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Crap. Knives may trump all. I guess I was thinking very specialized gadgets.
That said, the reason why I was thinking about this at all is because I'm making homemade mac and cheese for a BBQ later this afternoon. There was much grating from a hunk of romano, and a bit from a local asiago also. So easy, and the results are just beautiful. I now have a fluffy pile of feathery cheese. Mmmm. Cheese.
I only need a very simplified kitchen. However, that all-size jar opener of my son's gf is quite handy. For chip clips and other closers, I just use large binder clips from the office supplies.
my egg right egg timer. Mom brought on of these to Sweden when we moved from the states, which I used all through my tweens and teens when I lived at home. Spoiled now, and I can't get my eggs right without it. Finally, in 2007 or so, I found that they sell them here so I got my own! WEEE!
Everywhere I ever moved, I always brought my cheese slicer and my wooden handle (curved) can opener (kinda like this one, but right handed) ≡ Click to see image ≡
I have one of those graters, stewriffic, and it's the best thing since stale sliced bread. Which, by the way, it turns into a nice pile of bread crumbs ;)
I love my kitchen rasp too, but mine is a Cuisipro. It has a plastic cover which protects the blade but which also clips on the back to collect the gratings.
My olive wood flat stick thingy. It stirs, it flips and it serves. It's stronger than those plastic spatulas and has solid edges for scraping the sides of things.
My hand-held electric stick blender. After years of making soup by transferring it to a blender jug (pint by pint), I finally thought of buying one of these. Soup no longer holds dark torments for me. Lumps in my hollandaise are neatly blended out. It works in nonstick pans! My life is complete.
Apart from that, a mini food processor, my 30-year-old box grater and an ergonomic can opener are the tools that see most use. Hey, I grew up using one of these. I was really amused to see that someone still makes them ...
What in the hell? Specklet insisted we have one if those, but I just don't see the point. Just balance it on the pan or bung it on the counter. Surely the spoon rest is one of the most pointless pieces of kitchen equipment?
Anyway, I'd have to say my favourite kitchen equipment is my set of balance scales and weights. I bake a lot of bread and would be lost without them.
I love the Colour Changing Egg Timer, though that one seems pretty extortionate, mine cost me £1 in Poundland. You keep it with your eggs, put it in the water while they boil, and it gradually changes colour from the outside in so you know exactly how done they are at any moment, no matter what the saucepan or starting temperature or heat level or whatever.
On the more expensive side, I use my electric steamer several times a week. Does perfect rice, but also easily does vegetables and potatoes and fish, preserves all the flavour and vitamins, very forgiving if you're forgetful.
In fact a large part of my home sickness/wanting to move is because I'm fed up with having a kitchen the size of a wardrobe and no freaking bench space.
Don't even get me started on the whole lack of oven thing again.
Just balance it on the pan or bung it on the counter. Surely the spoon rest is one of the most pointless pieces of kitchen equipment?
Not if you cook curry, it isn't. I have spent more time trying (and failing) to scrub curry stains from the countertop than I have spent drinking good beer ... :-)
I was thinking about this question as I cooked dinner... until I started making peanut sauce. I reached for the mostly-empty jar of peanut butter, dumped the other ingredients right into the jar, and put my immersion blender into the sticky gloppy mass and zzzzzzzzzzzed it into a silky spicy sauce. I love my immersion blender. I could make the same stuff in the big blender or the food processor, but then there are all those parts to clean.
It also came with an egg beater attachment and a mini food processor attachment, which I only occasionally use, but I love being able to make sauces right in the jars I'm going to store them in, or make smoothies in a glass, or puree soup right in the pot.
Hard to say - it's the ones that you take for granted, I suspect. I think I really don't like gadgets per se. If something isn't a gadget, it's a tool for consistent use. I have my mom's Oster blender which was old when I got my hands on in 20 years ago. I replaced the carafe and the blades and except for one speed being shot, it is better than all but the high end blenders.
More microplane love here. Between citrus zest and parmesan-grating, I use mine almost daily.
Got rid of my last garlic press a few years ago and haven't looked back. I just mince it - I like the extra control over the size of the mince (or sliver) and the distinct shape of the tiny chunks.
Microplane! I have both the long rasp version and a wide flat (slightly curved) one for coarser grates. Also, silicone-tipped locking tongs. Sounds like I should get into using the immersion blender more.
Okay, now I have to go and get a microplane. I've been getting by with a box grater for many years (every so often I think about using an askme about how to properly grate ginger because the box grater ain't it) but perhaps now it is time to move on.
As for what leaves the kitchen with me in a fire, it would have to be my inherited, forty year old Sabatier chef's knives and my cast iron pans. The Kitchen Aid mixer is amazing; it has taken my baking to new levels and I love it but damn, it's heavy as hell. Oh and I don't think this family could survive long without the panini press. Everyone but the dogs uses it and even the dogs will gather around when I clean it - the old burnt cheese tends to go on the floor.
Oh, I thought of another pretty specialized one. I have a tiny little molcajete/mortar and pestle, and use it way more often than one might think. I make a lot of spice blends like taco seasonings and cajun rubs and curry and stuff, and it's fantastic for grinding spices and seeds into powder really quickly and without the PITA of using and cleaning a coffee grinder. If I don't want garlic minced, this is a great thing for smashing it into mush - especially with a little coarse salt sprinkled in. And it is wonderful for guacamole, of course.
Surely the spoon rest is one of the most pointless pieces of kitchen equipment?
Agree - just one more bloody thing to wash!
I pretty much stay out of the kitchen except for washing the dishes (I can cook, but don't). The bread maker would be my favourite gadget, though - nothing like the smeall and taste of still-warm, brand-new bread.
I had a look at microplanes yesterday—how come a small, one-sided grater is so much more expensive than a traditional multi-sided thing? Is the branded microplane better than the considerably cheaper non-branded ones?
photo by splunge
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