Most-used kitchen gadgets?

[oraklet]

Speaking of mom, she is the most gadgetless person I know, her kitchen consists of 2 things: a paring knife and a wooden spoon, nothing else!

One of my favorite gadgets is a salad spinner.

My Mom has one but she still dries her lettuce in towels .

so do i. wouldn't have room for one more gadget. whatever that is. could someone make a list so that we know what we're talking about?

[Anna N]

how could I have forgotten my long chopsticks, I do everything with them. The ones (have 4 pairs next to my stove!) I use are the long cooking ones over a foot long. I can do with them everything I would do with tongs , spatulas, spoons, whisks,  etc. they are used for deep frying, sauteeing, stir frying, even outside on the grill.

another favorite is the bamboo skewer, the ones traditionaly used fro yakitori, about 4 inches long. I use them to test baked goods to see if they are cooked, as well as closing a chicken.

Funny, the girl who put me on to chopsticks gifted me with the long cooking chopsticks and I could never quite get the hang of them! So I just use the short ones and when they get a bit stained or raggedy looking, toss them out and grab a new set. I keep a couple of packages of them in a drawer.

I even took a set to my daughter's house as I do a lot of cooking there and found myself lost without a pair of chopsticks!

Lust after the Japanese metal cooking chopsticks I saw on Martha Stewart!

I also use the skewers as cake testers and lots of other things though I can't think of what right now! I just know I always have a pack close by.

Anna N

[jjpuss]

What I use all the time: The food mill. Makes applesauce, mashed potatoes, tomato sauce, lentil soup, refried beans, jam, hummus...

And, oh, yeah -- baby food. I can mix anything with some white rice, run it through the food mill, and my 11 month old eats it right up.

We never use our espresso machine, but since we are now in the 6th week of a 3 week kitchen remodel, I'm surprised at how many little electric doodads have come in handy. We've been using this stupid little steamer every day for rice, I've broken out the hot pot from college, and I actually went out and bought an electric skillet. Works great for poaching eggs.

Edited April 3, 2003 by jjpuss (log)

[Suzanne F]

Welcome, jjpuss! Have you had a chance to read the threads on other kitchen renovations -- the Perlows, Marlene's? We'd love to hear your war stories, and see pictures if and when it's done, if you can.

[jjpuss]

Thanks, Suzanne! I'd love to trade war stories. I've got "before" pictures, but "after" is still after today . How do I find the threads? I just searched "renovation" and "remodel" and came up empty.

[KatieLoeb]

Wow - cool thread. I'm right there with the microplaner and citrus reamer. I'm also quite fond of my immersion blender, toaster oven and microwave. Not sure if the basic meat thermometer counts as a gadget or a necessity, but I wouldn't roast a thing without it.

A cool gadget I'm quite fond of is a pair of wooden tongs/tweezers that I purchased at a craft show. They fold flat in one direction and turn into spring loaded hinged tongs if you fold them "inside-out", so to speak. Great for stir frying, serving salad, and fishing toast out of the top loading toaster.

They look like this:

They also don't scratch the good cookware. I've gifted them to several chef pals and everyone loves them. I suppose I could order them from HERE, but I'm no sure it's the same folks as my other pairs, and would hate to be disappointed with inferior quality. If I were more organized I'd know where the damn order form I saved was, but that would be too easy

[awbrig]

Do they make a loud fun noise when you clap them together annoying everyone else? If yes, i want a pair...

[KatieLoeb]

Do they make a loud fun noise when you clap them together annoying everyone else?  If yes, i want a pair...

Nah. Unfortunately the spring load is strong enough to prevent that.

I had an old friend that really confounded the nuns at Catholic school when he was able to actually demonstrate the sound of one hand clapping that they had intended as a purely rhetorical question.

Sounds like he'd have been a worthy partner in crime for you...

[Saffy]

I have drawers full of all kinds of things that are completely useless but I don't have the heart to throw out. I am afraid I suffer from " failure to discard syndrome "

Gadets that I would not be without are

my citrus reamer:

I love it! Never again will I use one of those lemon juice squeezers , the ones that look like a little dish with a ridged lemon in the middle.

My zester:

I did not realise how much I used it until I temporarily lost it in all the clutter, everyone in the house had to go into search mode until it was found. Lime pie and citrus tarts are just not the same without all those lovely little flecks of zest that my fingers are no longer nimble enough to make with a knife.

The gaget that just appeared in my kitchen drawer that I have no idea where it came from and I have never used?

the bean slicer

[cabingirl]

Hey - joiei? Your benriner? Is it a the spiral slicer? I INSISTED on one - have it, and it just doesn't seem to work right. The amount of pressure I have to place on it to get the food through seems ridiculous. And what do you use it for? Except for the rockin' strands of beets... Those are the only vege I can get to work!

And count me in for the microplane, as well as tongs. My BBQ chimmney, and an excellent high grade stainless and unmeltable plastic spatula. OH. And those kitchen dish scrapers. Plastic? With the edge? NOT that I burn anything, you know...

And my chinois in the summer...

Edited to add my circa 1945 citrus juicer. Soak the citrus in hot water, roll it and you'll get LOADS more juice!

Ginny

Edited April 3, 2003 by cabingirl (log)

[Niall]

While shopping for an oven thermometer at the weekend I came across something branded "Kitchen thermometer". Its scale started at 0 degrees celsius and finished at 100. Other than seeing how close to boiling water is, I couldn't really see any use for it. While I don't own it, it would have to rate as a useless gadget.

I too love my microplane, oxo peeler and others, but my most used gadget is our Braun Multiquick with chopper, blender and whisk.

[elyse]

Making candy? Frying?

[Ruth]

I also love my microplane, mandolines (dare I admit I have four of them: the Bernriner narrow, wide and spiral and the French Matfer for the tough jobs), probe thermometer and infra red thermometer among others, but one gadget no-one has mentioned is the FoodSaver vacuum packer. Freezer burn is now a distant memory;vegetables remain pristine for days in the vacuumed containers and spices retain their flavor in small mason jars. We are just two people most of the time now and generally have to buy more than we need for one meal. I am also a compulsive shopper and my freezer is always full. I have had the FoodSaver for about three years and it has been a lifesaver. Also great for sous vide preparations.

Ruth Friedman

[oraklet]

While shopping for an oven thermometer at the weekend I came across something branded "Kitchen thermometer". Its scale started at 0 degrees celsius and finished at 100. Other than seeing how close to boiling water is, I couldn't really see any use for it. While I don't own it, it would have to rate as a useless gadget.

egg-based sauces/creme anglaise? chokolate?

i could use one.

[LaurieA-B]

Seattle chef Greg Atkinson shares his favorite home tools/gadgets in the Seattle Times: a new tool or two. A decent list, though he passed up an opportunity to be a scale shill. (I scale shills.)

[T. Brooks]

My rasp is the all time greatest invention.

I use the bird's beak quite a bit for doing cherries and peeling cherry/sungold tomatoes.

I hate reamers, which is why I use my tongs for juicing. The wood reamers are too unsanitary, and the plastic ones are slippery. And I'm a whiner.

my truffle slicer is great for getting julienned lime zest.

my chef spoons are indispensable, although I find them most useful for opening bottles at the end of shift when I can't get to a straight table corner.

[nightscotsman]

I hate reamers, which is why I use my tongs for juicing. The wood reamers are too unsanitary, and the plastic ones are slippery. And I'm a whiner.

Me too. That's why I love these things:

[T. Brooks]

I hate reamers, which is why I use my tongs for juicing. The wood reamers are too unsanitary, and the plastic ones are slippery. And I'm a whiner.

Me too. That's why I love these things:

Those are cool, but they're more stuff to wash. I find that even in my kitchen at home, I reach for the tongs if I know I'm going to use them again later, for grabbing a meat of some kind, etc. It's like an egg separator. Great invention, but I don't have time for it.

I'm really excited to see very few allusions to garlic presses.

[Kim WB]

How do you use the hairpin - do you just push it straight through the cherry?

Push the two prongs in the stem end, along side the pit. Then twist -- either the cherry or the pin, doesn't matter. Remove pin, squeeze cherry lightly, and out pops pit.

Doesn't work for olives, though.

please, remove hair product build up before use.....cherries with Nexxus products are frightening!!

[Kim WB]

I hate reamers, which is why I use my tongs for juicing. The wood reamers are too unsanitary, and the plastic ones are slippery. And I'm a whiner.

Me too. That's why I love these things:

Those are cool, but they're more stuff to wash. I find that even in my kitchen at home, I reach for the tongs if I know I'm going to use them again later, for grabbing a meat of some kind, etc. It's like an egg separator. Great invention, but I don't have time for it.

I'm really excited to see very few allusions to garlic presses.

long conference table in an air conditioned room..."but WHO would buy these color coded gadgets" Ad exec #1 says to ad exec #2...slow pan around the room..highlighting the screen in front of the conference table...Who..what kind of culinary pathetic woudl fall for the silly fruit/color combo...slowly. slowly, my face fills the screen..."hey! green for limes! yellow for lemmons! functional, an they LOOK good, too!

Yes, I'm a sucker for color. I have a black, white and stainless kitchen...functional,and they look good too. I was perfectly happy with my calphalon pots, but decided to collect Le Crueset...why??? blue! they add blue to my kitchen!

Kitchenware, marketing, pathetic; look it up in Webster's, there I am.

[gsquared]

• Magimix
  
• Ice cream machine - mainly for fruit ices
  
• wooden Tongs
  

[Random Alias]

Growing up my Dad had an Inside-The-Shell Electric Egg Scrambler .

I don't remember him ever using it except to see if it actually worked and to amaze the occasional visitor.

What were the point of those again?

Following a microplane and an inversion bldner, my most used kitchen gadget is probably a watermelon cuber.

If you think it's hard to cube an egg, you need to try a watermelon.

[snowangel]

At our oh-so-wonderful little cabin in the woods on a lake, I have one drawer for flatware and kitchen gadgets.

In addition to flatware, I have: tongs (indespendible for flipping, reaming, turning bacon, a magic wand for one little 7-year old boys, etc.), one rubber scraper, one wooden spoon, one OXO peeler, one set of beat up dry measuring cups (we do have a liquid measuring cup up with the glasses), one really good paring knife (which I bring home every fall when we close the cabin for a professional sharpening), a finish boning knife and stone, and one microplane (which I added a year ago and which made a great difference), one small whisk. That's it. WIth just these, I seem to be able to cook just about everything. There's no space in the drawer for a chef's knife; it's either that or reducing flatware and sentencing me to more dishwashing.

[SWoodyWhite]

Our Braun moterboat blender burnt out at about the same time as our Cuisinart Mini-Prep. They've both been replaced with a motorboat from Phillips; the chopping attachment works just as well as the Mini-Prep, and is much easier to clean.

I fully expect to do battle with our son-in-law, a carpenter who may not understand what a microplane is doing in the kitchen.

I don't use the mandolin very often, but I'm glad we have it on those occasions when I do. Besides, it makes me feel special.

The waste of space and money has proven to be the deep-fryer. I'd rather pour the oil in a dutch oven and use it on the stove, as it's easier to control the temperature there. When we move, the deep-fryer will find a permanent spot towards the back of a hard to reach shelf. I just won't tell my partner until he catches me with the dutch oven.

[butterchik]

Redundant with good reason - citrus reamer, microplane (flat and curved for nutmeg, cinnamon), melon baller for apple cores (I've had my favourite resoldered twice) and cheese wires for slicing cakes.

Great cherry pitter by Kursch - load the cherries in, pound away - cherries pop out and the pits drop into a container underneath. The only way to go when pitting by the case (unless you have an apprentice )