Favourite kitchen things.

What are your favourite cooking tools, and why do you like them so much. I don`t mean cooker, fridge etc, but the more "everyday" type things.

I love my breadmaker as the bread toasts & frys so nicely. Has a good taste too.

Slow cooker as it makes good soup & casseroles etc, but really good for making stock.

Pressure cooker cos the kitchen is not so steamy & the food cooks a lot quicker.

I am sure I will think of more, but lets hear your choices please,

I too like my breadmaker, a Panasonic, which must have made 1500 loaves, with only a spare pan.

But, for my favourite gadget, it must be:



My passata press, from Seeds of Italy. When you have a tomato surplus, cook them lightly, pour in the top, crank the handle, passata comes out one way, seeds and skin the other. Simply fry some red onion and a bit of bacon, add the passata and you've got a simple pasta sauce.

It can also do other things; when I made quince cheese, the recipe said to pass the pulp through a sieve to separate the seeds and skin - this is much easier !

Ooh what an interesting question. I shall ponder this and return later with an answer

Panasonic bread maker. Had it about 5 or 6 years now, and never buy bread. If it broke down, I would go and buy another one tomorrow.
Remoska; originally bought for our camper van (which we no longer have), but I use it 3 or 4 times a week in the kitchen, and it goes camping with us. I've even taken it when staying away on training courses to use in a cheap hotel - heat up bagels for breakfast, and then heat a meal in the evening.
Balance scales; bought for £5 in a charity shop, including a full set of imperial weights. I've added to them with a set of metric weights. No batteries, nothing to go wrong. Accurate to 3 sultanas!
A nutmeg grater of simple design, but incredibly satisfying to use.

Having broken a whole series of plastic scales I bought a fairly basic set of electric scales. Although for me it's a backward step to buy something which needs batteries I love the ability to weigh really accurately, and the batteries do last for a year. The scales are so small they fit into the bookcase with my cookery books.
The other thing in the kitchen I love is a hand-thrown egg separator which makes the job very quick and I like the glaze!!

Dandelion wrote:The other thing in the kitchen I love is a hand-thrown egg separator which makes the job very quick and I like the glaze!!

So do you hand-throw the eggs into it, or do you hand-throw it with the eggs in, to separate them??

Oo-er, sorry, that was a bit confusing wasn't it?

Dandelion wrote:Oo-er, sorry, that was a bit confusing wasn't it?

Sorry D. I knew what you meant - I was just being silly.

where to start...?

My knives. I have quite a lot of kitchen knives but 3 or 4 favourites which are always razor sharp and a delight to use: a long chef's knife, a medium sized santoku and a small paring knife, plus a ginormous heavyweight Chinese cleaver. Oh and my bone saw.

Silicone spatulae and sheets for rolling pastry and so on.

Copper pans. Expensive and high maintenance but fab to cook with and one the day they are cleaned look beautiful.

Kitchenaid mixer and food processor. Bombproof workhorses.

Big pestle and mortar. Weighs a ton. Pounds up herbs and spices like nobodys' bidness.

Pizza stone. Wouldn't cook pizza or tarts without it. Next best thing to having a proper wood fired pizza oven, and only cost £11.

Pressure Canner - preserves hundreds of lbs of food every year.

Heavy duty rubber handled tongs - have reduced the number of burns I get dramatically.

Stovetop expresso maker - The wee metal one. Not sure if it has a proper name.

Stick blender. I was bereft when my old one broke but now have a bonster one that you can mix cement with.

mini pyrex and mason cash mixing bowls - I have a dozen or so in 1 litre and half litre and smaller sizes - ideal for when you are using a lot of wet and mixed ingredients, or setting up extensive mise en place but don't want huge bowls cluttering every surface - made a huge difference to my kitchen efficiency, did these.

Big catering stainless steel mixing bowls - I have a 15l, a couple of 10l and a couple of 5 l. Nice and deep, Ideal for whising stuf as you can be as vigourous as you like without spillage.

I'll stop there. For now.

I don't have a blast chiller yet. And it is my birthday soon, btw.

Just knew Billy`s list would be huge.

I also like a stick blender good for pots of soup. Spar got it for me in the Charity shop.

Metal "butterfly" tin opener, easier to use than the modern things.

What they call a Lincolnshire potato peeler, again easier to use than the double sided ones with a serrated edge.

Wilhelm Von Rhomboid wrote:

Kitchenaid mixer and food processor. Bombproof workhorses.

I can remember you getting a new Kitchenaid Billy - I didn't know what one was at the time
but I've since seen them on the Great British Bake Off

Food processor, makes brill shortcrust pastry

I'm with you there Pol - pastry is the one reason I'd have a food processor because I hate getting stuff under my nails!

Ohh kitchen stuff! I know you said not cookers but I do love mine. It's a dark green gas Rangemaster 55. I've had it 18 years and bought it when I started work at the hospital. (Before that I had a second hand one). Never had any problems with and when we had the kitchen done it had to be designed round the cooker as I didn't want to get rid of it (even tho' ex hubby did!! ) Just wish I'd had the room and money to get the double oven sized one.

Other stuff I love and use a lot are my stove top coffee maker. bread maker, glass lemon juicer and a pink silicone spatula that scrapes every last bit of cake mix out of the bowl. I also have a large wooden board used for rolling out pastry that used to belong to my Granddad who was a baker

I have a dark green cooker too. Must have had it for about 15years now. Love it too.

I also have a favourite paring knife fits my hand & I keep it sharp go nuts if it is missing. Also a big chopping knife.

A hand whisk that cost £1 in the charity shop, makes great yorkies, takes up very little space & less bother to clean up.