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| Raw kitchen appliances |
This blog started off as vegetarian and healthy, went through a low-carb phase, and now concentrates pretty much on vegan and raw, which is about as healthy as you can get, or so we think anyway.
We are thoroughly enjoying making raw food, but it is quite a mindset change, and does utilize a very definite set of kitchen appliances.
I thought I would run through these gadgets for anyone thinking of going more raw.
I must also say, I don’t think very many people are 100% raw. We are probably about 60% to 70% raw.
So these are the appliances we use most:
High speed blender
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| OmniBlend high speed blender |
You might already have a mini blender of a sort already, but to get that creamy texture in smoothies, raw soups and other mixtures, the high speed blender is a must.
The 2 most popular makes are Vitamix and Omniblend.
We have the Omniblend 5.
Probably the most used piece of equipment we have.
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| Stick blender, spice grinder and spiralizer |
Stick Blender
We had one of these a long time ago, and to a large extent it has been superseded by the high speed blender.
But for small quantities, we still resort to this machine. You don’t get the same creamy texture from it, but it does a very good job.
You do need one with reasonable power. We
have the Braun 300 Watt model.
Spice or coffee grinder
This little gem has proved invaluable, not only for grinding spices, but for also making oat or almond flour, as well as flax powder.
Both low-carb and raw recipes often use almond or oat flours, and flax powder is used extensively in raw food preparation.
One can buy these already ground, but they do lose something over time, so it is better if you can grind your own as you need it.
Spiralizer
Perfect for making interesting salads and turning vegetables such as butternut, courgettes or sweet potatoes into raw pastas.
You can of course do this manually by chopping or slicing very finely, or using a julienne peeler, but the spiralizer produces a much better effect.
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| Oscar juicer |
Juicer
Juicing is possibly the best way to get a good daily dose of nutrients into your body. (you should use organic fresh produce wherever possible)
There are two types of juicer, the centrifugal, or the masticating one, each with their own advantages, or disadvantages.
The centrifugal type is quicker, but quite a mission to clean, The masticating type takes longer, probably gets more juice out, and is easier to clean. We have the Oscar masticating machine, which also has a ‘processing adaptor’ which is brilliant for making ‘ice-kreem’ from frozen fruits, or making pasta.
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| Excalibur 9 tray dehydrator, with door open |
Dehydrator
One of the basic concepts of ‘raw’ is that food loses most of it’s nutrients once heated above certain temperatures. In fact it becomes carcinogenic once starting to blacken or burn.
Dehydrating is drying at low temperatures over for a number of hours, depending on what you are making.
There are two main types or makes of dehydrator – the Easi-dry and the Excalibur.
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| Dehydrator with door closed |
The Easi dry comprises stackable circular drying racks. The advantage is you can stack as many as you like, but then you cant get at the bottom racks
easily.
This type has square drying racks, but is limited to either 5 or 9 depending on the model, but you can access any tray easily.
We have the Excailbur 9 tray model.
If you are only experimenting with raw, you can get the same effect by using your oven on the lowest possible temperature (probably 70 degrees C) and keep the door slightly open. This is not really an energy efficient way, but is probably okay occassionally.
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| Magi Mix |
Food processor
Up to now, I have never owned a food processor of any kind. We decided to treat ourselves to the Magi Mix 4200 XL.
Makes chopping veggies a dream, and indispensable for making those delicious raw desserts.
You can read more about all of these appliances and gadgets in most raw recipe books.
These, or similar appliances are available from Amazon
