Jacques Torres' 5 Must-Have Pastry Tools
Jacques Torres posing with his class. [Photographs: Tressa Eaton]
With colored balloons, heavy cream, and chocolate galore, it was pretty clear that the participants in Jacques Torres' "Chocolate Creations" class at the New York Culinary Experience last weekend were having way more fun than the other classes.
Yes, those are balloons.
Torres is very encouraging to those who want to try difficult pastry recipes at home. He tells would-be pastry chefs who mess up a project the first time to just do it again until they get it right. He took a minute away from cracking jokes and teaching the class how to make his whimsical creations to share the top fives tools you need when you want to get serious about working with chocolate and pastry. It's true that you could make do without them, but then you'd just be "an amateur" said Torres.
One more note: Don't feel like you need to make every last thing from scratch. Torres acknowledges that if cooking becomes a burden, people won't do it. He uses frozen fillo dough and has no qualms about it, so you shouldn't either.
1. Laser Thermometer
To get a quick and accurate reading of the temperature of your chocolate, nothing is going to work faster than an infrared digital laser thermometer. Plus, getting to shoot that little red infrared light at everything in sight will provide you with hours of amusement.
2. Scale
For measuring ingredients, there is nothing more precise than using a scale. Wet and dry measuring cups leave way too much room for variability. In addition, most serious pastry recipes give ingredient amounts in ounces and grams, not in cups and tablespoons.
3. Immersion Blender
Got to puree raspberries into sauce for your flourless chocolate cake? If you've got one of these babies, you won't need to spend the time transferring ingredients from bowl to blender and back again.
4. Stand Mixer
Whether you're whipping up a double batch of chocolate chip cookies or some heavy whipping cream, nothing can touch this perennial kitchen workhorse. Bonus points if you have outlets in your kitchen that extend from the ceiling (like they do at The French Culinary Institute).
5. Heat Gun
You could use a heat gun to remove paint from the walls or (and really, how much fun is this) you can use the gun to blast your chocolate into perfectly tempered submission. It's also useful for getting you chocolate decoration to bend into just the right shape.
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12 Comments:
I lurve Jacques because he is passionate about what he does. Also the MOF thing is totally cool. People who are passionate about making everyday special always get my vote.
JerzeeTomato at 11:22AM on 10/09/09
How convenient, I already own all of these! The laser thermometer is probably the handiest gadget I own, and works well for grilling and in general around the house.. it helped find places that needed more insulation and then later in the day helped to figure out if the grill was hot enough.
MoEats at 11:48AM on 10/09/09
Mr. Chocolate! I miss him and his TV program. He loves his work, and it shows. He passion and inspiration got me over my fear of working with chocolate. I still haven't made anything large-scale like some of his creations, but with the smaller things I've made following his directions manage to get a lot of ooohs and ahhhs.
betteirene at 12:27PM on 10/09/09
I own them all except for the heat gun. Where does one get one of those?
jocelyng at 12:56PM on 10/09/09
@jocelyng: In the paint or tool dept. at Home Depot or any similar store.
porchetta at 1:58PM on 10/09/09
Thanks, Porchetta!
jocelyng at 4:21PM on 10/09/09
Hey, that's my classroom! :D I want a laser thermometer :(
VerySmallAnna at 12:18AM on 10/10/09
The Chocolate King! Gotta love him!
jlewfoodie at 12:42AM on 10/10/09
The infrared thermos are great! you'll need one with a really wide range. Some you find at a hardwear store arent great for food because they only measure temps over 100 degrees...you want want that will go negative and way past 100 degrees. They start at about $100.00. Some even come with a attached probe to be able to read the internal temps of food as well.
Chef316 at 12:26AM on 10/12/09
Ah, another reminder that the Food Network has removed almost every show that involved demonstrating great food for home cooks.
lemonfair at 6:48AM on 10/12/09
any other ideas about where to find that laser thermometer?
joannabar at 11:11AM on 10/19/09
@ joannabar: JB Prince has a bunch of laser thermometers, including this one with a range of -4° to 605° F. You can also find them on Amazon.
tressa eaton at 11:52AM on 10/19/09