Here’s some more gadgets I have.
Tongs. You have to have tongs. As many as you have room to store. I have 5, in different lengths, with a couple of them having silicon tips so they won’t scratch nonstick cookware. And don’t even consider getting cheap ones. This is one product that absolutely must be of professional quality to be worth having. The ones Williams-Sonoma carries are excellent, and reasonably priced at $10-$11 depending on the length. Oh, and they are made in America.
This next gadget is something I don’t use all that often, but there are times when it is really nice to have – a Matfer mandoline.
If you have a lot of vegetables to slice, or you need slices of uniform thickness, this is the tool you need. It’s a bit pricey (under $200,) and you could probably get results just as good from one of those plastic slicers, but the one I have is very well made, and I expect it will still be in perfect shape when I pass it on to my son. Be careful though; the blades are extremely sharp and will give you extremely painful cuts.
Something I do use a lot is my KitchenAid stand mixer.
While these are a bit pricey, at $300 or more, they’re built like a tank and with a little bit of care should last forever. Which is why I bought a used one, which works just fine, for $50.
And I feel compelled to list one of my favorite gadgets, a tea ball.
These things come in all sorts of sizes and prices, but most any will do for what I use it for – a spice packet. And I know that there’s some fancy French name for such, but I don’t remember it and probably wouldn’t be able to spell it anyway. The idea, however, is to wrap the herbs and spices you want to flavor a dish with in a porous packet, like a tea bag, and put it in the pot, so the taste leaches out, but the twigs and leaves can be easily removed. I use my tea ball like this when I’m adding rosemary or bay leaf, or for clear soups where the bits of herbs would detract from the dish’s appearance. Oh, and you can also use it to make tea. Definitely something that should be in your kitchen.
the Grit
All these are important kitchen gadgets … nicely posted … Laila .. http://lailablogs.com/
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Got all of them.
Once again, awesome cooking post.
You guys cover everything.
If you can find them, check out Emeril’s Cooking bags.
Saw them on QVC the other night and they were sold out by the time I called.
Sounds like they work wonderfully.
~m
Hi m,
Just trying not to get in a rut. Besides, I’m interested in all things related to cooking.
As to Emeril’s Cooking bags, is that the smoker bags? If so, they sound interesting, but are too expensive for me. Guess I’ll be sticking to my grill. If you manage to get hold of some, kindly let us know what you think of them. I’m thinking they would make good Xmas presents.
the Grit
great site a very helpful informations.thamx