EQUIPPED TO COOK
Kitchen implements are the musical instruments of the kitchen.
The right tool for the job is having a perfectly-tuned instrument.
Practice using it until you can manipulate it comfortably,
bending it to your culinary will, making beautiful kitchen music.
THINK BEFORE BUYING
I was in one of the kitchen shops, looking all of the new implements. I thought the watchwords of the 21st Century were efficiency and good design. Save a bundle on things you truly don’t need!
$15 avocado pitter and slicer. A knife will do the job of this tool.
$15 tool that slices, pits, scoops and mashes avocado. A knife and potato masher or pastry cutter work nicely.
$15 small carafe called an Emulstir for mixing salad dressing, with an automatic stirrer. How this is more useful than a jar with a lid is a mystery.
$10 cheese slicer for “one-handed” slicing. Is this important, to slice cheese with only one hand while, I don’t know, stirring a pot with the other? About the size of a one inch thick CD and adjustable for three thicknesses of slices. Nothing for the home cook has been designed that is as efficient as the cheese slicer that is simply a single wire with a handle. Lacking that, I don’t see any advantage over a chef’s knife. For slicing quantities of cheese for sandwiches, just have the deli counter slice it to your desired thickness.
$25 garlic press with 10-step instruction booklet printed on shiny paper. A garlic press that needs ten steps to be explained is inherently over-designed and under-useful. A simple garlic press is easier to clean; a knife is even easier.
$15 garlic chopper. A knife, small or large, will do the job of this tool.
$10 stainless steel paring knife, with blade keeper. This is worth having, especially for the price, if you foresee picnics or any instance where you have to carry along a paring knife.
$36 pineapple upside down ‘cakelet’ pan. That’s not even a word, much less a cooking term. Anyone make this specific cake so often that a dedicated pan is needed? Resembles a heavy, giant muffin tin.
$24 for 12 Sili-Cups for baking cupcakes vs $3 for 100 paper liners used in a muffin tin. Cups are small; what if you want to bake two dozen?
$30 plastic salad spinner that takes up about a cubic foot of cupboard space. A wire mesh basket collapses to take up a half inch of cupboard space. The kiddies will love to go out to the yard, or down the hall to the laundry room, to swing the lettuce dry.
$13 citrus tool has micro-plane for zesting, strippers in two sizes, with plastic cover. This is a good tool because you can also use it as a nutmeg grater. A good value vs $13 for a citrus zester, $14 for a single-size stripper, and $10 for the micro-plane.
$10 set of pot handle covers, one for lids and two for long pot handles. I’d hope that no one would buy a saucepan that didn’t have insulated handles. Putting a pot in the oven? That’s what potholders are for, and usable for hot things of all shapes and sizes. Trained chefs use their apron.
$50 Italian metal lobster pliers vs $9 plastic model. If I’d not had a losing fight with a lobster in a seaside restaurant one summer, I wouldn’t know to advise staying away from plastic for disarming the crustacean. Plastic just isn’t up to the task. But $50 isn’t really a good alternative either. I saw a $6 metal lobster pliers at the grocery store; that’s a great value.
$12 pasta rake w/holes to measure out long pasta like spaghetti and linguini, for 1,2 & 4 servings. How this is preferable to two forks isn’t apparent. There is something to be said for knowing the feel in your hand for the quantity of uncooked pasta needed; that’s when you know you’re a cook. It’s all practice!
$26 wooden acorn-shaped twine holder with twine; a hole at top where twine comes out keeps it clean. About the size of a large orange, needs a deep drawer for storage. May be useful if you tie up a roast or make sausage on a weekly basis.
$13 mango pitter/slicer that takes up 2” of drawer space, about 8” in diameter. Looks like this would waste a lot of drawer space and mango flesh.
$20 apple corer and slicer that slices in 8 or 16 slices. A simple single-handed apple corer is preferable to this which occupies twelve square inches of drawer space. Might be worthwhile if you’re on an apple pie baking binge this year.
$18 fish spatula. How is that different from a regular spatula? It’s longer. May be worth it if you’re serving a whole fish.
$28 solid wood pestle. Great for encouraging vegetables through a sieve, crushing cereal for breadcrumbs and coarsely chopping nuts.
$10 spoon rest. Why not use a butter dish or a pretty saucer? To pay money for a spoon rest is a bit of a waste.
$12.50 for a roasting thermometer that you can’t put in the oven. Nothing wrong with it, but know going in that it’s an instant-read and not ovenproof.
$28 rotary egg beater. I’ve always advocated the use of a rotary beater. It beats the pants off of a hand mixer, needs no electricity, and you can alternate using both left and right hands. Builds biceps; beats egg whites in less than a minute. To clean, just beat up a froth of hot, sudsy water and toss in the dish drainer. A good investment that makes loads of sense.
$2.50 Cake tester. Save the pittance and use what you already have: a small skewer, a toothpick or a knife.
$45 small food chopper. One-third the price of a good knife. Don’t bother.
EQUIPMENT TIP Avoid implements used for a single use. No need to clog your drawers for things you’ll use once or twice.
VALUE TIP Save your hard-earned money. These superfluous gadgets total more than $300, more than enough for a good chef’s knife, a sturdy paring knife and a beautiful cutting board that will serve you well for a lifetime in the kitchen, and will take you through 80% of the kitchen operations needed to cook.
USE TIPS The other 20% can be taken care of with some dedicated implements, such as I’ve listed in the INFORMATION tab at the top of this page, then Equipment.
