Kitchen gadgets - vers. 2

Ok so the other side of the coin is the useless gadgets that clutter up our kitchen. How many things do I have that seriously only do one thing? Sometimes I forget that I have it since it's hardly used that I don't end up using it, or I think crap one more thing to wash,  I'll just use my knife instead.

Herb Scissors, seriously? Whats wrong with a knife or for that matter normal kitchen shears? 

Salad Spinner, I have one. Why? I ask myself the same thing. I usually just use the bowl that this came with, it's nice and light but have I spinned any lettuce in this? Maybe a few times, but for what it's worth I'd rather rinse my salad under the faucet and shake it off and let dry instead of pulling this contraption out. I mean it does exactly what it's supposed to do, and it does it well, just that it's only good for one purpose. I almost threw my spinner part away but I felt guilty since it was a shower gift and I was the one who asked for it.

Garlic Press - have this too! I don't ever use it so maybe I should just get rid of it. I can smash and chop garlic faster with my knife or if it needs to be really fine than I take out the grater and use that instead. Plus the knife and grater are much easier to clean than the dang holes in the garlic press. I cringe if I have to think about using the toothpick to get out all those left behind pieces of garlic that I couldn't get out with  brush. 

Egg Slicer, granted it does slice the egg in one pass but how hard is it to pass a knife over the egg a couple more times. Plus cleaning a knife pales in comparison to having to wipe every little wire and get the crud out of those crevices. 

Bagel Slicer - that much room dedicated to something that slices a bagel, if you don't have a bagel shop. Use a knife. 

Onion Goggles - I don't know, it seems that the more often I chop onions the more I'm prone to not tearing anymore. I can't remember when was the last time I teared up when I chopped onions. And I chop a lot of onions. Maybe for someone who has sensitive eyes? But really?

Tuna Strainer - because using the top of the can won't suffice? I mean this contraption is only good for one size of can. It's completely useless if you have the large can of tuna, and it takes up precious space in the drawer that most of us don't have room to give up.

All in all, I think that anything that is made for one purpose alone is a waste of money and space. Sometimes all you really need is a good knife or a great set of hands. Yes granted there are tools that are meant for one thing and are worth the space and price of owning it, but there really aren't that many. 

What are some of the useless things that you've come across? (or even own)

Kitchen gadgets - vers. 1

I wanna start by saying that I cook a lot and before I got married I registered for a bunch of stuff, I also bought a lot of stuff afterwards setting up my kitchen. I have to say that there is a lot of unnecessary crap out there. As I became more confident in the kitchen I came to the realization that a lot of these tools only did one thing and took more space than I had to spare. Looking trough my everyday "gadgets" I wanted to show you what my favorites were. None of these tools were brand specific except for the rice cooker - Ill get into that.

• Rice Cooker (This really isn't essential unless your asian which my husband is Filipino so we cook a lot of rice) Although if you cook a good amount of rice or like oatmeal or rice onepot dishes - all of which a good rice cooker can handle - than this is essential. Notice I said good rice cooker not mediocre. Tiger brand is by far the best rice cooker out there - most rice eaters will tell you that this is the best brand, expensive, but lasts forever. My mother-in-law had hers for 20+ years. I have made all types of rice, white, black wild, brown - all come out perfect. No measuring really required, just a knuckle water test. (meaning 1 cup of rice, water sits to the first knuckle on your index finger white rice) I have made oatmeal in it, soaked it and cooked directly in this machine. Rice always comes out perfect and is always done much faster than when cooking on a pot with a lid - I think its the lifting of the lid and stirring that screws it up. 

• Electric Kettle I love this gadget, boils water so much faster than a traditional kettle on the stove. While we were in Poland back in 1997 I noticed that EVERYONE had an electric kettle. So when we got back to the states we went out and got one too. Haven't gone back since. 

• Cutting Boards I say you need a few in your kitchen. Having a wood one and a silicone/plastic one is essential. I have a few of each not too heavy, not too large or too small just a medium size where the food doesn't fall off the board and you can still lift it with one hand to pour food into pot. Don't buy glass ones - throw those out they dull your knife. 

• Kitchen Knives A good set will set you back but if you take care of them they will last you forever. I don't care which brand you get Cutco, Henckels, Wüsthof, Shun etc. A good knife will be made out of stainless steel which resists corroding better is carbon stainless which is strong yet flexible. The part of the blade that goes into the handle (called the tang) should go all the way through on both sides. There are other factors that go into a good knife but I think that these are the most important ones. Also if you have a good knife, never stick it in the dishwasher, tends to dull the blade. 

• Citrus Squeeze I love this tool, makes squeezing limes and lemons sail right through. Don't get a plastic one either get something thats made out of metal and doesn't have plastic hinges. Trust me the first one I purchased was a nice see-through plastic one, after the first lime it was done for.

• Graters probably the tool that has a ton of uses it grates ginger and garlic and cheese and spices and zests citrus and the larger grate instead of using my box grater, grates dry bread for bread crumbs.

• Silicone Tongs I use silicone because I have anodized pots and pans and I don't want to scratch them with the metal tongs but what I like about this brand which is Giadas from Target is that you pull the little pull on the top to open and close them. So they don't take up a lot of space on your drawer. Theses come in several sizes I also have the oxo brand which work the same way.

What essentials do you have to have in order to function in your kitchen - I'd love to know leave me a comment. 

Next up is the kitchen tools that you can skip.

Kitchen Crush

When we got married, we got as a gift a set of knives. I also went out and bought myself a set of stainless steel knives from overstock. 2 sets of knives, although they are great knives I have literally no counter space. So two knife blocks are getting ridiculous. The solution was to get rid of one of the blocks and try to put most of the knives into one block. Not a great solution when they are all clean and put away there are always too many or the holes aren't right for the width. It's completely frustrating. Until – I was at BBB and saw the Kapoosh knife block. The model that they had in stock I wasn't into and I wanted to get the larger one. I decided to go online and see if I can find one that suits my kitchen more. I sure did, they aren't cheap but I really want to get it.

Do you have one? Do you like it? I read a comment online that the "sticks" get all bent out of shape, is that common? Looks pretty awesome, you can fit multiple types of knives from different sets and have them all corralled in one place.  Let me know what you think about these.

 

    

Kitchen tool I LOVE!!

I love this gadget. Don't get me wrong my knives are nothing to laugh at but this tool makes my life sooo much easier. I received this Cuisinart food processor 5+ yrs ago for my wedding shower and it has been the biggest work horse in my kitchen toolshed, next to my pots and pans, but those don't count. Its worth its weight in gold I tell ya. I used to chop pico de gallo by hand which took me a couple of hrs with the mincing of that and the dicing of this. With this machine at my disposal – I can crank out a pico de gallo in 20 min flat. At the end of the summer I shred parmesan and pulse my basil to make pesto, make coleslaw with the attachment that shreds, and make dough for cookies during the holidays amongst other things. Like I said... gold.

Well this summer I brought it over to my friend Ann's house. We were chopping away through all the recipes we had to crank out for the company picnic that she decided that she needs to get one too. YES YOU DO! I'm sure it will be on sale before the holidays.