Monday, January 24, 2011

Great Things To Have In The Kitchen

Ok, so today's post isn't a recipe but I still think many of you will find it useful. Some of these tools aren't commonly found in kitchens but having them will make your life in the kitchen much better.

Apple Corer - this little tool makes seeding and coring apples as easy as eating one. I love using it when I make my pie fillings, apple crisps or even when I just want to much on some apple slices.

Whisk - It's great for mixing eggs so you get a fluffy omelet, and even better when you are making a roux for a bechemel sauce or a flour and cream base for a soup.

Glass Baking Dish - Unlike the metal baking dishes, these can take a beating when trying to scrub off bits left over by the meal you just cooked.

Measuring Spoons - A necessity in any kitchen. These are used every day in my kitchen as well as many others. There's no other way to get exact measurements. These spoons measure both liquids and dry ingredients

Measuring Cups - Yet another necessity in the kitchen. There are 2 kinds of measuring cups, the dry and the liquid. While most people think there's no difference there is a vast difference. It can make a huge difference in your recipe.

Electric Mixer - Yes your standard hand mixers work great in some cases but the counter top mixers with different attachments is the way to go. It can save your hands and arms almost all the work when forming doughs and whipping butter and creating meringue. They can still mix your cake mix and beat your mashed potatoes too. They can be pricy but are worth every penny.

Blenders and Food Processors - Many people have blenders in their kitchens to make great smoothies and mixed drinks. They play an important role in the cooking aspect of kitchen too. Food processors play an even larger role in the kitchen. This will cut down large amounts of time you would spend manually grating food.

Pastry Cutter - Pastry cutters help cut in ingredients like butter, shortening, cream cheese and other similar things into flour mixtures to evenly combine them to avoid over handling more delicate dough.

Proper Cutting Knife Set - There is no such thing as 1 knife cuts all. Certain knives are designed to cut through bones or have serrated edges to cut through breads and others are used as an eating utensil. Having/using an incorrect knife could result in an injury. Dull blades are just as dangerous as a sharp one so make sure you are careful and use a sharp knife.

Wooden Spoon - I find that wooden spoons hold and give great flavor when you cook. I love using them while I slow cook my pasta sauce.

Cutting Board - Plastic or wooden is fine to use but it is always a good thing to have one. Cutting elsewhere can destroy your counter tops and tables.

Thermometers - If you are like me and have a 30 year old oven/range you will know that there are no ways of knowing if/when your oven has preheated to the correct temperature. That is one of the reasons to get yourself a probe thermometer so you can determine the inside temp of your oven. The probe thermometers serve double as a way of getting the internal temperature of your meat so that you can determine if it has been fully cooked through.

Airtight Containers - These are great for storing your flours, sugars or other spices and seasonings that you make so that they stay fresh longer.

Oven Mitts - These are pretty self explanatory. Who wants to burn their hands taking something out of the oven? No one I would imagine. Oven mitts are much more reliable than using a towel and you are at less of a risk of burning yourself or having the towel catch fire.

Colander/Strainer - Makes draining pasta or potatoes much easier and also gives you something to place your veggies in so you can wash them off

There are more useful tools that would be great to have in the kitchen but these are the main ones. Hope this was useful

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