Most Prized Kitchen Possession

[weinoo]

A week or so ago, I started a topic about the dumbest item in your kitchen.

Switching gears, let's hear all about your most prized kitchen item, be it a simple knife or a grand stove, something new or something old, something bought or something received. Inquiring minds want to know.

I'm still deciding what mine is .

[Genkinaonna]

My Kitchenaid stand mixer, with my Henkel's 6 inch Santoku as a close second. And then my food processor, since it saves me lots of time shredding, making biscuits and pie dough, etc...

[Wholemeal Crank]

My grain mill that makes whole grains into such lovely flours for all my baking.

Right after that, the chocolate-breaking fork.

[nolnacs]

I have two items that stand out for me. The first is this hand cranked Berkel meat slicer that I bought and restored a few years back.

I'm not sure exactly when it was made, but the last date listed on it is 1916. It was found in the attic of an old country club along the shores of lake Minnetonka

Here is some (slightly over dried) coppa that I made and sliced recently using the Berkel.

The other item is the 9-1/2" Yoshikane gyuto that I got about a year and a half ago.

It's a fantastic blade from a simply utilitarian perspective but I also love the hammered pattern.

[Darienne]

My Trudeau silicone spatulas. I love 'em .

[weinoo]

I have two items that stand out for me. The first is this hand cranked Berkel meat slicer that I bought and restored a few years back.

Okay. Well, that's just not fair .

[OnigiriFB]

Knives. I have an expensive henkels and a cheap chicago cutlery one. A few pampered chef one dollar oaring knives and bread knife. Of course I also have el cheapo chinese cleaved that is fun!!!

[qrn]

we have 15 or so knives on the rack, the 9" Messermeister chefs, is good for its intended uses,

But the 7"offset ,serrated blade, Forschner, gets used more than anything else by far...Great knife...

Bud

[gfweb]

A big old Vulcan range. A black behemoth. It was in the place when we bought it. I love it. My kids love it. It has become a comfort appliance.

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[andiesenji]

Oh, geeeze! You would have to ask this question and I don't know how I can decide. It it like trying to decide which child one likes best.

I'll have to spend some time thinking about it.

[David A. Goldfarb]

Most useful thing in the kitchen: Sabatier **** Elephant 8" carbon steel chef's knife

Most prized more for personal than practical reasons: It's a tossup between my grandmother's Griswold #9 cast iron skillet and my father's Henckels 8" chef's knife

Most extravagant recent acquisition: La Spaziale Mini Vivaldi II. The pump cracked on our 11-year-old Briel Estoril entry-level espresso machine, and instead of going through a long period of upgrading by steps, I decided to get what I really wanted, which was a first-rate machine with separate boilers and a hot water tap for tea. Next step will be upgrading the grinder from our KitchenAid A-9 to something like a Mazzer Mini.

[Nyleve Baar]

No question. My Elmira Sweetheart wood cookstove. It stands in place of my previous cookstove - an ancient Findlay Oval - which I had to remove when the insurance inspector came to call. I was bereft until we found this one - which could be installed legally. The Oval has a new home in a neighbour's garage where he tells me he uses it to heat the space and made Thanksgiving dinner on it, so it's all good.

[runwestierun]

My Sous Vide Supreme. It's as convenient as a crockpot but makes absolutely perfect protiens everytime. No gory gray crockpot meat.

There's a ham in mine now. If I cook it for a day in the SVS at 150F, then 185F the connective tissue dissolves and the ham has the texture of pulled pork. Then I grill it just a bit with a sugary rub to develop a slight crust. Absolutely beautiful for a sandwich. Seriously perfect. I love that thing.

[weinoo]

A big old Vulcan range. A black behemoth. It was in the place when we bought it. I love it. My kids love it. It has become a comfort appliance.

Ummm, yeah.

Oh, geeeze! You would have to ask this question and I don't know how I can decide. It it like trying to decide which child one likes best.

I'll have to spend some time thinking about it.

Ahhhh. A tough philosophical question for you andiesenji for sure.

No question. My Elmira Sweetheart wood cookstove. It stands in place of my previous cookstove - an ancient Findlay Oval - which I had to remove when the insurance inspector came to call. I was bereft until we found this one - which could be installed legally. The Oval has a new home in a neighbour's garage where he tells me he uses it to heat the space and made Thanksgiving dinner on it, so it's all good.

One word...wow!

My Sous Vide Supreme.

And something new into your life.

[janeer]

My Sabatier carbon steel thin slicer, bought on my first trip to Paris in 1973, for which there is really no substitute. My giant Detecto "store" scale. Two amazingly sharp handmade wrought iron choppers (the large one cuts a pizza like nobody's business). My collection of rolling pins of all sizes and types, each suited to a different purpose. A number of little hand vintage tools, from a flat coiled whisk that does yeoman's work to a French beaner. Scale, knife, choppers shown. And of course, I can't live without my Cuisinart food processors and Kitchen Aid. And I really like my Demeyre chef's pan...

[Big Joe the Pro]

My recently purchased Kenwood mixer! Had been coveting one for quite some time.

[kayb]

My mama's wooden spoons. She used to spank me with those things, and then go back to cooking. I'd have food-colored splats on my rear end.

[nakji]

I move a lot, so I try not to get attached to my equipment. Right now, though, it would probably have to be my wok, since I've put a lot of time into getting it seasoned nicely.

[heidih]

My mama's wooden spoons. She used to spank me with those things, and then go back to cooking. I'd have food-colored splats on my rear end.

I wish I had the old ones from mom and grandma! Today I think that my seasoned ones are the only irreplaceable items in the kitchen. I keep a savory and a sweet one at all times (poor dears that have me freak on them if they try to mix the uses )

[JBailey]

Nolnacs, yours is a terrific restoration. It might have been made at Berkel's LaPorte, IN factory. The nickname for the local high school teams to this day is 'The Slicers'.

[nolnacs]

In fact, it was made in LaPorte, which is spelled LA PORTE and LA-PORTE on the slicer. I wonder when they started getting rid of the space.

According to the Berkel website, in 1915 they moved from Chicago to LaPorte and changed the name of the company from the U.S. Slicing Machine Company to Berkel (after W.A. Van Berkel, the Dutch inventor of the mechanism that they had licensed). However, my machine says both LaPorte and U.S. Slicing Machine Company.... which is a bit strange.

[Anna N]

Had to think about this but the hands-down winner(s)-- my two Eurodib induction hobs. They have revolutionized my cooking which you can understand if you know that I previously cooked on a cheap electric coil range. Right up there with the hobs would be my Thermomix - I can have a decent bread on the table within 3 hours. Close behind would be (oh my lord) my magic bullet!

[ambra]

I just realized what my greatest item is....it's a coffee doser. It measures the exact amount into my coffee maker each and every time. There is no mess, no fuss, and I literally can't make coffee without it. Sometimes I even have panic attacks wondering what I will do if it up and breaks since I bought it in Southern Italy!!!!! heehee

Edit: typos, as always.

Edited February 1, 2011 by ambra (log)

[Peter the eater]

I'm going with my copper pot set. 13 pieces from Ruffoni in Italy which I bought secondhand and unused. In fact, those pots are how I found eGullet 6 years ago. They are as functional as they are beautiful.

[Mjx]

. . . .

These images make truly envious, the wrought iron objects in particular.

I'd have to put our Azeta slicer, Gagganeau oven and stovetop, and CJ lab scale on my favourites list.