Favorite Kitchen Tool or Gadget

Parent Cafe
1

<p>In the department store yesterday the discount price of a powerful food processor by Black & Decker caught my eye. I decided not to buy at this time because my good knives need sharpening and anything you can cut up in a food processor you can cut, chop, slice or mince with a quality knife (which clearly requires much more elbow grease, LOL).</p>

<p>What’s your favorite knife, kitchen tool or gadget? And does any shopkeeper sharpen serrated knives anymore? I’ve checked two local places and they don’t handle serrated knives. Ouch!</p>

<p>I love my big chef’s knife, my mandolin and my spice grinder. I haven’t used an electric food processor in years.</p>

2

<p>Kitchenaid Stand Mixer, good pepper mill, OXO vegetable peeler…</p>

<p>Oh, and my Cuisinart Food Processor which is at least 25 years old and still going strong!</p>

3

<p>I love: those cheap rubber squares or circles that help you to grip the top of twist tops (think jars of pickles, ketchup bottles, etc.) so you can open them easier.</p>

4

<p>nysmile, where do you buy them?</p>

<p>My favorite gadget is my jar opener. It’s got a comfy handle that’s attached to a V-shaped piece with serrated teeth. The teeth grip the jar top, I turn the comfy handle, and the jar opens.</p>

<p>There’s a place in Manhattan that sharpens serrated knives, and they handle it by mail order, too. Henry Westpfal – google them. Can I put the phone number here? It’s (212) 563-5990. I have used them. They are very good.</p>

<p>(BTW, that is the correct spelling - Westpfal)</p>

5

<p>Not my favortite gadget but my newest. A citrus reamer. I don’t know how I ever got along without it. (disclaimer-I have probably 20 lime trees on my property)</p>

6

<p>My immersion blender. Turns nearly anything into great soup.</p>

7

<p>VeryHappy, I bought them quite a while ago. I think I bought a 3-pack of them for about $2.99 in the kitchen accessory section of our local grocery store (near the cheap pizza cutters, bottle openers, etc.). They’re simple rubber square sheets that help you get a better grip when twisting the tops of jars, soda bottles, ketchup bottles, and such. They’re approximately 4" X 4" in size. I have the square shaped ones but I’ve also seen them in the shape of a circle.</p>

8

<p>My onion-shaped onion saver plastic container. No onion stench in the fridge and no digging through the bins for the plastic baggie I used to use to store leftover onion halves.</p>

<p>I also love my Vitamix blender.</p>

9

<p>VeryHappy, thanks for the tip on Westfal.</p>

10

<p>I love a good kitchen gadget, always have. My Kitchenaid Stand Mixer got it’s own special cabinet when we remodeled - love that thing and it’s been a work horse. My Cuisinart food processor which was a gift I poo poo ed many years ago is another beloved machine that gets hauled out on a regular basis (this baby will shred a block of cheese in no time).</p>

<p>I also don’t know what I’d do without my apple peeler. The crank thing that peels, cores AND slices an apple is seconds. What a wonderful tool!</p>

11

<p>I have VeryHappy’s jar opener and use it regularly. I also love my electric knife sharpener. It sits out on my counter, so that I am not tempted to use dull knives. I haven’t felt a need to sharpen my serrated knife. My French family’s Mom sharpened her knives by hand almost daily and had almost filed her serrates away. I hate my Cuisinarte it’s big and bulky and food gets caught in the lid - I wish my Krups food processer hadn’t broken - it was much nicer.</p>

12

<p>My favorite comparatively new thing is, or rather are, my microplane graters. And the stick/immersion blender. All of which where gifts from my sister, now that I think of it.</p>

<p>My invaluable Cuisinart is 26 years old this summer, and still going strong. I’ve replaced the bowl, the regular cutting blade, and both parts of the lid (several times in the case of some parts).</p>

13

<p>wow…EXACTLY what creative1 said
OXO peeler
kitchenaide mixer
cuisinart processer (mine is 20 yrs old and I use almost every day)
and a wonderful old peppermill</p>

14

<p>Kitchenaid mixer is a given. The egg-shaped plastic thing you drop in the water and lets you know when eggs are soft or hard boiled.</p>

15

<p>My Waring blender. It will blend anything. It doesn’t leak or spray puree everywhere. I use it every day and have for years. </p>

<p>I make hollandaise and bearnaise as follows: blend everything, pour into microwave-safe bowl. Microwave ten seconds, remove, stir. Repeat until done. Never curdles, never separates. Takes about two minutes.</p>

16

<p>Rice cooker. We’ve had it for about 26 years…and if it breaks, I’m buying another one the same day. We use it at least once a week.</p>

17

<p>For those of you who don’t lke the big food processors there are mini ones. I find I use mine when it’s just DH and I eating. I look at the big guy, think of the clean up and grab the mini.</p>

18

<p>Replacing my range so this will soon become obsolete, but I love my double burner griddle. Also great to have are measuring spoons in the odd measurements, ie 3/4 tsp, 1 1/2 tsp etc. I use my double bladed salad chopper a lot, too.</p>

19

<p>I love using this Pampered Chef chopper to dice onions.</p>

<p><a href=“https://www.pamperedchef.com/ordering/prod_details.tpc?prodId=240&catId=4&parentCatId=4&outletSubCat=&viewAllOutlet=[/url]”>https://www.pamperedchef.com/ordering/prod_details.tpc?prodId=240&catId=4&parentCatId=4&outletSubCat=&viewAllOutlet=&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;

20

<p>Similar to roshke’s measuring spoons, I love my Tupperware measuring cups.
It’s hard to find measuring cups in various increments: 1/3, 2/3, 3/4 in addition to the standard 1/4, 1/2, etc…They’re a real timesaver.</p>