Welcome to Part 3 of my series on a few of my favorite kitchen items!
and
This week is all about utensils. And fair warning, I have a weakness for utensils!
I don't know what it is, but I just love them!
Whisks:
I would have to say that a whisk is a kitchen necessity.
At least one. Preferably more like 2 or 3! And all different sizes!
I use them for everything.
Blending dry ingredients, eggs, sauces, pudding...big things, little things, all things!!!
These can be found anywhere kitchen items are found.
Misc. tools:
A basting bulb, a meat thermometer, the Rachel Ray Scraper.
I like this basting bulb, because the top comes off, making it easier to keep clean. I use this for basting, obviously, but also for sucking different liquids out of pans. For instance, when I make
THIS recipe for baked chicken, sometimes there is too much broth in the pan. So I use this to suction that all out really fast.
This one came from Walmart.
The meat thermometer I use for meat and bread. It's digital, and has a cover for the stick, which keeps it safe and clean. It just saves a lot of time, rather than cutting into each individual chicken breast to see if it's thoroughly cooked or not. As well as steaks, Hamburgers, and other things. We use it for things on the grill, things in the oven, things on the stove.
This one came from Walmart.
This Rachel Ray Scraper is awesome! You can literally do so many things with it. I use it for scraping things from a cutting board to a pan or dish. You can even roughly chop some things with it. It's not super sharp (not for celery or onions), so it's not going to cut your hands.
I had wanted one for a long time, and my aunt gave me this one. They are all over the place though. I know Walmart has them, and I'm sure they are in lots of other stores as well.
Knife Set:
I love a good knife set. And this one is IT!
I do a lot of chopping and cutting, and a good knife can make or break that situation!
To be honest, I don't even know what all of the knives in this set are for, but I do use the majority of them. Especially the largest one, and the smallest ones. As well as the scissors and the sharpener.
This set came from Sam's Club.
Miscellaneous:
-Silicone "flipper." I don't know what these are technically called, we just always called them flippers! Because you do use them to flip things, you know! Pancakes, eggs, hamburgers, all sorts of things! Serving lasagna and casseroles....just anything! This one is the best!
And it's from Walmart, of course!
-Wooden spoons. Can be used in any type of pan, and won't scratch it. They are sturdy, and therefore can handle thicker and heavy batters than some other plastic spoons.
Plus, did you know that if you put a wooden spoon over top a pan of boiling potatoes, it won't boil over? True fact.
Tons of sizes, tons of styles, and you can get them pretty much anywhere.
-Off-set Spatula. Mostly, these are intended for cake decorating, and therefore usually found in that section of a kitchen store. They do work really well for spreading out frosting and icing. But they work amazing for spreading out
THIS pizza crust, or brownie batter, cake batter, ice cream for
THIS dessert, anything that needs to be spread.
This is the smaller one, and they also make a larger one.
-Silicone Pastry Brush. With this being a silicone brush, you can put it on the dishwasher after you use it, and it cleans so much better.
I use it to brush melted butter or beaten eggs over pastry dough, for brushing BBQ sauce on chicken, even for squishing into shortening, and brushing over the waffle iron (instead of cooking spray).
This one is from a kitchen specialty store.
Cookie and Ice Cream Scoops:
Though they are sold with the false illusion that cookies and ice cream will be the only things these are used for, I'm here to tell you that is the farthest thing from the truth!
Ice cream and cookie dough, yes, of course! But what about muffins, melons, drop biscuits (to keep them all uniform in size), mini-meatloaves, to portion meat for hamburgers, etc.
I'm a little OCD when it comes to dividing things equally. For instance, when I make Lasagna, I have to divide all the sauce evenly between 3 bowls (because I make it with 3 layers), and all the ricotta mixture evenly between 3 bowls. And I use the large scoop to do that. So that every bowl is perfectly evenly.
Yeah, I have problems, but I'm just saying it makes it easy to do that sort of thing with these scoops!
The small one was purchased at a kitchen specialty store, and the large one is from Walmart.
Spatulas:
Ahhh, spatulas. I know I say this about most all of these items, but really, spatulas are my favorite kitchen item! When I say I use them every.single.day for every.single.dish. That means that I can't think of one day, or one dish, where at least one spatula will not be used!
And it's because they are silicone. The spoon and the handle are not two separate pieces, therefore they don't break as easily. They are easier to clean. They can be used for things that are ice cold, they can be used in a boiling pan of whatever!
And do you see all of these? And all the different sizes?
I use all of them.
These came from a variety of places - kitchen specialty stores, Walmart, gifts. And I'm sure they can be found in numerous other stores/websites as well. Just look for silicone spatulas.
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And that's it for Part 3.
I hope you join me next week for Part Four!!!!
