Tricks, tips and some favorite appliances not to live without in the kitchen are sought out and valued by every cook I know. We have done some research to find out a list to share on one page just for you. Some are timesavers in the kitchen, some are stretching your food budget and others are tools to make your life easier. Read through and see if we can help you streamline your time in the kitchen.
10 Favorite Kitchen Tool and Small Appliances:
- Emersion Blender – Hand-held blender for in bowl or pot blending. Suitable for many other blending uses. Easy to clean.
- Small Quick Blender – Ninja, Magic Bullet or alike. indispensable for chopping, nuts, herbs, making sauces, chopping onions, making a quick froth for cappuccino or a quick smoothie pick-me-up.
- French Press – Quick coffee making for exceptional cups of coffee. Perfect when you have a guest and don’t feel like making a whole pot of coffee. Comes in a variety of sizes.
- Fruit Press – Absolutely the easiest way to squeeze lemons and limes in the kitchen. Hand held manual press for fruit that nets juice only. No seeds. Oh… and if you make boiled eggs, it strains them without breaking the yolk.
- Meat Thermometer – Perfect doneness of the roasts, steaks and fish with a meat thermometer.
- Squeeze Bottles – Inexpensive squeeze bottles with a small cap used to make vinaigrettes. Works like a charm and you can mark them with sharpie on the side for mixing portions.
- Sharp Knives – Make sure you are using a sharp knife cutting your tomatoes, meat or anything else. Dull knives slip and cut hands.
- Kitchen Scissors – Favorite of many. You can cut up herbs, lettuce, crack and cut into lobsters and everything in between. Dishwasher safe too.
- Press & Seal – Press’n Seal film for leftovers is so much better than the cellophane wrap we grew up with that clings endlessly. Use it for creating no spill cups for kids as well.
- Spiralizer – Makes eating healthy so much easier. Turning the crank is so much faster then the manual version.
- Spice Grinder – Fresh ground spices simply taste better. Very versatile for other uses.
- Small Scoops – Various ice cream scoop sizes will make baking so much easier to measure amounts of dough.
- A Manual Can Opener – Takes up so much less space and easy to use.
- Foot Controlled Trash Can – When my hands are full, best invention for easy clean-up.
Tricks in the Kitchen from Home Chefs
- Boiling Over – Prevent water from boiling over your pot by placing a wooden spoon across the top of the pot.
- Soften Stale Bread – You can soften almost any stale bread by wetting down the crust all around. Put loaf into 325F oven for 5-7 minutes. The moisture will steam the inside while the heat crisps up the outside. You can also wrap your bread in a moist paper towel or damp kitchen towel and place in microwave for 8-12 seconds (based on how you have your microwave set at). You can also put a glass of water in the microwave when reheating to keep items moist.
- Keep Greens Longer – Clean and store greens rolled up in damp paper towels placed in plastic bags (slightly opened) to keep crisp and fresh longer.
- Fresh Herbs on Hand – Always have fresh herbs available. Freeze left over herbs an ice cube tray ¾ filled with water, store cubes in plastic zip-lock bags and you will always have fresh herbs on hand.
- Get more Juice – Lemons and Limes will juice easier if you place them in the microwave for 20 seconds first take them out and roll them gently on the counter before cutting and juicing.
- No Stick and More – Parchment paper is versatile. Use it in place of cupcake or muffin cups.
- Clean Properly – Clean your wooden cutting boards properly. Cut a lemon in half and dip the lemon in course salt and use it to scrub the board. Then rinse and dry.
- Need Powdered Sugar Fast? Use your spice grinder to make your own with granulated sugar.
- Timesaving Tip – Need a fast, meaty family dinner? Make individual meatloaves in cupcake tin. Bake at 450F for 15 minutes.
- Easy Peel – Butternut squash is dangerous to peel. Put it in the microwave for 2 to 3 minutes and it will be a lot easier to peel and prepare.
- Easy Peel – Remarkably easy peel potatoes. Boil the potatoes until done then pop them into an icy cold-water bath remove them and the skin will slip right off in your hands.
- Better Tasting – Tomatoes are just tastier at room temperature. Store them stem side down to last longer.
- Cracked Eggshells – Removing eggshells from your just cracked egg is tricky. Use a piece of the large eggshell to scoop out the shell piece. It acts as a magnet.
- Grating Soft Cheese Easier – Grating your semi soft cheese will be so much easier if you put it in the freezer for 30 minutes before you grate it.
- No More Crying – No more crying when chopping onions remedies:
- Avoid the tears by freezing your onion before chopping it.
- Keep your mouth shut and breath through your nose the entire time chopping until you are done.
- Put a piece of bread hanging out of your mouth while chopping the onions. (keeps your mouth shut and your breathing through the nose, so I don’t know what the catalyst is with this method.)
- Safely Cutting Cherry Tomatoes – By now most of the world knows this tip, but if you don’t here it is. To cut multiple Cherry tomatoes at once put them on the cutting board on a small plate or round cover to a container and another on top of the tomatoes. Put hand on top of the cover and cross slice between the two plates.
Above is the list others have shared with us. Be sure to share our tips with your family and friends and revisit often as we unfold new ideas for you.