Every chef – from the professional to the beginner – has a list of kitchen tools and gadgets they simply couldn’t live without. There are hundreds, if not thousands, of kitchen tools you could purchase to complete a variety of specialised tasks but very few of them are, strictly speaking, necessary. However, what you need and what you love and can’t live without don’t need to be the same and its perfectly fine to have tools other people deem unnecessary. I know I do.
There are a host of gadgets I don’t see a need for – the air fryer is one of them – and its unlikely I’ll ever by into the hype around those gadgets. However, there are some I love and would not be caught without. Here are 10 of my favourites. Let me know which ones you use, which ones you want and which ones you could happily live your entire life without.
Let’s start with blades. Every chef needs a high-quality set of sharp knives. Do yourself a favour and buy the nest knives you can afford. While expensive, a good set of knives will last you for years. There are two types of knives I use, and neither were too expensive. My first set of knives, purchased decades ago, are stainless steel and stay sharp for a couple of months between sharpening them. When buying stainless steel knives, make sure you can sharpen them, either with a knife sharpener or a whetstone because you will need to sharpen them from time to time, especially if you spend a lot of time in the kitchen. My second set of knives is a ceramic set I bought about 5 years ago, and they are still perfectly sharp despite never being sharpened. There are mixed feelings about these knives since some brands claim their knives will never dull or need sharpening and there are those chefs who claim that this is not true. To date, my ceramic knives have not needed to be sharpened and these are definitely my preferred blade. However, if you do need to sharpen a ceramic knife it needs to be done with a diamond sharpening stone, an electric sharpener made for ceramic blades or by a professional.
Staying with blades, my favourite gadget for chopping onions is a pull chopper like the one in the picture. This eliminates the need to chop your onions by hand and helps to prevent onion induced tears or sore eyes. This manual gizmo simply requires you to pull the cord several times for finely chopped onions. It’s also great for other vegetables that need to be finely chopped.
The bread machine is one item people love to hate. It’s a machine that looks like a great idea but too often is used once or twice and then forgotten on a top shelf and never to be used again. My bread machine, however, gets frequent use. It’s wonderful for whipping up a loaf of fresh raisin bread, dough for hamburger rolls or the perfect pizza base. Its also handy when you’ve run out of bread and don’t want to take the trouble to run to the shops or order online for just one item. While so many people I know have these machines tucked away out of sight, mine lives on my countertop and seldom has time to rest.
Once you have your dough ready for hamburger buns, why not pull out a hamburger press and make your own stuffed hamburger patties? Presses like this one can be used to make plain patties or, using the indent attachment, to make an indentation in the centre of your patty which you can fill with your favourite fillings. I love fried onions in sweet chilli cream cheese at the centre of my burgers and this press gives me the perfect patty every time. If you don’t want to stuff your patties, the burger press is also great for ensuring all your patties are the same size and perfectly round.
If you have these two items in your kitchen, why not make your own burger patties and rolls the next time you entertain. These gadgets offer the perfect meal for outdoor entertaining, and the perfect patties will impress your guests every time.
My next must have gadget is my slow cooker. Growing up my mom used her Crockpot at least once a week, throwing everything for dinner in on her way to work and leaving the kitchen smelling heavenly by the time I arrived home from school. A slow cooker is a definite must have for busy professionals or parents who want tasty, easy food prepared for them while they are out living their lives. It’s perfect for curries, stews, roasts and so many more delicious dishes.
The Miracle Braai Mat was mentioned in my blog last week and has been a real lifesaver over the past two weeks. This Teflon sheet can be put on any cooking surface including your coal or gas braai (barbeque), a pan on your electric or gas stove, or in the oven at temperatures of up to 260°C. This mat makes additional fat or oil unnecessary when frying and is perfect for anyone trying to cut animal fat and oil out of their diet. In the past two weeks I have used it to fry beef and pork steaks and even chips which were perfectly crispy despite the complete lack of oil.
Since it is currently winter in South Africa, and the past few days have been icy, my orange juicer has been in constant use. While you can squeeze your oranges by hand for your morning orange juice, using an electric squeezer is far easier and much quicker. However, be warned that some of them will see more juice splattered on the wall than what goes into the jug so do your research and find one that does not splash. My Moulinex does a great job of keeping the juice in the jug is and is favourite appliance in winter.
If you love soups, smooth sauces, or mashed potatoes, you need a multipurpose stick blender. This has different names in different countries, including being called an emersion blender, but whatever you call it, you have to have one! This is another gadget you need to choose with care. While the power is important its how long you can use it continuously that you should check before buying.one. I started with an 800w blender and loved it so much that I bought a second blender, by a different manufacturer, a couple of years later. The second one boasts 1200w but to my dismay I soon discovered that it isn’t nearly as good as the 800w one since it can only be used for two minutes and then needs to reast for at least 15 minutes before being used before. This means that quickly blitzing a pot of potato soup to make a thick, smooth, and creamy meal takes far long that when using my 800w blender which can run for 10 minutes at a time and only needs five minutes resting time between uses. That said, each of them has its purpose and use and I wouldn’t be caught without at least one of these in my kitchen.
This one is a no brainer. If you’re a baker or need to weigh ingredients for any reason, a digital scale is a must have. Make sure you get one which measures from 1g as the larger scales which start at 100g or 250g aren’t good enough for those meals that require small quantities of ingredients to give then subtle flavours.
My final “must have” is a cast iron griddle pan which is great for frying juicy steaks to perfection. Because the pan gets extremely hot, a griddle pan isn’t ideal for thin cuts of meat, but you’ll never fry thicker cuts on another pan once
you’ve tried a griddle pan. To achieve perfection, you need to baste your meat with a sauce or brush it with oil before placing it on the pan for a wonderful flame grilled flavour. If you love a piece of crispy fat on your steak, this pan sears the fat to perfection. Since no additional oil or fat is added to the pan, it is also a reasonably healthy way of frying steak and other thicker cuts of meat.
While those are 10 of my favourite kitchen gizmos, you may have others that you simply cannot cook without, and I’d love to hear about them. Keep an eye on my Pintrest page for weekly cooking tips and exciting news coming out of my kitchen.
That’s all for this week but I'll be back next week to chat about a new topic. If you have a blog idea you’d like me to write about in this blog, please leave a comment here or email me on samsgourmetgathering@gmail.com
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