Appliances in General

It is my understanding that small appliances (and maybe large ones) are considerable more expensive than NOB. Is that still true? We would like to have a freezer and coffee grinder.

If the cost is high, then we could buy it NOB and bring them. Hopefully, Customs won't make us pay.

you probably won't need a freezer here and why bother grinding your own coffee when there are several sources for fresh ground,even decaf.
our fresh ground coffee is still warm after we walk it home.
1 kilo decaf=125pesos. and it's usually a bit more than 1 kilo.

I prefer to grind my own coffee. Bring a grinder down with you. They're hard to find down here. I cook quantities of food, package it and freeze it for nuking at a future time. Sprung for a small (5 cu ft) freezer for a hundred bucks at a bazaar, needed a compressor for another hundred bucks. It works great, as compared to $5 − 6oo bucks for a new one.

Burr grinders for coffee available at Costco. Mr Coffee brand.  Yes for the most part bring down your small appliances if you can.  Whizzer coffee grinders are easier to find but you won't find one when you need one laugh out loud. I got a good German large capacity whizzer type at Liverpool department store. Many Pesos at Liverpool but they have good quality ones. By land you are allowed to bring $300USD worth of stuff
above and beyond normal list of clothes and such. By plane you can bring $500 worth of stuff above and beyond standard list.

Z

A coffee grinder is also great for grinding chipotle peppers, just remove the stalk and sepal first, and then cut into small pieces.

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I have two coffee grinders: one just for beans and the other for spices and whatnot.
I brought one with me when I moved down here and picked up the other one at a resale shop.

Also black pepper corns .... but clean well after grinding pepper of any style

I have small Krups that was like $20 up north. Have not seen any brand here

$300!!! At that rate, we can hardly bring any appliances and I don't mean major ones. We have other types of grinders that we use (meat, flour, mixers, etc) and we want to get a freezer. What do people do? We don't want to sell any of these.

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RE: coffee grinder

For many, the prevailing wisdom is:
1) A burr grinder is superior to a blade grinder for grinding coffee.
2) Coffee flavor is enhanced if you grind your whole beans immediately before brewing.
3) Enemies of coffee flavor are heat, air and light.

Consignment shop in Chapala close to the American Legion had 2 coffee grinders as of yesterday.

Fastfox wrote:It is my understanding that small appliances (and maybe large ones) are considerable more expensive than NOB. Is that still true? We would like to have a freezer and coffee grinder.

Today, someone posted a coffee grinder for sale on the classifieds on TOB.
"Cuisinart Coffee/spice grinder"

Try to bring all Ur small appliances. They are here but U have to search around. Big appliances - no probs, after all, this is where they make them. Those little items, who cares. They are all throwaways.

Most people don't have separate freezers here because of the cost of electricity, I would bring small appliances but not large, you need those bought here to deal with the electricity fluctuations.

Be aware many of our ovens do not have a thermostat like in the US.  You have to basically learn how to use them.  Some also don't have meaningful numbers on them so I would bring down a US/Can oven thermometer so you can learn what the marks mean.  I have seen US ovens, European Gas mark ovens, and random marks on ovens here. All ovens are gas here also so if you bake get a large convection toaster oven which are very handy.  Gas ovens can have to much moisture in them for certain types of baking. These toaster ovens are widely available here and handy but remember they use electricity which is not cheap here.

Z

CheenaGringo wrote:RE: coffee grinder

For many, the prevailing wisdom is:
1) A burr grinder is superior to a blade grinder for grinding coffee.
2) Coffee flavor is enhanced if you grind your whole beans immediately before brewing.
3) Enemies of coffee flavor are heat, air and light.

I agree completely but I will point out beware a burr grinder is very very noisy at least my Mr. Coffee one from Mexico Costco is.

Z

Our Breville coffee maker has the burr grinder built into the unit. I would much rather wake up to the sound of the grinder because I know in a few minutes our morning coffee will be ready.

CheenaGringo wrote:Our Breville coffee maker has the burr grinder built into the unit.  I would much rather wake up to the sound of the grinder because I know in a few minutes our morning coffee will be ready.

So is your burr grinder noisier than the whizzer units? Mine is.

Z

For us, it is about having a great cup of coffee and really don't care about the noise. If you look at the unit pictured below, you will see that the burr grinder and bean hopper are located at the rear of the unit and are well shielded:
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By the way, this unit was recommended and endorsed by "coffee guy" and it was some of the best money we have ever spent!

Hensley wrote:Most people don't have separate freezers here because of the cost of electricity, I would bring small appliances but not large, you need those bought here to deal with the electricity fluctuations.

We bought a medium sized Frigidaire chest freezer at Costco Morelia a few years ago. It's been a great asset as I can cook in quantity and portion it into smaller containers for later consumption. We can also take advantage of specials on meats and poultry when opportunity knocks. It's in constant use, and it's never had a sick day off.

The only drawback was that the only suitable location for it was in the guest bedroom/office. Our few overnight guests have to accustom themselves to the low hum and the ON light of the freezer.

Cannot imagine living without a freezer since we are addicted to buying our beef, pork, chicken and fish at Costco. And our closest Costco is only 10 minutes away. Even in the fresh meat department, Costco has certain cuts like "flap steak" that seem to come and go. How else can I whip up some Arrachera without having flap steak? And as Don C. points out, nothing better than being able to cook up "batches" and being able to stash portions for future use.

Is $300 by land correct? Wow. Is that new value or used?