World Cup 2014: Best Snack Gadgets

Five little ways to keep the hunger at bay

by hodg100
Tech Article

1

World Cup 2014: Best Snack Gadgets
The backbone of any good kitchen is in the devices used to prepare the snacks that come out of it - in case you hadn't realised.
You don’t want to be faffing about with any sub-standard equipment in the half time interval, you need German levels of speed and efficiency, so you can be in and out in within fifteen minutes, ready to resume before the players re-emerge from the tunnel.

The food processor has to be the first name on the team sheet. It’s versatility is a must and, of course, it’s a very speedy operator, allowing you minimum time spent in the kitchen and maximum spent in the armchair.

Food Processor

The Kenwood Multi-Pro Compact should be all you need for chopping, grating, whipping, blending, breadcrumb-making, you name it and it won’t set you back the earth with its sub £60 price-tag. What’s more, you also get a liquidiser which fits on to the same base so if you fancy getting healthy with a smoothie, it’s all there for you.
World Cup 2014: Best Snack Gadgets

Up front, the Multi-Pro sports a new dual drive system, a reasonably powerful 750W motor and a safety interlock system that should ensure you at least keep enough fingers intact to make snack eating an on-going possibility. The processor comes with numerous attachments and can be conveniently cleaned in your dishwasher.

And if the idea of the ‘Compact’ all sounds a little bit non-league for your needs, you could super-size up to the FP980 which is Kenwood’s top of the range machine. Barring doing the washing up, there’s almost nothing this beast can’t do. Very fast and with great power!

The FP980 Multi Pro Excel is designed to cope with the most demanding of food preparation tasks and has a very beefy 1200W motor with which to take care of business. It boasts a total of 55 different possible kitchen functions, can you? We thought not but priced around £350-400 it’s not an impulse (we had to get a pun in somewhere) purchase.
If it's not dishwasher friendly, it's not getting in
Ice Cream Maker

One thing you can’t do in a food processor is make ice-cream, well not very successfully anyhow. Like food processors, ice cream makers vary in price quite substantially but you can pick up a good ‘utility man’ quite inexpensively.

For example, one can purchase the Duronic IM525 Ice Cream maker online for around £16 and it will not only be able to make you ice cream but refreshing frozen yoghurts and sorbets too. To get you started, the device comes with a 128 page, Ben and Jerry's Homemade Ice Cream and Dessert Book so you shouldn’t lack for a creative spark.

For something really techy, one can always rely on the innovative Heston Blumenthal and he, of course, has his very own range of kitchen gadgets on the market. His Sage Smart Scoop Ice Cream Maker is far from the cheapest on the market (MSRP is around £315) but it does offer unrivalled texture control, with no less than 16 levels of softness selectable.

Sensors within the bowl detect the consistency of the mixture and will make necessary adjustments to ensure the end product is to your liking. That means, it’s not a machine that is going to need your frequent supervision and an on-board freezer will keep it ‘just so’ for up to 3 hours.

World Cup 2014: Best Snack Gadgets

Hot Dog Steamer

OK, preparing a hot dog might not be the most challenging culinary task but it does usually necessitate a visit in to the kitchen, which you may want to avoid in the heat of battle. How’s about this nifty looking gadget to minimise interruptions?

Local prospect, Andrew James, has come up with his Retro Hotdog Steamer, which is bedecked in the colours of the St George Flag and can cook up to 12 hot dogs in 12 minutes. That’s just short enough a time to squeeze in preparation at half-time, if you can’t bare the aroma in your living room. .
Hot Dog Steamer - unnecessary perhaps, but it looks good!
The steamer has separate compartments for buns and sausages and we reckon you’d be able to squeeze enough room to keep your slow cooked onions, too, and it has a handy drawer, allowing easy access to your food once it’s cooked. For around £30, you certainly could do Wurst.

World Cup 2014: Best Snack Gadgets

Popcorn Maker

There’s probably no quicker thing to make than popcorn and, depending on how you decide to flavour it, it won’t pile on the pounds either. There are numerous popcorn makers on the market but let’s stick with the red and white motif with Mustard’s ‘Heat ‘n’ Eat’ microwave maker.

The Heat ‘n’ Eat will make enough popcorn to feed all your guests in less time than it takes to listen that terrible official World Cup theme song, inexplicably performed by a Cuban rapper (Pitbull) and a Puerto Rican singer (Jennifer Lopez), if you can stand the whole thing.

Cooking is simply a matter of adding the kernels into the tub, popping it in the microwave , adding your choice of seasoning and pressing the button. Microwave popcorn makers don’t require any oil to make that corn pop-either, so it’s the healthiest way to cook it. A-maize-ing !

Toastie Maker

Is there a more quintessentially British snack than the good old toastie? Ours is the country responsible for launching the sandwich so it was only natural that we’d take the logical progression of cooking them, at some point, and the range of fillings you can include is only limited by your imagination.

World Cup 2014: Best Snack Gadgets

And when it comes to toastie machines, is there a brand more readily associated than Breville whose products have gone on to become synonymous in the field? The classic two slice machine comes in a number of varieties, with the top of the range VST004 rated at 850W and featuring, sandwich-defining, ‘Cut and Seal’ technology which can accommodate different bread sizes. It’s removable cooking plates are dishwasher safe too.

For something a bit more continental, you could look at their 2 Slice Panini Machine which adds the ability to fashion tasty wraps, ciabatta and focaccia snacks as well as being able to warm up the likes of naan bread, tortillas, crumpets & bagels.

Or you could just for something more universal, such as the Cuisinart GRSM1U which has much deeper cooking plates and therefore can deliver a thicker, more appetite satisfying butty. The dimensions also lend themselves to the preparation of quick and easy omelettes, calzones, quesadillas and pastries, so it’s one to consider for the hungrier footie-lovers out there.

So there is a selection of our favourite kitchen gadgets for you to consider but how will you be keeping yourself fed this World Cup?

To share your thoughts on the above, click the Discussion tab and post a reply.

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