Kitchen Gadgets
and Utensils
| Blender: |
| It still does some things better than a food processor - it makes smoother purees and is good for processing medium-sized amounts. |
| Bowls: |
| Of various sizes for multiple tasks. If you're like me you will never have enough of them. |
| Chinese Cleaver: |
| There are 3 kinds of Chinese cleavers. Heavy cleavers are used for cutting thru bones and joints.
Lightweight cleavers are used for fancy food carving. Medium-weight cleavers, are used for everything else.
A medium-weight cleaver makes quick work out of slicing chicken, and slicing and mincing vegetables. Its broad
side makes a convenient surface for transporting chopped food into a pan or bowl. Using The Chinese Cleaver |
| Chinois : |
| A fine strainer. |
| Citrus Squeezer: |
| Electric or manual, used to extract the juices from various fruits i.e. oranges and lemons. |
| Colander: |
| Of various sizes, including one really large one for pasta. |
| Cutting Board: |
| Used to cut all your various food items. Some people actually use a separate cutting board for fuits and veggies, seafoods and meats. |
| Electric Mixer: |
| These come hand-held or larger. They are especially useful for combining ingredients for baked goods. Ever try beating egg-whites by hand? You need one of these. |
| Food Mill: |
| A food processor may be faster, but a food mill is a great tool to have on hand. Use it for ricing potatoes, for making applesauce and jelly, for turning cooked rice into a thickener for soups, or for making homemade baby food. It is also less expensive than a food processor and it is easily taken apart for cleaning. |
| Food Processor: |
| For pureeing, grating, mincing and mashing. Also, is great for mixing bread dough. |
| Knife Sharpener: |
| This is needed to help keep those knives honed. |
| Knives: |
| Straight-edged and serrated, of various sizes, all of them very sharp. A dull knife is one of the most dangerous kitchen tools. |
| Meat Pounder: |
| The easiest and fastest way to pound cutlets of veal, chicken or turkey is with a tool specially made for the job : a heavy disk-shaped pounder with a vertical handle. A meat pounder should not be confused with a meat tenderizer. |
| Meat Tenderizer: |
| A mallet like utensil that has a jagged pounding surface. An easy way to tenderize those tough pieces of meat. A meat tenderizer should not be confused with a meat pounder. |
| Microwave Oven: |
| I mainly use this for re-heating purposes. However, you can use this to cook complete meals. |
| Mini-Processor: |
| Finely minces garlic and fresh herbs, in seconds. |
| Potato Basket and Noodle Nest: |
| This ingenious gadget lets me take cooked potatoes or noodles, press them into a basket or nest and then fry them. I can then put anything I want into them. This is great for winter dishes. My favorite is frying the noodles and then putting in a Chicken sauce or stew. |
| Salamander: |
| A kitchen tool used to brown the top of foods. It consists of a long iron rod with a cast-iron disk at one end and a wooden handle at the other. The disk is heated over a burner until red-hot before being passed closely over food. In addition to quickly browning foods, salamanders are used for dishes (such as Crème Brûlèe) that require that a surface layer of sugar be carmelized quickly so that the custard below remains cold. Also, a salamander is a small broiler unit in a professional oven that quickly browns the tops of dishes. |
| Steamer Basket: |
| An expandable stainless-steel steamer is just the thing for vegetables. It's inexpensive, easy to use, and can be opened to fit most pan sizes. A plastic version of the steamer is available for microwave use. |
| Wire Whisk: |
| These come in many sizes. Along with the metal ones, you should get a plastic one as well. Having many purposes, I use mine mostly for eggs, gravies and puddings. |
