The number of gadgets people feel compelled to buy for their kitchen always comes as a surprise to me. I am not condemning the idea of having kitchen tools, but not those that are made with only one function. In the end, you wind up wasting money on several gadgets for a job that only one could do.
One gadget that always comes to mind is the garlic press, which is essentially a hinge device that pushes a clove of garlic through a small grate and considers this to pass for mincing. I have heard the advocates say that the garlic press comes in handy if you don’t like the smell of garlic to be on your hands or when you’re in a rush and don’t have time to mince by hand. Though these statements may be true, you will find yourself having to clean out the tiny little grate and hinge so as to avoid sticking and build up of bacteria. All I see is meticulous cleaning for a tiny payoff.
If you need a tool that will make garlic mincing easier, look no further than a Microplane. I have used mine for zesting, shredding cheese, grinding spices, mincing garlic and shaving chocolate. The Microplane is a truly multipurpose tool that no kitchen should be without.
One of the most commonly used utensils that have become overly specialized are knives. It seems as though there is a knife that has been hand-crafted for every kind of cutting job. The worst part is that people spend obscene amounts of money on several types of knives when one of three basic knives can do the job. Honestly, there’s no reason why someone would need a knife specifically made to deal with the extremely complicated job of cutting vegetables.
Having worked in the industry for almost one-third of my life, it’s no secret that the only knives you really need are the chef’s knife, the fillet knife and the serrated knife.
The chef’s knife is the cornerstone of any knife set. The majority of all cutting tasks can be done with this knife. Some may argue that there is a need for a paring knife and a chef’s knife may seem too bulky, but remember you can almost always do a little job with a big knife but you can’t do a big job with a little knife.
If the chef’s knife is the muscle, then the fillet knife is the finesse. When kept sharp enough, I have found this knife to be almost as versatile as the chef’s knife. Though I may not be filleting a fish everyday, I still can use it for removing the rind from the zest of an orange or lemon, separating the ribs off of peppers or performing a task meant for a finer pointed knife that my chef’s knife cannot perform.
When slicing won’t work, you can always make use of the serrated knife for bread slicing, cutting bones, cutting hard cheeses and anything else you don’t want to dull your knife by cutting. The only advice that I would give about purchasing the right knife is to never buy a flexible serrated knife — leave that characteristic for the fillet knife. A flimsy serrated knife never cuts in a straight line.
Unless you have an enormous kitchen to fill with a bunch of useless gadgets, you’ll want to purchase tools that you can get the most use and value out of, while conserving space and overall time.
