Kitchen Tools & Gadgets

[timkona]

Re: Kitchen Tools & Gadgets

The new kitchen store in downtown Hilo is great. The owner knows what he's talking about, and the selection is outstanding. From spatulas to chafing dishes to industrial mixers. Del-Field selections and the whole nine yards with gadgets galore.

The secrets to looking like a great chef, with as little work as possible while you party with your friends, is to prepare all the little stuff well ahead of time, and to have the right tool for the best results.

Oh, and clean as you go.

[pzarquon]

Re: Kitchen Tools & Gadgets

Kilinahe is a kitchen gadget nut, so I'm sure she'll have a few things to say here... let's just say that when she worked in the cookware section of Liberty House (then Macy's -- where the top floor housed "The Cellar"), we were in kitchen heaven. Discounts and dealer demos are nothing to sneeze at when you're surrounded by $200 cast iron or $300 knives!

Our favorite tools would include (but are not limited to) a couple of Henckel's five-star knives (a long utility knife and a santoku -- a style Rachel Ray made popular recently, but anyone with a Japanese grandma already loved 'em), a nifty "beaker" style measuring cup (thanks, Alton Brown!), flexible silicone cutting "boards," a Kitchen-Aid mixer, some decent mixing bowls, and Circulon pans and pots in various sizes (a Macy's staple).

The Food Network has shaped many a bout of kitchen envy, so our wish list would include a really good cast iron skillet and/or grill pan, those adjustable volume based measuring cups (another Alton favorite), the recently mentioned instant-read infra-red thermometer, the electric cutting knife Pomai has discovered, and some kind of food processor. But we know how dangerous that siren song can be... we have a very nice, very fancy kitchen scale that I think we've used exactly once!

I should also confess that we have, thanks to my grandmother, one of those as-seen-on-TV Ronco rotisserie thingamajigs. But we did use it quite a bit, so I think we got our (er, her) money's worth.

Like the article Erika linked, and also due again to Alton (our third son was very nearly named after him), we do admire folks who can improvise with common household tools and appliances. I'll pooh-pooh a lot of purchases because they're "uni-taskers." Space considerations are also significant. But I'll tell you, when we're filthy rich, I expect Kilinahe will ensure the kitchen is the biggest and nicest room in the house, and we'll have every ridiculous kitchen tool known to man!

[Miulang]

Re: Kitchen Tools & Gadgets

My favorite kitchen tool at the moment is my Cuisinart Griddler, which replaced 2 George Forman Grills. I like the Griddler because it has removable plates that can be stuck in the dishwasher (2 sets... griddle plates and grill plates) and is multifunctional (grill/griddle/panini press) and has a very small footprint when used in the grill/panini press mode. Also in my arsenal: six 12" saute pans (my favorite cooking vessel), a set of cast iron frying pans (good for frying chicken and making Dutch Babies and tortas), a set of Henckel knives (love my Santoku!), 5 or 6 butterfly spatulas and wooden spoons, a bunch of polystyrene cutting boards and one really useful bamboo cutting board that I bought for $10, Silpat baking sheets, Kitchenaid stand mixer and Cuisinart hand mixer, 2 Cuisinart food processors (the small one I use to grind my own hamburger), a whole bunch of baking pans and a big bookcase full of cookbooks (I own many Hawaii cookbooks). Some women collect shoes and purses; I collect cookbooks!

Miulang

[tutusue]

Re: Kitchen Tools & Gadgets

So many interesting gadgets...so little space! All the more reason to bring deli food home!

[scrivener]

Re: Kitchen Tools & Gadgets

I bought myself a food processor in January (late Christmas gift) and love, love, love it. I didn't get anything fancy, just a GE model from Wal-Mart, but I have made hummus, pesto, and all kinds of soups (soup is one of my kitchen passions). I love my slow-cooker because it lets me throw all kinds of great ingredients into a pot and come home to a wonderful-smelling house and great food. I make a lot of stews and chilis in that thing, and lots of simple (but yummy) beans-and-veggies dishes.

I have burned out three hand-blenders.

One of my favorite utensils is a small pair of tongs. It lets me pick stuff up and move it around quickly and easily and it isn't so unwieldy as a normal-sized pair.

I house-sat for my folks last month, and they have a small Weber gas grill, and I quickly fell in love with it. If I had one, I wonder if I'd ever need my oven or stove again? I've seen small models at the home-improvement stores for under two hundred bucks, and I must say I'm tempted.

I have one of those little one-burner butane stoves that has come in very handy for little class projects and social events. Sukiyaki is especially nice with these butane stoves, as they allow everyone to sit around a table and participate. For larger groups, we sit at one long table with a butane stove at each end. Very fun.

Finally, while it is a uni-tasker, I am so enamoured with my "Chick-Can Rack" that I bought another and now do two chickens at a time. At the last HT picnic, I was sent to the store to pick up one of those one-time-use grills, and right next to it I found this circular rack with a space for a beer can. If you watch the Television Food Network, you have probably seen chicken roasted or grilled with a beer can stuck up into the cavity, but it's a delicate situation (as it often is when one of the parties involved has something stuck where the can goes), because you stand the chicken up on its legs and can, in kind of a tripod situation. The rack stands up by itself, though, so you can move the chicken without worrying about bad accidents. Also, sectioning the hot bird when its ready to be cut up is a piece of cake on this rack; just bend the drumettes back and you got your wings, a quick slice and gentle bend takes the thighs and drums right off, and then a few more cuts and you've got your breast filets, and the carcass is still attached to the rack. Very, very cool.

[1stwahine]

Re: Kitchen Tools & Gadgets

Finally, while it is a uni-tasker, I am so enamoured with my "Chick-Can Rack" that I bought another and now do two chickens at a time. At the last HT picnic, I was sent to the store to pick up one of those one-time-use grills, and right next to it I found this circular rack with a space for a beer can. If you watch the Television Food Network, you have probably seen chicken roasted or grilled with a beer can stuck up into the cavity, but it's a delicate situation (as it often is when one of the parties involved has something stuck where the can goes), because you stand the chicken up on its legs and can, in kind of a tripod situation. The rack stands up by itself, though, so you can move the chicken without worrying about bad accidents. Also, sectioning the hot bird when its ready to be cut up is a piece of cake on this rack; just bend the drumettes back and you got your wings, a quick slice and gentle bend takes the thighs and drums right off, and then a few more cuts and you've got your breast filets, and the carcass is still attached to the rack. Very, very cool.

Hmmm...das why you took so long!

Auntie Lynn

[scrivener]

Re: Kitchen Tools & Gadgets

Hmmm...das why you took so long!

Actually, the reason I took long is that the Safeway on Beretania didn't have any of those grills, so I had to go to Wal-Mart! Blame Ryan!

[tutusue]

Re: Kitchen Tools & Gadgets

[...]Finally, while it is a uni-tasker, I am so enamoured with my "Chick-Can Rack" that I bought another and now do two chickens at a time. [...] because you stand the chicken up on its legs and can, in kind of a tripod situation. The rack stands up by itself, though, so you can move the chicken without worrying about bad accidents. [...]Very, very cool.

My youngest daughter called this "chicken up the butt"! I used a vertical poultry roaster for years with great success. The first one I purchased I saw on an infomercial! Then my kids left for school, never to return and Costco began offering roasted chicken for cheaper than I could do it. I still have that roaster. Maybe I'll try it again sometime. Hmmm...it better be sooner rather than later as I'm getting rid of my stove in favor of a convection/microwave combo.

[WindwardOahuRN]

Re: Kitchen Tools & Gadgets

The Cuisinart Griddler is a definite favorite. Love the dishwasher-proof removable grill plates and the adjustable temp. My daughter tossed a George Foreman grill after a particularly grueling cleaning episode---her model had non-removable grills and just wouldn't part with a bunch of stuck-on junk. So, into the trash. A child after my own heart.
Also love my KitchenAid mixer. That baby can mix TONS of Christmas cookie dough without a whimper.
I still prefer to mix bread dough by hand. There is just no substitute for the human hand when it comes to kneading dough, IMHO.
Microplane for shredding parmesan cheese. Instant-read thermometer. Pastry cloth for rolling out pie crust. Mirro cookie press for great butter spritz cookies.

[Pongs]

Re: Kitchen Tools & Gadgets

kitchen things i <3:

• George Foreman All the way!! I like to put chicken drumsticks, cut up veggies nd mushrooms w/ spices wrapped in foil packet. Cooks all together and SOOOO easy to clean up.
• Microplane grater....expensive but once you try it you'll never go back...so good for ginger!
• Tongs....b/c i'm scared of oil splashing hehehe. THis way I can stand far away from the stove =)

Tutusue, Is the Tilia foodsaver good?

[scrivener]

Re: Kitchen Tools &amp; Gadgets

The Longs at Kam Shopping Center has George Foreman grills (the "champ" size, which should be called "bacholor" size) for $9.99, so I bought one last night. All I've done with it so far is make toast, since I don't have a toaster. I really like the way it's put together, though, and look forward to playing with it for the next few days.

[Kelly0040]

Re: Kitchen Tools &amp; Gadgets

Our favorite kitchen gadgets:

-The Egg Sandwich Toaster: Bought it off Amazon.com (free shipping!). It will toast your bread and poach an egg in 3 minutes. It also does hard-boiled eggs. I can make breakfast and do my hair in the morning at the same time. Good deal. But you have to take care of it (e.g. follow the instructions) or you ruin the nonstick surface. It's super.

-Kitchen Aid Mixer: I hauled this thing from Bakersfield to LA to Honolulu. It was a birthday gift from my mother. It was so heavy. However... We LOVE it. love love love. l o v e. love. And the rebate on it got me a free meat grinder (we were 8 days short of getting a free ice cream maker boo). Mom just bought me a spatula made specially for the mixing bowl so no curve is left untouched while scooping stuff out (but ma that's what fingers are for geez).

-Cuisinart Ice Creammaker: bought this at Costco after ordering the Kitchen Aid Ice Cream attachment on Amazon.com (after I hauled the mixer home). They basically do the same thing, but the Cuisinart machine is cheaper and the ice cream came out better than the Kitchen Aid attachment, which surprised us. Plus, it looks cool on the counter. We borrowed Alton Brown's Chocolate Ice Cream/Custard recipe and Y U M YUMYUMYUMMMMM. So thick. So yummy. Gained 12lbs.

-Mini whisk: I know my mom got this at Ross for like $2 because I saw one there not too long ago, but it's so darn handy. It's a whisk with a wooden egg as a handle. It looks absolutely stupid, but I use it daily. It sits upright on my oven. And it goes through the dishwasher beautifully - no paint chips on the egg's santa hat!

-Wusthof knives: I walked into a knife/ornamental sword store in Salem, Or., and a guy gave me an hour lecture on kitchen knives (which I previously knew nothing about). He showed me the ones I could afford (cheap ones), the ones he recommended and owned (Wusthof), and the ones that people purchased one at a time (Shun - Alton uses Shun knives!). Shun knives arent really that more expensive than Wusthof, but I love my Wusthofs a lot. I bought a cheap version of their 5' Santoku and I'm even happy with it, though I'd like to get the real one (classic version).

Spam slicer: it's so dumb, but it works so well...plus it makes a good harp when you're bored.

Flexible cutting boards: I bought a pack of 5. They're color coordinated. They have a sticky side so they dont slide around while you cut and they dont take up much storage room. I like that they bend and they make good funnels, too.

Conversion magnet: It has a bunch of measurement conversions on it and it's the heaviest magnet ever. Husband got tired of me asking all the time how many tablespoons were in a cup etc etc

Gadgets I want:
-Dutch oven
-Microplane grater: I keep asking Santa but he keeps forgetting.
-Insta-read thermometer
-Salt Cellar (I, too, love Alton! If you know where to get one locally, do share - I'm trying to avoid buying one online just cuz I know someone has to have one around here)
-Rubber mit

[tutusue]

Re: Kitchen Tools &amp; Gadgets

Sue:
Blaine at the Hawaii Kai Safeway fresh fish department said that the cor(bv)ina never used to get out here because it was too fragile. But now the fishermen can flash-freeze it when caught, making it possible to get here.
[...]

Safeway had cor(bv)ina on sale this past week so I bought some. OMG...deeeelish!

Trying to stay on topic: I grilled it for 5 min. on my George Foreman grill!

[pzarquon]

Re: Kitchen Tools &amp; Gadgets

Fun post, Kelly!

I can't believe I'd never looked up 'egg sandwich toasters' before. What an odd, but somehow, brilliant combination! As I noted in the "What's for breakfast?" thread, I've gotten into the habit of making bacon and egg muffins. Something like that would simplify the process considerably!

We do love our Kitchen Aid Mixer, and covet the various attachments all the time. We're doing quite well with just the basics for now, though. Flexible cutting boards rock. And I'm glad to hear you have had great success with your ice cream maker, meanwhile. We've tried a couple, and just can't get the hang of them (though maybe it's our freezer!).

[helen]

Re: Kitchen Tools &amp; Gadgets

At the last HT picnic, I was sent to the store to pick up one of those one-time-use grills,

I seen those at the Market City Foodland about a week ago. Do they work pretty well?