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I got a silicon spatula with a wood handle as part of a few bridal showers gifts recently. It has done wonders for scraping the sides of my bowls, including my KitchenAid, which is another favorite kitchen tool of mine.
Oh and my spice grinder. I never had one before and it saved me recently when I needed to grind up some coriander.
Do you have a specific microplane? I am looking at getting one of the professional ones with the SS handle.
Go with this one. It's not a SS handle, but that's okay. Microplane brand microplanes (yes, it's repetitive, but that's the name of the company) are widely regarded as excellent products. 85% of 2000+ reviews give it 5 stars (95% give it 4 stars or higher) ... that says a lot IMO.
I'm liking the posts with the links attached. Sometimes what one person calls a tool isn't the same as what another one will name it. To me, we always called a "French oven" a "Dutch oven" and a "V slicer" was called a mandaline.
One of the oddball tools in my kitchen is a Bondo spreader. That's way better for getting bread out of the Kitchen Aid bowl than a spatula. However, even though it's plastic, it's not specifically listed as "food safe" so we're living dangerously over here by using it, I'm sure. There's probably something similar at a kitchen store which would be listed as a "bowl scraper" no doubt, but we don't have any kitchen stores around here. Maybe next time I go to Hilo or Kailua-Kona there will be one but until then, the Bondo spreader works great.
Lately the blender has been getting a workout making smoothies, but our usual "go to" tools are the rice cooker, the array of old Griswald & Wagner cast iron pans and the copper bottomed Revere ware pots. Although we've been doing a lot of microwave cooking lately, too, so the cast iron and stainless steel don't work quite as much as they used to.
There is an old stainless steel spring steel spatula that I've had for decades which is much better than anything I've seen since. Nice wide and long cooking spatula made of very thin and springy steel. I haven't a clue how I'd replace if if something happened to it.
There's a half dozen different chefs knives as well as a good sharpening stone. One knife is carbon steel, one is ceramic, the rest are high carbon stainless but they are all non-serrated. Well, except for the bread knife, that thing has huge serrations.
Another (IMHO) "must have" kitchen tool is a Kitchen Aid mixer with as many attachments as you can get for it. The usual three (whip, flat paddle & bread hook) along with noodle maker and meat grinder along with the sausage stuffer. That gets used frequently. Oh, there's also a huge difference between the vintage Kitchen Aid mixers and the new ones. If you can find an old one in good condition, I'd opt for that one over a new one. Machined instead of pressed metal parts, more solidly built, etc.
Oh, and the "Hollywood Salad Maker". The thing works great and I have no idea how come my fingers never get shredded along with the vegetables, but they don't. It's a great thing for chopping veggies and easy to clean, too.
There's also the "ricer", although it might be a "cone sieve" or some such thing. We always just called it a ricer. It's perfect for making fruit into sauce. Apples, guavas or whatever you want sauced, cook it til it's mushy, put it in the ricer, mash it around with the wooden pestle and pretty soon the only thing left is the skins and seeds in the ricer and sauce in the bowl.
To me, we always called a "French oven" a "Dutch oven" and a "V slicer" was called a mandaline.
I learned recently that there's actually a difference between a french oven and a dutch oven. The dutch oven is cast iron while the french oven is the enameled cast iron (usually the bright colored pots).
Quote:
Originally Posted by hotzcatz
One of the oddball tools in my kitchen is a Bondo spreader. That's way better for getting bread out of the Kitchen Aid bowl than a spatula. However, even though it's plastic, it's not specifically listed as "food safe" so we're living dangerously over here by using it, I'm sure. There's probably something similar at a kitchen store which would be listed as a "bowl scraper" no doubt, but we don't have any kitchen stores around here. Maybe next time I go to Hilo or Kailua-Kona there will be one but until then, the Bondo spreader works great.
Do you have a Wal-Mart? It's called a bench scraper, and they'll have them in the kitchen gadgetry section ... both metal and nylon/plastic versions.
Location: Los Angeles>Little Rock>Houston>Little Rock
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Quote:
Originally Posted by JrzDefector
My OXO julienne peeler. I just shredded up a few pounds of zucchini tonight for dinner as a substitute for noodles. I sauteed some chicken, then the zuke "noodles" with some garlic and sherry. Then I poured in a locally made vodka tomato sauce and threw in some fresh mozzarella and parm. And yes, it came out awesome.
My roommate has a spiralizer, but it's a pain in the butt to assemble and clean. The julienne peeler is quicker and easier to deal with. I can't wait for my zucchini plants to throw another crop!
I just bought one of these, but haven't used it yet. I want to julienne cucumber and carrots to toss with olive oil, lemon juice, s & p.
I guess my favorite are my Le Crueset French ovens. Every time pull one out of the cupboard I know we are going to have a delicious meal.
A wooden spoon hands down. I like the sound it makes against pots and pans, and it doesn't melt or anything, so there's no risk of messing it up easily.
Wooden spoons. I don't understand a kitchen without them.
My microwave. For heating up dinner other people have cooked (Sprouts, King Soopers, Trader Joe's.)
Kitchenaid bowl-scraper beater. So handy.
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