What Are Your Favorite Kitchen Tools?
Photograph from Amadika on Flickr.
A kitchen tool for a chef is like a bowling ball for a bowler. It's special, and sometimes so irreplaceable, even a similar-looking, similar-functioning object of the same name will not do the trick. Today, the San Francisco Chronicle revealed 10 of their favorite kitchen tools—from the offset spatula (a spatula at an angle for maximum bending) to the spider (a hand-held, portable strainer).
What are your favorite kitchen tools?
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40 Comments:
I love my double edged ceramic slicer. It's way easier than a mandoline, plus it's prettier.
masha339 at 7:47PM on 08/27/08
I love my double edged ceramic slicer. It's way easier than a mandoline, plus it's prettier.
masha339 at 7:48PM on 08/27/08
I love love love my wok. Can't believe I went so long with out one. I also adore my mortor and pestle and a good cheese slicer is a must.
swaaaan at 8:08PM on 08/27/08
i don't have a lot of tools but i use them CONSTANTLY. my most often used are probably:
wustof santoku knige, bamboo cutting board, huge saute pan, and this nigella whisk:
http://www.givingallery.com/servlet/the-3201/Nigella-Lawson%27s-Living-Kitchen/Detail
megannesta at 8:37PM on 08/27/08
As funny as it sounds, I have a flat-edged wooden spatula from one of those three-piece stir fry utensil kits. I have had this particular one for almost 10 years. It has been used and abused on a regular basis, even a couple burns here and there, but it still continues to perform.
A close second would be the carbon-steel stir fry pan that I typically am using with said spatula.
kuromu at 8:39PM on 08/27/08
I second the little Nigella whisk (although mine is from the dollar store...) and also love a small (7cm diameter) wire strainer that I use as a tea strainer, to take the pips and pulp out of citrus juices, and as a chinois for custards, sauces, etc... These two gadgets are always dirty and in the dishwasher when I want to use them!
PeanutButter at 8:54PM on 08/27/08
My knife is my favorite kitchen tool. When I went to the hospital to get stitches in my hand courtesy of a failed apple cutting mission, the doctor complimented my on how sharp my knife was. I felt like a proud mother.
AverageJane at 8:56PM on 08/27/08
aside from the usual knives and pots and pans? i'm with you, kuromu, my flat wooden spatula is never far from my hand! i also adore my microplane zester. if i think about what i use most often, the salad spinner is also in constant use.
cybercita at 8:57PM on 08/27/08
my microplane and my silicon steamer insert.
Dantebrin at 9:09PM on 08/27/08
Microplane. I don't get to use it all the time but I feel so chef-y when doing so.
TastyNewEngland at 9:14PM on 08/27/08
tongs, tongs, tongs! love 'em like mad. also my microplane, chef's knife, one-piece silicone spatulas, and digital kitchen scale.
vvvanessa at 9:15PM on 08/27/08
My favorite tool? My J.A. Henckels Twin Four Star 10" High Carbon Stainless Steel Chef's Knife
jymbrittain at 9:18PM on 08/27/08
tongs...I always say I can never have enough tongs.
mrsmoosie at 9:27PM on 08/27/08
++ on the salad spinner. It's one thing I always thought was silly but now that I have one it gets used at least three times a week and heavily on farmers' market days.
sstrudeau at 10:14PM on 08/27/08
My wostuf tomato knife... I actually have 2 and I use them ALLLLLLL the time. And I also love the English whisk, I even wrote something on it . And I use my blender almost everyday...
Madelyn
KarmaFreeCooking
MadelynRodriguez at 10:31PM on 08/27/08
My Kyocera ceramic knife is my favorite, close 2nd is a wood spoon/spatula that I picked up for a couple bucks. I use both almost every time I cook. 3rd is my Descoware Dutch oven, love that ceramic-coated cast iron.
madball911 at 10:49PM on 08/27/08
stuffed monkeys
foodinmouth at 11:18PM on 08/27/08
tongs, microplane, long wooden chopsticks,
smile at 11:24PM on 08/27/08
Other than knives and pots and pans (this would be the post that never ends if I were to start listing them:-)): microplane, bamboo spatulas (all 5 of them) and silicone spatulas (all 3 of them), citrus juicer, citrus zester, silicone basting brush(es), mortar & pestle, kitchen scale, apple slicer (yes, I know, it's lazy of me but oh so convenient!), small whisk, milk frother, tin opener...ooh, I can't do that, it's like asking which one of your children is your favourite -- they all are! Seriously.
Reminds me of the time my little brother had a collection of sticks when he was 4 or 5, and whenever our father tried to throw one away, he would say, "But Daddy, this is the most important one!" Of course they all were the most important ones. That's how I feel about my kitchen tools!
brooke29 at 12:35AM on 08/28/08
microplane and my knives. :)
w at 12:44AM on 08/28/08
Rubber Spatch has to be up there. It's good for so many things and I can toss it in the dishwasher when I'm done with it. I also love my lemon squeezer as I seem to get the most out of a lemon (juicewise) without seeds. (Knives are a given.)
therealchiffonade at 4:59AM on 08/28/08
Le Creuset dutch oven, my knives, and our Cuisinart food processor.
csbrown at 9:11AM on 08/28/08
Bench scraper is close to the top of my list.
LettuceDS at 9:15AM on 08/28/08
Awesome, I have almost everything on their list! I LOVE my microplane - I zest a lot and it leaves limes and lemons perfectly stripped and smooth as a baby butt! A warning for those who use a mandoline or ceramic slicer: no matter how tedious it seems, ALWAYS use the hand guard *still regrowing the end of my finger*
peachfish at 9:19AM on 08/28/08
Wusthof Santoku and any silicone spatula I can get my hands on.
oishi at 9:24AM on 08/28/08
I love my mandolin. I find excuses to use it. Waffle Fries anyone?
nhfoodie at 9:29AM on 08/28/08
Another vote for the microplane/rasp. I use it for ginger, garlic, cheese and other stuff. I prefer it to my box grater.
Wooden spoons.
I also like my Magic Bullet, although for the second time I have a flat blade that's losing its rubber on the bottom. The first flat blade broke apart completely. Also, the juicer attachment sucks.
There are things on the list in the article and above that I've been wanting to get for awhile, including new knives, thermometer and new salad spinner. I briefly had one of those but it broke. When I get engaged my gift registry will have a food processor, stand mixer (I swoon over Kitchenaid) and ice cream maker. Right now my kitchen and budget are too small for these appliances. I've chosen my kitchen tools before I've chosen a man. Priorities.
Now I'm adding chinois to the short term list of must haves.
I bought a citrus juicer earlier this summer but haven't used it yet and I once bought and returned a mandoline.
CanadianFoodieGirl at 9:39AM on 08/28/08
Fish turners. I have one in stainless that I paid $20 for, and a nylon one that I paid $2 for. Guess which gets used most? But I love them both, use them for everything from scrambling eggs, draining veggies, flipping crepes, stirring risottos, sauteing, everything.
renzata at 9:44AM on 08/28/08
Funny you should ask :)
I actually wrote a mini blog post about it a while ago; here it is http://cooking-shopping-crafts-etc.blogspot.com/2007/09/favorite-kitchen-gadgets.html
These are the tools I use often: microplane, fine sieve, a nice cutting board, a good chef's knife, blender/food processor combination, digital thermometer, red (because they are cute) measuring spoons and cups
orchidgirl at 10:02AM on 08/28/08
If I didn't have tongs my fingers would be gone at least until the first knuckle.
beano at 10:07AM on 08/28/08
I have a Braun Multimix that I use all the time, particularly the chopper/food processor attachment. Great for small batches of sauces. Definitely use my handheld juicer a lot. Should use my molcajete more than I do.. Should get a better mandolin slicer than the one I have. Need a microplane. Everything else I have is pretty standard.
DJ Dedd at 10:49AM on 08/28/08
Another vote for the flat wooden spatula. Mine is shaped more or less like a short-handled canoe paddle. Almost flat but tapered nicely on the edges. I use it every day for stirring. Its straight sides and curved corners make it just right for getting food out of pots and pans.
Number two: really good thick oven mitts.
These two are used virtually every day.
Blue Iris at 12:19PM on 08/28/08
I'm currently in love with my OXO metal turner/spatula. We use it on the new grill, in the pan to make steak sandwiches, and to serve desserts that might otherwise fall apart on more flimsy silicone spatulas.
The greatest kitchen tool of them all, however, is the chef's knife. Oh, how I love feeling its heft and rocking it back and forth over the cutting board, feeling it slice away veggie bits like they were nothing at all. A good knife is pure joy.
Stufsocker at 4:00PM on 08/28/08
Immersion blender - now soup making is a cinch. And I'm surprised how much I rely on my two little bamboo cutting boards - they just feel easier to clean up by rinsing under the faucet.
Likeswords at 4:45PM on 08/28/08
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curt smith
Oregon Alcohol Addiction Treatment
curtsmith at 5:23PM on 08/28/08
My Desert Island Kitchen Tools:
- good chef's knife
- cast iron skillet and Dutch oven
- spring-loaded tongs
- microplane (best kitchen purchase ever)
kurteye at 7:28PM on 08/28/08
Oh, and a potato masher!
kurteye at 7:30PM on 08/28/08
- Tongs
- Microplane
- Small silicone rubber spatulas
- Crate and barrel Cheese plane ( I bought it about 15 years ago -- I use it all the time. I prefer the thin slices from the plane.)
- Wooden spoon(s)
lakeloverhh at 11:07AM on 08/29/08
My rasp (zester/grater), stand mixer, food processor, cheesecloth, salad spinner, vegetable brush, ice cream freezer, and whisk are all important to me!
Brownie at 11:07AM on 08/29/08
microplane zester, instant read thermometer, short-blade extremely sharp paring knife, a whetstone that was my dad's, an assortment of bamboo spatulas/spoons/stirring devices and...AND...a tiny silicone spatula that's perfect for easy-overing a fried egg for one.
expat39520 at 1:48PM on 08/30/08