Kitchen Gadgets - "stocking stuffers"

[Dave Hatfield]

In my never-ending search for the perfect cup of  coffee I got out my French press again.  My thinking  was to get the water super hot, stir, let it set and plunge.

  The result: not very hot coffee that still seemed like camp brewed with  the grounds in the bottom.  Back to the drip pot.

  To heat the water, though, I saw one of these cheepie ($9.99) Rival water heaters that claims to heat water quicker than a microwave.  It does.

  Bought one, and think that despite abandoning the French press I can use this heater for many things: like heating broth for rissiotto, gravy, milk etc.

  Anyone else putning one these to other uses?

Dave

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Dave - You need a french press cozy (cosy? sp?). Same idea as an old fashioned tea cozy. Keeps the coffe hot while it brews & then does a pretty good job after you've taken the plunge.

Unfortunately, I don't know where you can buy one. Ours was made by a talented friend & given to us as a stocking stuffer.

I'm sure, however, that the eGullet band of intrepid gadgeteers can meet the challenge & come up with a source.

Othewise its back to the sewing machine.

yank

[Marmish]

In my never-ending search for the perfect cup of  coffee I got out my French press again.  My thinking  was to get the water super hot, stir, let it set and plunge.

   The result: not very hot coffee that still seemed like camp brewed with  the grounds in the bottom.  Back to the drip pot.

   To heat the water, though, I saw one of these cheepie ($9.99) Rival water heaters that claims to heat water quicker than a microwave.  It does.

   Bought one, and think that despite abandoning the French press I can use this heater for many things: like heating broth for rissiotto, gravy, milk etc.

   Anyone else putning one these to other uses?

Dave

←

Dave - You need a french press cozy (cosy? sp?). Same idea as an old fashioned tea cozy. Keeps the coffe hot while it brews & then does a pretty good job after you've taken the plunge.

Unfortunately, I don't know where you can buy one. Ours was made by a talented friend & given to us as a stocking stuffer.

I'm sure, however, that the eGullet band of intrepid gadgeteers can meet the challenge & come up with a source.

Othewise its back to the sewing machine.

yank

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Is it just a cylinder? Can you give us a picture?

[CaliPoutine]

I just bought an Oxo Mango Pitter. Cook's Illustrated said it really works.

[andiesenji]

I just bought an Oxo Mango Pitter.  Cook's Illustrated said it really works.

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I had completely forgotten about that gadget. I bought one but never used it and have no idea where it is at the moment.

I did buy one of the garlic smashers I posted about a while back. Haven't used it either but I know where it is because I put it in a tool bucket along with some other oddities.

I bought one of the silicone "turkey lifters" and have used it a couple of times and it works great. I used it with a very large rolled and stuffed pork roast (these always stick to the roasting rack) and it took just 3 minutes to take the pan out of the oven, turn the roast and put it back. Much, much faster and much easier than my old way.

Edited December 5, 2006 by andiesenji (log)

[Eden]

Has anyone played with one of the new Silicone Twist Whisks? They claim the twisting of the wires makes whisking more efficient...

[Porthos]

I didn't read through the entire set of replies but here goes...

I cook almost exclusively with kosher salt which is way too coarse for a regular salt shaker. I picked up a parmesian cheese shaker which works perfectly as a kosher salt salt shaker.

Porthos Potwatcher

The Unrelenting Carnivore

[Toliver]

I am bumping this back up thanks to Fat Guy's post in the "Interesting lesser-known culinary catalogs" discussion in the Kitchen Consumer forum. While perusing the Kitchen Krafts web site (what? you want me to actual do some work while I'm at work? ) I stumbled across this stainless steel thingy (actually, it's a "Stainless Steel Tart Tamper"). It reminded me of the stainless steel mushroom that fifi posted about in Post #1 of this discussion. While it may not have the sharp edge for getting under your fingernails like the mushroom had, it looks like it could do a pretty good job of smashing garlic.

This may be a good substitute for all of us who've been coveting her mushroom.

[Kerry Beal]

I got this little gadget for christmas from a friend who also likes gadgets. It's actually quite useful for keeping the spoon out of the pot and keeping it from getting hot. Made by Trudeau, purchased at Lee-Valley.

[snowangel]

Kerry, that is cool! Is it easy to attach?

The big hit gift of the year that I purchased for folks really wasn't a gadget at all, but worth enough to report.

I have a buddy in the restaurant supply business, and I got one of those boxes of parchment paper -- the flat sheets the size of a full-sheet pan (they are easy to cut in half for the half-sheets; just hang it over the counter and rip!). Gave out stacks of them to friends, wrapped in a flour sack dish cloth.

Big hit. Sure beats that stuff on the roll that isn't the right width or length. And, a whole lot cheaper.

[Mayhaw Man]

My friend Carol Puckett, the fabulous owner of the fabulous Everyday Gourmet in Jackson, MS (yeah, it's a plug, but both she and it are fabulous, and she's also a SPQ so it pays to be nice-SPQ's are all powerful in that town) turned me onto this rediculous, yet incredibly well designed vegetable peeler. I was in her store shopping for stocking junk and when I asked her for some fun things the peeler was the first thing that she grabbed.

I wish that I had bought ten of them. They are incredibly easy to use, really safe, and deadly sharp. It's definitely one of those things that I never would have looked twice at unless someone told me that I should. Good buy. Get ten. They're cheap.

[andiesenji]

I am bumping this back up thanks to Fat Guy's post in the "Interesting lesser-known culinary catalogs" discussion in the Kitchen Consumer forum. While perusing the Kitchen Krafts web site (what? you want me to actual do some work while I'm at work?  ) I stumbled across this stainless steel thingy (actually, it's a "Stainless Steel Tart Tamper"). It reminded me of the stainless steel mushroom that fifi posted about in Post #1 of this discussion. While it may not have the sharp edge for getting under your fingernails like the mushroom had, it looks like it could do a pretty good job of smashing garlic.

This may be a good substitute for all of us who've been coveting her mushroom.

←

I have a stainless steel batticarne or veal pounder that I have been using for this same purpose for years.veal pounder

It's a couple of dollars cheaper and a bit more versatile because you can use it for pounding meat, poultry and, using the edge for pounding, is great for rendering abalone tender.

[Kerry Beal]

Kerry, that is cool!  Is it easy to attach?

The big hit gift of the year that I purchased for folks really wasn't a gadget at all, but worth enough to report.

I have a buddy in the restaurant supply business, and I got one of those boxes of parchment paper -- the flat sheets the size of a full-sheet pan (they are easy to cut in half for the half-sheets; just hang it over the counter and rip!).  Gave out stacks of them to friends, wrapped in a flour sack dish cloth.

Big hit.  Sure beats that stuff on the roll that isn't the right width or length.  And, a whole lot cheaper.

←

Simple to attach, you pinch it and it just clips on.

The first box of parchment paper that I bought, the fellows at the store tried to convince me to buy 50 sheets, cause they said no one needs 1000 for use at home. They don't bother to argue anymore. I think I'm on at least my 5th box in as many years.

I have a stainless steel batticarne or veal pounder that I have been using for this same purpose for years.veal pounder

It's a couple of dollars cheaper and a bit more versatile because you can use it for pounding meat, poultry and, using the edge for pounding, is great for rendering abalone tender.

←

Also excellent for beating hard candy and candycane into submission for making chocolate bark.

[andiesenji]

My friend Carol Puckett, the fabulous owner of the fabulous Everyday Gourmet in Jackson, MS (yeah, it's a plug, but both she and it are fabulous, and she's also a SPQ so it pays to be nice-SPQ's are all powerful in that town) turned me onto this rediculous, yet incredibly well designed vegetable peeler. I was  in her store shopping for stocking junk and when I asked her for some fun things the peeler was the first thing that she grabbed.

I wish that I had bought ten of them. They are incredibly easy to use, really safe, and deadly sharp. It's definitely one of those things that I never would have looked twice at unless someone told me that I should. Good buy. Get ten. They're cheap.

←

I have one of those but have never used it. Since you are recommending it, I will give it a try. Mine is red and it came packaged with a stand-up/fold down silicone colander, which is also a handy thing.

[andiesenji]

Kerry, that is cool!  Is it easy to attach?

The big hit gift of the year that I purchased for folks really wasn't a gadget at all, but worth enough to report.

I have a buddy in the restaurant supply business, and I got one of those boxes of parchment paper -- the flat sheets the size of a full-sheet pan (they are easy to cut in half for the half-sheets; just hang it over the counter and rip!).  Gave out stacks of them to friends, wrapped in a flour sack dish cloth.

Big hit.  Sure beats that stuff on the roll that isn't the right width or length.  And, a whole lot cheaper.

←

Simple to attach, you pinch it and it just clips on.

The first box of parchment paper that I bought, the fellows at the store tried to convince me to buy 50 sheets, cause they said no one needs 1000 for use at home. They don't bother to argue anymore. I think I'm on at least my 5th box in as many years.

I have a stainless steel batticarne or veal pounder that I have been using for this same purpose for years.veal pounder

It's a couple of dollars cheaper and a bit more versatile because you can use it for pounding meat, poultry and, using the edge for pounding, is great for rendering abalone tender.

←

Also excellent for beating hard candy and candycane into submission for making chocolate bark.

←

I never thought of using it for that. I use a huge rawhide mallet that someone gave me as a joke many years ago. Frankly, I don't even remember the point of the joke - but the mallet sure comes in handy.

I put the candy in one of those super-tightly woven bags which are intended to hold greens and keep them fresh in the fridge because this bag doesn't develop holes the way plastic bags do. Also the rawhide mallet won't damage my granite counter ( I don't break the candy on the butcher block counter because the candy is hard enough to dimple it.

[Toliver]

Again, not a mushroom like what fifi posted in post #1, but it could do:

Crate & Barrel Coffee Tamper

Yes, I am supposed to be working...why do you ask?

[Marlene]

It's probably as close as I'll ever get to one of those mushroom thingys. Thanks! This looks like it would work really well.

[emsny]

Here - http://www.thegrownupsguide.com/data/ - I found a reference to this: http://witmerproducts.com/pbutter.html , a gizmo for stirring the oil back into separated natural peanut butter. Overkill, perhaps, but I find this a surprisingly onerous task when attempted with a table knife, and if the thing works as promised it could be a boon. Has anybody tried one?

[jgm]

May latest acquisition was actually on sale (though by the time I paid the shipping, I pretty much paid full price). It's a zucchini corer. It's a long slender blade, kind of semi-circular, so that you can slice the end of the zucchini off, remove the center core, and stuff to your heart's delight. Then I guess you grill the zucchini and slice into rounds.

Of course I'm going to use this ! Why, several times a week, I'm sure! And that will result in my eating more vegetables!

You don't believe me?

[Octaveman]

Last weekend we had friends over for a Thai dinner ending with sticky rice w/ mango. I used the recipe posted at Importfoods.com and saw a link to a Thai mango peeler. THIS will be on my want list for this Xmas as my OXO peeler hacked away at it.

Third item down....

http://importfood.com/thai_knives.html

[Anna N]

Last weekend we had friends over for a Thai dinner ending with sticky rice w/ mango.  I used the recipe posted at Importfoods.com and saw a link to a Thai mango peeler.  THIS will be on my want list for this Xmas as my OXO peeler hacked away at it.

Third item down....

http://importfood.com/thai_knives.html

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Now I would never have guessed! I had one of these at one time and never could figure out its use so it was discarded somewhere along the way! Now I know.

[cookman]

Here - http://www.thegrownupsguide.com/data/ - I found a reference to this: http://witmerproducts.com/pbutter.html , a gizmo for stirring the oil back into separated natural peanut butter. Overkill, perhaps, but I find this a surprisingly onerous task when attempted with a table knife, and if the thing works as promised it could be a boon. Has anybody tried one?

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I own and use one of these. It works very well. After stirring, you pull out the metal stirring rod and a rubber gasket in the lid squeegees off any remaining PB from the rod. Very neat.

[andiesenji]

Crikey! Another garlic gadget.......

[Toliver]

Crikey!  Another garlic gadget.......

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It looks like one of those cheese graters. Hmm...I'm trying to recall if my grater has a slicer/shaver blade like the one you linked to.

If you want to slice garlic, there's also the Garlic Press & Slicer combo.

There are garlic mandolines, too (Mario Batali sells one).

And then there's the Garlic Card. It's just a simple garlic grater (read the item info to see how it was invented). I'm guessing you could also use it to grate ginger.

[andiesenji]

Crikey!  Another garlic gadget.......

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It looks like one of those cheese graters. Hmm...I'm trying to recall if my grater has a slicer/shaver blade like the one you linked to.

If you want to slice garlic, there's also the Garlic Press & Slicer combo.

There are garlic mandolines, too (Mario Batali sells one).

And then there's the Garlic Card. It's just a simple garlic grater (read the item info to see how it was invented). I'm guessing you could also use it to grate ginger.

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Interesting concept.

I smoosh garlic in an old, old mortar and pestle that is used for nothing else - it will flavor anything put into it without needing additional garlic.............

I have several garlic gadgets, including the twisty slicer - can't recall the maker - that I have never used. I buy them or they are given to me, because I collect gadgets.

I have a herb chopper that is almost exactly like this new gadget I posted. I've never used that either and can't remember if I bought it or someone gave it to me.

I used to have a bunch of these gadgets hanging on the metal grid in one of the large windows in the kitchen but when the security system was updated they were all taken down while new tapes were being applied to the windows and the gadgets were never re-hung. They are in a box under one of the movable carts and I really should get them back up.

I think they may be more of a deterrent to burglars than the alarm system. Some look like they could do serious damage. The other large window is "decorated" with wire things, whisks, beaters, skimmers, a set of "pig tails" and various antique implements with no obvious purpose, etc.