Kitchen Gadgetry and the Pampered Chef

[Mike Nolan]

My favorite whisk is one that ATK gave one of the lowest ratings to.

[Joan Simpson]

My favorite whisk is a Hodges,love it.

[cwcdesign]

I just got a set of cookie scoops for Christmas and made the quickest batch of cookies ever, so I know I'm going to love them.

Microplane, OXO pizza cutter I received for Christmas. I agree about the scale. Whisks, peelers, bench knifes, KAF silicone mat for counter (not oven) - in my tiny kitchen it saves lots of clean up - Chicago metallic sheet pans. Years ago, I put a grapefruit knife in one son's Christmas stocking, because he was eating tons of grapefruit. I use it for getting seeds out of squash and separating avocados from their skin - rarely for grapefruit. I have a juicer that my mom gave me - she used it for my stepfather's freshly squeezed OJ (and he died in 1999!) but it helps because my hands can't squeeze juice anymore. I also find it quicker and easier to grate cheese by hand.

After we downsized, I've learned I can live without a lot of gadgets I had.

• This reply was modified 6 years ago by cwcdesign.

[navlys]

I also love my grapefruit knife. It is perfect to slice out pineapple flesh and watermelon quarters. I use my scale to weigh and divide my stolen. When I get lazy and find my onions aren't chopped fine enough in my spaghetti sauce I use my scissors to cut them finer in the sauce. Ok I love gadgets!!!

[BakerAunt]

I use grapefruit spoons to dig seeds out of pumpkin and other squash. I have a lot of them, but even when I did eat grapefruit, I always peeled it by hand. My Mom gave me six, probably because they matched my stainless utensils. From my husband's parents, who did have a grapefruit eating period, we also have several stainless ones and two with yellow handles of the texture of grapefruit skin with the handle end looking like freshly sliced grapefruit. I've also found that the pointed tips are helpful for transferring spices to bottles or sprinkling colored sugar in strategic spots on sugar cookies.

I, too, love the silicone mats for counter work. I never use them for baking.

I would bet that most of us have found more than one use for some of these supposedly single-use tools.

[navlys]

I just remembered this. About 5 yrs. ago (or maybe more) I was testing recipes for Cook's Illustrated. One of the recipes required a potato ricer so being the good little tester I went to Williams Sonoma and bought one. I don't remember what it cost nor do I remember ever using it again. I had to quit testing though because it became too expensive and time consuming.

[BakerAunt]

I have a plastic, with metal discs, potato ricer that I bought years ago from Williams Sonoma. I have used it a lot for making mashed potatoes--usually when there were a lot of people around to eat that batch of mashed potatoes. At the moment, it is one of the items still packed away somewhere, while we continue to wait for the contractor to start our remodeling. I've been using a potato masher with a flat round end that has squares; I bought it at an estate sale so that I could mash potatoes in Indiana, during the time we were only here on vacations. It does a lovely job, and is a lot less messy to clean. For large batches, however, I think that my potato ricer works faster.

Navlys--Cooks Illustrated should have given you a kitchen tool/ingredient allowance!

• This reply was modified 5 years, 12 months ago by BakerAunt.

[skeptic7]

I like my potato ricer -- it was a gift from a friend when she was cleaning out her mother's collection. Its messier to clean and has more wastage than a round potato masher, but it does a more thorough job and produces fluffier mash potatoes.
I'm not sure it counts as "gadgets" but I have a lot of cake pans. I liked the deeper 3 and 4 inch cake pans since the idea of baking one large cake and then slicing it in layers sounded so cute and practical and then I wouldn't have to deal with trying to fit domed layers together. I have 9", 8" rounds and a 9"square all 3'' deep. I also have spring form pans of various sizes, and a couple shallow 8" rounds. I am now baking mainly bread and don't use these pans at all. My last couple of cakes were done in a half sheet pan, or a 9X13 pan.
On the gadgets, I have a glass gravy strainer which is suppose to seperate the fat from the juice. This is really only useful for large amounts of gravy. For smaller amounts like a quart, its easier to just remove the fat with a spoon.

[BakerAunt]

Skeptic7--I have the same glass fat separator. I have not used it that much for fat separating, but it is very good for precise placement of water when pouring through that long spout.

I did buy a gadget from King Arthur that can be used to fill cupcakes. It has a lever on the handle that opens and closes a centered hole on the bottom. I've not used it for cupcake batter yet, and I don't know that I will, but it makes an excellent fat separator for gravy, and it is easier to clean than the glass one.

[Mike Nolan]

We had one of those glass fat separators and seldom used it, in large part because it was difficult to clean. It broke and we have not replaced it.

[aaronatthedoublef]

I have a food mill that I use for mashed potatoes. I love it. I also use it for ricing potatoes for gnocchi. I also really like my fat separator. I have a plastic, Oxo one and I use it for turkeys, chickens, and carnitas. Sometimes I use it as a spare measuring cup.

Last Christmas someone gave me a strainer that clips onto the edge of a pot. I use it several times a week for draining pasta.

Any recommendations on whisks? I really need a new, small one.

[BakerAunt]

I've never thought about brand names in connection with whisks, and I cannot seem to find a brand on my favorite ones. My small ones came from Williams Sonoma years ago, although I don't know what they carry now. The wires are embedded in wax (?) or some kind of material that allows for give. A previous, cheaper whisk, where the wires were connected into the metal came apart. I have several sizes of flat whisks also, some of which are silicone coated so that I can use them in non-stick pans. I think that they came from T.J. Maxx. I like the flat whisk for making gravy in a roaster pan. I have a funny, up and down whisk that is perfect for mixing up my sourdough starter before I use it, and also for mixing it after I've fed it.

In addition to sturdiness, how the whisk feels in your hand while you are using it is key, so a test drive is necessary.

[Mike Nolan]

My favorite whisk is a Zyllis Easy Clean, but ATK absolutely hated it when they tested whisks some years back.

[skeptic7]

My favorite whisk is a flat one used for roux, but I like it for mixing quick breads and doughs. It has the plastic fill to support the handle and its much easier to clean than a round whisk. I've seen it in two sizes but the smaller one is easier to use.

[BakerAunt]

I'm not sure that my cheap strawberry huller was a great buy. I think that I have a better one packed away somewhere, as I vaguely recall one working in the past. For the recipe that I'm baking today, I ended up using a paring knife to cut out the hulls. If I'm slicing strawberries, I usually halve them and cut out the hull, but these need to be whole.

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