Favourite cooking-related purchases?

GrateEggspectations

What has been your favourite investment in your culinary pursuits?

It’s no secret that I rank knives as my number one. I get a thrill every time I need to break something down, even though my knife skills ain’t perfect. 

What about you? What’s been your most enjoyed buy?

Langner91

Definitely my eggs.  They keep me cooking at home more than eating out.  That has caused me to learn new techniques and try new things.

Followed closely by my instant pot.

Teefus

My BGE and my Weber Kettle, but those are core items. After those, my Thermapen has been indispensable. I use it in the kitchen and on the deck.

Foghorn

BGE, Thermapen, knives - in that order.

fishlessman

always liked knives, lean more towards functional than fancy/expensive though im sure i would like those as well. lean towards japanese types

Gulfcoastguy

Enameled cast iron cookware makes the list.

lousubcap

I have given some thought to my answer to this and have landed on going all the way back to "first Principles" aka the good 'ol Weber Kettle.  That was several decades ago but drove the interest and subsequent toys.  Favourite (nod) investment today is like asking "who's your favourite (nod) child...not gonna take that on.

I can tell you that the knife (both kitchen and pocket) rabbit hole is the one where the buys are clearly about "want" and not even close to "need."  FWIW-

AprèsSki

A good knife (& a knife skills class) tops the list, others that were considered include; espresso maker, carbon steel sauté pan, Thermopen, enameled dutch ovens, Cuisinart.

Egg was a great purchase but my Weber kettle was the gateway to cooking over charcoal and a bigger life changer. 

BTW all of these (except the knife) make great wedding gifts.

Elijah

The egg made branching out to different styles a lot easier. It may not be the master of everything, but it does make it easier to experiment on most anything. And then spend a lot of money going down that rabbit hole. 

The other one would be a second hand meat slicer. It enabled me to cut meat thinly and uniform. Doesn’t sound like much, but it's something I can't replicate without it. 

4TheGrillOfIt

Eggs for sure, followed by our Wolf range top and double ovens.  

Items that make cooking much more pleasurable are definitely good knives and ThermoWorks probes.  

Canugghead

Egg got me into cooking but not sure if it's still my #1 favourite cooker. Vacmaster VP215 and Thermapen are indispensible. Thermopot and IP are right up there too, close second may be.

kl8ton

Somewhat in the vein of lousubcap...
The chargriller offset smoker and char broil gas grill....
That got me started looking for more better. 

danhoo

Corkscrew. 

Sweet100s

Favorite in terms of usage frequency:
- Sous vide stick, Anova.  The Joule no longer connects to the app.

Favorite for company and holidays: 
- The Egg! 

- Ninja Creami ice cream maker.  
I make 2 flavors, a stevia-sweetened double chocolate and pumpkin vanilla.  Better than the low carb store brands, less expensive, totally customizable, all with < 5 minutes of “attended” prep time.
 Only downside:  it is the LOUDEST kitchen appliance EVER. It only lasts 3 min or so, but  I now keep my target shooting head phones in the kitchen cabinet.  

Corv

For me, it's clearly... the food.

lkapigian

Sausage Making Equipment 

HeavyG

Cookbooks.

Foghorn

HeavyG said:

Cookbooks.

We all knew you weren't going to say "camera".

JohnInCarolina

I think I'm in the knife category too.  Although I will say that Tormek-T1 knife-sharpener you all convinced me to buy is also pretty high on my list.  That thing makes knife sharpening idiot-proof, and sadly that is exactly what I needed.

GrateEggspectations

@Sweet100s

When I was looking at sous vide models, I wanted something that was not 100% reliant on an app for exactly that reason. Good thing you have two!

Langner91

JohnInCarolina said:

I think I'm in the knife category too.  Although I will say that Tormek-T1 knife-sharpener you all convinced me to buy is also pretty high on my list.  That thing makes knife sharpening idiot-proof, and sadly that is exactly what I needed.

Dang it.  You had to bring that up.  I might as well call my banker now.  I had forgotten the Tormek T1.  Dang, Dang, Dang.

That's my "Eleanor".  I will own one someday.

JohnInCarolina

Langner91 said:

JohnInCarolina said:

I think I'm in the knife category too.  Although I will say that Tormek-T1 knife-sharpener you all convinced me to buy is also pretty high on my list.  That thing makes knife sharpening idiot-proof, and sadly that is exactly what I needed.

Dang it.  You had to bring that up.  I might as well call my banker now.  I had forgotten the Tormek T1.  Dang, Dang, Dang.

That's my "Eleanor".  I will own one someday.

Does your banker answer when you call?  Mine does not…

dmourati

Knives and cutting board for me.

YukonRon

Thermapen, cast iron skillet, knives, rockwood.

bill37

I learned to cook with charcoai on a Hasty-Bake. I now have an Egg but i learned the basics on the Hasty-Bake

Tspud1

Big Prime Ribeye