The amount of work you put into your videos is insane. Thank you sooo much for your help. I don’t JUST watch ur videos. They help me on the day to day… saving me tons of money, time, headache, confusion, build my skills… just thank you! Thank u! Thank you!
I'm so confused by the scale considered overkill for many people. It's a standard kitchen tool in Germany and pretty sure all over Europe. Measuring cups really only work for liquids or dry products who have the same volume like other products used in the recipe, other wise they are way to inaccurate and mostly just annoying to use.
True, but while in Europe, our recipes mostly measure ingredients by weight, in the US, they often measure by volume exclusively. I think it goes back to the Old West: scales were impractical for the pioneer women, who travelled in wagons and had to cook over campfires on the trek west. Measuring by volume using a cup would make more sense for this life: a cup takes up less space & weighs less than a set of scales, and scales might get damaged to the point of being useless when travelling rough terrain.
As a left handed person, the Y shaped peeler makes all the difference. So many (pretty much all) tools are made for right handed people, and I have to figure out how to hold them upside down or contort my hand, but the Y shape peeler works the same with left and right hands. 👍
I don't know that I've ever seen a right-hand-biased straight peeler before. OTOH, my Y-shaped peeler has the little scoop thing for removing eyes from potatoes, the location of which is for right-handed people (although it isn't difficult to use left handed). I actually wish it wasn't even there, since it gets in the way when peeling/shaving things that are flat on the cutting board - asparagus, for example.
I love having a wide-mouth funnel for pouring anything into a jar. Really saves on cleanup and should be pretty cheap to find. I also like bendable cutting boards so I can easily transfer what I just chopped to another dish.
You are my favorite UA-camr "real "cook and recipe developer. I Pin 90% of your recipes in my "recipes to make asap" folder. Make more videos, you've grown so more comforable, confident and fun with your videos!!! Hope your adorable parents are as proud of you as I am. Much Love and Peace from the Hudson Valley, Upstate NY. :)
I bought a vegetable chopper/dicer for about $20 a few years ago. I think I picked it up at Target. Dicing vegetables is probably one of my least favorite things to do in the kitchen. After I bought it, it made cooking at home less of a pain and more of an enjoyment. It really helped me a lot in my transition to a plant based lifestyle. Good recommendations!
I love my garlic press and would rather use it over mincing. Mine is from Pampered Chef and has a little tool with it that cleans all the holes at one time. Saves time. I have all the other tools you mentioned and love them.
I have had the same garlic press for 51 years and use it all the time. It has the type of press that when you reverse it cleans the press for you. Easier and faster than using a grater.
I do love my garlic press! But it also SUPER depends on which one you buy how useful it's going to be! But it's also very much personal preference! I also may have to get myself a citrus juicer now!
Great list! Could not agree more with the digital scale! I never really understood the enthusiasm for measuring cups! I would also add a thin mesh strainer (works for cocktails too! 😜) and a large funnel (to avoid mess when you transfer grains or whatever to jars).
If you want to have a garlic press, but don't want the cleaning mess, I can recommend the garlic seesaw: It's a single piece of stainless steel that you rock back and forth over a garlic clove, and the garlic gets pushed through holes in the middle of the seesaw. Then you can use the press to directly transfer the garlic to the pan, and then just clean it under running water. Rubbing the stainless steel with your fingers while cleaning it will also remove garlic smell from your hands, which is really useful. The garlic seesaw is one of the very few single-use-items that I keep in my kitchen drawer.
To keep your garlic press from getting too dirty, just press the garlic clove with the skin on. It works fantastic. You just have to squeeze harder with your hands. But the minced garlic comes out just the same and when you open up the press and pull out the leftover garlic peel/paper, all or most of the mess comes with it, keeping your garlic press clean. As long as you have a decent garlic press (not a cheap one) this works great.
I have most of these kitchen tools, and I love them all. The kitchen scale is so handy for all of the reasons you mentioned. I must confess I used to buy fresh garlic, but now I buy pre-minced garlic (and ginger). I don't cook as often as I used to, so the bottled garlic lasts longer for me than the fresh kind, and it's just handy to squeeze out garlic vs crushing, peeling and mincing it.
This is SO HELPFUL! Yes! I will absolutely use these tips TODAY! My tip for juicing is I roll the citrus first and cut in half. Then I use a small fork and squeeze the citrus half with fork. I get every drop. 👍🏼💚🌱
Since you asked 😅 I am a fan of the garlic press. I hate grating things, so being able to press garlic this way is a blessing. And it maybe depends on a model, but mine is quite easy to clean - needs only some rinsing with water in the opposite direction than the garlic went through - and I think most of the cloves gets through and the only part that stays behind is a sturdier skin. I use the same tool for pressing ginger if I only need a little for a drink, just slice it before putting it in. Other than that, I totally agree with your choices! What I would add to the list would be a chopper - it is my most used kitchen tool because it takes only a couple of string pulls to chop up onions, carrots, bigger quantities of garlic or ginger as well as fresh herbs ❤
I cook for one alot. So before I start cooking a recipe, I list my adjusted ingredients in my kitchen whiteboard so I don't mess up later on. I find it more convenient and environmentally friendly than getting out a new piece of paper like I used to.
An instant read thermometer has helped me and my wife exponentially!! Not only are we confident that our protein is cooked enough to be safe but we do not over cook certain items which is a game changer in taste and quality!!! We have and use all of your top ten items and have never owned a garlic press.
My picks would be a small silicon whisk and small silicon spatula. I have the bigger versions too of course, but I use the small ones way more frequently.
You killed me at 9:11! You can just use the press the other way around and use the red part to push through the holes. It's actually super easy to clean that way. It pushes out all the garlic this way and you can just rinse it and it's mostly clean.
I've kept a whiteboard on the fridge for years and it is so handy. I write down everything on need from the grocery store on one side as I run out of things. I keep a list of meal ideas on the other, and if I am preparing a large meal with many steps, I list that too. This makes cooking something like Thanksgiving so much easier. I even write oven times and temperatures next to the dish so I can efficiently plan oven use.
Great tips! If you don't have a bench scraper, you can also use the top of your knife (the non sharp side) to gather food from your cutting board. That way you are not risking damaging the knife blade or hurting yourself.
Re the garlic press. I make my own fresh garlic paste. Take 4-5 heads of garlic, peel the cloves, use a food processor to puree. You need some liquid in the processor bowl for this, and I use vodka, 1-2 oz per processor load. The vodka acts as a preservative - if you were a bacterium, would you want to live on a mixture of garlic and vodka? - and I suspect it helps draw out the garlic flavenoids as well. Store in the fridge in an airtight glass container. A teaspoon of paste is roughly equivalent to a clove. Spend less than an hour once a month and you have fresh garlic available with no hassle. My daughter once said, "There is no food that is not improved by adding either garlic or chocolate."
I’ve had my kitchen scale since I got married over 58 years ago. Use it every week at least. Always convert any cup measurements to oz or grams as it’s more precise.
I loooove My microplane! best kitchen tool I ever bought 😀👍 (Also dislike the garlic press, totally useless 😅) I don't think I ever commented on your channel...... I want to thank you for your great videos! I love them! Some of your dishes are standard food at our house nowadays, for example the Butternut Squash Curry with Chickpeas, we love it! 🙂💙💙💙💙💙💙
OXO makes 1/4 cup measuring cup & has tablespoons measured on it. Love this for making drinks or when a sauce calls for 1 TBSP of this & 2 of that, you can just quick measure it all in that one cup
Definitely add a set of stainless steel canning funnels to your list. It was kind of painful to watch you use your spatula to transfer the contents of the food processor into that jar. Also, I don't know if these are still under $20, Food52 sells a ceramic funnel for filling your spice jars. I bought one for me a few years ago and then the next year that's what I gave everyone for Christmas.
I agree. A scale is essential and total game changer. I use mine ALL-THE-TIME! I've been known to weigh a $4.99 Costco chicken, just to understand how cheaply delicous these are. I've had my micro grater for years. I DO get fancy with my garlic peel/slicer but I should just use my microplane. Great video!
Amazed, surprised and above all happy that an american is actually using grams (SI metric units) to measure things the way the rest of the world does, instead of being afraid of it ! Kudos to you ! And yes, measuring by weight IS DEFINITELY more acurate than measuring by volume ! Who'd have thunk it ! Good video !
Totally agreed on garlic presses… in fact the minute you mentioned having a “don’t” item, I thought of a garlic press because I hate them. I didn’t know about oven thermometers, thank you for that tip! I feel like a thermometer with a range that includes hot water, oil, meats, and candy/sugar is indispensable.
Wow most amazing cooking gift recommendation / tool recommendation video I have ever. As a self taught home cook I had to learn so many of these recommendations and cooking tips the hard way (struggling with a dumb garlic presser for example). I agree whole heartedly with every recommendation you made and the ones I wasn't aware of (like the little white board - i just use junk paper). I'm going to run out and buy. Thanks for helping me become a better cook! I love all your videos.
That was a great video. I own most of the items you mentioned. Two other items that are invaluable to me are a set of silicone tongs and a molcajete (mortar and pestle).
While I've never had a good experience using a hand-held garlic crusher I picked up a rocker style crusher and love it, can do multiple cloves at once, none of the garlic gets stuck in it anywhere and a brush while washing up cleans it in a couple seconds.
I see you have an Oxo garlic press. If you don't want to toothpick out garlic, all you have to do is invert the press and allow the red bit to push the garlic back out through the holes. Cleans in a jiffy! I use mine all the time. It is a lot faster than mincing, especially when you are using a lot of garlic, and when it goes through the press, it breaks down the structure of the garlic more, releasing more of its compounds.
Yup I love mine, super easy to clean. Also whenever there is some garlic left after pressing once you can easily just push the garlic together again and press one more time. 🤷🏻♀️
What you call a bench scraper I've always called a dough knife, and they are the must useful tool in a professional kitchen. I've never bothered to buy one for home, because I'm lazy and cheap. I can make due without. But when I have access to it, it's one of the most versatile tools, and it's super useful for cleaning too.
I don't own a garlic press. I grated my garlic using a grater similar to the one in your video or chop. I love my scale and my white board. We rely on the white board for all our thoughts to not forget or shopping lists. Happy cooking !
Two items I use in the kitchen the most would be the Y-shaped shredder (mmm carrots) and my tofu towels. Patting your tofu slices/cubes dry is so much faster than pressing and doesn't compromise the texture or structure.
In terms of spoonulas, I recommend Fiskars silicone spoon. It serves as a spoon, ladle and silicone spatula. You can even lay it anywhere without it dripping. None of my friends came back after trying one of these.
I"m glad to hear I'm not the only one who doesn't like a garlic press! I bought a nifty-looking box version that came with a silicone tube to peel the garlic and a box with a lid to press it through a grating tool & collect it, all of which work pretty well! But it is absolutely impossible to clean. I even tried a toothpick like in this video! And my gadget still has garlic stuck in it. I'm interested in trying the grater you show instead!
A couple of months ago I bought a special grater to grate carrots for korean carrot salad. There are different blades, I usually use 1 or 2, but I really liked this stuff because it is made of a bowl, a lid and a strainer. So you can easily cook pasta or boil potatoes and then stain the excess liquid. Sometimes i use just the bowl when cutting something.
Also, I don’t know how I survived without my bench scraper and digital scale. Especially my scale. I just pour my dry goods (rice/pasta/beans/lentils/cereal/etc.) into a bowl or blate I plan to use, then cook as directed. No extra dishes to wash AND I already have my bowl/blate out for serving. 🤩 I even use my scale for cold cereal. I weigh the cereal (and milk) in my cereal bowl. It makes grocery planning so much easier! 🥰🌱💚
Thank you for sharing! I have to keep telling myself to push through to summer! AK winters are killer and life is rough when you cannot see the light! You’re taking control 👏 good job girl!
Ok there was this amazing kitchen product that was in Buzzfeed articles for two years straight and it’s the best thing I own in my kitchen. It is this strainer that clips on to the side of your pot (the ones at Walmart are too tiny and flimsy… I got the one on Amazon). I am sooo clumsy and I would always lose quite a bit of pasta when I would try to strain using a pot lid, and strainers are kinda hard to wash thoroughly (at least for me… I am diagnosed OCD). This $10 tool has saved so much pasta from going down the drain it isn’t even funny. I love it so much that I got them for all of my family members on Christmas and so far they all love it.
Two things I use a LOT are my extra large pancake flipper which works great for handling homefries, Reubens and Quesadillas on the panini press and my krinkle cutter for making short work of carrots and celery for soups (easily cuts 3 or 4 at the time) and snacks and great for homemade potato and sweet potato fries. I also use it to cut on the bias for an eye-catching look - great when slicing carrots and celery for hummus. It's also safer for kids, people with arthritic hands and vision impaired. The handle is directly over the curvy blade and there's less chance of cutting yourself. I even used it blindfolded to see if I could before recommending it to my elderly friends and family, lol.
Almost missed this one since I got zero notifications for it! thank you for reminding me to get a new peeler! my current one makes everything take longer and potentially makes me waste more usable produce by having to make more "swipes"
I never baked because of how fast the dishes would pile up… until I got a digital scale. It saves so much time and dishes! Love the other tools as well! My best cheap friend in the kitchen is my silicone spatula. Another tool I love is the cheese slicer, even though I don’t eat cheese. The size of it is perfect for flipping pretty much everything except really big pancakes.
LOL oh I was SO happy to hear you speak truth to the garlic press. Couldn't agree more. I either mince or just chop it in the food processor. Thank you for this insightful video. Happy New Year!
If your whiteboard is on your helpful tools list, I'd add an Amazon Echo instead. Alexa is helpful for setting multiple timers, not just for oven cooking time, but just as reminders to return and make sure the water doesn't boil over. Plus, Alexa can create shopping lists, reminders for the week, and play you both music and podcasts that fill your time while you're prepping food.
I’d add a set of thin flexible chopping boards. They double as funnels for safely transferring chopped ingredients to pans and soup machines. They’re lightweight, both sides can be used, and they’re quick and easy to wash and dry.
TEAM CUTTING GLOVE Can't believe how many professional and semi professional cooks i see never using them with mandolines. It is so easy to didn't maim yourself with one of those
They make a garlic press rocker that is stainless steel and absolutely amazing. It's definitely worth checking out, easy to clean and get the garlic out, and it's only around $10.
I can’t imagine my kitchen without my garlic press. However, my garlic press isn’t like most peoples it’s from the late 1950s it was left to me. It cleans up very well and it’s extremely heavy duty. It works so much better than the graters in my opinion. It may be because it’s vintage and made extremely well. Who knows but it’s a must have in my kitchen :-)
Depends which garlic press you get : ) quality is very important here, it's extremely efficient if you got a good one. Mine cleans in 30s too, and it won't leave too much stuck inside, I'd say way more gets left on a wide grater ;D
For sheet trays, I recommend getting half, quarter, and eighth or surgical trays. I got a pack of surgical trays for very small bake duties. Great for cooking one or two pieces of chicken, a fish filet, nuts, or to roast a lot of different things with varying cook times. Just make sure they are autoclave safe and not decorative. 🔥
My suggestions... A "kitchen" tool I recently began using: a whetstone, or knife-sharpening stone. They're cheap and easy to use, even if you're not as exacting a knife-sharpener as a professional chef might be. Sharpening sticks, like you see angry chefs using in the movies, are only for very quick tune ups, and the tabletop sharpeners are great for holding down garbage in your kitchen trash can. My $15 trio of kitchen knives now cut like a $30 trio of kitchen knives. Canning jars, lids and rings, so you can create large batches of "whatevah." I just today tried canning for the first time. Out of eight jars, six seem to have probably sealed well (the little bump in the lid goes "plink" as the vacuum is formed). I don't know for sure if those six are truly sealed as I need to let them sit for a few more hours. The other two that didn't plink are in the refrigerator and I'll probably freeze the contents. It's much easier to just freeze whatevah, but if you want to save freezer space then canning is a good option. Canned items can last for a year or so on a shelf out of direct sunlight. (Why they call it canning instead of jarring, I'll never know. Maybe calling it jarring was too jarring.) If you get into canning, at a minimum also get canning tongs so you can easily lift them out of the boiling water or pressure cooker (there are two methods for canning). A wide-mouthed funnel can help with filling the jars, but I didn't bother with that. I don't know if it qualifies as cheap (I got mine as a gift; thank you, ex-wife), but my immersion blender is essential. I use it to blend up all the solid ingredients in my pasta sauce. _(See canning, above.)_ Mine is also a mini food processor and has a whisk attachment. I think there's a fourth attachment too. And... the classic salad spinner. It's fun to watch salad get all dizzy. Just don't spin it too much or you'll have to clean up salad dressing when it gets motion sickness. In all seriousness, it's a good, quick way to dry veggies you've washed, or really any food you've had to wash (even socks). The basket also serves as a nice strainer for foods that aren't hot, and the main bowl can be used for mixing loose ingredients as long as you don't use tools that can scratch the plastic. As long as it's not too hot (and you don't need to impress people with how classy you are), the bowl can even used for serving popcorn or other snacks. And two of them put together make a _great_ space helmet for Halloween costumes. Just don't forget to cut a hole for your neck; don't ask me how I found out about that.
The “sharpening sticks” are called honing rods and they do not sharpen your knives, they hone them which means bends the tip of your knife back in place to keep it sharper for longer, you’re supposed to use it to hone your knives every day or week and it makes a huge difference. A sharpener actually takes off metal from your knife, actually sharpening it once it is dull. If you’re honing your knives regularly you should only have to sharpen your knives twice a year.
@@pauladeensbuttbutter Yep, I couldn't remember what they were called - thanks for catching that! As for me, even honing won't keep me from having to sharpen my $15 knife set more than twice a year. 😁
All great tools to have. Regarding the garlic press, I find it really useful, especially for the garlic paste / sauce that I usually make. For me the microplaner is just as hard to clean, with more time/effort to make the garlic finely minced.
I love my garlic press!! It has a tool that attaches to it to clean it out and to remove the skin, between pressing each clove. It’s roomy enough to have two small-medium cloves at the same time too.
I love my garlic press, I only really use it when I need to use large quantities of garlic, otherwise I tend to just use a knife, but when I have a dish that requires 15 garlic cloves then I'm definitely happy to have one. Plus, I don't clean it by hand, I just put it in the dishwasher. I have one where the bit with the holes is detachable, if I put it in the right spot in the dishwasher then it gets perfectly clean no problem.
The handheld mandoline (I call it a handoline) is a must-have tool. My only complaint with the OXO one is that even on the thickest setting, the slices it makes are a little too thin for certain applications. I dehydrate a LOT of apples, and when I use the handoline to slice them, they come out so thin that they are a real pain to get off the dehydrator trays in one piece.
*9:36* more people should be using alexa (or another similar product) for this. All you ever need to do is say it out loud and it gets added to your shopping list. And then when you are at the store you can just check your phone and the list is on the app. (It can even organize the list by what "department" the items are in.)
Garlic rocker press is the future. I think back to all those times I spent fiddling around with messy garlic press (and scraping 50% of garlic out with a knife anyway) Or chopping painstakingly by hand. Rocker does 3-4 cloves in seconds, and it just goes straight in dishwasher. Can’t believe it took me until my 40s to discover it. Single best cost / space vs time saver I have in my kitchen
i love your channel so much. I agree garlic press is garbage. I never use mine. I tend to prep my garlic all at once and freeze it, so i just throw them in a food processor and then into a ziplock bag. I use the bench scraper to mark lines in the ziplock bag / garlic so i can pull out just one small square from the bag. The biggest pain for me has always been peeling garlic.
The garlic press I have is from IKEA and it’s so awesome because part of it swivels out so it is REALLY easy to clean. Literally never want to own a different press
Thanks for this list. I agree with the garlic presser, I have two but can't be bothered using it. I rather use my great chef's knife (Victorinox), a grater although I need to purchase your recommended one, or even store bought grated garlic/ginger (I know, lazy but sometimes it helps me avoid take out).
I agree on every point (which are all charismatically delivered) except the garlic press, but only because I have a pricey one that peels your garlic as it crushes and leaves only the peel behind in the crusher, it’s also easy to clean (just take out the peel and give it a rinse). Brand: Dreamfarm
I have all of your favs! I would also add a potato masher to the list. They're not just for potatoes. I mashed avocado and cannellini beans together this morning with mine. I don't understand how people cook and bake without a scale.
You convinced me to buy a microplane a few months ago, and I agree, it’s the right tool for zesting and grating nutmeg, I’m glad I bought it. I have all the other tools except the mandolin slices, that’s been on my Christmas wish list for awhile, perhaps I’ll get it this year. The problem with your “whiteboard” idea is that it’s bulky to take with you to the store, and there is only one copy. I have an iPad dedicated to the kitchen, and use shared documents for things like shopping lists, so that either I or my husband can add/remove from the list anywhere, any time. If he’s at the grocery store, no need to text to have him get something extra, I just add it to the list. Plus the iPad works great for me to watch your videos and cook along with you. As far as garlic press, clean it within 30 minutes of use, and it will come clean with almost zero effort. I have the same Oxo model as you, and just invert it under running water so the red nubbies push the garlic remains back out the holes. Love both the silicone pancake spatula (I have the exact same model) and your pancake recipe to use it on.
If you want to make a quick note while cooking, the white board is great, then you could transfer important items to your iPad once your hands are clean. Or snap a photo. I doubt she carries the white board to the store.
I completely agree on all of this, especially the garlic press! I bought one because I used to hate mincing garlic with a knife, but I found that with the press, I wasn't saving time because I'd have to scrape out the bits left in the press (which was a lot) and mince that anyway. Not to mention that it takes up space in the dishwasher and is difficult to clean by hand. I just learned better ways of mincing garlic with my knife and that solved my original issue. :)
I like using a lot of garlic so I crush it up in a mortal and pestle and scoop out with a teaspoon. It's really quick and fairly quick to clean up. I too haven't had much luck with garlic presses and I've grated my fingers trying the grater
Garlic press is great, mostly because you don't have to peel the garlic cloves, you can just throw in the clove smash it and take out the peel in one piece inside and scrape off the minced garlic from the outside of the press. Really is a worthwhile device in my opinion. thanks for sharing your best and worst!
I love this list, very practical. I have about half of the items and they are things I use often. Also, I used my fridge whiteboard this afternoon to write down the portions and ingredients to a recipe I was making up so that I could record the macros later. It often gets used for the grocery list and occasionally for messages to my roommate. "There is gumbo in the fridge or Refill the water pitcher you lazy @#!#!"
thank you for the comment on the garlic mincer!!!! I've been back and forth if I want to buy one and almost did twice! I really need a grater also and I think I will just go with that instead!
I love all your tool suggestions. I do use my Pampered Chef garlic press a lot, but it works better if the garlic is peeled or cut in half first so more of the garlic makes it out of the press.
ood list. I need to say that many tools have a learning curve, and it is worth going through the process to properly evaluate them. I just recently got a scale, and converting my old recipes, or newly obtained ones, is tedious. But I realize that it will be more efficient once I put in the work. I agree with other commenters that you should leave the garlic clove unpeeled which allows you to remove the waste quickly. I use the press for quick meals and dice when I have more time and don’t want the essence of garlic on my fingertips. I never pull my traditional peeler towards me, I peel away and right into the compost tub. I use both types, depending on the item. Finally, silicone tipped tongs should be added. Frying, boiling and dipping are all much sloppier when I use my hands. I’ve got 3.
When zesting, reverse the position of the fruit and microplane. This allows you to easily see the fruit that you are zesting to avoid zesting the pith (bitter part.) The backside of the microplane is angled in to assist in this functionality.
My pampered chef garlic press comes with a little brush thing that sticks up through the holes at once and is very easy to clean! The brush clips on to the inside of the handle so it doesnt get lost. Good solid aluminum design so i know it will last. 10/10
Great advice for anyone cooking with rice regularly and getting portion sizes wrong, just get a lid of an adequate size of an aerosol style tin and use it as one portion, you get the same everytime.
although it doesn't get used all of the time/super duper often, and is very nearly (but not quite) a single use tool, I really love using a melon baller for coring apples and pears.. slice the fruit in half, scoop out the middle with the melon baller, then use a paring knife to slice out the stem/end bits..
I used to hate using the garlic press, then I got one from Ikea. It's a pretty simple design and it opens up for super easy cleaning. I have a dishwasher though, so maybe by hand it would be harder, but i've washed it by hand a dozen times and didn't think anything of it. I will probably never chop/grate another garlic clove again.
I love my garlic press! But totally understand why you prefer the knife. You’ve got pretty good knife skills. Also LOVE my micro plane. Grates my ginger so fast!
The amount of work you put into your videos is insane. Thank you sooo much for your help. I don’t JUST watch ur videos. They help me on the day to day… saving me tons of money, time, headache, confusion, build my skills… just thank you! Thank u! Thank you!
I second this- like, verbatim @rainbowplantlife 🙏🏾😩😃 the effort you put in is soooo worth it!!!
I'm so confused by the scale considered overkill for many people. It's a standard kitchen tool in Germany and pretty sure all over Europe. Measuring cups really only work for liquids or dry products who have the same volume like other products used in the recipe, other wise they are way to inaccurate and mostly just annoying to use.
True, but while in Europe, our recipes mostly measure ingredients by weight, in the US, they often measure by volume exclusively. I think it goes back to the Old West: scales were impractical for the pioneer women, who travelled in wagons and had to cook over campfires on the trek west. Measuring by volume using a cup would make more sense for this life: a cup takes up less space & weighs less than a set of scales, and scales might get damaged to the point of being useless when travelling rough terrain.
@@gozerthegozarian9500 Interesting theory! They really should change that, though. Seems like they have no idea what they are missing out on!
I really only use my scale when I am proportioning out seitan to freeze. I don't really measure things, though sometimes I definitely should have. :)
Not having a kitchen scale isn't an option.
Same in France, its one of the essentials I had even as a student. But realistically, I only use it for baking, everything else I just eyeball
As a left handed person, the Y shaped peeler makes all the difference. So many (pretty much all) tools are made for right handed people, and I have to figure out how to hold them upside down or contort my hand, but the Y shape peeler works the same with left and right hands. 👍
This is spot on! As a fellow leftie, a Y shape peeler has made a world of difference and I’m so much faster at peeling
Oh girl,same! 👌👌👌 we are the forgotten ones 😂😂😂
I, as a fellow leftie, used Y shaped peelers for most of my life. But now I have a straight peeler that can be used with both hands and I love it!
Thanks from a fellow leftie!
I don't know that I've ever seen a right-hand-biased straight peeler before. OTOH, my Y-shaped peeler has the little scoop thing for removing eyes from potatoes, the location of which is for right-handed people (although it isn't difficult to use left handed). I actually wish it wasn't even there, since it gets in the way when peeling/shaving things that are flat on the cutting board - asparagus, for example.
I love having a wide-mouth funnel for pouring anything into a jar. Really saves on cleanup and should be pretty cheap to find. I also like bendable cutting boards so I can easily transfer what I just chopped to another dish.
I’ve had a canning kit for years, but I’ve only recently discovered the benefits of using that wide mouth funnel. I couldn’t agree with you more. 🤩
Same! I have two metal ones that I absolutely love and use almost every day.
I love love love mine
No more wasting nooch or seeds!
Bendable cutting boards?
You are my favorite UA-camr "real "cook and recipe developer. I Pin 90% of your recipes in my "recipes to make asap" folder. Make more videos, you've grown so more comforable, confident and fun with your videos!!! Hope your adorable parents are as proud of you as I am. Much Love and Peace from the Hudson Valley, Upstate NY. :)
I bought a vegetable chopper/dicer for about $20 a few years ago. I think I picked it up at Target. Dicing vegetables is probably one of my least favorite things to do in the kitchen. After I bought it, it made cooking at home less of a pain and more of an enjoyment. It really helped me a lot in my transition to a plant based lifestyle. Good recommendations!
What's the name of the brand? I might look into one with the free $40 credit I have with Target
@@mdolla226 OXO Good Grips Vegetable Chopper with Easy Pour Opening. It’s 22.99 at Target.
same on the dicing vegetables. how does it handle tomatoes though? does it end up as mush, or will it give a good dice? thanks.
But doesn't it go blunt after some time? That's what's holding me back from buying one, because you can't really sharpen them right?
I love my garlic press and would rather use it over mincing. Mine is from Pampered Chef and has a little tool with it that cleans all the holes at one time. Saves time. I have all the other tools you mentioned and love them.
I have the Pampered Chef garlic press too. Use it all the time.
Also if you put it right in water after using it’s much easier and quicker to clean.
Agree - the Pampered Chef garlic press with cleaner is a great tool.
Garlic press used with the peel on are the best tool
Does is leave a lot of garlic in that chamber? I‘m so annoyed by that I don’t want to throw the garlic away that stays in this little chamber
I have had the same garlic press for 51 years and use it all the time. It has the type of press that when you reverse it cleans the press for you. Easier and faster than using a grater.
I do love my garlic press! But it also SUPER depends on which one you buy how useful it's going to be! But it's also very much personal preference! I also may have to get myself a citrus juicer now!
Great list! Could not agree more with the digital scale! I never really understood the enthusiasm for measuring cups! I would also add a thin mesh strainer (works for cocktails too! 😜) and a large funnel (to avoid mess when you transfer grains or whatever to jars).
If you want to have a garlic press, but don't want the cleaning mess, I can recommend the garlic seesaw: It's a single piece of stainless steel that you rock back and forth over a garlic clove, and the garlic gets pushed through holes in the middle of the seesaw. Then you can use the press to directly transfer the garlic to the pan, and then just clean it under running water. Rubbing the stainless steel with your fingers while cleaning it will also remove garlic smell from your hands, which is really useful. The garlic seesaw is one of the very few single-use-items that I keep in my kitchen drawer.
Hey! You're almost getting to 1 million subscribers! That has to be exciting.
To keep your garlic press from getting too dirty, just press the garlic clove with the skin on. It works fantastic. You just have to squeeze harder with your hands. But the minced garlic comes out just the same and when you open up the press and pull out the leftover garlic peel/paper, all or most of the mess comes with it, keeping your garlic press clean. As long as you have a decent garlic press (not a cheap one) this works great.
Yes! I have the ikea one, and it made me much more likely to use fresh garlic and resist the temptation to use garlic powder all the time.
Best tip in the comments
Thanks for sharing this tip!
Ooooh. Thanks!
I have most of these kitchen tools, and I love them all. The kitchen scale is so handy for all of the reasons you mentioned. I must confess I used to buy fresh garlic, but now I buy pre-minced garlic (and ginger). I don't cook as often as I used to, so the bottled garlic lasts longer for me than the fresh kind, and it's just handy to squeeze out garlic vs crushing, peeling and mincing it.
I use an old toothbrush to clean the garlic squeezer, and other small stuff
It works pretty well for me
This is SO HELPFUL! Yes! I will absolutely use these tips TODAY! My tip for juicing is I roll the citrus first and cut in half. Then I use a small fork and squeeze the citrus half with fork. I get every drop. 👍🏼💚🌱
Since you asked 😅 I am a fan of the garlic press. I hate grating things, so being able to press garlic this way is a blessing. And it maybe depends on a model, but mine is quite easy to clean - needs only some rinsing with water in the opposite direction than the garlic went through - and I think most of the cloves gets through and the only part that stays behind is a sturdier skin. I use the same tool for pressing ginger if I only need a little for a drink, just slice it before putting it in.
Other than that, I totally agree with your choices! What I would add to the list would be a chopper - it is my most used kitchen tool because it takes only a couple of string pulls to chop up onions, carrots, bigger quantities of garlic or ginger as well as fresh herbs ❤
I cook for one alot. So before I start cooking a recipe, I list my adjusted ingredients in my kitchen whiteboard so I don't mess up later on. I find it more convenient and environmentally friendly than getting out a new piece of paper like I used to.
Nisha uploads a video. My day is made.
🥰🥰
An instant read thermometer has helped me and my wife exponentially!! Not only are we confident that our protein is cooked enough to be safe but we do not over cook certain items which is a game changer in taste and quality!!! We have and use all of your top ten items and have never owned a garlic press.
My picks would be a small silicon whisk and small silicon spatula. I have the bigger versions too of course, but I use the small ones way more frequently.
You killed me at 9:11! You can just use the press the other way around and use the red part to push through the holes. It's actually super easy to clean that way. It pushes out all the garlic this way and you can just rinse it and it's mostly clean.
That's what we do...I thought that's what everyone did? We leave the peal on and it all pops right out.
Probably should use the term "killed" and "9-11" in the same sentence.
I've kept a whiteboard on the fridge for years and it is so handy. I write down everything on need from the grocery store on one side as I run out of things. I keep a list of meal ideas on the other, and if I am preparing a large meal with many steps, I list that too. This makes cooking something like Thanksgiving so much easier. I even write oven times and temperatures next to the dish so I can efficiently plan oven use.
there are box graters with the micro plane thing on the side, works good, i have always used one
Exactly what I was thinking when Nisha mentioned that one purpose tools are inferior.
Box grater is the oldest and undefeated.
Great tips! If you don't have a bench scraper, you can also use the top of your knife (the non sharp side) to gather food from your cutting board. That way you are not risking damaging the knife blade or hurting yourself.
Re the garlic press. I make my own fresh garlic paste. Take 4-5 heads of garlic, peel the cloves, use a food processor to puree. You need some liquid in the processor bowl for this, and I use vodka, 1-2 oz per processor load. The vodka acts as a preservative - if you were a bacterium, would you want to live on a mixture of garlic and vodka? - and I suspect it helps draw out the garlic flavenoids as well. Store in the fridge in an airtight glass container. A teaspoon of paste is roughly equivalent to a clove. Spend less than an hour once a month and you have fresh garlic available with no hassle.
My daughter once said, "There is no food that is not improved by adding either garlic or chocolate."
Brilliant! I need to try that.
I’ve had my kitchen scale since I got married over 58 years ago. Use it every week at least. Always convert any cup measurements to oz or grams as it’s more precise.
What’s your favorite kitchen tool under $20? PS: All of these would make great holiday stocking stuffers (okay, except #7 and #10)!
definitely a silicone spoonula! and tongs!
I loooove My microplane! best kitchen tool I ever bought 😀👍
(Also dislike the garlic press, totally useless 😅)
I don't think I ever commented on your channel...... I want to thank you for your great videos! I love them! Some of your dishes are standard food at our house nowadays, for example the Butternut Squash Curry with Chickpeas, we love it! 🙂💙💙💙💙💙💙
OXO makes 1/4 cup measuring cup & has tablespoons measured on it. Love this for making drinks or when a sauce calls for 1 TBSP of this & 2 of that, you can just quick measure it all in that one cup
Definitely add a set of stainless steel canning funnels to your list. It was kind of painful to watch you use your spatula to transfer the contents of the food processor into that jar. Also, I don't know if these are still under $20, Food52 sells a ceramic funnel for filling your spice jars. I bought one for me a few years ago and then the next year that's what I gave everyone for Christmas.
My DiOro silicone spatula. And my stainless steel tweezers. They’re the best. Better than tongs for flipping most things that used to burn my fingers.
I agree. A scale is essential and total game changer. I use mine ALL-THE-TIME! I've been known to weigh a $4.99 Costco chicken, just to understand how cheaply delicous these are. I've had my micro grater for years. I DO get fancy with my garlic peel/slicer but I should just use my microplane. Great video!
Thank you for mentioning the cut resistant glove with the mandoline. It is way too easy to take off a fingertip otherwise.
Amazed, surprised and above all happy that an american is actually using grams (SI metric units) to measure things the way the rest of the world does, instead of being afraid of it ! Kudos to you ! And yes, measuring by weight IS DEFINITELY more acurate than measuring by volume ! Who'd have thunk it ! Good video !
Totally agreed on garlic presses… in fact the minute you mentioned having a “don’t” item, I thought of a garlic press because I hate them.
I didn’t know about oven thermometers, thank you for that tip! I feel like a thermometer with a range that includes hot water, oil, meats, and candy/sugar is indispensable.
Wow most amazing cooking gift recommendation / tool recommendation video I have ever. As a self taught home cook I had to learn so many of these recommendations and cooking tips the hard way (struggling with a dumb garlic presser for example). I agree whole heartedly with every recommendation you made and the ones I wasn't aware of (like the little white board - i just use junk paper). I'm going to run out and buy.
Thanks for helping me become a better cook! I love all your videos.
That was a great video. I own most of the items you mentioned. Two other items that are invaluable to me are a set of silicone tongs and a molcajete (mortar and pestle).
While I've never had a good experience using a hand-held garlic crusher I picked up a rocker style crusher and love it, can do multiple cloves at once, none of the garlic gets stuck in it anywhere and a brush while washing up cleans it in a couple seconds.
I see you have an Oxo garlic press. If you don't want to toothpick out garlic, all you have to do is invert the press and allow the red bit to push the garlic back out through the holes. Cleans in a jiffy! I use mine all the time. It is a lot faster than mincing, especially when you are using a lot of garlic, and when it goes through the press, it breaks down the structure of the garlic more, releasing more of its compounds.
Yup I love mine, super easy to clean. Also whenever there is some garlic left after pressing once you can easily just push the garlic together again and press one more time. 🤷🏻♀️
I, too, hate cleanup, so my favorite gadget is the silicone baking sheet liner. or better yet, a roll of parchment paper.
What you call a bench scraper I've always called a dough knife, and they are the must useful tool in a professional kitchen. I've never bothered to buy one for home, because I'm lazy and cheap. I can make due without. But when I have access to it, it's one of the most versatile tools, and it's super useful for cleaning too.
I don't own a garlic press. I grated my garlic using a grater similar to the one in your video or chop. I love my scale and my white board. We rely on the white board for all our thoughts to not forget or shopping lists. Happy cooking !
Two items I use in the kitchen the most would be the Y-shaped shredder (mmm carrots) and my tofu towels. Patting your tofu slices/cubes dry is so much faster than pressing and doesn't compromise the texture or structure.
In terms of spoonulas, I recommend Fiskars silicone spoon. It serves as a spoon, ladle and silicone spatula. You can even lay it anywhere without it dripping.
None of my friends came back after trying one of these.
I"m glad to hear I'm not the only one who doesn't like a garlic press! I bought a nifty-looking box version that came with a silicone tube to peel the garlic and a box with a lid to press it through a grating tool & collect it, all of which work pretty well! But it is absolutely impossible to clean. I even tried a toothpick like in this video! And my gadget still has garlic stuck in it. I'm interested in trying the grater you show instead!
Thanks for sharing. It's so important to have the right tools when cooking. It makes cooking and preparing for the meal much better.
Canada
A couple of months ago I bought a special grater to grate carrots for korean carrot salad. There are different blades, I usually use 1 or 2, but I really liked this stuff because it is made of a bowl, a lid and a strainer. So you can easily cook pasta or boil potatoes and then stain the excess liquid. Sometimes i use just the bowl when cutting something.
Also, I don’t know how I survived without my bench scraper and digital scale. Especially my scale. I just pour my dry goods (rice/pasta/beans/lentils/cereal/etc.) into a bowl or blate I plan to use, then cook as directed. No extra dishes to wash AND I already have my bowl/blate out for serving. 🤩
I even use my scale for cold cereal. I weigh the cereal (and milk) in my cereal bowl. It makes grocery planning so much easier! 🥰🌱💚
Thank you for sharing! I have to keep telling myself to push through to summer! AK winters are killer and life is rough when you cannot see the light! You’re taking control 👏 good job girl!
Ok there was this amazing kitchen product that was in Buzzfeed articles for two years straight and it’s the best thing I own in my kitchen. It is this strainer that clips on to the side of your pot (the ones at Walmart are too tiny and flimsy… I got the one on Amazon). I am sooo clumsy and I would always lose quite a bit of pasta when I would try to strain using a pot lid, and strainers are kinda hard to wash thoroughly (at least for me… I am diagnosed OCD). This $10 tool has saved so much pasta from going down the drain it isn’t even funny. I love it so much that I got them for all of my family members on Christmas and so far they all love it.
Two things I use a LOT are my extra large pancake flipper which works great for handling homefries, Reubens and Quesadillas on the panini press and my krinkle cutter for making short work of carrots and celery for soups (easily cuts 3 or 4 at the time) and snacks and great for homemade potato and sweet potato fries. I also use it to cut on the bias for an eye-catching look - great when slicing carrots and celery for hummus. It's also safer for kids, people with arthritic hands and vision impaired. The handle is directly over the curvy blade and there's less chance of cutting yourself. I even used it blindfolded to see if I could before recommending it to my elderly friends and family, lol.
Almost missed this one since I got zero notifications for it!
thank you for reminding me to get a new peeler! my current one makes everything take longer and potentially makes me waste more usable produce by having to make more "swipes"
I never baked because of how fast the dishes would pile up… until I got a digital scale. It saves so much time and dishes! Love the other tools as well! My best cheap friend in the kitchen is my silicone spatula. Another tool I love is the cheese slicer, even though I don’t eat cheese. The size of it is perfect for flipping pretty much everything except really big pancakes.
Nisha, I’ve loved your recipes for so long now, and you just come across so smart, funny and sweet!
love your gadgets, that oxo peeler are fantastic
LOL oh I was SO happy to hear you speak truth to the garlic press. Couldn't agree more. I either mince or just chop it in the food processor. Thank you for this insightful video. Happy New Year!
Such lovely energy you have. Thank you. I love my flexible cutting board...
If your whiteboard is on your helpful tools list, I'd add an Amazon Echo instead. Alexa is helpful for setting multiple timers, not just for oven cooking time, but just as reminders to return and make sure the water doesn't boil over. Plus, Alexa can create shopping lists, reminders for the week, and play you both music and podcasts that fill your time while you're prepping food.
I’d add a set of thin flexible chopping boards. They double as funnels for safely transferring chopped ingredients to pans and soup machines. They’re lightweight, both sides can be used, and they’re quick and easy to wash and dry.
TEAM CUTTING GLOVE
Can't believe how many professional and semi professional cooks i see never using them with mandolines. It is so easy to didn't maim yourself with one of those
They make a garlic press rocker that is stainless steel and absolutely amazing. It's definitely worth checking out, easy to clean and get the garlic out, and it's only around $10.
I have one of those, made by Joseph Joseph. I don't know why anyone would ever use anything else
I can’t imagine my kitchen without my garlic press. However, my garlic press isn’t like most peoples it’s from the late 1950s it was left to me. It cleans up very well and it’s extremely heavy duty. It works so much better than the graters in my opinion. It may be because it’s vintage and made extremely well. Who knows but it’s a must have in my kitchen :-)
Depends which garlic press you get : ) quality is very important here, it's extremely efficient if you got a good one. Mine cleans in 30s too, and it won't leave too much stuck inside, I'd say way more gets left on a wide grater ;D
For sheet trays, I recommend getting half, quarter, and eighth or surgical trays. I got a pack of surgical trays for very small bake duties. Great for cooking one or two pieces of chicken, a fish filet, nuts, or to roast a lot of different things with varying cook times. Just make sure they are autoclave safe and not decorative. 🔥
aha! i was looking for the little ones(surgical trays), but couldn't think of the name, i really need these, thanks!
Love this! Thank you! I am addicted to gadgets. I guess I need to start attending kitchen gadgets anonymous meetings....
lol I feel you! I feel a sense of excitement and anxiety any time I walk into a kitchen store because I want everything there.
Silicone spatulas are wonderful! I have regular size and a skinny one. The skinny one is great for getting the last bit of nut butter out of the jar!
I agree with you on all but 1 thing - I have the Pampered Chef garlic press and I love it!
My suggestions...
A "kitchen" tool I recently began using: a whetstone, or knife-sharpening stone. They're cheap and easy to use, even if you're not as exacting a knife-sharpener as a professional chef might be. Sharpening sticks, like you see angry chefs using in the movies, are only for very quick tune ups, and the tabletop sharpeners are great for holding down garbage in your kitchen trash can. My $15 trio of kitchen knives now cut like a $30 trio of kitchen knives.
Canning jars, lids and rings, so you can create large batches of "whatevah." I just today tried canning for the first time. Out of eight jars, six seem to have probably sealed well (the little bump in the lid goes "plink" as the vacuum is formed). I don't know for sure if those six are truly sealed as I need to let them sit for a few more hours. The other two that didn't plink are in the refrigerator and I'll probably freeze the contents. It's much easier to just freeze whatevah, but if you want to save freezer space then canning is a good option. Canned items can last for a year or so on a shelf out of direct sunlight. (Why they call it canning instead of jarring, I'll never know. Maybe calling it jarring was too jarring.) If you get into canning, at a minimum also get canning tongs so you can easily lift them out of the boiling water or pressure cooker (there are two methods for canning). A wide-mouthed funnel can help with filling the jars, but I didn't bother with that.
I don't know if it qualifies as cheap (I got mine as a gift; thank you, ex-wife), but my immersion blender is essential. I use it to blend up all the solid ingredients in my pasta sauce. _(See canning, above.)_ Mine is also a mini food processor and has a whisk attachment. I think there's a fourth attachment too.
And... the classic salad spinner. It's fun to watch salad get all dizzy. Just don't spin it too much or you'll have to clean up salad dressing when it gets motion sickness. In all seriousness, it's a good, quick way to dry veggies you've washed, or really any food you've had to wash (even socks). The basket also serves as a nice strainer for foods that aren't hot, and the main bowl can be used for mixing loose ingredients as long as you don't use tools that can scratch the plastic. As long as it's not too hot (and you don't need to impress people with how classy you are), the bowl can even used for serving popcorn or other snacks. And two of them put together make a _great_ space helmet for Halloween costumes. Just don't forget to cut a hole for your neck; don't ask me how I found out about that.
The “sharpening sticks” are called honing rods and they do not sharpen your knives, they hone them which means bends the tip of your knife back in place to keep it sharper for longer, you’re supposed to use it to hone your knives every day or week and it makes a huge difference. A sharpener actually takes off metal from your knife, actually sharpening it once it is dull. If you’re honing your knives regularly you should only have to sharpen your knives twice a year.
@@pauladeensbuttbutter Yep, I couldn't remember what they were called - thanks for catching that! As for me, even honing won't keep me from having to sharpen my $15 knife set more than twice a year. 😁
All great tools to have. Regarding the garlic press, I find it really useful, especially for the garlic paste / sauce that I usually make. For me the microplaner is just as hard to clean, with more time/effort to make the garlic finely minced.
I love my garlic press!! It has a tool that attaches to it to clean it out and to remove the skin, between pressing each clove. It’s roomy enough to have two small-medium cloves at the same time too.
Finally, someone who wears a cut proof glove using a mandoline!
Yep. I’m a klutz. Love my glove!
I love my garlic press, I only really use it when I need to use large quantities of garlic, otherwise I tend to just use a knife, but when I have a dish that requires 15 garlic cloves then I'm definitely happy to have one.
Plus, I don't clean it by hand, I just put it in the dishwasher. I have one where the bit with the holes is detachable, if I put it in the right spot in the dishwasher then it gets perfectly clean no problem.
The handheld mandoline (I call it a handoline) is a must-have tool. My only complaint with the OXO one is that even on the thickest setting, the slices it makes are a little too thin for certain applications. I dehydrate a LOT of apples, and when I use the handoline to slice them, they come out so thin that they are a real pain to get off the dehydrator trays in one piece.
+10 for "handoline." 😆
*9:36* more people should be using alexa (or another similar product) for this. All you ever need to do is say it out loud and it gets added to your shopping list. And then when you are at the store you can just check your phone and the list is on the app. (It can even organize the list by what "department" the items are in.)
She is so right about the garlic tool I never get to make it work 😅 I’m glad I’m not the only one ❤
Garlic rocker press is the future.
I think back to all those times I spent fiddling around with messy garlic press (and scraping 50% of garlic out with a knife anyway)
Or chopping painstakingly by hand.
Rocker does 3-4 cloves in seconds, and it just goes straight in dishwasher.
Can’t believe it took me until my 40s to discover it.
Single best cost / space vs time saver I have in my kitchen
i love your channel so much. I agree garlic press is garbage. I never use mine. I tend to prep my garlic all at once and freeze it, so i just throw them in a food processor and then into a ziplock bag. I use the bench scraper to mark lines in the ziplock bag / garlic so i can pull out just one small square from the bag. The biggest pain for me has always been peeling garlic.
The garlic press I have is from IKEA and it’s so awesome because part of it swivels out so it is REALLY easy to clean. Literally never want to own a different press
Tongs! An essential tool in my kitchen. I have the OXO Good Grips 12” tongs. Absolute workhorse.
Thanks for this list. I agree with the garlic presser, I have two but can't be bothered using it. I rather use my great chef's knife (Victorinox), a grater although I need to purchase your recommended one, or even store bought grated garlic/ginger (I know, lazy but sometimes it helps me avoid take out).
I agree on every point (which are all charismatically delivered) except the garlic press, but only because I have a pricey one that peels your garlic as it crushes and leaves only the peel behind in the crusher, it’s also easy to clean (just take out the peel and give it a rinse). Brand: Dreamfarm
The Pampered Chef garlic press is amazing. Easy to use and clean. You don’t even need to peel the garlic first.
I love using a scale in the kitchen, it makes me feel like a mad scientist.
I have all of your favs! I would also add a potato masher to the list. They're not just for potatoes. I mashed avocado and cannellini beans together this morning with mine. I don't understand how people cook and bake without a scale.
You convinced me to buy a microplane a few months ago, and I agree, it’s the right tool for zesting and grating nutmeg, I’m glad I bought it. I have all the other tools except the mandolin slices, that’s been on my Christmas wish list for awhile, perhaps I’ll get it this year.
The problem with your “whiteboard” idea is that it’s bulky to take with you to the store, and there is only one copy. I have an iPad dedicated to the kitchen, and use shared documents for things like shopping lists, so that either I or my husband can add/remove from the list anywhere, any time. If he’s at the grocery store, no need to text to have him get something extra, I just add it to the list. Plus the iPad works great for me to watch your videos and cook along with you.
As far as garlic press, clean it within 30 minutes of use, and it will come clean with almost zero effort. I have the same Oxo model as you, and just invert it under running water so the red nubbies push the garlic remains back out the holes.
Love both the silicone pancake spatula (I have the exact same model) and your pancake recipe to use it on.
If you want to make a quick note while cooking, the white board is great, then you could transfer important items to your iPad once your hands are clean. Or snap a photo. I doubt she carries the white board to the store.
I completely agree on all of this, especially the garlic press! I bought one because I used to hate mincing garlic with a knife, but I found that with the press, I wasn't saving time because I'd have to scrape out the bits left in the press (which was a lot) and mince that anyway. Not to mention that it takes up space in the dishwasher and is difficult to clean by hand. I just learned better ways of mincing garlic with my knife and that solved my original issue. :)
My adjustable measuring spoon is my FAV kitchen tool. I measure everything with one spoon now instead of having a dozen different ones!
I like using a lot of garlic so I crush it up in a mortal and pestle and scoop out with a teaspoon. It's really quick and fairly quick to clean up. I too haven't had much luck with garlic presses and I've grated my fingers trying the grater
Garlic press is great, mostly because you don't have to peel the garlic cloves, you can just throw in the clove smash it and take out the peel in one piece inside and scrape off the minced garlic from the outside of the press. Really is a worthwhile device in my opinion. thanks for sharing your best and worst!
I love this list, very practical. I have about half of the items and they are things I use often. Also, I used my fridge whiteboard this afternoon to write down the portions and ingredients to a recipe I was making up so that I could record the macros later. It often gets used for the grocery list and occasionally for messages to my roommate. "There is gumbo in the fridge or Refill the water pitcher you lazy @#!#!"
thank you for the comment on the garlic mincer!!!! I've been back and forth if I want to buy one and almost did twice! I really need a grater also and I think I will just go with that instead!
The microplane is a Godsend of a kitchen tool.
Probably my all time favorite is a good sharp knife!
…but not a tool under $20.
I love all your tool suggestions. I do use my Pampered Chef garlic press a lot, but it works better if the garlic is peeled or cut in half first so more of the garlic makes it out of the press.
ood list. I need to say that many tools have a learning curve, and it is worth going through the process to properly evaluate them. I just recently got a scale, and converting my old recipes, or newly obtained ones, is tedious. But I realize that it will be more efficient once I put in the work. I agree with other commenters that you should leave the garlic clove unpeeled which allows you to remove the waste quickly. I use the press for quick meals and dice when I have more time and don’t want the essence of garlic on my fingertips. I never pull my traditional peeler towards me, I peel away and right into the compost tub. I use both types, depending on the item. Finally, silicone tipped tongs should be added. Frying, boiling and dipping are all much sloppier when I use my hands. I’ve got 3.
When zesting, reverse the position of the fruit and microplane. This allows you to easily see the fruit that you are zesting to avoid zesting the pith (bitter part.) The backside of the microplane is angled in to assist in this functionality.
Thank you, glad at least one person realised she's got the thing upside down.
My pampered chef garlic press comes with a little brush thing that sticks up through the holes at once and is very easy to clean! The brush clips on to the inside of the handle so it doesnt get lost. Good solid aluminum design so i know it will last. 10/10
Great advice for anyone cooking with rice regularly and getting portion sizes wrong, just get a lid of an adequate size of an aerosol style tin and use it as one portion, you get the same everytime.
You can also get an oversized version of that OXO peeler. I always use mine to cut mangos into slices.
although it doesn't get used all of the time/super duper often, and is very nearly (but not quite) a single use tool, I really love using a melon baller for coring apples and pears.. slice the fruit in half, scoop out the middle with the melon baller, then use a paring knife to slice out the stem/end bits..
Best tip ever!
I used to hate using the garlic press, then I got one from Ikea. It's a pretty simple design and it opens up for super easy cleaning. I have a dishwasher though, so maybe by hand it would be harder, but i've washed it by hand a dozen times and didn't think anything of it. I will probably never chop/grate another garlic clove again.
The garlic press of tupperware is really good 👍🏽 the „hole“part can be slided out 👍🏽
I love my garlic press! But totally understand why you prefer the knife. You’ve got pretty good knife skills. Also LOVE my micro plane. Grates my ginger so fast!
If you freeze ginger it grates so easily and fast and you can use exactly what you need.
Thanks to one of your older videos, I got myself an oven thermometer. Turns out my oven was overheating by 50 to 70º!