Kitchen gadgets

If you can afford to invest in some kitchen equipment here is what we have found works and saves us time and or space.   

Additonal fridge / freezer
I think unless you have a huge American style fridge you soon run out of space for all the food.  (especially when you are ordering meat and bones over the internet and have to order in bulk). We were donated some from family friends but generally they can be picked up pretty cheaply second hand.

Magimix / Food processor 
Uses: pate, hummus, cakes, biscuits, pancake mix, grinding nuts, chopping vegetables, prepping sauerkraut and coleslaw
 Its a sad day when the best thing that has happened to me recently is finding a 'fixed while you wait' Magimix repairer but that's how much I rely on it.  I couldnt give a fig if beating by hand gets better results. That's fine if you are contestent on the Great British Bake off, not when you have to simultaneously make biscuits, tell a toddler to stop sticking his electric toothbrush down his pants and get everyone out of the house in five minutes to get to Rainbows!  Here is a list of things we couldn't do without

Hand blender
Used for smoothies, soup and mash
Saves washing up all the bits of the bigger food processor and also can be taken with you on your travels (if anyone invites you to stay or you have any money left to go on holiday!)

Electric yoghurt maker
Less than £20 from Lakeland, we bought 2 so we could double up yoghurt making.  We also bought a glass Kilner jar to go inside as we didnt want to warm milk in a plastic container.

Thermometer
Used when making yoghurt, jam, chutney, sweets and lollipops

Juicer
We discovered after we bought ours that our daughter hates juices so we don't use it as often as would like and I think it has the potential in a lot of houses to be an under utilised gadget.  However if you are going to buy one this is the best we saw for under a hundred quid as you don't have to peel / chop stuff in advance and its easy to clean

Dehydrator
It seems like a bit of a luxury but we use it for making biltong, vegetable crisps and drying out nuts.  You could of course do most of this in the oven but then your oven is used up for long periods of time (and it always seems to be just when you realise you have to make a casserole or the meat will go off!)

Pyrex containers with lids
Used to store main meals, stock cooked meat etc
We don't like using plastic to store hot food. We use tons of these as they also stack well in the fridge or freezer.  Look out for BOGOFF's at supermarkets too.

Kilner jars 
These are perfect for homemade yoghurt, sauerkraut etc as they can be resealed, don't contaminate food and take up less space than bowls in the fridge.  They are better value in supermarkets (Sainsbury's often have them) than on Amazon.

Loaf cases
Purists would say this are unnecessary because you can line anything with baking paper but its a lot easier if you can just pop one of these in a tin.  You can get unbleached ones from Sainsbury's.

Additional tea towels or napkins
You need these for straining yoghurt or covering bowls of things that are soaking.