Ask Unclutterer: Me and My Unitaskers
Reader Wilhelm asked the following question of Unclutterer in the comments of a recent post:
If [the] Unclutterer staff owns some of these things, can we have photos of them with their Unitasker?
I immediately fell in love with this suggestion and then went through Unitasker Wednesday archives to find all of the ones I own. Turns out, all of my unitaskers are kitchen-related items:
The Ice Cream Maker. The inner canister is currently in the freezer, getting ready for my next batch. I’m of the opinion that if I’m going to consume calories from ice cream, they should at least be the best tasting calories I can get my hands on.
The Apple Peeler-Corer. I make pies, and apple pies are my specialty in the late summer and fall. The time this gadget saves me when I’m in apple-pie season is worth it the other months of the year.
The Garlic Roaster. Mine isn’t electric, but it still takes up a lot of space in my cupboards. I actually use it for tortillas instead of roasting garlic. I wouldn’t hold onto it, otherwise.
The Juicer. We buy lemons and limes by the bag full and then juice them up for drinks. Best of all, most all of the parts of this little guy can go in the dishwasher for fast and easy cleanup.
The Pickle Picker. I don’t know where this pickle fork came from, but it’s been a part of our kitchen for years. We don’t use it for pickles, though, we use it to open packaging, dig things out of small crevices around the stove, and use it as an all-purpose tiny tool. You can see that we’ve dented the tines a bit.
Now you know what Unitasker Wednesday items are in my collection! What Unitasker Wednesday items do you have in your cupboards? Share them with us in the comments. I’m encouraging the other Unclutterer staffers to do the same (let’s see if they step up to the plate).
Thank you, Wilhelm, for submitting your question for our Ask Unclutterer column.
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Posted by Erin on Jun 19, 2009 |
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47 comments posted
Posted by Kris10 - 06/19/2009
I can’t stand unitaskers, but we have the same Cuisinart ice cream maker, and giving it up would mean prying it from my chubby cold dead hands!
Posted by Allison - 06/19/2009
That was a lot of fun to go through the Unitasker Wednesday archives!! The only item from the archives that I own is the Cuisinart ice-cream maker. I would argue it is not a unitasker though; it makes ice cream, sorbet, frozen yogurt, and gelato ; ) I’m with Erin on this one. If I’m going to consume the calories, I’m going to eat the best ice cream I can.
I do have a few other unitaskers in my kitchen as well – a cherry pitter (very useful during cherry season), handheld apple corer (I make a lot of applesauce in the fall and winter), potato ricer (slightly embarrassed about it, but it makes the best mashed potatoes), a spaetzle maker (highly embarrassed about this one, but I still love it the few times a year I use it), corn on the cob dishes and picks (ditto), and a mini-bundt cake pan (gift that I feel like I should at least use once before giving to Goodwill). In looking through the archives, I realized that I used to own many more unitaskers, but have gotten rid of them over the years so I’m making progress.
Posted by Carol - 06/19/2009
Not sure about what’s in the archives but here are some of my unitaskers: food dehydrator (only used it once, it’s larger than a microwave, but I refuse to part with it), manual juicer, plastic egg spoon (just for removing eggs from boiling water), waffle maker, and a shaker (purchased for no other reason than to sprinkle powered sugar on things).
Posted by hizmoney - 06/19/2009
Thank you for sharing this article,
“…Me and My Unitaskers”. It caused me to take a mental inventory of some of our items(i.e. food dehydrator).
Posted by cdelphine - 06/19/2009
hee, this is cute. Maybe it will also make people less defensive when they own the unitasker. As for me, I have an ice cream maker (actually have both a small freezer one and an older electric crank one) and I don’t have a stand mixer but I would love to have one.
Posted by JC - 06/19/2009
Heck, a corkscrew is a unitasker. Especially with the increase of screw-top wine bottles, one could get rid of the corkscrew. But I’m not.
Posted by Haggie - 06/19/2009
There is only one unitasker in my house: The Wife, but she is really good at that one task…
Posted by Ericka - 06/19/2009
You justify the use for all of your Unitaskers very well so who even cares that they only do one thing!
Posted by Ange - 06/19/2009
I have a few unitaskers that I will absolutely not part with:
*waffle maker (I have kids!)
*vacuum sealer (has saved many a dish, brick of cheese, leftovers…)
*attachments for vacuum sealer (mason jar sealer, marinating jugs)
*egg white separator (gift; never use it but haven’t got round to tossing it)
*crepe pan (used once, hated it, went back to $3 Ikea saute pan that makes perfect crepes) that I keep forgetting to toss in the Goodwill bin
Possible unitaskers but really multitaskers:
*stand mixer AND hand mixer. I use them both, really.
*tortilla warmer. Mr likes it
*coffee grinder. I suppose you could grind spices & nuts in it, but then my coffee would taste like spices & nuts and my spices & nuts would taste like coffee. Not always good.
Posted by deanna - 06/19/2009
I must admit that I also have a few unitaskers.
- waffle maker; we use this about once per month. I love waffles.
- juicer; we live in Arizona and have an orange tree in the backyard. If I didn’t have a juicer those buckets and buckets of oranges would go bad. The funny thing is is that I don’t drink juice. We end up giving away nearly all of it.
- bamboo seafood steamer; I think this is one of the stupidest kitchen tools and the biggest space waster, but I can’t seem to get my husband to part with it … we NEVER use it!
- OXO salad spinner; I use this all the time. It really does extend the shelf life of the lettuce.
- Cuisinart popcorn maker … I despise microwave popcorn but I love popcorn.
- the others we use regularly; stand mixer, coffee grinder, vacuum sealer (which we use at least once per week), etc.
I can’t think of any non-kitchen unitaskers we might have.
Thanks for sharing everyone!
Posted by Gayle - 06/19/2009
@Ange. I recently went to a cooking class where they said to run a bit of granuated sugar through your coffee grinder before switching up to spices or vice versa. The chef said it eliminated any cross over. No grinder so I haven’t tested.
Posted by Jessiejack - 06/19/2009
@kris10 thanks for the laugh as I flashed on the visual!!
Posted by twosandalz - 06/19/2009
Panasonic bread machine is to twosandalz as ice cream maker is to Kris10.
I have a shelf dedicated to my beloved kitchen unitaskers… air popcorn popper, Cocomotion (makes hot chocolate milk), electric kettle.
Posted by Lori Paximadis - 06/19/2009
I had that ice cream maker, too, until I sold most of what I owned and moved back to the mainland. I opted to not replace it, although there are times I crave the Ben & Jerry’s recipe vanilla with a whole lot of cinnamon thrown in. Ice cream is my downfall, so I figured it was best to have to pay a little more for it to make it a more occasional treat.
Looking around the kitchen, I really don’t have any useless unitaskers. There’s the rotary cheese grater, but I use that at least once a week (and my knuckles thank me for it), and a hand-crank juicer that I don’t use all that often but is indispensable when I do need it. I even opted for a toaster oven over a stand-alone toaster so it could do more.
Posted by Anita - 06/19/2009
Amazingly, I don’t have any of the posted unitaskers. I did give my mom a buckwheat/lavender neck warmer (not cat-shaped!) when she was having neck/shoulder issues. For my part, I settled for two hot/cold gel packs — one lives in the freezer in anticipation of frequent sore muscles and assorted gym-related injuries; the other is waiting for me to buy a microwave.
Other unitaskers I can think of:
- a chocolate fondue set with a pot shaped like a Hershey’s Kiss (gift, refuse to part with it)
- bag clips (boyfriend’s idea; we bought a bag and each kept half of the clips. Probably not unitaskers for other folks, but I haven’t used a single one yet)
- fluted tube pan (only used once… so far!)
Posted by Bridget - 06/19/2009
The real deal is that if you actually use a unitasker a lot, it’s totally worth it. Some people can’t live without their ice cream makers, and my brother makes a quesadilla with his quesadilla maker every night with leftovers (even chinese food, ugh). It’s all about how you use it…
Posted by labyrinthine - 06/19/2009
lmao, Cocomotion! that’s almost worth buying just because the name is so darn awesome.
Posted by Michele - 06/19/2009
@Erin — it seems to me that your pickle picker isn’t a unitasker, since you actually use it for multiple purposes!
My household unitasker is my imported steel crèpe pan. I use it only for making authentically French crèpes, and I use it once a month at the most. But I’ve said it before, and I’ll say it again: you can take it from me when you pry it from my cold, dead hands. It was a birthday present to myself, and it’s sheer pleasure whenever I do bring it out and use it.
Posted by Janet - 06/19/2009
I also use my ice cream maker to make frozen margaritas so I really think it is not a unitasker. I also have a cherry pitter, but during cherry season, it is indispensable.
Posted by Christine - 06/19/2009
I looked through pages and pages of the Unitaskers, and while I don’t actually own any of the ones that are listed, I can honestly say that the Ice Cream Maker looks pretty awesome! I can understand why a few of you have one.
However, I do own a quesadilla maker… talk about a unitasker
The reason I put it on my wedding registry? It looked cool. Yikes!
Posted by Peter (a different one) - 06/19/2009
@JC – ah – my corkscrew also has a bottle opener (the handle), so it’s good for wine AND beer!
Posted by Rue - 06/19/2009
I think the kitchen seems to lend itself to unitaskers because so many things need to be prepped or cooked in different ways. That or the makers are trying to get the chefs out there to buy more stuff! ;D
That being said I don’t think I really own any kitchen unitaskers. How sad!
Posted by Consultant Calamities - 06/19/2009
Our unitaskers:
a strawberry huller (but in my defense, it works GREAT and its pretty small!)
apple core-er peeler slicer thingie (from Pampered chef, we only make pies in the fall but can’t live without it!)
There are probably a few more but I can’t think of them right now.
I don’t have an ice cream maker; I think that would be too dangerous for us!
Posted by Kate - 06/19/2009
I have a Jack LaLanne juicer that I only use to make carrot-apple juice, which I love but can’t buy where I live.
Also, a Littermaid–so bulky and not worth the money IMO! I plan to get rid of it.
Posted by Marie - 06/19/2009
I have 16 of those forks in the flatware set I inherited from my grandmother. We use them to eat shellfish. I never even thought of them as a unitasker, they’re just part of my utensils.
Posted by Kate - 06/19/2009
I left out the worst one–a gas pump liquor dispenser. My husband insisted we register for it and of course someone bought it b/c it was so hilarious. But we still have it.
Posted by Lynne - 06/19/2009
May I suggest that your read Wilhelm’s question again. Isn’t he asking for a photos of Unclutter staff members with unitaskers that they own?
Posted by Erin Doland - 06/19/2009
@Lynne — None of us felt we were “camera ready” today. I did take a picture of myself over my lunch break: http://yfrog.com/18iepj Hee hee … it’s for the best I didn’t pose with mine.
Posted by Rich - 06/19/2009
I have that same ice cream maker. I’ve recently learned that the Kitchenaid stand mixer has an ice cream maker attachment (makes sense–if you look at the Cuisinart maker it could obviously be done by a refrigerated bowl in the Kitchenaid). Thinking of ditching the Cuisinart in favor of the kit, as it’ll take somewhat less room (just a bowl and paddle essentially compared to that plus the actual appliance/motor for the Cuisinart).
Posted by Marque - 06/19/2009
Oh my. We have:
-a counter-top deep fryer (I bought it for my husband when he had a crappy dorm situation to give him some comfort away from home– before we were married. Haven’t used it since he graduated.)
-a salad spinner. We use it enough that I don’t want to part with it though.
-hand mixer. I use this at least twice a week.
-a chocolate fondue fountain. I bought it for my wedding, didn’t use it, only just broke it out a few weeks ago for a party. Not sure if I want to hang on to it.
-electric rice cooker. This one we love too, we use it at least once a week.
-a frosting knife. A knife with no sharp blade, it is purely meant for spreading frosting. I’ve only used it a handful of times but it’s just so handy when making a birthday cake.
-a hand-held juicer, we LOVE this thing; we make salsa all the time and it makes squeezing lime juice a cinch.
-a waffle-maker. I want to get rid of it. The husband and I aren’t really fond of sweet breakfasts so we don’t use it often but he doesn’t want to part with it.
-is my iron a unitasker? I really only press fabric with it: I don’t do many crafts that require melting (like those bead toys…) or anything else.
-my sewing machine? I mostly do repairs with it, but every now and then I’ll work on a quilt.
-hair straightener and hair dryer.
-the husband has a Wacom Tablet he hasn’t used in years. But it’s so nifty!
-I have I laptop we rarely use. Nowadays the only time we break it out are when my husband is DM’ing a game of Dungeons and Dragons and he prefers to use the laptop instead of a hand-held book…. like a really bulky kindle.
…and lastly, we got an electric flosser for our wedding and I think it’s been in the closet ever since.
Posted by Karyn - 06/19/2009
Heavy-duty foil works perfectly well for roasting garlic, in case you ever need to roast garlic and warm tortillas at the same time.
As far as Unitaskers I own… hmmm… well, there is that electronic Spin-the-Bottle game, but I don’t think of it as a UNI-tasker because I play it with a LOT of people…
*smacks self*
O.K. For real, here are unitaskers I own:
* A melon baller – because it’s neater than slicing the melon; the juice stays inside the hollowed-out melon half, to be poured over the melon balls before consuming. It’s a very small item, and I like cantaloupe.
* Haven’t got a salad spinner yet, but I do need to get one, because in the long run it saves using paper towels to blot off my freshly-rinsed lettuce.
* My TV – because I don’t actually use it to watch TV, just DVDs. I wonder if I can hook up my DVD player to my computer monitor and make more space in my teeny tiny apartment?
* Teapot – because I am a tea junkie. It’s a beautiful, graceful, round clear glass pot with a perforated steel infuser basket and a steel lid with a plunger. The infuser basket holds the loose tea leaves, and the plunger seals them off from the water after the appropriate steeping time, so the tea doesn’t steep any more while it’s sitting around waiting for me to drink the entire pot while I write and/or waste time dinking on the Net. The clear pot also looks really cool (sans infuser basket, of course) with those “blooming flower” green and white teas.
* Toilet paper – but on second thought, I also use it as facial tissue, in a pinch, so it’s a multitasker. Never mind.
* Votive candle holders might *seem* like unitaskers, but I also use them for little decorative displays. For example, I have a frosted glass set of votive cups etched with stylized bamboo shoots. One of those holds a candle; the other holds whole cloves with several cinnamon sticks stuck in the cloves. It looks cool. Trust me. My zen candle display is the envy of all of Asia.
Posted by tabatha - 06/19/2009
i have three difference juicers, an electric citrus juicer that my boyfriend uses b/c he has problems with his wrists, and i have a glass citrus juicer that i prefer b/c its easier to clean. and a juicer that does other fruit and veggies, a centrifugal juicer. we also have an ice cream maker that i want to get rid of b/c we never use it.
i have an apple corer. actually i think i have two of those too b/c at one time i lost one and bought another one.
we have a rice cooker, but its not really a unitasker b/c we can steam veggies at the same time, and it cooks other stuff to, like my friend boils eggs in his.
i have a hand held bug zapper shaped like a tennis racket( not sure if that counts)
Posted by tabatha - 06/19/2009
i also have a melon baller, b/c its a lot easier than a spoon. ice cream scoops, and we have a vita prep blender but i can’t consider that a unitasker b/c my boyfriend does so much with it.
Posted by Amy - 06/20/2009
My fireplace. I have heat, so it just looks pretty. Then there’s the basket to hold the logs I rarely use.
Toilet paper holder. When I pull on the paper, it always falls down, so we keep the roll on the back of the toilet. I suppose I could fix it.
Decorative pillows. Not even comfortable, but lovely…
Cooling eye mask. It sits in my fridge but I never use it because I always fear there are germs from my fridge on it and if I washed it before use, it wouldn’t be cooling.
Pump to fill an air-mattress. We are sans air-mattress.
Posted by Emma - 06/20/2009
I’ve got one that shouldn’t be a unitasker, but is: our blender. We bought it about a year ago and had great plans of all the fantastic things we could blend with it… But instead, it sits unused on our counter; we use it maybe once a month to make milkshakes.
BTW I love your blog!
Posted by gypsy packer - 06/20/2009
Juicer/tater ricer. Cast iron, patent date late 1800’s, and I hang it on the wall.
Canning pressure cooker, dehydrator purchased for jerky but used for herbs and “sun-dried” tomatoes, and, of course, the coffee maker. I used to keep two coffee grinders, one for coffee and another for herbs, but I’ll try the sugar trick. No-one mentions the coffee maker, I notice.
I do have a mesh salad basket with spinner handles but I use it to carry produce in from the garden, so it hardly qualifies. My 2 1/2 gallon colander definitely is a unitasker but it’s a necessity in preserving season.
My most hated unitaskers? Charger for phone, charger for iPod, charger for radio/mp3, charger for laptop—why can’t I get a multi-head or multi-purpose charger? I finally have the USB cord with multiple attachments.
Posted by Wilhelm Scream - 06/20/2009
Thanks so much for responding to my question!
We have an ice cream maker, but I think that’s the only true unitasker we have. I’ll have to have a look round the kitchen and check, though, because I’m sure there’s some strange things lurking at the back of our cupboards…
Posted by Karen - 06/20/2009
I have a French press coffee pot. Other than that, I can’t think of anything in my kitchen that’s a unitasker.
Posted by Kalani - 06/20/2009
I have one of those plastic things that you can microwave eggs in and they supposedly come out perfectly. My sister has used it once when visiting, and the eggs exploded exactly the way they would have in a pyrex dish. So much for perfection!
Posted by Christine - 06/20/2009
Oh, the unitaskers lurking in my kitchen!
-Rice cooker: used at least once a week for dinner. Fool-proof is always good in our kitchen, particularly since I frequently experiment with new recipes and am often too distracted to make sure I’m not burning the rice.
-Popcorn popper: also used at least once a week for snacks. Next one will be an air-popper that blows the popped kernels out, however. I still burn the occasional batch from being distracted.
-Kitchenaid ice cream maker attachment: not used very often as our current freezer is small and a little too warm. Planning on purchasing a small chest freezer in the next year; I anticipate many delicious sorbets once that occurs.
-Cherry pitter: I’m learning how to can and preserve, and there’s a local farmer who sells cherries for $0.99/lb at the height of cherry season (as in, right now). This little gadget is absolutely worth every penny and every cc of used storage space, even if I only use it a couple of times a year.
-Belgian waffle iron: yes, one of those monstrosities that can be flipped over to get the perfectly fluffy waffle. Gets used at least once a week for a big ol’ batch of waffles for a weekend brunch; leftovers get frozen for breakfast later in the week. It actually gets stored in a really weird place (cubby under the guinea pig cage) because it’s the only place it fits within 20′ of the kitchen. Totally worth it, though.
-Countertop dishwasher: eats up approximately 20% of the available counter space in our apartment’s galley kitchen. And I am not giving it up until we move to somewhere with an actual built-in dishwasher, dammit.
-Canning supplies: true, the jar tongs and magnetic lid lifter spend three seasons a year in the storage closet, along with all empty mason jars. They are absolutely critical for canning without burned fingers and loud cursing, though. And while some of the early batches were less-than-fantastic, it’s a lot of fun and I’m looking forward to cherry pie in winter this year.
Posted by STL Mom - 06/20/2009
Oh, I love my kitchen gadgets and use them all the time(i.e. stand mixer, apple peeler, waffle iron). The only one that is really hard to justify is the egg poacher, but I do love my tidy, uniform poached eggs that I make three or four times a year. If it wasn’t so bad for you, I’d make Eggs Benedict more often and use this pan all the time.
Posted by Chiara - 06/21/2009
I actually did go through your entire Unitasker list! Thankfully, I only found two that I have (yay!): the ice cream machine (same one, the best!) and the lever wine opener (it does take so much room but the husband loves it, and ours work wonders, no more cork in the bottle!)
AND… actually… food molds don’t count as a Unitasker if you’re a bento maker! Everyday, when I make my bento (bento means lunch box) for the husband and I to take to work, I use my molds and little containers that go with it. Great for portion control (the little containers), saves us money because we don’t eat out and it makes lunch fun!
And… my sister in law has the purse hook >.<
Hehehehe… Love the Unitasker posts! Keep it up!
Posted by Pharmacist Millie - 06/21/2009
I don’t know that much of what we have unitask’s. I did see someone use a paper shredder to make salad once (Ok so it was on TV).
Posted by Natalie - 06/22/2009
I looked through all the unitaskers featured, and we have three:
a fire extinguisher (come to think of it, a smoke detector could be considered a unitasker as well, although we have one that is also a carbon monoxide detector)
a waffle maker
an ice cream maker
Although, I was thinking, isn’t a clothes washer and/or dishwasher technically a unitasker as well (just particularly useful ones
Posted by Wilhelm Scream - 06/22/2009
Oh, and I’m a “she”, not a “he”!
Posted by Ange - 06/25/2009
I have a rice cooker, too (bad Southern girl, me, relying on a cooker rather than a pot), but don’t consider it a unitasker b/c it makes overnight oatmeal 10x better than the slow cooker!
Some other sorta/wannabe unitaskers that came to mind:
*Garlic mincer – new one has a slicer that I also use for olives. Sliced garlic is excellent in cheesy-garlic-potato gratin, and olives at least 2x week for mex meals.
*Strawberry huller/capper – also use this for tomatoes.
*Cherry pitter – I hate the mess & bother of fresh cherries, but kids love it. I also hate the mess & bother of hand-pitting a pound of cherries, so this $3 unitasker is worth it. (Tried on a tin of pit olives, didn’t work so well. And who tins olives with pits? Snooty olive people, that’s who.)
*Coffeemaker: the ultimate unitasker. It makes coffee. But one cup means I make breakfast for children and actually hit exercise bike, so it’s a multi-tasker in disguise.
Random useful but useable unitaskers:
*Stapler – staples. Love staples.
*Printer – prints. I work in desktop publishing, so I need prints. (Bonus: print paper airplanes. On the backside of discarded printer paper, of course. Boys are used to paper airplanes with “Page 1 of 5″ footers.)
*
Posted by WilliamB - 07/12/2009
I have a lot of unitaskers in my kitchen: the cutting boards are only for cutting on, the cabinets are only for storing in,…
Ahem. Seriously now. There are any number of cooking things that require specialized equipment. You can’t make waffles without some sort of waffle iron and I cannot think of another (sensible) use for it. It’s impractical in the extreme to make ice cream with anything other an mechanical ice cream maker.[1] A dehydrater is much more efficient than an oven on low with the door cracked. A salad spinner is much more efficient than towels or human-propelled rotation, which means the produce lasts a lot longer. “Grinding” meat by chopping it with two knives takes forever and a day. And I defy you to make sausages without a stuffer. (I suppose you might be able to repurpose a canolli form but I haven’t used one so I don’t know). So some unitaskers make sense.
Others do not. Since I don’t have a Williams Sonoma catalog at hand none spring to mind but it’s late and I’m a tired. Um, pasta serving measurer?
Still others are in a fuzzy middle ground. I think the key question is how much do you use it? Some uses are seasonal (canning equipment), others save huge amounts of time when you do use them (cherry pitters) (although old fashioned bun pins are surprisingly effective). Still others are simply a question of space and frequency (my rice cooker; I make great stovetop rice (as long as I have a gas stove, that is) but the rice cooker is set and forget and I use it several times a week).
Why is a standing mixer considered a unitasker?
PS – Running stale bread through a coffee grinder is also said to remove the old bits stuck inside. I don’t like coffee and found that, when cleaning time was taken into account, I could use a mortar and pestle faster than the coffee grinder, so I can only relay what I’ve heard. FWIW I heard it in cooking school.
[1] Rich – no, no don’t do it! Actually, I looked into doing the same thing and decided not to. Here ae my reasons, you decide what works for you. The Kitchenaid bowl is $70, the Cuisinart with two bowls is $50. The KA bowl is also very big. The bowl is just as much of a unitasker as the Cuisinart ice cream maker is. The KA bowl doesn’t do a better job than the Cuisinart.
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