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Ask HN: What sub $200 product improved your 2022

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Re: Ask HN: What sub $200 product improved your 2022

#241

Post by D13Fd »

rand846633 wrote: post #139
D13Fd wrote: post #123

Kagi search engine subscription is easily my top choice ( https://kagi.com ). I'm really glad something can finally, truly replace Google search and be just as good or better (neither Bing nor DuckDuckGo were good enough when I tried them). If we're talking physical products, I'd probably go with the Apple Magsafe wallet. It's a little thing but I love not having a separate wallet to keep track of every day.

I think we really will need more details here! Could you elaborate a bit? What would I learn if I spent 25 min researching kagi?

Sorry, I'm far from an expert here. They started recently and just went out of closed beta I believe. I've been using it for a few months now.

They have a lot of nice features pulled from Google and DDG:

https://help.kagi.com/kagi/getting-started/index.html

I haven't done any objective tests, so can't really say much about search quality except that it definitely works at least as well as Google for my searches (usually tech or legal stuff), and it doesn't have ads. Whatever I'm looking for is usually the top result if my query is good and it's not something that's ambiguous.

Re: Ask HN: What sub $200 product improved your 2022

#243

Post by Spivak »

max937 wrote: post #235
spaceman_2020 wrote: post #154

An air fryer. It’s really a badly marketed product. Its real utility isn’t that it uses less oil, but that it cooks incredibly fast. Essentially an oven on steroids. It’s made cooking so much easier. I usually toss some boneless chicken in with a light coating of soy sauce and cornflour. While the chicken cooks, I prep a basic Asian sauce on the stovetop. The chicken and the sauce are both done within 10-15 minutes.…

It's a small convection over marketed as an "Air fryer". It's genius marketing!

Clearly it’s working for them but it also I think loses them sales from people who would absolutely buy an oven that evenly cooks (if you’re an apartment dwelling baker you know the pain) and preheats in seconds where “air fryer” sounds like it does something totally different.

It’s the same thing with instant pot where they probably lose out a bit by not marketing themselves as a serious electric pressure cooker that can also do other stuff.

Re: Ask HN: What sub $200 product improved your 2022

#244

Post by testfoobar »

spaceman_2020 wrote: post #154

An air fryer. It’s really a badly marketed product. Its real utility isn’t that it uses less oil, but that it cooks incredibly fast. Essentially an oven on steroids. It’s made cooking so much easier. I usually toss some boneless chicken in with a light coating of soy sauce and cornflour. While the chicken cooks, I prep a basic Asian sauce on the stovetop. The chicken and the sauce are both done within 10-15 minutes.…

Does the fan get all oily & grimy? Is it hard to keep clean? I like being able to wash greasy kitchen items in lots of hot water and detergent. I can't imagine it is possible to immerse the business end of an air fryer in water?

Re: Ask HN: What sub $200 product improved your 2022

#245

Post by aidenn0 »

pjmorris wrote: post #24

Aftershokz Aeropex bone-conducting headphones. I could walk, hike, drive listening to music or phone calls while hearing the environment around me and without exposing anyone else to my taste in music :)

Didn't get them this year, but yes those are amazing.

Re: Ask HN: What sub $200 product improved your 2022

#246

Post by sowbug »

spapas82 wrote: post #220
spaceman_2020 wrote: post #154

An air fryer. It’s really a badly marketed product. Its real utility isn’t that it uses less oil, but that it cooks incredibly fast. Essentially an oven on steroids. It’s made cooking so much easier. I usually toss some boneless chicken in with a light coating of soy sauce and cornflour. While the chicken cooks, I prep a basic Asian sauce on the stovetop. The chicken and the sauce are both done within 10-15 minutes.…

I was thinking if buying an air fryer however cleaning seems like a nightmare. Can you please share some insights on how easy (or hard) it is?

They're all a little different, but this works for me. When it beeps to say it's done, in a single arm motion I pull out the tray, dump the cooked food onto a platter, and then rinse the tray in the sink. The key is to get the tap water on there while the oils are still hot.

But temper your expectations. If you need your cooking implements to be squeaky clean, an air fryer will be a lot of work. If you're satisfied with your regular oven having a few bits of carbonized food bits here and there, then you'll also be satisfied with a "camp clean" level of air fryer cleanliness.

Re: Ask HN: What sub $200 product improved your 2022

#247

Post by tomjen3 »

spapas82 wrote: post #220
spaceman_2020 wrote: post #154

An air fryer. It’s really a badly marketed product. Its real utility isn’t that it uses less oil, but that it cooks incredibly fast. Essentially an oven on steroids. It’s made cooking so much easier. I usually toss some boneless chicken in with a light coating of soy sauce and cornflour. While the chicken cooks, I prep a basic Asian sauce on the stovetop. The chicken and the sauce are both done within 10-15 minutes.…

I was thinking if buying an air fryer however cleaning seems like a nightmare. Can you please share some insights on how easy (or hard) it is?

I have one: all I do is take the basket out and clean it. Both parts of it are non-stick.

Re: Ask HN: What sub $200 product improved your 2022

#248

Post by spreiti »

spaceman_2020 wrote: post #154

An air fryer. It’s really a badly marketed product. Its real utility isn’t that it uses less oil, but that it cooks incredibly fast. Essentially an oven on steroids. It’s made cooking so much easier. I usually toss some boneless chicken in with a light coating of soy sauce and cornflour. While the chicken cooks, I prep a basic Asian sauce on the stovetop. The chicken and the sauce are both done within 10-15 minutes.…

We got one in 2020 and we use it daily. Chicken, french fries, sausages, fish and bread is what we use it for most of the time. Some things like spring rolls are better fried with oil but overall we love it and it is a real time saver and of course less oil is used.

Re: Ask HN: What sub $200 product improved your 2022

#249

Post by cmcconomy »

bemmu wrote: post #138

Ordering frozen croissants online. Before going to bed you leave one in the oven. Wake up, turn oven on, hit the shower. When you come out, it's ready to eat = cafe experience at home, coffee and a croissant while checking the news.

Now: put one in a waffle iron and sprinkle with brown sugar before dropping the lid, for a killer Croffle

Re: Ask HN: What sub $200 product improved your 2022

#250

Post by factsarelolz »

rompic wrote: post #20

New battery for our Dyson. Should have bought one way earlier (old one was almost 4 years old). Went with the original one even though that's more expensive. I'm still using the old one during the week as it only takes a few minutes to swap.

I've been putting this off for so long I use to be able to vacuum my entire house 2,500 sqft ish (minus furniture, etc) with battery left over. Now it dies halfway through.

I might follow you and just get a Dyson branded instead of aftermarket.

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