Best new kitchen gadgets

One of the nice things about re-stocking a kitchen from scratch is the chance to discover new and improved varieties of those old standards you thought were forever--faults and all. Take, for example (not that you'll be able to pry it out of my hands), the Microplane. After all those years of grated knuckles on the old four sided grater, who'd have thought that such an improvement was possible? But there it is, and freshly grated paremsan is so easy we never even think about it anymore.

My most recent epiphany came when I used my new pastry brush yesterday for the first time. I'd already picked up a couple of new nylon pastry brushes at Edward Don when I saw a silicon one at Northwestern Cutlery. It was cute, and blue, and blue is the accent color in the new kitchen, so I asked Ed if he wanted the ones I'd just bought and picked up the blue one.



It's been hanging from my Julia Child-inspired grid on the wall by the stove, along with my new blue potholders and my new Rosle whisk and my new Oxo utenstils from Target and my old stainless measuring cups with the primary color handles--you get the idea.

Yesterday morning I was making blueberry muffins, and since I couldn't put my hands on my Joy of Cooking I printed out the Cooks Illustrated recipe.* It suggested a lemon glaze, followed by a dip in lemon sugar, and I thought what the heck, and made the glaze and the lemon sugar. I took down my new pastry brush, handy there right by the stove, and put it in the glaze. VOILA! I had figured it would be fine for spreading the glaze, but it hadn't occurred to me that I was also making great strides in what, for a better term, I call mop-ability. Those silicon bristles slurped up that glaze like a kid with a melting ice cream cone. Those silicon bristles then deposited that glaze right on top on my muffins as pretty as a picture. And all those silicon bristles stayed right where they were on the brush, leaving nary a one behind on the muffins. And then I stuck the brush in the dishwasher and now it's back on the wall looking as pretty as it did when I brought it home.

A real winner. Anyone else have any great new gadgets to report on?


*A terrific recipe, as it turns out.

I've picked up a couple of types of silicone pastry brushes lately. One is a single sheet with a hexagonal grid of holes -- it works amazingly well, as the holes snag a lot of a thicker sauce. The other one has sort of a scoop on it, essentially a spoon/brush combo for thin sauces.

My one indispensable tool, though, is a set of spring-loaded tongs with rubberized grips. I don't know how I cooked for 20 years prior to that with only the old scissors-style tongs that always drop stuff. Saute, grill, whatever -- it's my #1 tool for grabbing food. With scoop-like ends, it can be used for basting, scraping up fond, turning...

Its not new kitchen gadget but a very old one that I use quite often and have found very handy. I have 5" cast iron skillet that is as smooth as a baby's bottom. I fry a couple of eggs in it several times a week for egg sandwich breakfasts, its great for quickly toasting spices, and easy to clean.

I also have a short handled spatula that I love but have never seen anywhere else. This is great for flipping, burgers, eggs, pancakes, and as a general tool to use in most of my pots.

JoelF wrote:My one indispensable tool, though, is a set of spring-loaded tongs with rubberized grips. I don't know how I cooked for 20 years prior to that with only the old scissors-style tongs that always drop stuff. Saute, grill, whatever -- it's my #1 tool for grabbing food. With scoop-like ends, it can be used for basting, scraping up fond, turning...

I couldn't agree more. After working in restaurants with nothing but the spring loaded tongs going home to the scissor-stylewas appalling. Finally I decided to change the issue and now have about 10 pairs of spring loaded tongs. Ranging from 12 - 20 inches long and a few that are chromed for buffet use. Tongs are probably the most usefule gadget I have aver purchased, and I was one of the idiots with that infomercial touted potato peeler.

I haven't odered my eggstractor yet though.


Flip