Saturday, February 28, 2009

Handy Kitchen Gadgets For Your New Kitchen

By Tracy Adams

In the market for handy kitchen gadgets? Kitchens are always ready for more new tools. No matter how many tools and pots you have, your kitchen will always want more. But the hungriest of all kitchens are the ones whose cooks are only just getting equiped. These are the kitchens with little more than mismatched knives, a thin aluminum pot with dents to match, and a scratched, cheap nonstick frying pan. Is your kitchen one like that described? Then it's time to go out and find these handy kitchen gadgets.

Fruit and vegetable peeler. Removing skin off potatoes, carrots, apples, green mangoes and other similar types of fruits and vegetables cant simply be done by hand --- unless you're a masochist who enjoys suffering. You can use a paring knife if you have one but its hands down easier and safer to use a peeler.

There a lot of instances where you will need a kitchen timer. Keeping time is a must to avoid overcooking anything. After all, soggy pasta ruins your spaghetti; burnt pizza is annoying; and overcooking in general takes away the flavor from an otherwise tasty meal. Remember that a microwave will have a timer, and you can get by with this if you must.

Microplane grater. There must have been life before the Microplane grater and other handy kitchen gadgets although it's difficult to imagine how cooks of yore managed to grate nutmeg, zest, and ginger.

Garlic press. Garlic is an integral spice in many recipes. You name a main course, and chances are it calls for garlic. So if you have a garlic press, then you can speed up the process. Instead of cutting each clove individual after peeling off the skin, you can put it in with all of its skin and press! This is said by many to get more flavour from the garlic into the food.

Measuring spoons and cups. Even expert cooks and chefs have these handy. Theres just no substitute for measuring tool. If you want your food to taste consistently, the first step is to make sure your ingredients are accurately proportionate. Having too much of something changes the outcome of the entire recipe.

Corkscrew. Whether or not you drink wine, you might need to use one of these. You dont need to buy a fancy one as long as you find a corkscrew that is functional. Look for one that pulls the cork out whole and it has to do it without breaking the bottle. So, make sure your guests get to enjoy that bottle of sparkling red you brought home by having a corkscrew in the drawer.

Spatulas, both solid and for use in the wok. A wok spatula is for stir-frying,while the solid spatula is for lifting and turning items such as eggs, grilled cheese sandwiches, etc. It is hard to get by without one of these two handy kitchen gadgets. That's why you might decide to get them both, since they will be very useful.

Balloon and flat whisks. While the flat whisk lets you get into the corners of the pan, the balloon whisk lets you add volume and fluff up foods. I can see you whisking your way through mixing jobs and sauces with your new whisk.

Food processor. You don't live in a cave so why deprive yourself the joy of cooking with handy kitchen gadgets? A food processor is durable and can teach you a thing or two about the beauty of the mechanized chop, dice, and puree.

Of course, you don't have to buy these handy kitchen gadgets all at once. You could start with the measuring tools, the timer, spatulas, and then whichever item you would use the most.. Soon, these items won't just be kitchen tools, they'll be your everyday trusted allies. - 15275

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