Kitchen Tools

***What you need instead of all those fancy gadgets.***

I work in a lot of different kitchens. I have been fortunate enough to cook in some very nice commercial kitchens, as well as home kitchens that dreams are made of. Although I would love to bask in my own glorious kitchen, currently, I have very limited space–so everything I have in it has a purpose.

I bring a kit of tools, spices, vinegars, and a whipping siphon in addition to my knives everywhere I go. Seriously. There is no room for extra gadgets in a small home, or a tight kit. But with a handful of simple tools, most jobs can be accomplished in the kitchen.

Over the next few weeks I am going to tackle the topic of kitchen basics and staples, so check in next week for a look at kitchen knives. This week I am going to highlight some of the kitchen tools I find most useful, and may often get overlooked.

Spatulas

There are a number of types of spatulas, and I am a fan of most of them. Small rubber spatulas are excellent for cleaning the bottom of bowls, jars, or even cleaning something sticky from a larger rubber spatula. You would be surprised at how much a good clean scrape can get out of the bottom of your blender after you make a tasty sauce.

Remember a tradesman is only as good as their tools. Be sure to buy quality kitchen tools, as these are going to be used over and over again to make the food you consume on a daily basis. With rubber spatulas it is important to get something that can withstand high heat, and always remember to remove them from your pan when you are done stirring, as they often have plastic handles.

Flat metal spatulas or offset spatulas of all sizes are useful. If you’re not familiar with the term offset spatula think of the long, narrow tools that have a thin, flat metal blade or paddle at one end.

Larger ones can be used to move things in the pan while sautéing food, spreading frosting over a cake, cutting and serving dishes, and much more.

Smaller ones are useful for plating dishes, scraping seeds from fruits and vegetables, portioning or spreading butter–the list goes on. Even in a small kitchen there is room for a number of good spatulas, and they always make great gifts for the home chef in your life.

MicroPlane

These handy graters are very useful in the kitchen, for hard cheeses, grating cured egg yolk, frozen cucumber, and of course zesting citrus.

Tongs

Let’s face it, you most likely have at least one pair of mediocre or even just downright lousy tongs at home, tucked away in a drawer waiting for the opportunity to make your life miserable. Instead replace them with tongs that have a firm spring inside; you want them to meet firmly in the center of each side of the pair, and you want them to be solid. I like to carry both a pair of steel tongs with rubber tips and a pair without wherever I go. The rubber tipped tongs are great for pans of all kinds, the better you care for your cookware, the longer it will last. The pair without the rubber covered tips are great for higher heat like grilling, or to use while cutting.

Smaller tongs and tweezers have their place in my kit as well. Long oversized tweezers are great to roll and pick up long pastas from the pan. Tweezers are great for plating, and handling delicate things, even cooking small things like bay scallops.

Strainers

The strainer is a very useful tool. It can sift, it can strain, and it is perfect to pass sauces and creamy soups through before serving. I like a finely woven metal strainer that is as sturdy as I can find. I have them in several sizes, but one good strainer will help you out of a surprising number of jams in the kitchen. Personally I like to have a long handle on my stainers as it makes them much easier to move around, or hang onto if you are passing something through it with a ladle or spoon.

Digital Kitchen Scale

You will probably still probably need a set of measuring spoons and cups around to make grandma’s famous jello casserole, at least until you convert the recipe to grams. Weighing ingredients instead of using measuring vessels is a much more accurate way to reproduce results. It is also much easier to multiply recipes with consistency. Believe it or not, all measuring cups are not created equal, and there is a lot of room for error. Learning to use grams while baking can also open your world to a whole new set of recipes from the large parts of the world that use the metric system. Want to hear more? I wrote all about the value of using grams in a past article for Edible Vineyard.

Thermometer

Although I am comfortable eyeballing a lot of meat temperature, it is important to make sure you are cooking food not only deliciously, but also safely. Digital instant read thermometers are a great tool to help you stay safe, and achieve consistent results. You can find a handy reference of food safe temperatures here.

Kitchen Shears

A good quality set of kitchen scissors does a lot more than open plastic packages. Scissors are great for getting at lobster meat, cutting parchment when the metal teeth fall out of the box, and even scoring bread before baking. They should be able to come apart so you can clean and sanitize them properly. You want the two sides of the scissors to meet firmly, and to feel sturdy. Good kitchen shears are built for use and abuse, and make a lot of jobs easier.

Timer

Keeping good track of time is the key to staying organized, and having things all come together at the right time while you are cooking. I carry a small timer/clock that has four timers built in. Sure, you can accomplish this with your phone, but I try not to have my hands all over my phone while I'm cooking, for sanitizer purposes and so I stay present in the task at hand.

Spoons

Spoons of all sizes are very useful, and you will find a set of spoons in most professional cook’s kits. Tasting as you cook is important, and a few spoons (that are cleaned regularly) are a great way to stay in touch with the food as you build flavor. Spoons of all sizes are useful to scrape seeds from vegetables, plate and sauce dishes, stir, measure. The spoon is a mighty tool and worth a little praise.

Mixing Bowls

Not many homes I visit have enough mixing bowls. These inexpensive and very useful bowls can make life a breeze in the kitchen. They are easy to clean, and can be used to measure, mix, portion, even use it as a double boiler, or an ice bath . Look for at least a few mixing bowls with a rolled edge, rather than straight sides, the rolled edge will help prevent dripping when you pour things out of them. To limit waste and make cleanup a lot easier, be sure to use one of your handy spatulas to get everything out of the bowls.