Favorite kitchen gadgets

[flamin lib]

I love this cleaver. Doubles as a garlic press. Bought it at an Asian market for $10.



Don't know what I'd do without the mandolin. This one makes juliane, french fries and cottage fries and can slice stuff so thin you can see through it.



I'm a thermometer freak. There's a remote reading probe, an infrared direct read and a digital instant read.



What's in your kitchen? I'm runnng out of neat stuff to buy so any suggestions for fun and helpful stuff are most appreciated.

[Arkansas Granny]

1. This is one of my favorites. It's supposed to be for mincing herbs

but I use it to make noodles. I roll out my dough and then roll this thing across it to get uniform width. Works great.

[flamin lib]

3. I've seen those. I never thought of using it to make noodles or

pasta. Hmmm, may have to get me one of those.

[Warpy]

2. In addition to the gadgets above

I absolutely love my



which is available at http://shopping.msn.co.uk/specs/shp/?itemId=14397816,amp;fullDesc=1

The complex curve allows me to get every last bit of delicious goo out of any shape bowl there is. Since little sticks to it, it doubles as a dough scraper for very sticky doughs.

I bought mine at a specialty cooking store in Boston over 20 years ago. I'd find it annoying to have to rely on spatulas and scrapers that are all the wrong shape were this a gadget prone to wear and tear. It doesn't seem to be.

It's the best $1.25 plus $5.00 in international shipping you'll ever spend.

The only other one I have is a vintage gadget sort of like a rounded, slotted spatula. I can't read the maker, but I can read that it whips, mixes, blends, crushes, strains, and mashes and its patent number is 0109647. It's the perfect size and shape for retrieving anything out of water or stock. Although I've recently seen a reproduction of it improved with a plastic instead of metal handle, I have no idea what it was called and have been unable to find it out there on the web. I mention it because it's so much easier to clean than the wire Chinese strainer that would be my second choice to use.

[flamin lib]

4. I think I've got the slotted spatula thing and it is good for all sorts of

stuff.

The scraper thingie looks interesting. For a few bucks how can I lose?

[Shakespeare]

5. That's a gorgeous cleaver! My current favorite gadget is my immersion blender.

It purees soups, makes pesto, blends my smoothie, makes breadcrumbs...and is probably the easiest thing to clean in my entire kitchen.

[flamin lib]

8. Me too. I got one with a whisk attachement and a mini processor.

It's great because I only cook for two and the processor is the perfect size.

[Phentex]

14. That's one I use all the time...

so simple and much easier to clean than dragging out a food processor.

[bicentennial_baby]

17. Tell me more...

I got one for Xmas and haven't used it yet! :bounce:

[Shakespeare]

18. Well, I know you like making soups....

If you're doing a soup that needs to be pureed, like potato leek or butternut squash, you can stick the thing down in the pot and have it completely pureed in about 30 seconds. Then you twist off the bottom half, run it under hot tap water, and you're done. Beats the heck out of transferring soup back and forth between the blender in batches, then cleaning the blender afterwards...

I also use it to make breakfast smoothies (frozen blueberries, soy milk, vanilla protein powder and flax seed oil) and it works faster and better than the blender. Use it to do breadcrumbs. Use it to puree sauces (like an ancho chile cream sauce I use on enchiladas).

Seriously, pull the thing out and give it a try. You'll LOVE it.

[bicentennial_baby]

19. Pesto recipe, pleez.

I can haz it? ;)

[Shakespeare]

20. Oh, geez...I don't even measure anymore. But here's how I eyeball it....

The immersion blender lets me do this in smaller batches, which is awesome. I pack the mixing cup with basil leaves, then pour over that 1/4 to 1/2 of olive oil (depending on how much basil I'm using), then puree it. Then I add garlic, dash of salt, toasted pine nuts, a couple tablespoons of hot pasta water and 4 or so tablespoons of grated parmesan and give that a quick blend. Super fast, and way easier to clean up than the food processor!

[Cassandra]

23. Much better than putting butternut squash soup...

through a blender, particularly if you're not fond of decorating your kitchen cabinets (and your hair) in orange.

[Phentex]

22. don't forget salad dressings

you can whip up a small batch with this thing right in the container. The different blades will let you whip or chop as needed. Great for making dips, smoothies, cranberry butter...

[The empressof all]

6. There are so many but here's one I used today

http://www.chefcentral.com/product1.aspx?Product_Id=1083&utm_source=froogle&utm_medium=dfeeds&utm_campaign=general

This little three in one berry bowl is the perfect size to defrost the bags of frozen wild blueberries that are my current TJ addiction.


I open the bag and empty it into the colandar in the bowl, stick it in the fridge and they are all nice and dry and defrosted for me in the morning.

[flamin lib]

9. Hmmm, not a current need as I'm not doing a lot of frozen fruit, but

something that might be a nice addition. Looks like it all nests and fits in one place so it won't be a space grabber. Have to think about that one!

[The empressof all]

11. It's also great for fresh fruit

Cut melon doesn't get all weepy and mushy as quickly because it's not sitting in its own juices. It's also great to drain cottage cheese or ricotta (I do still use some cheese cloth) and a neat way to keep tofu.

I got mine on a two for one special several months ago (I think it might have been at Macy's or Pennys) I paid less than 10 bucks for two of them --so look around. They are very handy.

[Tab]

7. I love gadgets

but I've learned to work with the minimum. A couple of good Henckels, carving boards, this and that.

One thing I really like though, although I don't want to search for a picture, is a hand-held blender I have. I don't think I paid more than $20 or it. You can run it as a blender (put the blade right in) or attach the lower cup and it's a mini Cuisinart. Simple to clean, doesn't take up a ton of space.

[flamin lib]

10. Oh yeah. The hand blender is an essential. I've got one that sounds

like yours--see upthread.

I've had to replace the whisk attachment once--makes really nice creamed taters and whipped cream is done in seconds.

[Callalily]

12. I don't know what I

would do without my scraper.

[NMDemDist2]

13. the "Hidden Valley Ranch" shaker cup I paid a nickle for at the thrift store

it mixes up powders and water like a pro for making gravies etc.

dumb, but I love that stupid thing LOL

looks like this except with the Hidden Valley logos

[Phentex]

15. LOL ! I bought a powdered sugar dispenser off ebay...

I love it for sprinkling powdered sugar on stuff. Still works great! And my kids think it's the greatest. :)

[flamin lib]

16. Ah! Shaken, not stirred . . . nt

[hippywife]

21. Without a doubt

it has to be my food processor. I don't know how I ever lived without one for so long!

http://www.cuisinart.com/catalog/product.php?product_id=32&item_id=61&cat_id=7

I bought it really cheap 12 or so years ago from a girl I used to work with. Brand new never opened. She got it for a wedding gift and didn't cook at all. She was going to put it in a garage sale. I didn't use it for many years. Never even unpacked it when I was single. Now it comes in so handy for so many things...hummus, pesto, carrots for carrot cake, slaw, carrot salad, broccoli salad, peanut butter, and the list goes on and on! Definitely couldn't live without it!

[KatyaR]

24. My microwave omelet pan

http://thekitchenstore.com/011172636003.html

Three eggs, whatever other ingredients you want, three minutes in the microwave, and voila, an omelet. So easy, and almost no cleanup at all. I love it. In fact, I just had one for lunch. Yum!