I love to cook, and I love me some kitchen gadgets. I have all sorts of cool things to make cooking easier and more fun. This is largely because my husband likes to buy me cool kitchen things for Christmas and birthdays. Check out what he got me for my birthday this year:
A machine for cooking sous vide style!! I used it this week for the first time to cook pork chops, my culinary nemesis. And they were actually pretty good! By far the best pork chop I’ve ever cooked. And by that, I mean they were edible. I have some refining of technique to do, but I am so thrilled with my new toy (I’m going to try poaching eggs in there next!).
Now, as cool as some of my fancy gadgets are, most of them get used only occasionally. The things I use more frequently are usually much more simple. And today I’m putting them together here to tell you what my very favorite, used-almost-every-day, hand-held-and-non-electric kitchen tools are. Top five. Ready?
5. My garlic press
I really hate mincing garlic, and I also hate having noticeable chunks of garlic in my food. The garlic press is my very favorite way of dealing with garlic. I have had many garlic presses over the years. All of them were kind of hard to clean and got rusty or broke after not too long. This garlic press is the best. I’ve had it for many years now and it’s easy to clean and it gets the job done. Fave.
4. My measuring cups and spoons from Pampered Chef.
They have little notches on the handles, so they snap together. They don’t get lost in the drawer, and I don’t have to mess with getting them on and off a ring. Plus the spoons are shaped so that they fit into a lot more spice jars. Measuring spoons here. Cups here.
3. My apple corer/slicer.
My kids really love apples and pears, but they aren’t big enough to eat a whole apple each. I have an aversion to getting out my cutting board unless it’s absolutely necessary. So this corer thing is perfect. I don’t really even know what brand mine is or where I got it. Scratch that. I just googled it and found mine on Amazon. It’s this one. I probably got it from Target. I’d really like to get one like this that cuts the slices more thinly, because I always end up cutting each of my sections in half lengthwise. But the one I have is fine.
2. Paring knives like these.
I have a choking phobia. I cut food up a lot. I love my cheap little paring knives for this purpose. When I use my apple slicer, I grab one of these guys, cut out any remaining core, and then slice the segment down the middle lengthwise.Quick and easy and without getting out my cutting board. These knives are small and versatile and dishwasher safe. The last part might be my favorite. I like not having to hand wash one of my fancy knives every time I need to cut something (which happens about 34 times per day).
1. My all-time favorite – the wooden spoon.
I always cook with a wooden spoon. It doesn’t scratch my non-stick. It won’t melt. And I just love the feel of my wooden spoons. The only downside of them is they aren’t good for serving, because they don’t scoop up much. My mother in law has a handmade wooden ladle that I covet. I think she found it at some roadside market in Appalachia or something. I’ve never seen another one like it, but it’s a dream of mine to someday have my very own wooden ladle.
I’m inking up with Rachael from Efficient Mama for five favorites.
Tell me your favorites in the kitchen!!
I love my apple corer/slicer too — the one that slices the fruit into 8 pieces. I have one that does slice into 16 pieces, but think back to your science classes: what you experience from doubling the blades is a serious increase in resistance. Be prepared for some upper body workout.
Haha! I didn’t think about that Godmother. The one I have works just fine, anyway 🙂
A quick search on esty found a lot of wooden ladles! You could hint about that to your husband for Mother’s Day or your birthday.
Haha! I noticed that too. None of them was quite the same (my MIL’s has a little hook on it so it can balance on the side of the pot while cooking), but my husband reads my blog and said the ones like his mom’s are very commonly available. I asked where he had seen them, and he said, “In bushcraft magazines.” I mentioned to him that bushcraft magazines don’t really constitute “commonly available.” But either way, maybe I’ll get my wish sooner rather than later 😉
Totally not listed here, but this reminds me…we are WAY overdue on replacing our meat thermometer. I used to live by that thing and then the battery died. 🙁
YES!!! My meat thermometer is another cherished kitchen tool. Can’t cook meat without it.