[fatdoc]

OK,

after 15 yrs of marriage the stuff we got as wedding pressies is now perhaps a little worn...

so..

I need a

- good food processor.. but not mahoosive.. it will have live in a kitchen cupboard.. needs to do the basics well... chopping an  all that.

- good pan set. only one remaining is a little lecreust pan. pans have to able to go in oven & not have that shit teflon on that peels off after a year...

- new knife set... not top of the range ( avoiding the  look at  me I've got professional knives - that cost £100s) but a worth it set for the serious amateur cook.


and on a sad note. anyone know where to get  a a proper free to rotate potato peeler?

[GraemeA]

OK,

after 15 yrs of marriage the stuff we got as wedding pressies is now perhaps a little worn...

so..

I need a

- good food processor.. but not mahoosive.. it will have live in a kitchen cupboard.. needs to do the basics well... chopping an  all that.

- good pan set. only one remaining is a little lecreust pan. pans have to able to go in oven & not have that shit teflon on that peels off after a year...

- new knife set... not top of the range ( avoiding the  look at  me I've got professional knives - that cost £100s) but a worth it set for the serious amateur cook.


and on a sad note. anyone know where to get  a a proper free to rotate potato peeler?

http://www.abbottscookshop.co.uk/ for all of your kitchen needs

[Jim]

kenwood multipor food processor - pretty good and versatile, little underpowered for dough but they nearly all are unless you spend £££ or get a proper dough mixer.
Knives: we have a wusthof one of these which is excellent and the rest are sabatier although I really only use the chefs knife and the wusthof except for when carving.
Pans - set of analon with metal handles so can go straight in the oven, had for a couple of years and coating still good, not peeling off etc...

[Norton Sharley]

Second Abbotts and Wusthof (available from Abbotts).

Magimix are the dogs danglies of the food processor world.

[Obi-Wan is lost...]

Wusthof are lovely knives, but a bit on the 'spensive side. For bargains check out TKMaxx, picked up some nice knives dead cheap there, John lewis have some discounts on knives, pans etc and their own brand stuff is pretty good quality.

[tomtom]

If you're out Bouldering Yorkshire way ever - there is a 'la Creuset' 2nds shop in the shopping centre thingy (where Xscape is) at Castlefield - I've got a good few cheap pots/pans from there in the past (make sure they're not wonky first...).

I bought a set of Anthony Wanker-Thompson pans from Aldi/Lidl/Nettuerh for 20 sheets a few years back and am amazed at their durability and performance. First because they are endoresed by the fat evil poison dwarf celebrity tosspot himself, and second they were from Nettaldidle.

I have Sabatier knives. They're good, but the Wusthof ones are 

MrsTT has a kitchenaid blender. I'm pretty sure its not as flexible as a Magimix, but I expect that following the holocaust the only things left in one piece this side of Manchester would be cockroaches and that mixer.

Though you could get one of these instead and use it to dispose of your redundant apple appliances...

[SA Chris]

- new knife set... not top of the range ( avoiding the  look at  me I've got professional knives - that cost £100s) but a worth it set for the serious amateur cook.

After 15 years, I hope you aren't after a new bread knife?

Got Sabatier knives too, really like them.

And you need one of these for knife storage

[Dolly]

Agree re Analon pans.
Have had a set for 15 years and only one of them is starting to show signs of wear.
They can't go in the dishwasher though

[Yossarian]

I have used both Wursthof and Henckels and prefer the latter.  Professional S I think they are...

I buy my pans from here - http://www.nisbets.co.uk/ - Bourgeat Tradition Plus

I don't have a food processor.

[Jaspersharpe]

Though you could get one of these instead and use it to dispose of your redundant apple appliances...

Shit isn't that Carlo?......

[dave]

We had some stellar andoised aluminium pans which were awesome, but then had to change them upon getting an induction hob and the stellar nonce-dick ones we got instead were shit and had problems with the coating flaking off, apparently we "heated them up too fast" (????) so are switching to stainless. Bought a john lewis stainless chef pan recently, seems well jackson.

[fatdoc]

 

Thnaks for all the replys.

Looks like I got me a shopping list...

Ta!!

[rich d]

I got a set of J Lewis stainless pans about 20yrs ago. Still going strong from nearly daily use - would defo recommend them.

[slackline]

Been using Analon pans for about seven years so far and they're doing well.

Slowly building a set of Global knives, but they ain't cheap (hence only having five plus a sharpener).

[dave]

Most of our knives we got from Richardsons factory (opposite the fat cat) before it shut. Every december they used to open it up on the same day as the kelham island christmas victorian market, you could go in and buy a shit load of surplus stock (like knives, tools etc) for fuck all money. seriously cheap, they would even pop a free knife in your bag at the checkout. Shame the factory got knocked down or whatever.

If i was buying knives now I'd just get one big and one small, you don't really need more than that. 90% of our cooking I do with one knife.

[T_B]

Got an SKK non stick round casserole/saute pan from Abbots cookshop last Christmas. Have used it pretty much every day over the past year - awesome.

Like this:
http://www.amazon.co.uk/SKK-Premium-Plus-Round-Casserole/dp/B001ARJEO0/ref=sr_1_58?ie=UTF8&s=home-garden&qid=1294408044&sr=1-58

Also have a Fissler stainless steel pan set bought in the sale in Selfridges a few years back. Been great.

[Jim]

Also just before christmas amazon were selling off le crueset well cheap. got a 28cm pot for £80. worth a look

[magpie]

TK Maxx is good for kitchen stuff sometimes too, including La Creuset, if you have one near you.

[galpinos]

SKK are the mutts for non-stick, Le Creuset for everything else. There'll both set you back £90 a pop though (or do what I did, convince your mum the Le Creuset pans are too heavy for her and offer to take them off her hands).

The Stellar Stainless pans are good and can be cheaply in TKmaxx, HomeSense etc. (No experience with there other stuff) If you're getting Le Creuset from these kind of stores, cheack what you're getting as a lot of the stuff isn't suitable for using on a hob.

Knives - what Dave said.
I've got a WMF cooks knife which does me for 95% of what I use a knife for. No need for a massive set

[Norton Sharley]

You're all making the mistake of assuming Fatdoc wants to spend as little as possible whereas he can't help himself but spend as much as possible 

Go to Abbots just for the experience of olde worlde shopping.  You know, where you can pick shit it up and FEEL it and that.

[Joepicalli]

Magimix for food processor, no contest. Wursthof (the Drizack range are the best but the do do a slightly cheaper version - importantly the same blades just a cheaper handle arrangement. Pans Le Creuset do it for me with any decent teflon frying pan (the need replacing every couple of years anyway)

[Yossarian]

I have had one of these Bourgeat non-stick frypans for a couple of years and it still looks like new, despite repeated use of metal implements - http://www.nisbets.co.uk/products/ProductList.asp?TopGroupCode=C4&ParentGroupCode=S955&GroupCode=5607

I prefer stainless for frying steaks and fish though, cos you don't get no fond otherwise, innit.

[fatdoc]

lookin at magimix  4200 and those Wursthof ( 3 piece set should be all I need.... to answer above the bread knife is still fine and dandy) blades.

I can see where £200 goes for the magimix. But nigh on £180 for 3 knives? Christ. Are they that good? Or am I 15 years out of the loop from my le creuset set wedding gift?

[butters]

But nigh on £180 for 3 knives? Christ. Are they that good? Or am I 15 years out of the loop from my le creuset set wedding gift?

Wusthoff are seriously good knives - very well balanced and just lovely to use - yes they are expensive but they will last a life time if you look after them. Got a pair of classics at the minute (9cm paring knife and a 14cm "go to" knife) and will be buying the 25cm cooks knife next month which will be a "full set" as far as I am concerned. Unless you are doing anything specialised then that should cover off anything you will ever require. 

Make sure you have a good quality Steel as well and use it regularly - mine is a second hand job off ebay that cost about a tenner delivered IIRC though I had the advantage of knowing exactly what I was looking for. OK it is older than I am by quite a long way and has been used for most of it's life on a very regular basis but it is nicely worn down now (which was what I wanted) and again will probably still be going strong long after me.

[Percy B]

I use Wusthof knives, and don't need a Magimix as the knives chop food up quite nicely. We have just taken delivery of a food mixer though for all the other boring jobs. Get one of these instead of a magimush - http://www.johnlewis.com/230855931/Product.aspx
Does everything you need (even comes with a jug blender) - except chop stuff up.
For the chopping, we have a big chefs knife, a paring knife, a bread knife and a sausage knife (although the guys at Abbotts will try and tell you its a 'tomato' knife - basically a 15cm serated knife). They are all so well worth the expense if you cook a lot.