mini food processor, a few good knives (2 chefs knives, paring, bread slicer, tomato slicer, and steak knives), a mandoline slicer, food scale, salad spinner, pressure cooker (wedding gift 5 years ago and still haven't used...), decent set of pans from Costco )and two large chef's pans I use all the time). Wow - sounds like a lot when I write it all out! Anything I'm missing though?

Answer

ice cream maker for the KA?

Answer

Rice cooker?
Bread machine?
pizza stone & paddle?

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A $125 coupon for Trader Joes?

Answer

Would the $100 need to cover the entire item, or just the majority of it (50% or more)? :-)

If $100 had to cover everything, I'd probably decide to use it to stock up on some of the food items that we buy regularly via Amazon either because they are cheaper or because they're unavailable locally.

The problem is that the only cookware items I'm currently interested in are all $100+. That would be either a replacement countertop oven (either the Breville Compact or the Cuisinart TOB-195, both priced at about $170) or the new Zoji thermal cooker (which sadly is over $200, ouch).

Then again, I might take a flyer on the Shun Ken Onion 7" cleaver, just for the heck of it. I have the little paring knife ($139) in that style and despite its rather weird look, really like it! The cleaver is another over-$100 item but not as much so as the toaster oven or thermal cooker and Amazon currently sells it for $100 cheaper than everyone else (although the discount isn't as much as they show it being).

Suggestion for the OP: How are you fixed for bakeware? You can stock up on Fat Daddio's pans quite a bit for $100! :-) IMHO they are the best and Amazon carries the entire line (no, don't ask me how I know that, LOL).

Answer

Good suggestions from other posters. I'd have to add some cookbooks (yes, those are tools) for your pressure cooker, since you've never used it. I have Lorna Sass's Pressure Perfect and find the recipes easy to follow. Miss Vickie has some good books as well. You're under-utilizing a great tool with the pressure cooker.

If you're passionate about a particular cuisine, look into some of the cookbooks on Amazon and pick up some favorites.

Answer

I'd buy an immersion blender, I think. I've been "going to buy" one of these for some time now. I think I would use it.

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Well, a Dutch Oven is a good investment if you like slow cooking. 

http://www.amazon.com/Lodge-Logic-Pre-Seasoned-4-Quart-Dutch/dp/B0001DJVGK/ref=sr_1_3?s=home-garden&ie=UTF8&qid=1315952581&sr=1-3

A carbon steel wok is great for Chinese stir-fry. 

A waterstone for knife sharpening

A gel mat for prolong standing in the kitchen

A endgrain cutting board if you don't have one.

Answer

Pasta attachments for your KA. I LOVE them.

About 1/4 of a Vita Mix. Since you must eat GF (as do I) grinding flax seed, almonds, etc. can come in very, very handy.

Answer

To be a smart-ass:

Jacques Pepin - Jacques Pepin's Complete Techniques
Harold McGee - On Food and Cooking: The Science and Lore of the Kitchen
Mark Bittman - How to Cook Everything, Completely Revised 10th Anniversary Edition: 2,000 Simple Recipes for Great Food
Sarah R. Labensky, Alan M. Hause, Steve Labensky - On Cooking: Techniques From Expert Chefs, Trade Version (3rd Edition)

To not be a smartass, if you love to cook and don't do enough of it because you work a lot, then the best thing that would make cooking more fun is to use the $100 to free up your time. If that is getting a personal assistant to do something time-consuming, not satisfying and simple enough that you could entrust to someone else, or perhaps paying extra for some sort of service that frees up your time (e.g. paying extra for delivery of grocers or other items you would otherwise drive out to pick up?)

As far as cookware/tools, if you don't feel that you have a need for something, or if you do not have an urge to try something new that requires some new item, then just getting some new item of cookware or tool is not going to make cooking more fun. Unless you have a plan/desire and the time to cook differently or cook different things it will probably end up sitting around unused, taking up space as a symbol of consumerism...(and I have quite a few of those cookware items around the house!) I would look at the items that I used the most and think hard if they are somehow unsatisfactory, and then if $100 will procure an upgrade - because I use them all the time so hopefully I would appreciate the upgrade all the time as opposed to something I sort of really appreciate once in a blue moon.

Answer

I recommend a Thermapen instant read thermometer. It's supposed to be the best on the mkt. I don't have one yet but I do use my cheap instant read for a variety of apps (pies, breads, meats, fish, beer making, canning). I think a good thermometer is a key to success for many dishes.

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Not suggested yet, I think: a FoodSaver system. I've been tempted to get one of those for a long time, and think about it every time I pull something frost-damaged from the freezer.

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My bday was earlier this week and one of my gifts was a $100 Amazon gift card. I used it for a Kindle.

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If the money has to cover the whole cost of the item, I'd buy a presto pressure canner. If it doesn't, then the All American pressure canner. Of course maybe you have no desire to can low acid foods? 

Can't go wrong with a dutch oven, but 100 dollars won't cover a nice 7 quart Le Creuset which I think is the perfect size to start out with since it's so versatile.

Answer

My new favorite kitchen gadget is actually a great timesaver (since you said time is an issue for you). I just bought one of those Zojirushi hot water boilers. It's fantastic and lets me effortlessly prepare things I love like oatmeal and tea and hot chocolate without having to wait for the water to boil. I know it seems silly that waiting for water to boil would be an issue, but it makes a real difference in my tea drinking if I can have a cup of tea instantly vs. having to wait for 5 minutes. I also use it to fill pots for pasta, so it can boil on the stove almost immediately. It's great if you have kids for instant mac and cheese and fabulous for cleaning stuck-on food off of old dishes. I love it when I have to clean my cast iron fry pan - no waiting for the sink to heat up! I bought it initially because our coffee maker broke and I wanted to switch to french press coffee - this machine makes it effortless, so now I don't need a drip pot. I love it.

I read so many reviews when looking into buying one where people said they thought it was such a stupid idea to have a gadget just for keeping water hot, but now they can't imagine life without it, and I feel the same way. You can get one for a little over $100. 

http://www.amazon.com/Zojirushi-CD-WBC30-Electric-3-Liter-Champagne/dp/B0011528S0/ref=sr_1_2?ie=UTF8&qid=1316268861&sr=8-2

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What would you buy with $100 on Amazon?

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