Kitchen Equipment

[WindwardOahuRN]

Interesting thoughts on buying kitchen stuff:

http://www.nytimes.com/2007/05/09/dining/09mini.html

I did spring for a pricey set of cookware which I love dearly and which should survive a nuclear attack. I also bought a two-pack of eight-inch non-stick aluminum restaurant supply fry pans at Sam's club for twenty dollars which perform as well the pricey stuff. Don't know if they'll last as long but for the price who cares.

I love restaurant supply stores but haven't been to one since I moved here.

About his list of "inessentials." Microwave, stand mixer, and rice cooker? All essentials, to me. :)

[TATTRAT]

Personally, I use the same stuff at home, that I do in the restaurant/hotel. The one thing that is a GREAT investment, is a good set of knives. The rest you can go as low brow or high end as you want, imo. I think I might have a total investment of $150 bucks in cookware and utensils, and my knives cost more then that.

[Miulang]

Personally, I use the same stuff at home, that I do in the restaurant/hotel. The one thing that is a GREAT investment, is a good set of knives. The rest you can go as low brow or high end as you want, imo. I think I might have a total investment of $150 bucks in cookware and utensils, and my knives cost more then that.
But the most expensive knife set in the world is worth squat if you don't know how to use the knives properly or care for them.;)

Miulang

[1stwahine]

Wow! We just bought a Kenmore heavy duty coated 10 piece set of pots and pans from Sears this Saturday. The regular price was $169.00. However, they made a mistake and listed the price as $139.00 w/ 50% off at that too. We bought it fast!:D

Auntie Lynn

[cezanne]

I'm anti-bling when it comes to kitchen stuff. I too like good knives. But my wife got this Food Chopper from Pampered Chef (https://www.pamperedchef.com/ordering/prod_details.tpc?prodId=240&catId=4) that's pretty cool. Don't know if it's worth that much but it's a cool contraption.

[Leo Lakio]

Food Chopper from Pampered Chef (https://www.pamperedchef.com/ordering/prod_details.tpc?prodId=240&catId=4)The link is dead - but I know the device; my daughter sold PC for a couple years.

[Ms_Aloha_Nui]

I have pots and pans, a variety of pieces, that I have bought from garage sales and thrift stores...all the fry pans are cast iron except for one non-stick pan. All the pots are cast iron as well....but my knives are all Gerber knives and worth way more than any thing else in my house....I love to cook and my knives are an essential tool so I don't mind spending the money on them.

[TATTRAT]

But the most expensive knife set in the world is worth squat if you don't know how to use the knives properly or care for them.;)

Miulang


Good point. And NEVER run knives through a dishwasher! One of the quickest way to ruin an edge.

[Da Rolling Eye]

IMHO, a good set of cookware makes a world of difference.

We used to have a cheapy set from one of those Safeway promotions and, halfway through it's life, I'd have to occasionally take a rubber mallet to "reflatten" the bottoms.

Finally gave it up and bought a new set of Circulon. Dang! Flat bottoms, thicker and heavier cookwear means faster and more even cooking with less heat. Our old set literally wobbled on our flat top range because the thinner material started to warp. A good stainless set would work as well. :)

As for knives, I don't have a nice set, although I'd like to one day. I simply keep what I do have sharpened as often as possible. Makes cutting faster and safer than dull knives. Makes scaling and gutting fish a snap and cuts to the bone with less pain. :eek: :D

[Honoruru]

I agree with that a good set of knives are important. When I showed some of my friends how sharp my knives were, they said "Wow! Isn't that dangerous?" And I said "No. A sharp knife is a safe knife. A dull knife is dangerous."

[1stwahine]

I agree with that a good set of knives are important. When I showed some of my friends how sharp my knives were, they said "Wow! Isn't that dangerous?" And I said "No. A sharp knife is a safe knife. A dull knife is dangerous."

I agree.:D

I have a Sharpening Stone which belongs to my late father. The bugga is old but still makes my knives sharp!;)

Auntie Lynn

[Da Rolling Eye]

I agree.:D

I have a Sharpening Stone which belongs to my late father. The bugga is old but still makes my knives sharp!;)

Auntie Lynn
A memory. When I worked experimental gang for Dole, on occasion we had to clear an old plot. The luna used to always bring one old, Filipino man along. His job? Keep our machetes sharp. Yeah, he'd sit in one spot all day with an old, worn whetstone between his feet and a can of water next to it. He had our machetes sharp enough to cut hair. Reason we needed them so sharp was, to cut the old plants you had to step on them half way up and bend them down. One cut at ground level on the stalk took it out. When you've been doing that all day, the machete work starts to get a bit sloppy from fatigue. Because of the angle we need to come in at (almost parallel to the ground), a dull machete can easily skip off the stalk and ricochet upwards to end up in our legs. :eek:

[cezanne]

Good point. And NEVER run knives through a dishwasher! One of the quickest way to ruin an edge.

Huh? What? :eek:

[WindwardOahuRN]

Huh? What? :eek:


I knew that, but....:o

[Honoruru]

I have a Sharpening Stone which belongs to my late father. The bugga is old but still makes my knives sharp!;)

Auntie Lynn

I bought my sharpening stone when Arakawa's closed. I went there one Saturday to buy "something," "anything" to remember it by. The shelves were nearly empty, but I finally found this sharpening stone, not in the best shape, but I bought it anyway. It's been good for me ever since.

[lavagal]

Good point. And NEVER run knives through a dishwasher! One of the quickest way to ruin an edge.

What's a dishwasher? Around here it's "WHO'S a dishwasher!"

[WindwardOahuRN]

What's a dishwasher? Around here it's "WHO'S a dishwasher!"

And in that case, you would definitely NEVER want to "run a knife through a dishwasher"!!!

[TATTRAT]

What's a dishwasher? Around here it's "WHO'S a dishwasher!"

And in that case, you would definitely NEVER want to "run a knife through a dishwasher"!!!



LOL! Don't shank the Dishwaser!


I was just saying, you do not want to run knives through a dish machine because it can ruin your edge, QUICK. There are abrasives in a lot of detergents that knock down the edge on a good sharp knife, and also, the knife can get bumped around into other things, making it dull.

If you have ever seen a knife under a microscope(I'm a dork:D), the knifes sharp edge is really a lot of burrs. When sharp, the burrs are upright, and aligned, when dull, they are laid over and out of line. "Sharpening" with a steel actually just re-honing the edge, and standing the burrs back up and in line.

[WindwardOahuRN]

What brand of knives do you like, Tattrat?

[TATTRAT]

For the house, I have a set of Katana Series:
http://www.calphalon.com/calphalon/consumer/images/katana/knives_landing.jpg

They are actually made by Calphalon (http://images.google.com/imgres?imgurl=http://www.calphalon.com/calphalon/consumer/images/katana/knives_landing.jpg&imgrefurl=http://www.calphalon.com/calphalon/consumer/katana/katanaSeries.jhtml&h=274&w=467&sz=12&hl=en&start=7&sig2=MX-XIH4CQi7xQRRXNKr42w&um=1&tbnid=uSXu3Fr5umq0aM:&tbnh=75&tbnw=128&ei=rNFERvWjOqWAggKYipDVCg&prev=/images%3Fq%3DCalphalon%2Bkatana%2Bseries%26svnum%3 D10%26um%3D1%26hl%3Den%26sa%3DN), and have rivaled some of my Whustofs as far as balance and durability. You can get the block set for under 200 bucks, which is great for a home investment. I say investment, cause they will last years if taken care of properly. I have been VERY pleased overall and would recommend them. They are made of multi fold VG- I, Japanese steel. Awesome corrosion resistance, and awesome all around performance. Not to mention, the Damascus look is super sexy:D.

Kyocera Knives (http://www.metrokitchen.com/kyocera/) are the wave of things to come. They are very pricey now but the price will drop(hopefully) once they gain more popularity outside of the professional kitchen, and gourmands at home. The main advantage of ceramic knives is the blade stay. The stay sharp practically for as long as you own the knifes. The down side is, they can be brittle and can not be dropped like a stainless knife, they might shatter. I have one, and use it every now and again, and every cut is like the first, razor sharp(or sharper), but I still view it as almost a novelty, and don't want to muck it up.

[WindwardOahuRN]

Thank you!

My husband has been complaining about how lousy our knives are. Sounds like a Father's Day gift he might really like!

[cynsaligia]

I agree that knives are the most important "gadget" in a kitchen. one really good chef knife is all you really need, according to most most back-of-the-house restaurant people.

For those of you who want really great quality knives but balk at paying the high prices of a wusthof or henkels, Forschners (http://www.consumersearch.com/www/kitchen/kitchen-knives/review.html)are a great option. They may be stamped versus forged like the higher priced ones, but they were made with professional working chefs in mind. my ex, who used to work at John Dominis and L'Uraku, was told by veteran in the business about them. my ex preferred to use his 12" forschner 90% of the time over the henkel set he got when he went to culinary school.

(the above link is a description and review by consumersearch.com, by the way)

you can buy them, of all places, at the aloha staduum swap meet! the vendor is the aloha melting pot co., inc. and they can be emailed at alohameltingpot@hawaii.rr.com.

i've had my forschner for six years and refuse to use anything else in the kitchen. it's easier for non-pros to work with because it's lighter and has a rubberized handle. i also enjoy using it bcs i have small hands and the henkels/wustofs are quite unwieldy. i sharpen it with a sharpening stone maybe once a month. eric, who also spent years in the food and bev biz, is a convert. we made sure that there is a forschner at his house, my house, and his mom's house because they are so dependable. it's the only knife i can use practically non-stop and comfortably for two hours chopping the ingredients for pancit or lumpia--carrots, onions, celery, cabbage, garlic and jalapenos. every other knife i've used has made me sore.

p.s. price for the 10" i bought most recently was about $30. such a steal!

[cynsaligia]

more notes....

there is a restaurant supply store on kokea? st across the canal from Honolulu Community College and between Dillingham Blvd and King St.

there's another behind home world across from anna miller's.

i think there's one on the street that big kahuna pizza is at near salt lake.

i finally read the piece that WORN posted and i disagree that you need to cook rice twice a day to justify a rice cooker. ditto microwave. and pressure cooker. i use that baby at least twice a month. my oxtail stew, green curry, chicken papaya and risotto would not exist without the pressure cooker.

additionally, i can't believe the writer paid six bucks for a sharpening stone. mine cost me less than two bucks at the swap meet. works great--bought it the same time i bought my first forschner. :D

best thing in my kitchen besides my forschner is my cuisinart set of copper sandwiched pots and pans that the beau bought for me at the very bargain price of $130 from overstock.com back in 2003.

wow, my posts today are reminding me what a great find my eric is...*swoon*

[Pomai]

more notes....

there is a restaurant supply store on kokea? st across the canal from Honolulu Community College and between Dillingham Blvd and King St.


My girlfriend's been there a few times for replacement parts for the restaurant she used to manage. As you might imagine, they're expensive.

We're minimalists in the kitchen. Sharp JA Henckels knives, along with a large Bamboo cutting board, tossed in with a Cuisinart food processor every now and then, are the usual call of duty. Save for a Tiger rice cooker my girlfriend relies on (she's gotta' have rice), and that's it.

There's a thread similar to this here at Kitchen Tools and Gadgets (http://www.hawaiithreads.com/showthread.php?t=6948&page=3&highlight=gadget).

[oceanpacific]

In 1977, I bought an end-grain maple cutting board for $37.50 + tax at the Farmers' Market in Los Angeles and brought it back in my luggage. Nearly all of the boards I see in Honolulu at places like Compleat Kitchen and Executive Chef are cross-grain boards. I once spotted the same board without the Farmers' Market logo at Liberty House for $47.50.

I still have it as I never soak the board. All it needs is cleaning after each use with a damp cloth and regular "seasoning" - a layer of salt to draw out moisture and "oiling" the board.

It's 20" x 14" x 2" and "weighs a ton." I got it as part of the divorce property settlement nearly two decades ago, while she kept the cutlery, bone china, and waterless cookware.

[Hellbent]

I was looking at the JA Henkle knives on Amazon (http://www.amazon.com/J%252eA%252e-Henckels-7%252dpc%252e-Professional-Knife/dp/B000EDVT12/ref=sr_1_22/104-8136951-9240746?ie=UTF8&s=home-garden&qid=1179010842&sr=1-22), are they good? I LOL'd when I saw the ginsu knife set for $20 (http://www.amazon.com/Ginsu-International-Traditions-14-Piece-Bakelite/dp/B0006TJ7HM/ref=pd_bbs_sr_2/104-8136951-9240746?ie=UTF8&s=home-garden&qid=1179010798&sr=1-2)... Even tho my mom left behind a Ginsu knife that I still use today... It isnt that bad!
Any advice on where to get a good cast iron skillet locally for cheap?

[oceanpacific]

I liked the MAC knives which were sold by Shirokiya.

[Erika Engle]

Any advice on where to get a good cast iron skillet locally for cheap?

I got mine at Hardware Hawaii in Kailua. It's a Lodge Cast Iron Skillet. (Widely available, I think.)

Take it home, season it, (per instructions on the label), use it forever and pass it down through your family.