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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

#691

Post by nucleardog »

orm wrote: post #169

Instant Pot. Can be used as a rice cooker, slow cooker, pressure cooker (mostly known for this last use) Though probably not as good for rice specifically as an actual high-end rice cooker, it greatly increased the range of foods I eat. Makes it easy to make nice one pot meals overnight for multiple days, you can make really good broth soups from chickens etc quickly, or slowly if you prefer. If you like to try tough…

Really easy to make yoghurt with too!

Dump in a gallon of milk, heat it up, let it cool, add a couple spoons of a store bought plain yoghurt (if you don't have some started saved from the last batch), put the lid back on and hit the yoghurt button and come back in like 8-10 hours. If you prefer a thicker yoghurt, strain it a bit before storing.

Gallon of yoghurt for the price of a gallon of milk and probably like 20 minutes of active work.

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

#692

Post by gramie »

tra3 wrote: post #632
orm wrote: post #169

Instant Pot. Can be used as a rice cooker, slow cooker, pressure cooker (mostly known for this last use) Though probably not as good for rice specifically as an actual high-end rice cooker, it greatly increased the range of foods I eat. Makes it easy to make nice one pot meals overnight for multiple days, you can make really good broth soups from chickens etc quickly, or slowly if you prefer. If you like to try tough…

Pressure cooking has been a game changer for me! The latest revisions of the instantpot do a good job of sous vide. I've tried a sous vide roast [0] so far, 24 hours later I had the best roast I've ever had. Incredible. [0]: https://sousvideways.com/sous-vide-chuck-roast/

I especially like cooking pork via sous vide (in my Instant Pot). Pork is really hard to cook in a regular oven/pan without making it tough, but a couple of hours sous vide, and then quick searing makes it wonderful!

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

#693

Post by coreyp_1 »

jannw wrote: post #6

I work from home - with a 5 minute screensaver with complicated password required by corporate - USB MouseJiggler - https://www.amazon.com/Undetectable-Computer-Simulate-Moveme... Best - Purchase - Ever - !

https://learn.microsoft.com/en-us/windows/powertoys/

If on Windows, I use their "Power Toys" (free, btw), which has a keep awake function. My company user policies do not allow me to manage my energy policy, which is what kept shutting off my screen (and therefore necessitating the complicated password). Power Toys solves this problem.

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

#694

Post by kokanee »

This won't be relevant for most readers, but my answer would have to be the $20 Gentle Leader for my dog. She is an incurable leash-puller, to the extent that the nerves in her face were damaged and her jaw was completely paralyzed for 6 weeks. Needless to say, our twice-daily walks were very stressful for me for over a year. After acclimating her to the Gentle Leader, the problem is entirely solved. The only downside is that passersby often mistake it for a muzzle and assume she's dangerous.

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

#696

Post by a_t48 »

kokanee wrote: post #694

This won't be relevant for most readers, but my answer would have to be the $20 Gentle Leader for my dog. She is an incurable leash-puller, to the extent that the nerves in her face were damaged and her jaw was completely paralyzed for 6 weeks. Needless to say, our twice-daily walks were very stressful for me for over a year. After acclimating her to the Gentle Leader, the problem is entirely solved. The only downsid…

The Gentle Leader is great. Growing up my family used it for Basset Hounds, which are both stubborn and full of torque.

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

#697

Post by paxys »

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 the exact opposite. The "air fryer" marketing lets companies present it as a healthy alternative to deep frying, and people eat that up (heh). If they sold it as what it really was – a toaster oven – there would be a lot less enthusiasm and demand, and people would definitely not spend multiple hundred dollars on one.

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

#698

Post by tibbon »

Beaver117 wrote: post #539
holy_diver wrote: post #209

A bidet. We got one with heated water and seats and going to the bathroom feels super luxurious now. Not to mention all the toilet paper we save and increased hygiene.

Absolutely. Splurge on a TOTO, $400+ may seem ridiculous but I can't go back to normal toilets now, its that good.

Same. I want to put them on all of mine. Having a warmed seat is so nice in the winter!

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

#699

Post by nsxwolf »

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 wanted an air fryer, so I got the same one my friend has last year, one made by PowerXL. Mine produced this horrific chemical smell that filled up the whole house and soaked into the food. Reddit told me that it just needed to be variously washed or run a few times and it would go away, but it never did. I had to return it.

I suspect the plastics used were changed, or some preconditioning process was skipped to get more units out for a Black Friday sale or something. I haven't revisited the product category since.

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

#700

Post by fluidcruft »

hasbot wrote: post #508
holy_diver wrote: post #209

A bidet. We got one with heated water and seats and going to the bathroom feels super luxurious now. Not to mention all the toilet paper we save and increased hygiene.

Reddit loves bidets. Has for years. Based on all the glowing comments, I bought one and installed it. Even after some practice and experimentation, I wasn't clean nor felt clean. Plus, the bidet added numerous crannies for urine spray to accumulate. I went back to wiping and discarded the bidet.

One thing is I find that it's really water pressure dependent. At least with the class of no-frills, not-expensive toilet attachment ones I buy.

I moved recently and at the new house water pressure overall is noticably lower and it's far more difficult and slightly frustrating. If I hadn't learned/trained/experinced on higher water pressure I probably would agree with your assessment.

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