I have a nut chopper that I love for chopping nuts because when I try to chop them with a knife, they go all over the place. It's fairly small and therefore does not take up space. I have an extra coffee grinder that I use for grinding spices.

I have a Kitchenaid pasta attachment that I love for making pasta, but for cutting the pasta, I either do it by hand (if I want wide pasta, such as pappardelle) or I sometimes use my hand crank pasta machine to cut the pasta for fettuccine. I do not like using the hand crank for rolling out the pasta - the KA attachment is so much faster and easier to use.

I have three different rolling pins - a French pin with tapered ends, a plain straight cylinder, and one with ball bearings that is fairly large in diameter, but not as long as the others.

Another gadget I like is the Danish dough hook, which I've talked about before.

I don’t even have half of those ’basics’. 😉 There’s enough stuff in my kitchen without adding to it. I have a drawer full of knives but use only about five of them.

I do use my Chinois regularly. I also swear by silicone spatulas. A zester is one gadget which speeds things up whereas the garlic press is never used. The flat of a knife works faster and is easier to wash up.

^Agree with floral on the zester. I have a few of Oxo's and love them. I use my immersion blender mainly for soups. Not all that often but would not be happy without it. Our faithful old Oster blender finally died. Got another one...a must for margaritas.

Also agree a knife is easiest for me for garlic. I do have a garlic press I use but for just one thing, as odd as it might sound. Whenever I make gingerbread people cookies I squeeze some dough through the garlic press to make their "hair"...curly or straight. :-)

If you search this forum you'll find a few great threads about kitchen tools. Do you have a good cooktop and a goid oven? Some ranges are only reallt good on one or the other. if you do, you don't really need most small cooking appliances. Instead of the panini press, for instance, you could invest in some high quality cast iron pans and/or grill/griddle plates and have more flexibility. OTOH, if your cooktop is too small or not good, you might love the separate appliance. My mother was given one a long time ago, liked it some but not used enough for the amount of space it took, and when she couldn't read the knob anymore, years ago, she gave it to me. I've never used it. I don't need it.

I love my immersion blender because it's lightweight. I have a Vita-mix for power. For holding the motor while blending, I much prefer my smaller, no frills unit to the ones that have a bazillion attachments and a massive motor. Mine does have a great mini-chopper, but you already have that covered. :)

I second, Lars's recommendation to get a nut chopper, but I prefer a spring chopper that's used on your cutting board to the crank. This is kind of like mine. There are many similar ones available. When you press down, the blades should make a quarter turn, and the mechanism should be really easy to use—easier to cut through the nuts than a knife. The ring keeps the pieces from skitterung. https://www.amazon.com/dp/B08Y8NLMM5/ref=cm_sw_em_r_mt_dp_FPAF7JRG2Q5F6QD1AVCH

I was given a Breviller Fast Slow, which is a multicooker like Instant Pot. I don't need it, but I do use it. You can walk away, like any slow cooker, which you shouldn't do when slow cooking in the oven. Electric pressure cookers aren't as good as stovetop ones, but easier for newbies to learn to use, and harder to screw up, I've only used that feature a couple times. great when you need it (I don't have a regular pressure cooker).

If you have a good convection oven, you don't need an air fryer, which is basically a high speed convection oven. I got an oven style air fryer on Prime Day, on a whim. I thought it would replace my toaster oven. It's supposed to toast, but it doesn't. For actual air frying, my (exceedingly good and expensive) wall oven does just as well, and in some ways better, but the countertop unit heats very fast and probably uses a ton less electricity, so it's good for small things. If you really want an air fryer, figure out what you want to make in it first, and look for reviews on those particular things. I'm sure many are better than mine.

I actually have a really good GE gas slide in range/oven with convection. I never use the convection because at least when I tried with cookies, it seemed like the temp was much lower than what it said and the cookies never looked done but then ended up being as hard as a rock. I'd like to find something to put on my Christmas list, but either I already have what others suggest, wouldn't use what someone suggests or what I'm considering getting, people say is either a waste or isn't good(breaks, doesn't last etc).

I was considering growing herbs in my kitchen during winter, but looking at what people say about the aergarden(or ones like it), it's not worth the money and doesn't grow much. Not sure about a grow light that comes with a tray? Don't know what small appliance or gadget i might like and actually use. I got a Cuisinart food processor a few years ago that I really like and just got a new set of non stick pots and pans last Christmas that I love, but don't know what else I would actually use. I know the Ninja Foodie and the Instant pot are the big new things, but I don't think I'd use either and don't have a place to store it.

Maybe a new personal(single serve) blender like a Nutribullet or Ninja for making smoothies/green drinks? I have a small one serving slushy maker that works ok to make smoothies, but it's kind of small and I can't quite fit all the fruit/veggies in it that I want to add. I don't want to pull out the big blender if I'm just making a smoothie for myself. Smaller ones are also easier clean up. The one I have was cheap and still works, so I don't know if there is anything better that is not too expensive. Also, they all seem to have issues leaking, breaking after so long or being way too loud. Any other suggestions for a small applance or gadget?

Do a little Googling about "sous vide" cooking, if you have not done so already.

Sous vide is a different cooking appliance which gives you a new way of cooking.

Also, with meat costing a lot nowadays, sous vide can help a little.

dcarch

My criteria for whether or not I want to get a new 'gadget' is how much I'll actually use it, but sometimes you don't know that until you've had a chance to try it. It requires some amount of imagination to game it out.

Things not mentioned already that I use often and are not super common are wide mouth jar funnel, egg separator, and a MIU potato ricer.

Oh, yes! What DCarch said. There are things you can do with sous vide that you can't do any other way. Besides the temperature controled low and slow meats, there's a whole world! And a good immersion circulator is in line pricewise with the other items you mentioned. Plus, while the circulator will work in just about any vessel, just as it comes, there are accessories available if others want in on the gift fun. Anything you want held at a precise temperature can be done. E.g., I put the milk for cheese curds in a container set in the sous vide bath to hold at tepid for the requisite 12 hrs.

Even if sous vide doesn't send you, if you don't have one, a vacuum sealer is a great choice. If you do choose sous vide, it's the next gift request. You can just use a zipper bag, but vacuum sealing is great. Also for foods for the freezer, portioning bulk buys, etc.

There are also some smaller items, like a Paderno spiralizer, if that interests you.

Re the convetion, I haven't used a GE range, but I have an Advantium (GE speed oven) which does great convetion. Your oven is electric, right? So, it sounds like what happened to your cookies is that the air circulation of the convection dried them out. usually convection makes things hotter, because it soreads the heat around. you can check if your model has heated air or just fan. If it's the heated maybe you need a service call. If not, if it's just air circulation, it might work well on pots and roasts, maybe casseroles, for moving the heat around the oven more evenly, but not so good for small things like cookies and appetizers. Whether it would work well on medium sized, like oven fried chicken, I don't know, but if bad for cookies, probably bad for chips, and similar air fry staples. But if the convection fan is supposed to be heated, it does sound like it's not working right.

I forgot to mention, I do have a foodsaver and love it. What other things does anyone have? Anyone have a personal(one serving) blender that does a really good job making smoothies and green drinks? Anything else you use a lot?

I love me some gadgets! Have to be careful how many I get cause of space!

What I use most....upgraded to a cuisenart air fryer/toaster/oven etc..use it all the time!

Food saver and fresh saver- being a home cook and gardener, I freeze produce and meals/soups. I also buy meat in bulk and freeze in portions for 2.

Ultimate chopper. Don't know if they still exist, but THE best mini food processer around! Also came with a blender!

GF grill. I use it during the winter when DH doesn't want to grill

Instapot.....being a soup maker, I use it during the winter, but not too much.

Herb grinder..If you google it it all comes up marijuana stuff! I bought mine for .50 at a yard sale! Pretty much the same thing as a coffee grinder.

My Kitchen aid is 40 something years old and still does great!

I guess it does depend what type of cooking a person does for what would actually get used. Can anyone recommend a small personal(one serving)blender that does really well for smoothies and green drinks, blends ice and frozen fruit well and isn't way too loud?

Gadgets: I constantly use my instant read thermometer and my digital scale. Seriously, I use these multiple times a day on most days!

I do LOVE my coffee set up which is a Gaggia, Baratza sette espresso grinder and Mochamaster Techivorm regular coffee pot.

Those specialty items get used daily although the mochamaster is only when people come over.

Thermapen. I would be lost without it.

And again I will say an Instant Pot. I know I rave on and on about it. Some do not like it as they think it is only a pressure cooker. There is a learning curve here but it is amazing how many things this appliance can do and do very well.

I have a pressure cooker (which I use several times a week), and so I do not need an Instant Pot. I have a slow cooker that I have used maybe once or twice in the past five years, and so I do not need that function. I do consider a pressure cooker to be essential, and I use it mainly for beans, rice, potatoes, vegetables, soup stock, etc, and I love how fast it cooks things. Mine looks like this, but is a Fagor and cost a small fraction of this when I bought it. I like that it has two pans and a steamer insert, which is what I use for vegetables. I mainly use the smaller pan, and I use the larger pot for stock.

I also have a Thermapen (expensive) and a ThermoPro (inexpensive), and I find that they work equally well.

“small personal(one serving)blender that does really well for smoothies and green drinks, blends ice and frozen fruit well and isn't way too loud” may be a unicorn. The better the blender is at doing its thing, the louder it gets. Shielding the noise cost more than the return on price for home appliances, and isn't a factor beyond safty ratings for commercial (that's the big expensive ones that work beyond the dream of home appliances). Power= noise and frozen are themselves noisy. I've never heard of a small personal blender that was rated better than adequate, There may be a unicorn one out there, but if there is, it's probably way more expensive than the others, too.

If a personal blender is what you really want, maybe you can use the ask questions feature on Amazon to find out what users haven't addressedin their reviews.

have you tried your waffle maker as a substitute for a panini press?

The problem is the hinge. Waffle makers are meant to have a tight fit. A proper panini press has an adjustable hinge to accomodate a thick sandwich. Student make-do with a thin sandwich is messy to clean up but it works okay. Some versions of panini presses have both waffle and grill plates, as well as flat—and, if designed right, an adjustable hinge.

With a proper kitchen a better make-do is heat up two skillets, put the sandwich in the larger one. Put the smaller one on top. Cast iron works best, but if you only have something light, just put a weight in it, like a bowl of water—anything that can stand a little heat, With this method, you'll probably want to flip your sandwich to get more heat on the other side. Instead of a snall appliance, you can just get a grill plate or pan for the stove, and a press. You can get actual waffle irons for the stove, too,

I love my small IP and AF. use AF the most - almost daily. the IP not as often but then I don't cook much anymore. what i look for is if it'll make things easier for me or safer. i think i only used my big oven once last yr. I only use 1 burner on it a few times a month. I removed the other coils several yrs ago. a gadget i have and really like is a veggie peeler that does the normal peel on one side but flip it over and i get shavings on a carrot that i can then line up and with a few knife chops have little shaving bits to sprinkle on a salad, into potato / mac salad or in my dogs food. she loves carrots. that might be a curtis Stone product. I do have in my A cart a silicone tray to freeze food in 1/2 cp portions. it has 8 divsions and I think and will be good to freeze meal portions for me - soup, rice, refried beans, salsa, broth etc. It's available in larger portion sizes.

Steph, I have such silicone molds. The trick is to put it on a small sheet pan (or anything stiff and sturdy) so it doesn't wiggle and slop on the way to the freezer. Once frozen, wrap each portion tightly in plastic wrap before putting into a bag or container. I haven't had much luck with vacuum sealing them. Enjoy!