My top recommendations for what you need to have a fully functional live food kitchen! If you’re interested in buying the blender, food processor, or dehydrator, the titles are linked straight to my online store. Check it out—–> more products coming soon!
A high-speed blender is crucial in the living foods kitchen. Regular blenders are unable to achieve the desired textures when blending hard nuts and seeds. The motors will quickly burn out with this type of use. A high speed blender is an investment, but a smart one. Typically, these blenders will last you 10 years or more with daily use and tough ingredients. I recommend Vitamix, K-Tec, Blend-Tec blenders. Take into account that the typical regular 1000-watt blender is about $80-$100 and you’d have to buy a new one at least once a year. The investment in the high speed blender is well worth it and you will end up with the ability to make premium live plant based recipes for years to come!
A high-quality food processor enables you to process vegetables, nuts, and seeds to a variety of consistencies. Look for one with an 8 to 10 cup capacity. The Kitchenaid has shown to be the most reliable brand but there are others I like, such as Cuisinart.
Dehydrators offer those of us on a live diet a wider range of foods that mimic cooked foods, but without the added processing. The option to warm your food in the dehydrator makes it an additional benefit. This can be an amazing tool when transitioning onto the diet and when you’re preparing for people who eat cooked food. The best choice for a dehydrator is one that has temperature control and is a box-like structure with trays that slide out so that you can dry thicker foods or have foods in containers like a casserole dish. I recommend Excalibur dehydrators and Tribest Sedona dehydrators.
Coffee Grinder
A coffee grinder can be used to grind whole spices and it works perfectly for grinding your daily flax seed, hemp seed, and salba seeds.
Spiral Vegetable Slicer
Spiral slicers, like the Joyce Chen Saladaco Spirulizer and the Spirooli, are essential for creating pasta-like “noodles” from a variety of vegetables such as zucchini, carrots, squash, and root vegetables. It is easy to make both flat ribbon “noodles” and super-thin angel hair “pasta” with this clever tool. It is also one of the least expensive appliances you will need.
Juicer
The selection of a juicer should be carefully considered. Most home juicers are of the centrifugal type. The quality of the juice extracted from this type of juicer is less than ideal because as the centrifugal mechanism spins at high speed, it shreds the produce, which therefore oxidizes more rapidly. Centrifugal juicers also tend to waste produce because they are unable to fully break down the cell wall and extract all the juices. The best type of juicer is one that masticates the produce at low speeds and therefore preserves the health-giving qualities of the juice. Masticating juicers produce a very dry pulp, as the juices are completely extracted, thus providing a greater return on your investment. Green Star juicers are my favorite masticating juicer. It is capable of juicing all types of produce, including green leafy vegetables (even grasses for wheat grass juice); it can also effectively homogenize nuts and seeds for pates and nut butters. This juicer is more costly but a good investment in your health and creates very little juice waste. If you are pressed for time in the mornings, the Jack La Lane juicer (which is a Breville model that has been privately labeled) is a very effective juicer. NOTE: This type of juicer is not suitable for making wheat grass juice or nut butters.
Mandolin
A versatile kitchen tool, the mandolin is simple to use and will perfectly slice veggies and fruits thick or thin. With the switch of a blade, you can instantly julienne, grate, or shred. This is essential for making vegetable “pasta” for live-food lasagna and or other wide “noodle” dishes. Buy stainless if possible for durability and sanitation reasons.
Knife
Select the best chef’s knife you can afford by going to a cookware store and holding several different knives to see how they feel. Ask for explanations from the sales staff as to what makes one better over the other. The sky is the limit on knife prices. You get what you pay for in this arena.
Knife Sharpener
This gadget does not have to be expensive and can be found almost anywhere. Use it daily. It will not only extend the life span of your knife, but make all that prep work seem like a breeze. Your knife sharpener should also be used on the blades in your food processor and blender to extend their life span and efficiency. Use it once per month. Simply remove the blade from the appliance, sharpen, and then re-insert.
Cutting board
We recommend a large bamboo cutting board with a juice groove. Bamboo is a durable wood that has antiseptic qualities and is a sustainable product.
Questions? Need feedback on what to buy? Email me at syncrawnicity@gmail.com–
Thanks for reading!
Andrea
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