Drop, charge, and lose the cords
Tame the taskmaster.
(Credit: Kalorik)It's a good feeling when at the end of the workday all that is left to do is to go home. While a pile of completed tasks and jobs may appeal to our inner need to check things off of a list, our productivity needs fuel to sustain its drive. Hunger can be a powerful distraction, as well it should be. But sometimes, its too powerful. A 2-hour lunch break is nice, but sometimes you've just got to bear down and plow through the day. Next time, don't settle for a candy bar to power your way through those long afternoon hours; instead, make a meal.
The Kitchen Outpost (aka Kalorik Breakfast Set) is a small desk or countertop appliance that provides throughout the day. Featuring a coffeemaker, a toaster oven, and a griddle all in one, the multiuse appliance measures 20.25 inches across and 9.3 inches in depth, with a height of 9.25 inches. With such a degree of usefulness, you'll be sure to revisit the device many times a day. Use it to heat up a prepared sandwich, or create your own. The integrated coffee maker supplies the ever-important caffeine fix throughout the day. With such conveniences right in front of you, your productivity is sure to shoot right through the roof--just be sure to come up for air every now and then.
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Coolest Gadgets)
The automated flapjack maker is able to produce a pancake every 30 seconds, stacking them in a neat little pile on the side while you spend your time frying eggs and sausage. And you needn't worry about preparing the batter either, as the machine is designed to use ready-made batter pouches.
Understandably, this type of machine lends itself well to larger crowds, as in cafeterias and convenience stores. Taking up about as much real estate as a microwave, it provides a more economical and space-efficient solution to providing pancakes for larger venues than a full-sized griddle. That being said, it's most likely a bit too specialized for you to rationalize keeping one on your kitchen countertop. In any case, the machine is technically designed for use in commercial applications anyway.
The Chefstack is shipping at the end of September of this year. You can preorder one and read more about its features on ChefStack's Web site.
Try to remember, it does more than just make waffles.
(Credit: Cooking.com)Some kitchen appliances are hard to emulate. Just try making a waffle without a waffle iron. It's not very easy to do. You may end up with something that goes great with bacon and eggs, but that doesn't mean you got yourself a waffle. In fact, I'm not even quite sure how one would go about trying to make a waffle without a waffle maker. Most likely, one would just settle for pancakes. Delicious maybe, but waffles they are not.
Valuable counter space need not be sacrificed to have a waffle maker. The Kalorik Stainless Steel Nonstick Grill/Sandwich/Waffle Maker combines all the popular aspects of countertop cooking into one convenient model. Not only will you be able to make waffles, but also many other items as well. The multiple use device features not only a sandwich maker, but also a standard indoor grill allowing for the capability to cook up almost anything.
With three interchangeable nonstick plates, this Kalorik grill has the versatility needed for today's crowded countertops. Everybody loves breakfast, and you can't really go wrong with waffles. If you want waffles, you are going to need a waffle iron, so you might as well give it something else to do for those other meals. Sure, one could eat breakfast all day, but it is probably a good idea to get some other nutrients too.
Always delicious.
(Credit: Chefs)Waffles are good any time of the day or night. This may be because waffles are good topped with sweet or savory ingredients. From chicken and waffles to ice cream and berries, the waffle is a versatile base for many a delicious meal.
Perhaps more amazing than the ability to have waffles with any meal is the ability to have breakfast anytime. The breakfast bar in a hotel closes at a certain hour and the biscuit-selling fast-food joints do the same. Many restaurants serve breakfast until a predetermined time. For those who want 24-hour breakfast availability, it's best to have a breakfast-making appliance on hand. After all, since breakfast is the most important meal of the day, why only have it in the morning?
The Waring Flip Waffler can help you achieve your anytime-breakfast desires. Operating on the idea that batter settles while cooking, an integrated flip mechanism assures even cooking. (Well, assuming you actually flip it). The half-inch plates produce thick waffles and are nonstick for easy cleanup. An audible beep sounds when the waffler is properly heated and another sounds when the waffle is done. The handle then folds for easy storage.
Nothing beats a hot waffle served with the exact ingredients you are craving. While sweet may be the consensus favorite for waffle toppings, don't forget to experiment a little in the kitchen. Remember: when pizza is on a bagel waffle, you can eat pizza any time.
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Appliancist)
Done and done, says the 4-in-1 Breakfast Maker by Sunpentown. It packs the breakfast power of four machines in one, so I can get my beauty sleep, cook a hearty breakfast, and still have time left over to read up on what's going on in the world.
The multipurpose breakfast machine boasts a 10-liter toaster oven, a 6-cup coffee maker, a nonstick frying pan, and a steaming tray. The toaster oven has a timer on it as well, so I can throw on my clothes while my toast is cooking. The addition of a steam tray is although perfect for my health-conscious side, since I can include freshly steamed veggies with breakfast (precut the night before, of course).
The space-saver is also perfect for urban apartments like the one I have in Brooklyn, since it packs the same cooking punch into a much smaller package. So, instead of stacking four appliances on top of each other on metal baker's racks, I can keep one compact breakfast powerhouse on my countertop.
The Sunpentown 4-in-1 Breakfast Maker is available for $80.
But, when it boils down to it, we have to eat, and there aren't always enough hours in the day for a hearty, sit-down breakfast.
So, in an attempt to pinch my pennies and curb the recent spike of junk food in my diet, I'm setting out to find gadgets that can make the morning rush a little bit healthier and a lot closer to home.
Take, for instance, this Progressive International Microwavable Breakfast Sandwich Maker. It makes two eggs plus two slices of bacon or sausage in your microwave while your bread of choice is toasting, so you can be free to throw on your professional attire. When you leave, you can take comfort in not having to swing by the local deli, which is usually crowded, sometimes pricey, and almost always too generous with the cheese.
You can make your eggs fried or scrambled, since the sandwich maker has an integrated egg-cracker (which also means that you save water on washing an extra bowl), and they can be easily removed with the nifty egg lifters. If you want to really bank on the health savings you can cook up some less-fattening turkey or tempeh bacon.
You can find the microwave sandwich maker on Amazon for under $10, which by my last count is about three of the less healthy counterparts that you could buy down the street. It'll save you money, time, and possibly an extra trip to the doctor. That's what I call a "win, win, win" situation.
Scan Toaster concept toasts any image straight from your computer.
(Credit: Electrolux)My mornings are based on routine. I'm not sure if it's the repetition of familiar movements or the cold coffee waiting for me in the kitchen that drives me through those first few waking moments. Either way, after I've had my coffee, I am awake enough to figure out how to make more coffee... and then it comes to breakfast.
Breakfast is my first true decision of the day. Everything else up to this point is robotic motion practiced into familiarity. Variety is the spice of life, so after my day has been kick started, I want a little choice to keep things from getting dull. Usually breakfast consists of some sort of grainy thing in a bowl with soymilk to wash it down. What can I say? It's fast and easy. If I want to break away from a bowl of cereal or oats, usually I look to toast.
Yes, plain, boring old toast, usually buttered with cinnamon on top.
Luckily for me, variety can be (well, if it ever comes to market) achieved with the Scan Toaster, a submission in the 2008 Electrolux Design Lab contest. The concept piece certainly takes variety seriously, as not only can it print any design onto your toast via a USB attachment to your computer, but it can also toast articles and news headlines right on to your toast. Read the day's news, and then eat it.
Designer Sung Bae Chang, a design student at Sejong University in South Korea, created the toaster for the competition that ends October 9 in Zurich, Switzerland.
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Sur la table)
One of my favorite things to cook for a group of people is brunch. For one thing, I love getting up early to be industrious (hence my love of Thanksgiving). I also like the idea of cooking a meal without the added pressure of planning a series of board games and movies. But if you think beyond the straightforward French toast and fruit, you'll get to the part of the meal that's the most difficult to coordinate: the eggs.
I'm a fan of medium-boiled eggs, but in an effort to prevent myself from disappointment, I've learned to love their soft- and hard-boiled counterparts. It seems to me that no matter how hard I try to achieve that quasi-runny yolk, some cosmic turn of events either causes me to take the egg out well before it's ready or way after the yolk has turned into a crumbly, flaky, Easter-style lump.
How does this kind of thing work? In order to understand the perfect boiled egg, you first have to understand the science behind it. Most guides will tell you that an egg should be cooked for about 4 minutes to be soft-boiled, about 6 minutes to be medium-boiled, and about 8 minutes to be hard-boiled. Cooking an egg for a specific length of time brings the inside to a certain temperature that corresponds with a specific level of doneness. Any less than 4 minutes and your egg could end up a runny mess. Conversely, an overcooked egg develops a thin green layer around the yolk, which is a reaction of iron in the egg's yolk and hydrogen sulfide, a byproduct of cooking sulfur-containing proteins in the white.
Some more dedicated egg-lovers have actually broken down the science of egg cooking into formulas that take into account the size of the egg, at what temperature the egg started, and whether you put the egg into boiling or cold water at the beginning (check out a graph that will help you extrapolate exact cooking times).
Not into number crunching in the kitchen? Yeah, I didn't think so. To make things easier on the consumer, some companies have developed specialized eggs that have color-changing ink. If you buy a pack of these eggs, then the ink will change color as soon as the eggs have reached the level of doneness that's specified on the pack you purchased. But not everyone likes their eggs to be cooked the same, which makes the Chef's Choice Egg Cooker the perfect brunch buddy.
The egg cooker takes the guesswork out of egg boiling, cooking anywhere from one to seven eggs exactly to your taste. You add water to the reservoir and turn the switch to your desired level. Not in the mood for the same eggs as your friends? The cooker uses something called Vari-cook technology, which cooks eggs in the same batch to different levels. It also has a specialized poaching tray with elliptical molds to create the perfect poach, and comes with a tray that can be lifted out to carry your guests' eggs to the table. Sounds much easier than the multiple-pot circus that I usually have to run if I want to make eggs to order.
'Toast n Egg' combination toater/egg poacher
(Credit: Tefal)Now this combination makes sense. Toast with an egg is undoubtedly a great pairing to start any day. The problem for me is that if I'm gonna make an egg, most likely I'm gonna fry it. Not necessarily because it will taste better, but more so for the absolute lack of effort it requires. Butter, pan, fry, done. Easy.
Anything that uses less pots and pans is a good thing in my book. The ability to crack an egg into the Toast n Egg from Tefal is a great idea. The unit comes not only with an egg-poaching tray, but also a meat-warming tray too for heating up pre-cooked meats. Immediately, those frozen sausage patties come to mind, and visions of homemade Egg McMuffins (whose inventor, Herb Peterson, sadly passed away this week) flash across my early-morning mind. Keeping in mind that it is only a meat-warming tray, I may have to think about substituting sliced ham instead. Or maybe left over bacon. From past experience I know there is enough residual heat in between the two slices of a freshly toasted English muffin to melt a slice of cheese. Add the egg and meat and it's easy to see that this is an appliance whose time has come.
Luckily the Toast n Egg appeals to the more heath conscious among us, also. Really, there is no need to for high-calorie add-ons like meat and cheese. Since the egg is poached in water without the use of oil or butter, it is entirely possible to make a quick and healthy meal to start your day. Add a liberal sprinkling of some Bacon Salt instead, and your arteries will thank you.
(Credit:
Gray Matter)
If product-design firm Gray Matter is to be believed, a whopping 70 percent of us are frustrated by soggy breakfast cereal. That's why the group invented Eatmecrunchy, a bowl designed to keep your milk and cereal separate until you mix them. The secret lies in the bowl's interior shelf, which holds most of your Wheaties above the milk, allowing only a small portion of the bowl's contents to mix. No assembly is required--you pour cereal and milk as you would with a conventional bowl--but you do have to shovel cereal into the shelfless section where it can mix with milk as needed.
You can buy the bowl directly from Gray Matter; though the company is based in the U.K., it will ship to the United States. But the exchange rate makes the price a little steep: If purchased today, each bowl will set you back $8. I have to confess I'm one of the 30 percent who enjoys the slow metamorphosis of crunchy cereal into soggy mush, so I can't imagine spending that much. Could you?
