Guest guest Posted December 18, 2009 Report Share Posted December 18, 2009 Might have a few good Christmas ideas in here Pete My Top 10 Kitchen Must-haves Last week, the Living section featured an article about 10 must-have kitchen gadgets. While all 10 might be nice to have, I disagree with their importance. In fact, in my well-equipped (over-equipped, some might say) kitchen you'll find only four of the 10 - and of those four, only the balloon whisk and hand-held grater get regular use. So this week, I'm departing from my usual format to share my top 10 list of must-have kitchen gadgets. Now for the list, in no particular order: Adjustable measuring cup. This wonderful gadget is made of two pieces: a clear cylinder marked with measurements, and a sliding " plunger. " It's perfect for measuring semi-solid, runny or sticky ingredients, such as mayonnaise, shortening, salsa or honey. You simply slide the plunger part down to line up with the measurement you desire, then fill the cup. Then push the plunger to dispense every bit of the ingredient into your mixing bowl - no scraping required. I have two of these; one holds up to 1 cup, the other 2 cups. Kitchen scissors. Obviously handy for cutting open bags of frozen vegetables and the like. But here's my favorite trick: If your recipe calls for a can of tomatoes that have to be chopped, open the can, plunge the scissors in and start snipping. It's a lot less messy than chopping them on a cutting board. A good can opener. Nothing fancy, just sharp. I think electric can openers are a waste of energy and counter space. But if your good old-fashioned hand can opener is skipping sections when you try to open a can, it's time to spend just a few dollars and replace it. I just did this and hadn't realized how much nicer a sharp blade really is. A pizza cutter. Preferably plastic, so it doesn't scratch your nonstick pizza pan. Even if you get take-out pizza that's already sliced, this is still a useful gadget. It makes slicing brownies or bar cookies a breeze. A pastry blender. Four arc-shaped parallel blades easily combine butter, flour, brown sugar or whatever ingredients are in many cake-topping recipes. A really good knife. My two favorites are a Messermeister Park Plaza hollow-edge vegetable knife (which I use for a lot more than vegetables) and an Ulu knife my parents brought back from Alaska. The Messermeister is wickedly sharp and cuts through dense veggies, such as carrots, as if they were butter. The Ulu's arc shape lets you quickly mince herbs by rocking it back and forth. Thermometers. I think you should have three kinds: an instant-read one for checking food temps, an oven thermometer and one for the freezer. Proper cooking and storage temps are key to food safety. By Janet Holoweiko For the Lansing State Journal A mini food processor. My reliable Sunbeam Oskar is called into action several times a week to chop nuts, shred cheese, mince onions or more. Salad hands. These are a pair of wooden scoops with tines - yes, they do look something like hands - that truly are the easiest utensils with which to serve salad. A garlic peeler. In truth, I don't use this gadget often. I generally buy jars of minced or chopped garlic. And if I need just one clove, it's no big deal to peel it the traditional way. But if you're making something that calls for several whole cloves, you'll really appreciate this tool. It looks like a rubber manicotti noodle. You put a clove of garlic inside and, using the palm of your hand, roll it back and forth on the counter a few times. Out pops a cleanly peeled piece of garlic. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest guest Posted December 19, 2009 Report Share Posted December 19, 2009 Ooh, what fun. Of the list, the only item I don't have is the salad hands. I rarely use the garlic peeler (in fact, I think it's lost somewhere in my messy kitchen), the mini food processor (but when I do need it, I'm very glad I have it), or the adjustable measuring cups. I don't use the thermometer all that often, usually just for bread-baking once or twice a week. But every other item on the list gets a workout in my kitchen. , Pete Walley <petewalley wrote: > > Might have a few good Christmas ideas in here > Pete > > My Top 10 Kitchen Must-haves > > Last week, the Living section featured an article about 10 must-have kitchen gadgets. While all 10 might be nice to have, I disagree with their importance. In fact, in my well-equipped (over-equipped, some might say) kitchen you'll find only four of the 10 - and of those four, only the balloon whisk and hand-held grater get regular use. > > So this week, I'm departing from my usual format to share my top 10 list of must-have kitchen gadgets. > > Now for the list, in no particular order: > > Adjustable measuring cup. This wonderful gadget is made of two pieces: a clear cylinder marked with measurements, and a sliding " plunger. " It's perfect for measuring semi-solid, runny or sticky ingredients, such as mayonnaise, shortening, salsa or honey. You simply slide the plunger part down to line up with the measurement you desire, then fill the cup. Then push the plunger to dispense every bit of the ingredient into your mixing bowl - no scraping required. I have two of these; one holds up to 1 cup, the other 2 cups. > > Kitchen scissors. Obviously handy for cutting open bags of frozen vegetables and the like. But here's my favorite trick: If your recipe calls for a can of tomatoes that have to be chopped, open the can, plunge the scissors in and start snipping. It's a lot less messy than chopping them on a cutting board. > > A good can opener. Nothing fancy, just sharp. I think electric can openers are a waste of energy and counter space. But if your good old-fashioned hand can opener is skipping sections when you try to open a can, it's time to spend just a few dollars and replace it. I just did this and hadn't realized how much nicer a sharp blade really is. > > A pizza cutter. Preferably plastic, so it doesn't scratch your nonstick pizza pan. Even if you get take-out pizza that's already sliced, this is still a useful gadget. It makes slicing brownies or bar cookies a breeze. > > A pastry blender. Four arc-shaped parallel blades easily combine butter, flour, brown sugar or whatever ingredients are in many cake-topping recipes. > > A really good knife. My two favorites are a Messermeister Park Plaza hollow-edge vegetable knife (which I use for a lot more than vegetables) and an Ulu knife my parents brought back from Alaska. The Messermeister is wickedly sharp and cuts through dense veggies, such as carrots, as if they were butter. The Ulu's arc shape lets you quickly mince herbs by rocking it back and forth. > > Thermometers. I think you should have three kinds: an instant-read one for checking food temps, an oven thermometer and one for the freezer. Proper cooking and storage temps are key to food safety. > > By Janet Holoweiko For the Lansing State Journal > > A mini food processor. My reliable Sunbeam Oskar is called into action several times a week to chop nuts, shred cheese, mince onions or more. > > Salad hands. These are a pair of wooden scoops with tines - yes, they do look something like hands - that truly are the easiest utensils with which to serve salad. > > A garlic peeler. In truth, I don't use this gadget often. I generally buy jars of minced or chopped garlic. And if I need just one clove, it's no big deal to peel it the traditional way. But if you're making something that calls for several whole cloves, you'll really appreciate this tool. It looks like a rubber manicotti noodle. You put a clove of garlic inside and, using the palm of your hand, roll it back and forth on the counter a few times. Out pops a cleanly peeled piece of garlic. > Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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