The Huffington Post had a great little slideshow about culinary pros’ favorite tools and tricks. I’m totally with them on #4 — the huge roll of plastic wrap; # 7 — the microplane
But I’ve got a few more favorite things.
Kitchenaid Stand Mixer
But there are things that I won’t do by hand any more. Like rolling pasta. (Yes, that requires an attachment
Pampered Chef Mix N Chop
Turns out, it works just as well for potatoes, and does ground beef better than anything else for chili or meat sauce.
Ninja Master Prep Blender and Food Processor
But then you use it for pesto, and soup, and salsa, and … you get the idea. It’s 80% as good as the infomercial made it look.
Egg slicer for mushrooms
Quicker and safer than doing it with a knife, and does a better job of it, too.
How to core lettuce
Quick and easy. Picked this up working at the restaurant in college.
How to peel peaches
One peach? Use a knife or a peeler. A dozen? Do this. It will save your sanity.
Rolling pie crust in a zip-top bag
Keeps the counter and roller clean, and gives you a guide for how big to roll it.
And since you need to wrap the dough and put it in the fridge for an hour, might as well wrap it in the bag.
Corn off the cob
No special tools — assuming you already have the bundt pan — and keeps the corn all in one place instead of all over the counter.
If you don’t have a bundt pan, put a small bowl upside-down inside a large bowl. Less stable, but still easier than doing it directly on the cutting board.
Remote probe digital thermometer
I won’t do a large piece of meat without this one. Cooking by time is a guess at best. With the probe, you know when it’s done.
What are your favorite tools and tips?
Let’s hear about it down in the comments.
Want more like this? For more recipes like this, that you can hold right in your hands, and write on, take notes, tear pages out if you want (Gosh, you're tough on books, aren't you?) you might be interested in How To Cook Like Your Grandmother, 2nd edition, Illustrated. Or to learn your way around the kitchen, check out Starting From Scratch: The Owner's Manual for Your Kitchen.
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27 Comments
I used my favorite just yesterday to cut the kernels off two and half dozen ears of corn: one bundt pan, no mess. Though it is more than a little phallic-looking, for sure. Freud would’ve loved it.
Totally forgot that one! I’m updating now.
Kristin, I was going to post the same tip! lol It really is great and keeps the kernels from flying all over the counter. Another way would be a small bowl inverted into a larger bowl if you don’t have a bundt pan.
One of mine isn’t a cooking tip, but kitchen related. A sprinkle of baking soda spritzed with vinegar then scrub, this will make a grungy stainless sink sparkle like it’s new. I keep baking soda in an old parmesan cheese shaker because it’s handy for scrubbing pots too.
i use my egg slicer for mushrooms, too, but also for berries (especially strawberries) and olives when i need to slice them up for a salad. SO much faster than trying to chase the little olive around the cutting board… it works great for slicing some rolled up herbs (basil or whatever), too!
My definite top two are- my food processor (Cuisinart) and my pressure cooker (8 qt. Presto)! The pressure cooker just blew me away! Made red beans for red beans & rice in 1/2 hour flat! Using unsoaked beans! That’s 1/2 hour *total* – from the time the beans first went in the pot to the time I was ladling them on the plate (rice was cooked separately in a rice cooker, which is another top fave).
I’ll second the Kitchen Aid. Kneading dough is brutal on my carpal tunnel.
My favorite gadget, though, is probably my digital probe thermometer. Stick in the probe, set the temperature and wait for the alarm. No more opening and closing the oven to do temperature checks. Brilliant.
Of course, got to add the probe thermometer. Can’t do meat without it.
Completely unrelated, but I have a ninja that I love, but has been not working right lately. I’ve lost my manual, and looked online for a customer service number but all I find are infomercial numbers. You wouldn’t happen to have a manual with the number, would you? Thanks!
Try here: http://www.euro-pro.com/europro/faqhelp.aspx
You can select “Technical assistance” or “Warranty service”. If that doesn’t work, they’ve got an 800 number listed. It says “To order”, but they can probably transfer you.
Thanks!
I puzzled and puzzled… what is my favorite kitchen tool… I love kitchen “stuff” and I just can’t pick one thing above all else… I use all my stuff! And as for the KitchenAid only does what you can do by hand… well, with the stand mixer, you now have two hands to do more stuff with! Walk away! Do whatever! It’s freedom! In other words, I wouldn’t give up my KitchenAid for … well … hmmm
ROFLMAO!!! Drew, where can i find one of those red knife blocks at the top of the post?????
Thanks!
Click the picture.
I love my immersion blender. I own a stand mixer and rarely use it. My MIL passed it on to me when she got a new one.
An odd favorite is the Pampered Chef grater. I use it for cheeses, zucchini, and more. I live in Wisconsin, and we take our cheese very seriously.
Things I cannot do without & use every day…
Advantium microwave & radiant oven(GE)
―need to know some tricks but great things are possible
Microwave with temperature probe (GE)
―most folks never used the probe but I do every day, great for making yogurt
Coffee pot (Bunn)
Electric Slicer (Chefs Choice)
―used for home made bread and sandwiches, I don’t buy anything pre─sliced
Hand held immersion blender(Braun)
Toaster(nearly antique GE)
―out of retirement after new GE disappointed, has a braided cloth covered cord
Hand-held vacuum sealer(FoodSaver)
―and canisters
Incubator/Proofing Box(Retired refrigerator with heater & thermostat)
―for bread and kombucha, 85° all day, every day
Things I cannot do without but not used every day…
Stand mixer (Kitchenaid)
Food processors (Cuisinart)
Handheld Digital Thermometer(Taylor Commercial)
―leave the guessing to meteorologists
Yogurt maker(Yogourmet with Tribest jars)
―yogurt for breakfast everyday
Electric knife (Black&Decker)
―essential for roasted poultry and smoke cooked BBQ brisket
Automatic Rice Cooker(Zojirushi)
―minimal fuss, great rice
Crockery slow-cooker(Rival & Hamilton Beach)
Double Boiler(Norpro)
―no more burned tasting tomato sauces or thick soups
Electric Automatic Steamer(Oster)
―potatoes, mostly, asparagus and frozen peas ins a little wire strainer
Mandolins(various)
―the electric slicer cannot do everything
Remote digital thermometer
―just like Drew’s
Occasionally used but still precious…
Electric Food Dehydrator(L’Equip)
Electric Blender(Waring)
Electric Wok(Circulon-discontinued, alas)
Electric Grill(George Foreman)
Electric smoker(Cookshack)
―leave fast to NASCAR
Gotta admit I love my “Samurai Shark” knife sharpener. It makes it so easy, just SWIPE IT and your done! I use it on every knife in the kitchen and save my wrists and my patience!
I recently acquired a Ninja and have to say I love it WAY more than a regular old blender! MUCH easier to clean too.
I love the Pampered Chef Mix N Chop…and their egg slicer too.
My most recent acquisition which I absolutely adore is the Santoku knife…it’s been the easiest, most comfortable thing to use. Will cut tomatoes or frozen sausage (I had a “roll” of breakfast sausage that I cut into patties and it was like butter!).
and I use the egg slicer for berries, olives, mushrooms, eggs….AND butter. Yeah…want to have cute little pats of butter for your guests? Cut a hunk from your WELL CHILLED butter, put it on the slicer and then separate the butter onto a plate!
Wow, I thought everyone knew about coring lettuce. I’ve known that since I was a little girl.
Does the ninja work well for salsa….when you don’t want things completely obliterated? Or it just best for when you want to totally cream something? I’d like to get a food processor that would make salsa or pico de gallo, without completely creaming it. Probably just need to keep doing it the old-fashioned way.
It’s really easy to over-process with the Ninja. You have to use a really light hand, and believe the directions when they say “brief pulses”.
But as long as you don’t over-fill it, then yes, you can keep it chunky.
I’m with you on the KitchenAid stand mixer…use mine all the time.
My other must haves are Cuisinarts Immersion blender, Joyce Chen kitchen shears, the crockpot, Cuisinarts Dutch Saute pan, the Foodsaver, a pair of tongs, metal potato masher and an old carrot chopper (well not sure it that is what it’s really called, but I use it to hash carrots).
I am always surprised when people wonder what i am doing when coring lettuce, I figured it was a common trick.
Oh. My. Gosh.
That corn trick just made my day – possibly made my whole summer! I’m making this Fresh Corn Polenta @Bon Appetit tonight (just the fresh corn polenta part though, to serve under seared scallops) and taking the corn off the cobs was SO MUCH EASIER THAN EVER BEFORE.
Thanks!
I have a kitchen-aid which I don’t keep on the counter. But it is convenient when I need it. I received it as a wedding present 30 years ago and it is still going strong.
The Pampered Chef slicer is probably one of the most used things in our kitchen. My now 9 year old has been the official mushroom slicer for about four years. It is easy, safe and for a little a great opportunity to be helpful.
We also have a large variety of cutting boards (none of which are wood), all of which get bleached with a spray and then put in the dishwasher.
The other thing we use almost daily during the school year is the Pampered Chef covered measuring bowl. On Sunday night or Monday morning, I mix up a double batch of waffle/pancake batter. Then the kiddos can have fresh made waffles or pancakes every morning. A double batch usually gets us through until Thursday morning and on Friday’s they have to make do with cereal. Obviously, the thing that goes with this is the Belgian waffle iron and the griddle.
My favorite toy is my immersion blender. I have two favorite tips.
To get garlic or onion smell off the hands, rub any piece of stainless steel cutlery (I like spoons) all over your hands under cool running water. Spoons go under the fingernails really nicely.
To pour grease, sauce or whatever out of a skillet or saucepan without dripping, tilt the pan and pour as normal, then, instead of turning it back to put it down, continue the rotation in the same direction to encourage the drip right back into the pan.
Betsy, I do that with frying pans all the time. Thanks for reminding me, I need to go shoot video of that.
Drew,
I’m a big fan of your blog and I wanted to share an idea that just saved me a lot of unnecessary effort.
I use one of those rabbit-ears, one-handed pepper grinders. I love it. Fresh ground pepper and I can keep stirring or whatever with the other hand.
But when a recipe calls for 1 teaspoon of black pepper, it is a literal pain. I suffered through this for years… well, only a few recipes I had called for that much pepper, but still, I didn’t have an old fashioned grinder and I didn’t keep ground black pepper handy.
Anyway, today I decided to try my mortar & pestle to grind the pepper. OMG. So easy.
I just wanted to share that in case you find it worth passing on… If you do and want to give credit just say Joe in Santa Barbara.
In any case, keep up the good work!
Cheers!
-j
Use a grapefruit knife to clean out green peppers & jalapeno peppers or core a tomato. The slightly curved blade and serrated edge make it easy.
Use a grapefruit spoon to scoop the seeds out of a zucchini or cucumber when you want to stuff them.
Microplane too expensive? Get a “Ped-Egg” at the dollar store and mark it for kitchen use only. It has the same type of blade. Added bonus is that the zest is collected in the “egg”.
Leftover guacamole that will turn black in the refrigerator? Freeze it. Put it in a container, squeeze some lime or lemon juice over it, cover with plastic wrap touching the guacamole and put lid on the container. Thaw at room temperature and it’s perfect.
The Huff-Po article I linked showed the Ped-Egg trick. And no matter how clearly it’s marked … no matter how sure I am that it’s never been out of the kitchen, that one still creeps me out.