I don’t do “brand loyalty”, you’ve got to earn my money and trust on a case by case basis. Good past performance gets you head start, not a free pass.
Sure, there are those I’ll look at first, but I’ve never been a “Ford guy” or a “Chevy guy” or a “Harley guy”.
And there are plenty that burned me badly enough that they’ll probably never get a second chance.
In the Ford vs Chevy vs Mopar example, I think each of them has made enough interesting stuff that it would be silly to exclude them because of blind brand loyalty.
Depends on the product. I have a wide variety of brands. Penzey’s for spices except I cannot give up my cavenders Greek seasoning or true lemon pepper. Most cookware is Le Creuset but I also have my great grandmother’s 100+ year old cast iron skillet and a solid maple rolling pin that my grandfather made for me. Most of my bakeware is from the restaurant supply store for durability. If I am looking for something new, I generally turn to America’s test kitchen for reccomendations
@katbyter@tweezak For shame! Griswold and Wagner were the original cast iron giants of America. Their machining/polishing was far superior to lodge, and it is a shame they went away. I have two of my great grandmother’s Griswolds. I have two Wagners.
@katbyter@KNmeh7@tweezak For what it’s worth, Lodge’s polishing used to be far superior to what they do now, too.
That’s not to disparage Lodge. It was an intentional change, and I don’t believe it signaled a decline in overall quality.
@katbyter@KNmeh7@Limewater There are good videos on how to polish a lodge to a glass smooth finish and then restore the carbon seasoning. If you start with a good quality heavy gauge pan it should end up nearly as good as old classics.
@katbyter@KNmeh7@Limewater@tweezak yeah… You can bake it off, sand it smooth, and re-season it. I meant to do mine at one point and even burned it all off once cause reasons but didn’t get to sanding it and just put a few coats on it.
The old super smooth cast iron my grandpa used to pick up at good will/flea markets/etc was cool but not something you register when you’re a kid lol
@tweezak We have one Griswold 8" skillet from my in-laws and a Wagner chicken fryer from my parents, plus a couple of 20 year old Lodge pans. The Griswold really is nice for eggs and bacon; even after considerable use the big 13.5" Lodge still has some stickage problems, and I’m considering doing the burn-off and polish treatment on it.
For the occasional knife purchase, I like Kiwis. They’re crazy cheap, and take (and hold) an edge you can shave with. The balance isn’t the best (they’re cheap stamped blades, after all), but not terrible either. Their 7.5" pointed-blade model has been my daily driver for years.
There are brands for kitchens? I’ve never bought a whole kitchen except when it was part of a house, and I don’t remember having a choice of brands. I am, however, open to the concept of buying rooms separately and having them put together like a jigsaw puzzle on a piece of land. Need another bathroom? Just buy one (from a catalog?showroom?internet?) and plug it into the existing home. Garage too small? Just trade it in for a larger one and have the new one installed. I really like the idea. Rearrange the furniture? How about rearranging the rooms? Gives new shades of meaning to: “I love what you’ve done with the place!”
I design kitchens. There is definitely brands out there. Local dealers, big box stores, builders, they all deal with different brands. A lot of them are owned by giant corporations so even though you might go to three different places that are all different name brands, they might be owned by the same parent company.
@mbersiam@rockblossom I grew up in a sears catalog house and LOVE it! Hopefully my parents will let me buy it some day. May only be worth 6 or 7 grand but boy it’s still strong.
I am not brand loyal to anything in the kitchen, except if I have to–or anyone does–buy a stand mixer, it has to be KitchenAid. I am sure the models from Breville and the like are similar in performance; however, I don’t think any other kitchen appliance compares the ubiquity of the KitchenAid stand mixer.
As for knives, I highly recommend any brand as long as you have a Worksharp knife sharpener. You could go to the thrift store and end up with a razor sharp knife.
I second Penzeys spices, and since we are posting cast iron.
I always loved how they were small versions of the commercial Hobart mixers… which considering they were a division of Hobart 'til the mid 80’s isn’t a major shock.
@KNmeh7 the problem with “a stand mixer has to be kitchenaid” is the way they’ve changed their gear boxes and some using plastic instead of metal on certain gears. Some of their labeling is a little funky too. Don’t get me wrong I can literally see a kitchenaid bowl lift from the couch lol. But you do have to make sure you know what you are buying.
It completely depends on the product. I like a lot of KitchenAid stuff, but I have Cuisinart and Breville appliances that are great, Victorinox knives, Pyrex bakeware, etc. And then there’s the coffee and espresso equipment, which is a whole 'nother story.
It really depends on the item. I have a Cooks brand (JC Penney) hand mixer I got 15 years ago and it still works amazing. I like Lodge cast iron simply because they’re readily available. my pots and pans are from Lifetime Cookware and I bought those in 2009 and they’re still in amazing condition. I love my Ninja blender. I got a Hamilton griddle which is nice but it replaced my Oster I had for about 7 years. and I do have a set of cutco knives - but not a real set, they are my seller’s kit from when I was in college. I recently added a few more table knives to my set when I got them sharpened after 11 years.
ugh I could go on and on about all of these appliances. I forgot my coffee maker. I bought a Starbucks coffee maker at a garage sale for $1 and cleaned that thing up like new and it lasted about 8 more years before it finally went caput. so I replaced it with a Black and Decker last year. It seems to be doing ok so far.
@tohar1 I got the carbon steel skillet, wok, and roasting pan set for Christmas. I am in love with them. The spoon is pretty cool for a wooden spoon too, and I never thought I would say that.
@KNmeh7 I just bought the wok about a month ago & it’s hardly left my stove! I’ve used it for everything from scrambled eggs & bacon to fried rice & many different stir fries! Prep work for these feasts made much easier using their knives (I have both the Chef’s & Santoku knives).
@cristysue@KNmeh7 I really don’t cook from recipes per se. I worked at a local high-end Chinese restaurant, though as a bartender, and really just learned a few processes, techniques. I was always fascinated by the efficiency of the cooks there. I can offer a couple hints…Always season meats & veggies before cooking! Learn to make a few simple sauces (especially sweet & sour, and a soy/teriyaki) and you can modify them by changing/adding one or more ingredients to make an additional sauce to your repertoire. Furthermore, just by adding a fruit/veggie, the combinations are almost endless. If you have any specific questions, I’d be happy to help! I love to cook!!
never really had a preference, but as of last Summer, any future purchases “have to” fall in the range of Whirlpool brands
they own/make: (copied from Wikipedia)
Major brands:
Acros (México)
Affresh Washer Cleaners
Amana
Bauknecht
Brastemp (Brazil)
Consul (Brazil)
Diqua (China)
Estate
EveryDrop
Gladiator GarageWorks1
Hefei Sanyo (China)
Hotpoint (Europe)
Ignis [it]
Indesit
Inglis
Jenn-Air
KitchenAid
Laden [fr] (France)
Maytag
Polar
Privileg
Roper
Royalstar (China)
Stinol
Whirlpool
Yummly
Special situations: Admiral -branded appliances are sold exclusively at Home Depot, the brand was also formerly sold at Montgomery Ward stores til the company’s demise in 2001. Crosley branded top-load washing machines are made for Crosley Appliances FSP (Factory Specification Parts) IKEA branded appliances are made for IKEA Kenmore branded appliances were made for Sears Holdings
-My nephew got a job at the local Whirlpool Freezer Factory (Ottawa, OH)
@RiotDemon I don’t have HULU, but Dateline has a program about it this evening, and the first I heard about it was on 60 Minutes several years ago. I’m always mystified at how seemingly intelligent people get scammed by this kind of thing. When I was in college, some people I babysat for were going to EST (Werner Ehrhard) seminars, and took me to one. I had zero interest and I was shocked that they were into it. But NXIVM is far worse!
@Kyeh My brother had a saying about such people: “Book smart and life stupid.” Some people who grow up getting A’s in school come to think that they are “too smart to be fooled” by scams and cults, which makes them prime targets for scams and cults. Low cunning and a decent understanding of psychology trumps school smarts. It should have been obvious that NXIVM was a cult when the first thing they had to do to join was make a video that could be used to blackmail them if they tried to leave.
Then I loved:
Breville for lots of appliances, esp juicers
Kitchenaid - the big one w the lift - I was once a dedicated amateur bread-maker, in decades past.
Cuisinart for food processors
Vitamix or Blendtec blenders
Shun or similar from Japan or German-made Wustoff or Henkels for knives
Chemex for coffee
Some expensive Italian thing I never learn to use properly for espresso
Or a stovetop espresso pot from some place in Little Italy.
This was before InstaPots or sous vide - I got lazy decades before those.
Cookware
I love good cast iron.
My go-to fave for when I imagine I know how to cook:
Mauviel M’Heritage v heavy duty tin- or silver-lined thick copper. The stuff that takes almost the same arm strength as good cast iron.
Or other thick, top-notch, French-made, best-of, copper cookware.
Vintage heavy French-made copper cookware as an alternative.
These are esp a joy to use on a good gas stove.
/image mauviel m’heritage
Alas, now I use the “pick up option”, or the microwave. Even using the convection oven or the instapot sounds like work
Depends on the product.
@yakkoTDI
yes… that!
I don’t do “brand loyalty”, you’ve got to earn my money and trust on a case by case basis. Good past performance gets you head start, not a free pass.
Sure, there are those I’ll look at first, but I’ve never been a “Ford guy” or a “Chevy guy” or a “Harley guy”.
And there are plenty that burned me badly enough that they’ll probably never get a second chance.
In the Ford vs Chevy vs Mopar example, I think each of them has made enough interesting stuff that it would be silly to exclude them because of blind brand loyalty.
Depends on the product. I have a wide variety of brands. Penzey’s for spices except I cannot give up my cavenders Greek seasoning or true lemon pepper. Most cookware is Le Creuset but I also have my great grandmother’s 100+ year old cast iron skillet and a solid maple rolling pin that my grandfather made for me. Most of my bakeware is from the restaurant supply store for durability. If I am looking for something new, I generally turn to America’s test kitchen for reccomendations
Griswold
@tweezak Never heard of that one. We have Lodge cast iron.
@katbyter @tweezak For shame! Griswold and Wagner were the original cast iron giants of America. Their machining/polishing was far superior to lodge, and it is a shame they went away. I have two of my great grandmother’s Griswolds. I have two Wagners.
Five shame, at least. I’ve checked the numbers.
@katbyter @KNmeh7 @tweezak For what it’s worth, Lodge’s polishing used to be far superior to what they do now, too.
That’s not to disparage Lodge. It was an intentional change, and I don’t believe it signaled a decline in overall quality.
@katbyter @KNmeh7 @Limewater There are good videos on how to polish a lodge to a glass smooth finish and then restore the carbon seasoning. If you start with a good quality heavy gauge pan it should end up nearly as good as old classics.
@katbyter @KNmeh7 @Limewater @tweezak yeah… You can bake it off, sand it smooth, and re-season it. I meant to do mine at one point and even burned it all off once cause reasons but didn’t get to sanding it and just put a few coats on it.
The old super smooth cast iron my grandpa used to pick up at good will/flea markets/etc was cool but not something you register when you’re a kid lol
@tweezak We have one Griswold 8" skillet from my in-laws and a Wagner chicken fryer from my parents, plus a couple of 20 year old Lodge pans. The Griswold really is nice for eggs and bacon; even after considerable use the big 13.5" Lodge still has some stickage problems, and I’m considering doing the burn-off and polish treatment on it.
Goodwill. Hasn’t let me down yet, and if it ever does, I’m not out much.
Except for cast iron. That I get at the nearby antique store.
For the occasional knife purchase, I like Kiwis. They’re crazy cheap, and take (and hold) an edge you can shave with. The balance isn’t the best (they’re cheap stamped blades, after all), but not terrible either. Their 7.5" pointed-blade model has been my daily driver for years.
Frito-Lay
There are brands for kitchens? I’ve never bought a whole kitchen except when it was part of a house, and I don’t remember having a choice of brands. I am, however, open to the concept of buying rooms separately and having them put together like a jigsaw puzzle on a piece of land. Need another bathroom? Just buy one (from a catalog?showroom?internet?) and plug it into the existing home. Garage too small? Just trade it in for a larger one and have the new one installed. I really like the idea. Rearrange the furniture? How about rearranging the rooms? Gives new shades of meaning to: “I love what you’ve done with the place!”
@rockblossom my BIL lives in a house purchased from a Sears catalog. 2/10 do not recommend.
@rockblossom
@RiotDemon knows a thing or two about this stuff, I think?
@Kyeh @rockblossom I do.
I design kitchens. There is definitely brands out there. Local dealers, big box stores, builders, they all deal with different brands. A lot of them are owned by giant corporations so even though you might go to three different places that are all different name brands, they might be owned by the same parent company.
@mbersiam @rockblossom I grew up in a sears catalog house and LOVE it! Hopefully my parents will let me buy it some day. May only be worth 6 or 7 grand but boy it’s still strong.
Breville
My dealer would be disappointed if I did not put in a plug for Tupperware.
@katbyter
Mine would be pissed if I didn’t mention Maui Wowee!
Whatever my wife buys. It’s not my room.
@hchavers Maybe your wife wishes it wasn’t her room, either. Some of us females hate cooking.
@AuntMean67 What room is not my wife’s? Oh yeah, the outside storage.
@AuntMean67 @hchavers
what… no ‘she-shed’??
@chienfou @hchavers My she-shed would be a Tom-boy’s dream. Not some girlie frou-frou shack.
I don’t buy kitchen stuff often enough to have a go-to brand.
VitaMix
I am not brand loyal to anything in the kitchen, except if I have to–or anyone does–buy a stand mixer, it has to be KitchenAid. I am sure the models from Breville and the like are similar in performance; however, I don’t think any other kitchen appliance compares the ubiquity of the KitchenAid stand mixer.
As for knives, I highly recommend any brand as long as you have a Worksharp knife sharpener. You could go to the thrift store and end up with a razor sharp knife.
I second Penzeys spices, and since we are posting cast iron.
@KNmeh7 what sort of tiny food do you cook in the tiny ones?
@mbersiam I have cooked mini quiche, fruit w crumble, and cornbread. The main uses are a spoon holder when cooking and warm-sauce serving vessel.
@KNmeh7 @mbersiam
I always loved how they were small versions of the commercial Hobart mixers… which considering they were a division of Hobart 'til the mid 80’s isn’t a major shock.
@KNmeh7 the problem with “a stand mixer has to be kitchenaid” is the way they’ve changed their gear boxes and some using plastic instead of metal on certain gears. Some of their labeling is a little funky too. Don’t get me wrong I can literally see a kitchenaid bowl lift from the couch lol. But you do have to make sure you know what you are buying.
OXO for sure
Zojirushi for all the things they make.
@tnhillbillygal We love our rice cooker.
Le Creuset
It completely depends on the product. I like a lot of KitchenAid stuff, but I have Cuisinart and Breville appliances that are great, Victorinox knives, Pyrex bakeware, etc. And then there’s the coffee and espresso equipment, which is a whole 'nother story.
It really depends on the item. I have a Cooks brand (JC Penney) hand mixer I got 15 years ago and it still works amazing. I like Lodge cast iron simply because they’re readily available. my pots and pans are from Lifetime Cookware and I bought those in 2009 and they’re still in amazing condition. I love my Ninja blender. I got a Hamilton griddle which is nice but it replaced my Oster I had for about 7 years. and I do have a set of cutco knives - but not a real set, they are my seller’s kit from when I was in college. I recently added a few more table knives to my set when I got them sharpened after 11 years.
For me it’s about functionality and longevity.
ugh I could go on and on about all of these appliances. I forgot my coffee maker. I bought a Starbucks coffee maker at a garage sale for $1 and cleaned that thing up like new and it lasted about 8 more years before it finally went caput. so I replaced it with a Black and Decker last year. It seems to be doing ok so far.
Pampered Chef
I’ve been buying quite a bit from MadeIn.com as of late. Definitely not the cheapest but the products are Rock Star quality!
@tohar1 I got the carbon steel skillet, wok, and roasting pan set for Christmas. I am in love with them. The spoon is pretty cool for a wooden spoon too, and I never thought I would say that.
@KNmeh7 I just bought the wok about a month ago & it’s hardly left my stove! I’ve used it for everything from scrambled eggs & bacon to fried rice & many different stir fries! Prep work for these feasts made much easier using their knives (I have both the Chef’s & Santoku knives).
@KNmeh7 @tohar1 all 3 dishes look amazing!! Recipes would be awesome!!
POPSOCKETS! ROAD ROCKETS! SONNY CROCKETT! AWESOME!
@cristysue @KNmeh7 I really don’t cook from recipes per se. I worked at a local high-end Chinese restaurant, though as a bartender, and really just learned a few processes, techniques. I was always fascinated by the efficiency of the cooks there. I can offer a couple hints…Always season meats & veggies before cooking! Learn to make a few simple sauces (especially sweet & sour, and a soy/teriyaki) and you can modify them by changing/adding one or more ingredients to make an additional sauce to your repertoire. Furthermore, just by adding a fruit/veggie, the combinations are almost endless. If you have any specific questions, I’d be happy to help! I love to cook!!
Ninja
Blendtec. Well, for a blender. I should consider getting a Kitchenaid stand mixer/meat grinder.
never really had a preference, but as of last Summer, any future purchases “have to” fall in the range of Whirlpool brands
they own/make: (copied from Wikipedia)
Major brands:
Acros (México)
Affresh Washer Cleaners
Amana
Bauknecht
Brastemp (Brazil)
Consul (Brazil)
Diqua (China)
Estate
EveryDrop
Gladiator GarageWorks1
Hefei Sanyo (China)
Hotpoint (Europe)
Ignis [it]
Indesit
Inglis
Jenn-Air
KitchenAid
Laden [fr] (France)
Maytag
Polar
Privileg
Roper
Royalstar (China)
Stinol
Whirlpool
Yummly
Special situations:
Admiral -branded appliances are sold exclusively at Home Depot, the brand was also formerly sold at Montgomery Ward stores til the company’s demise in 2001.
Crosley branded top-load washing machines are made for Crosley Appliances
FSP (Factory Specification Parts)
IKEA branded appliances are made for IKEA
Kenmore branded appliances were made for Sears Holdings
-My nephew got a job at the local Whirlpool Freezer Factory (Ottawa, OH)
Waring for electrical items. Commercial quality is worth the extra!
@chienfou
https://www.the-sun.com/news/2407198/nxivm-sex-cult-danielle-roberts-branding-women/
Just saw a bit about this again on the news.
@Kyeh do you have Hulu? They have a show called “cults and extreme beliefs” where there’s an entire episode about NXIVM.
@RiotDemon I don’t have HULU, but Dateline has a program about it this evening, and the first I heard about it was on 60 Minutes several years ago. I’m always mystified at how seemingly intelligent people get scammed by this kind of thing. When I was in college, some people I babysat for were going to EST (Werner Ehrhard) seminars, and took me to one. I had zero interest and I was shocked that they were into it. But NXIVM is far worse!
@Kyeh My brother had a saying about such people: “Book smart and life stupid.” Some people who grow up getting A’s in school come to think that they are “too smart to be fooled” by scams and cults, which makes them prime targets for scams and cults. Low cunning and a decent understanding of psychology trumps school smarts. It should have been obvious that NXIVM was a cult when the first thing they had to do to join was make a video that could be used to blackmail them if they tried to leave.
Once upon a time I wasn’t too lazy to cook
Then I loved:
Breville for lots of appliances, esp juicers
Kitchenaid - the big one w the lift - I was once a dedicated amateur bread-maker, in decades past.
Cuisinart for food processors
Vitamix or Blendtec blenders
Shun or similar from Japan or German-made Wustoff or Henkels for knives
Chemex for coffee
Some expensive Italian thing I never learn to use properly for espresso
Or a stovetop espresso pot from some place in Little Italy.
This was before InstaPots or sous vide - I got lazy decades before those.
Cookware
I love good cast iron.
My go-to fave for when I imagine I know how to cook:
Mauviel M’Heritage v heavy duty tin- or silver-lined thick copper. The stuff that takes almost the same arm strength as good cast iron.
Or other thick, top-notch, French-made, best-of, copper cookware.
Vintage heavy French-made copper cookware as an alternative.
These are esp a joy to use on a good gas stove.
/image mauviel m’heritage
Alas, now I use the “pick up option”, or the microwave. Even using the convection oven or the instapot sounds like work
/giphy “kitchen degeneracy”