What Brand of Kitchen Appliances Do You Depend On?

[Certificate of Excellence]

So, far it's been working fine. It's hard to say because for a number of reasons, we aren't often replacing devices. Larger appliances, like the dryer I am in the market for now, tend to come from charity shops, so the model is whatever they are selling.

Our last microwave was excellent and working when we gave it to the Goodwill. But, the new house came with a microwave so we couldn't keep it. The current coffeemaker is probably 3-4 years old and so far hasn't failed. I suppose that's a record because we usually replace them within a year or so. But, I don't like buying expensive coffeemakers because I've done that - and they've broken in a short period of time. Once a coffemaker starts making bad coffee, no amount of cleaning will fix that.

I'm not in to the whole pay less and then toss it thing. But I'm also not into the pay more and then toss it thing either. My experience has been that the pricier stuff (at Walmart) fails faster. Of course, major brands like Kitchenaid, you can get at Walmart and those are an exception. But if you ever look in Walmart's small appliance aisle, there are a lot of lesser known but more expensive brands.

This reminds me that I forgot to add my Ninja coffee brewer. I do not recommend it. It brews a fine cup of coffee in decent time but the timer function/button broke on it in the first two years of ownership. Brew function is fine as is everything else but it no longer will allow you to assign a brew time which is a PITA because my wife and I are early morning folks and like having the coffee hot n ready when we first hit the kitchen at 430-530AM. I want to say it was like $80 bucks, so on the pricier side as far as drip brewers go and is disappointing considering how nice & rock solid our ninja air fryers have been.

 

[eyoungren]

This reminds me that I forgot to add my Ninja coffee brewer. I do not recommend it. The timer function/button broke on it. Brew function is fine as is everything else but it no longer will allow you to assign a brew time which is a PITA because my wife and I are early morning folks and like having the coffee hot n ready when we first hit the kitchen at 430-530AM. I want to say it was like $80 bucks, so on the pricier side as far as drip brewers go and is disappointing considering how nice & rock solid our ninja air fryers have been.

At some point, I intend to purchase a Nespresso. They are expensive, but I've not heard a lot about them failing. And my understanding is that the brew some great coffee, along the lines of what you'd get from a moka pot. Other plans include some sort of espresso machine, preferably automated, but at least easier than those early Krups machines that so often made their way to the Goodwill.

Totally get your being into timer functions. Aside from having to grind the coffee, put in a filter and add the water early, it's convenient. We tried it once, but leaving the water in the coffeemaker overnight, it didn't come out 'fresh'. And, since I'm usually up before my wife and kids, I just go ahead and make it. My wife will drink it cold, hot, or anywhere in between as long as it's no more than a day old. And on days she works, I just put her cup together.

It would be nice to have it all done for me though. Ah well, at least there is drip-stop and automatic off features.

 

[Certificate of Excellence]

Haha Yep, I’m not going to grind my beans each morning.

Yanno now that you mention grinding beans, my folks have a white coffee drip brewer with a bean reservoir that DOES grind the beans and then brew the pot. I assume that has a timer function attached to it - I mean it would be dumb not to have that on your appliance. Anyways, I’ll look at their brewer next time I’m over. I don’t recall who the manufacturer is but they’ve had it for years. I’d grind beans each morning if I had a cute coffee-bot to do it for me

 

[eyoungren]

Haha Yep, I’m not going to grind my beans each morning.

Yanno now that you mention grinding beans, my folks have a white coffee drip brewer with a bean reservoir that DOES grind the beans and then brew the pot. I assume that has a timer function attached to it - I mean it would be dumb not to have that on your appliance. Anyways, I’ll look at their brewer next time I’m over. I don’t recall who the manufacturer is but they’ve had it for years. I’d grind beans each morning if I had a cute coffee-bot to do it for me

There was one Christmas (before kids) that my wife and I got a coffeemaker at Target that had a grinder. I bought it under the assumption that all I had to do was add water and a filter and just put in the time for the brew.

Nope.

It did have the grinder, which dropped into the coffee reservoir (where the filter goes). But the timer function was solely for the brewing! In other words, the coffee had to already be ground into the reservoir when the timer went off. We woke up to freshly brewed hot water with the beans still whole in the grinder.

I was NOT impressed. LOL!

 

[KaliYoni]

Nespresso. They are expensive, but I've not heard a lot about them failing. And my understanding is that the brew some great coffee, along the lines of what you'd get from a moka pot. Other plans include some sort of espresso machine, preferably automated, but at least easier than those early Krups machines that so often made their way to the Goodwill.

I am not the sort of person who roasts their own beans or obsesses over coffee preparation (my home setup is a burr grinder that is used for a drip coffee maker and a French press). But with my tastes—I like black coffee and either straight espressos or macchiatos—I’m not a fan of the coffee made by Keurig and Nespresso machines. The shots, to my taste, are either over or under extracted and too bitter.

When you do decide to pick up a home espresso machine, try to get a model with a pump. Pump machines generate a lot more water pressure than stovetop or non-pump makers, so you have a much better opportunity to get a tasty shot with crema on top.

 

[eyoungren]

I am not the sort of person who roasts their own beans or obsesses over coffee preparation (my home setup is a burr grinder that is used for a drip coffee maker and a French press). But with my tastes—I like black coffee and either straight espressos or macchiatos—I’m not a fan of the coffee made by Keurig and Nespresso machines. The shots, to my taste, are either over or under extracted and too bitter.

When you do decide to pick up a home espresso machine, try to get a model with a pump. Pump machines generate a lot more water pressure than stovetop or non-pump makers, so you have a much better opportunity to get a tasty shot with crema on top.

Thanks for that!

I'm not a purist or an aficionado either, but because of my wife I'm also not like my dad who saw no difference between MGB and premium coffees.

If I was in the financial position where this could be a hobby and all my other problems were taken care of, it might be a little different. But I doubt I'd be any better than average at it - even with expensive equipment.

 

[Apple fanboy]

My tea or coffee set up is a kettle.

 

[A1423]

Thermador for oven and gas range top
Sub zero for refrigerator
Miele for dishwashers.
Jura or Miele for coffee.

 

[farmboy]

We got a Samsung refrigerator from Best Buy. Worked OK until it didn't five years later--still under the extended warranty. We discovered that in Minnesota literally nobody in the service / repair industry wants to work on Samsung, and don't even carry parts. The saving grace was it was still under warranty, so we contacted Best Buy, and they gave us a complete refund (not even prorated) and we bought something else and just paid the sales tax.

 

[KaliYoni]

Thanks for that!

I'm not a purist or an aficionado either, but because of my wife I'm also not like my dad who saw no difference between MGB and premium coffees.

If I was in the financial position where this could be a hobby and all my other problems were taken care of, it might be a little different. But I doubt I'd be any better than average at it - even with expensive equipment.

The people over in the coffee thread may have other advice, but I’d say that if you want something with the strong flavors associated with espresso but don’t want to mess around with grinding, tamping, and pulling shots at home, get a burr grinder and a French press. Grind the beans while you’re waiting for your kettle to bring the water to your preferred temperature. Start drinking the coffee soon after it’s done steeping.

Why? Most of coffee’s flavor comes from its oils and volatile components. Blade grinders chop, not grind, coffee. Chopping heats up the grounds, which destroys flavor, and doesn’t fully extract everything from the beans. When ground coffee sits around, the oils go rancid and the volatile stuff disappears into the air. French presses don’t rely on paper filters so all the flavors present in the ground beans make it into the brew. Finally, French presses don’t cost much, especially if you don’t care abut a fancy metal handle or a decorative top.

 

[eyoungren]

The people over in the coffee thread may have other advice, but I’d say that if you want something with the strong flavors associated with espresso but don’t want to mess around with grinding, tamping, and pulling shots at home, get a burr grinder and a French press. Grind the beans while you’re waiting for your kettle to bring the water to your preferred temperature. Start drinking the coffee soon after it’s done steeping.

Why? Most of coffee’s flavor comes from its oils and volatile components. Blade grinders chop, not grind, coffee. Chopping heats up the grounds, which destroys flavor, and doesn’t fully extract everything from the beans. When ground coffee sits around, the oils go rancid and the volatile stuff disappears into the air. French presses don’t rely on paper filters so all the flavors present in the ground beans make it into the brew. Finally, French presses don’t cost much, especially if you don’t care abut a fancy metal handle or a decorative top.

I do have a burr grinder and a French press for precisely the reasons you note. However, my hand at using a French press is quite lousy. Despite multiple tips from several people, I always come up with watery coffee.

And this would be a weekend thing really. When I brew coffee daily, it's usually 7 cups. My wife always takes 4 in one go (she has large coffee mugs) and the three remaining are enough for one cup for me, plus a small refill. This is largely why I've turned to a Keurig during the day. My wife has been known to drink 12 cups of coffee before bed and gone right to sleep. She's been drinking the stuff for a very long time.

A French press just can't meet that demand in volume - hence why I said it'd be a weekend type thing. It'd either be for me, or I'd have to use it more than once for both of us.

 

[Huntn]

Well, steel of higher quality knives made from high carbon steel are going to be harder than pure titanium. Carbion steels typically have a Rockwell hardness scale of around 58-60 while pure titanium is closer to 40 - so from the scoring on your board, that makes sense if you are in fact using a high quality knife like a Wusthof, Henkel, Forschner etc. on a softer alloy like pure Titanium.

Conversely, for a harder titanium board, likely it would be a mixture of metals/alloys to increase that rating but I would steer clear of that because then you are looking at hardnesses that exceed your high $$ knives and would damage the blade, dulling and misshaping the edge making for an unsafe knife to use and shortening what should be a very long and healthy cutting life.

Ive never liked using weird stiff materials like glass or alloys for that matter because the knife is too slippery on the board, making for an unsafe surface to cut on. I guess if you are using only up & down motions like a cleaver or Santuko design for example, that might be ok, but using a chef/French knife which is what I generally use for most applications, that knifes rocking motion technique requires a softer material like wood or HDPE for example for your blade to "hold onto".

I always look for two things when replacing a cutting board:
1. made of a 2" hard wood or 2" or thicker HDPE for raw meats fabrication
2. As big as I can get it. I want ALOT of real estate. Nothing is more obnoxious than trying to meez up ingredients on some dinky tiny little cutting board. Size I go for is 2' x 2.5' or larger. This allows for proper knife technique to be used where strides can sometimes be around 2 feet long LOL. You can tell that the ding dongs that design half of the cutting boards you see out there have no idea how to properly handle a kitchen knife like a French or breaking knife.

Anyways, I hope this helps illuminate the mystery behind the scoring on your Titanium cutting board.

Thanks! The problem is hyped, false marketing, “designed not to mark”. This sets up false expectations. My delimma is buy a “100% titanium” board on Amazon for $30 or from a specialty vendor for $60-$100. I’m not prepared to say you get what you pay for on either end of the spectrum. 🤔

Update: I’ve read several articles online and info at the following vendor and have reached a conclusion that most of the inexpensive titanium boards being sold on Amazon in the $20-$50 range are either not titanium, they’re stainless steel with blatantly, false advertising or a thin coating of titanium has been applied to a stainless steel board which, I’m not actually sure how that’s done maybe dipped in a vat or something anyway, I’ve op opted for a $100 cutting board. Hopefully I won’t regret it. Hey “100% titanium” boards can be purchased for as low as $20 on Amazon. Apparently Amazon has no issue with this deception. I’m not surprised. 😐

Are Titanium Cutting Boards a Scam? – The Truth Revealed

Are titanium cutting boards a scam? Learn how to spot fake products, key differences between real titanium and stainless steel boards and where to buy real ones

chopchopusa.com

Industry leaders like Timcu warn that 80–90% of “titanium” boards sold online are actually stainless steel, misleadingly labeled as titanium-coated or finished

 

[maflynn]

LOL - Software update shoves ads onto Samsung’s pricey fridges

I find it funny that these premium appliances that you pay top dollar are now offering up ads

I'm of the opinion that there's absolutely zero reasons to have an appliance like my fridge, stove, dishwasher needing internet access. Not only does it represent a security risk, these appliances are collecting information and selling it, now - they're offering up ads.+

 

[avro707]

Simple fix, buy fridges that are not internet connected and have no screens.

It’s a fridge. The rest isn’t necessary.

 

[Nermal]

LOL - Software update shoves ads onto Samsung’s pricey fridges

I find it funny that these premium appliances that you pay top dollar are now offering up ads

I'm of the opinion that there's absolutely zero reasons to have an appliance like my fridge, stove, dishwasher needing internet access. Not only does it represent a security risk, these appliances are collecting information and selling it, now - they're offering up ads.+

I wonder how many affected people are going to return the fridge, and say why. I suspect the vast majority won't, which is precisely why companies get away with this sort of thing.

 

[Gregg2]

I'm of the opinion that there's absolutely zero reasons to have an appliance like my fridge, stove, dishwasher needing internet access.

I agree! When considering any offer these days, I always ask myself what "they" are getting from me if I accept. Sometimes you're giving them something without being aware of that, even if it's just access to your e-mail address to push advertising your way.

We just replaced a ten year old fridge a few days ago, and didn't get one with any kind of screen. The internet offered the info that 10-18 years is the lifespan of a fridge. Seems like a wide range, but coming out on the short end of it didn't feel good. However, the range and microwave we had bought at the same time burned out sooner. The dishwasher is the only remaining appliance that still survives our conversion to all stainless steel appliances. At that time, it was also the range and microwave that failed (used a spare countertop MW for a while) and the dishwasher was having "symptoms". The only trouble with the old, old fridge was cosmetic. The plastic parts that were originally color coordinated with the body had become discolored.

So I'd say we've had some misfortune with kitchen appliances. The saving grace is that we can afford to replace them and just move on.