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View Full Version : Great prices on kitchen-stuff at dollarama



slowtyper
Oct 21st, 2009, 02:15 PM
Maybe its common knowledge but dollarama has a lot of pretty good items for your kitchen. Of course they have things like wooden spoons which are much cheaper than walmart, but here are a few items which I felt were really good deals.

- splatter guard. Imagine a strainer but just large, round, and flat that fits over your pot to stop splatter when simmering something, for example. I've seen these things go for $10-$20 at various home and kitchen stores around town such as this one: http://www.kitchenstuffplus.com/shop/product.php?d=&sd=&pid=W002922

- silicone "pad"...Its a small silicone pad, bigger than an average coaster. It can be used for grabbing hot dishes or even rubbing it against garlic to peel it. This is a ripoff of the "silpat" stuff if you are familiar with it. I don't know how much silpat stuff costs but I think its pretty pricy.

- knives...I bought a bread knife today that I haven't seen there before. They ahve chef knives and paring knives, boning knives, but I would NOT think these are good for everyday kitchen knives.
However for me, I just needed a serrated bread knife for cutting up baguettes or other long crustry breads and for my limited use, this knife does its job very well. It has a full tang so I know the blade isn't going to fall out 2 weeks later. The handle is some molded rubber/silicone and feels solid, won't fall apart easily IMO. However if you need to use your bread knife a lot, I would not recommend this as its a bit small and a much nicer one can be had for under $20 (longer blade and raised handle).

- Glass mixing bowls...they don't have large ones but they have medium ones that are pretty good for prepping. $1.25 each whereas in a kitchen store it would be around $3-$4. Considering you usually purchase quite a few of these I think you get considerable savings. They have small 1 ounch glass bowls also, like 3 for $1. They do not have large bowls though.

They also have a pretty good mix of other things you may need like peelers, graters, measuring cups, etc etc. Of course these qualities will not feel as good as you'd get in other stores but they are still considerably cheaper. Some stuff is pretty crappy. I just try to judge how likely it is an item will break compared to what I see at Kitchen Stuff Plus. Many items may look a little rough around the edges but I don't believe they will break any faster than a more expensive item somewhere else.

Broseph
Oct 21st, 2009, 03:11 PM
Yes you can get some good deals at the dollar store.

duckdown
Oct 21st, 2009, 03:48 PM
About Broseph: unfunny

jason9945
Oct 21st, 2009, 03:56 PM
Broseph, that image made me laugh.

As for the OP, good post. I had to outfit a friends apartment kitchen the other day and didnt think about the dollar store! Most of the crap at walmart is nearly identical.

amz155
Oct 21st, 2009, 05:53 PM
Yeah Dollarama is pretty good for that stuff.

About the splatter screen, though, I've bought that one and its terrible. Stuff seems to splatter right through the mesh and the mesh is very difficult to clean. No matter how much I scrub, it still looks greasy.

As for the silicone pot holders....careful! We bought the matching silicone spoon rest and by accident one day the spoon rest was touching a coil stove element when we turned it on and the thing started melting down. Not like a oozing melt, more like it turned into ash and made a lot of smoke and set of the fire detector. Yes, it was our fault for being careless, but I'm not sure that dollar store silicone utensils are as heat resistant as better quality ones.

I'd be careful with some of the plastics too....I doubt many of them are food grade. Definately don't heat anything up in any of them.

dougmania
Oct 21st, 2009, 06:20 PM
Yeah Dollarama is pretty good for that stuff.

About the splatter screen, though, I've bought that one and its terrible. Stuff seems to splatter right through the mesh and the mesh is very difficult to clean. No matter how much I scrub, it still looks greasy.

As for the silicone pot holders....careful! We bought the matching silicone spoon rest and by accident one day the spoon rest was touching a coil stove element when we turned it on and the thing started melting down. Not like a oozing melt, more like it turned into ash and made a lot of smoke and set of the fire detector. Yes, it was our fault for being careless, but I'm not sure that dollar store silicone utensils are as heat resistant as better quality ones.

I'd be careful with some of the plastics too....I doubt many of them are food grade. Definately don't heat anything up in any of them.

I am pretty sure all silicone (whatever the brand) will burn on a open element. I think they are only good till 230C, where as your elements get much hotter.

aser
Oct 22nd, 2009, 02:19 AM
The small heat resistant spatulas are pretty damn good for $1. Well worth it....

I also have a ceramic spoon holder, for wooden spoons, ladles and such.

mshazy
Oct 22nd, 2009, 02:52 AM
just wanted to say about the splatter screen.... I have one and it works great for me. I don't bother getting it "clean" clean as I am only using it to prevent splatters anyways.

Siefer999
Oct 22nd, 2009, 04:22 AM
Yeah Dollarama is pretty good for that stuff.

About the splatter screen, though, I've bought that one and its terrible. Stuff seems to splatter right through the mesh and the mesh is very difficult to clean. No matter how much I scrub, it still looks greasy.


Are you using it right? if your stuff it splattering that hard, maybe you should use a lid or a deeper pot/pan.

i usually just soak it in soapy water, then hose it down with my sink hand-sprayer to clean it. just soaking it for a bit gets most of the grease off. as the person above me stated, it doesnt have to be spotless. I'm not licking it right after.

slowtyper
Oct 22nd, 2009, 08:56 AM
I also have a ceramic spoon holder, for wooden spoons, ladles and such.

I know I could use this but for some reason I just never bought it. Everytime I look at it, I just say "nah, I'll just keep hanging my spoon/ladle off the edge of the sink" then when I am cooking I say "I wish I bought that spoon holder".

slowtyper
Oct 22nd, 2009, 08:58 AM
Actually I use the splatter screen as a strainer more often than I use it as a "splatter screen". Instead of transferring things from a pot/bowl to a strainer, just hold it on top of the bowl/pot and flip it to strain. I just find it more convenient than using my strainer.

SW20 MR2
Oct 22nd, 2009, 03:58 PM
We love to go to Dollarama for little household items. It's great for things like containers, cups, etc.

CSK'sMom
Oct 22nd, 2009, 04:37 PM
We bought tons of kitchen stuff for our kid away at college from Dollarama. It just made sense for him in rez. Our other son is a culinary student and he routinely wanders the kitchen section. Things like small bowls are cheap and do the job. Some of the gimicky type gadgets he looks for there to try out to decide if it's worth buying a better version...

slowtyper
Oct 22nd, 2009, 04:54 PM
Their stock updates quite frequently too. Those silicone pads I mentioned just came in recently....theres usually something new everytime I go.

I wish dealextreme had more kitchen stuff, that would be a fun place to shop for stuff.