Some Favorite Kitchen Tools

I'm a total sucker for kitchen stuff. I love it all. I love pots and pans and baking dishes; I love specialized tools like tortilla presses and lemon zesters; I love general stuff like wooden spoons and dishcloths. There is always something in a kitchenware store that I need RIGHT NOW which is why I limit my trips to kitchenware stores. Kitchen stuff love can be an expensive habit.

I'm unable to completely explain what it is about kitchen tools and gadgets that makes me so crazy for them but I think it's the possibility they offer. Theoretically, with the right tool for the job, anything is possible; a perfect cake or souffle or roast chicken is within your grasp. Of course, the tool doesn't always deliver on the promise but I can't stop believing.

I would be hard pressed to choose a favorite kitchen tool but these are a couple of random favorites:

In our house the most reached for pan is a 12-inch cast iron skillet that I received as a Christmas gift nearly 20 years ago. The surface of this pan is so well seasoned that it is silky to the touch, and is as easy to clean as a non-stick surface. This is the skillet we use for everything -- frying bacon, cooking eggs, searing steaks, sauteing onions, frying dumplings... the list is endless. Over the years thousands of meals have been made in this skillet.

It was given to me along with four other cast iron skillets by a friend for Christmas. The same Christmas I gave this friend a set of black dinnerware that at the time was the height of fashion. I definitely got the better deal -- I can't imagine that the black dinnerware is still in use. The friendship was not as lasting as the cast iron skillets; I've completely lost touch with this friend. The cast iron skillets I expect to use as long as I cook.

My potato masher came from a yard sale in Pennsylvania and I paid fifty cents for it. It's heavy (almost like cast iron) and works amazingly well. Why are potato mashers no longer made like this? You are almost ricing the potatoes as you mash them and the mashed potatoes that result are never heavy or gluey. Like the cast iron skillet, I expect this potato masher to easily last every day of my life and then move on to another generation.

Mike gave me my Kitchenaid mixer for our third or fourth Christmas together. I love my Kitchenaid mixer and it is among the very best gifts I've ever received, right up there with the puppy and the toy sewing machine that really sewed that I received for Christmas when I was eight years old. I don't use my mixer every day, or sometimes even every month, but it sits there on the counter waiting for big cooking projects, and allowing for the possibility of all kinds of things that I could never make without it.

My china cap was bought for $5 at a flea market in Pennsylvania. In generations past when home canning was more widely done, I think every farmhouse in America had one of these. It was used for making applesauce, or tomato sauce, or jelly and jam. The wooden pestle is perfectly fitted to the metal cone and lies flat against the edge of the strainer. You press down while rolling it around the edges of the strainer, which allows you to extract whatever it is you're working on with a minimum of effort.

My Kitchenaid pasta roller attachment is the reason I make pasta on a semi-regular basis. It works far better than the hand-cranked models of pasta rollers and allows you to roll out enough pasta for lasagna (where homemade pasta completely transforms lasagna from something heavy to something cloud-light) or fettucine or ravioli in no time at all. I hesitated over this attachment for a long time because it was expensive but it was one of those purchases that has more than paid for itself in satisfaction.

Comments

[aria]

ooh i love your potato masher, thats so cool! i just got a potato ricer this weekend, i cant wait to use it. i feel the same way about my cast iron, they'r the best :)

[angela]

Since moving to europe and "giving up" all my kitchen stuff, I have come to relize I can never, and will never again, live without a blender, microwave, rolling pin or mixing bowls.

[Miz S]

I have a spatula, and some kind of a scoop-y thing.

[Christine]

I love that potato masher too! They don't sell those anymore?

[ann]

that chinoise is absolutely amaaaazing!!!
let's make a deal, if you ever come across another one of those, i'll trade you for a copy of that clementine paddleford book about how america eats that i wrote about a few months ago
deal?
;-)

[kevin]

My cast iron skillet is the first piece of cookeare I ever bought -- some 30+ years ago. And I've been really tempted by that pasta attachment for the KA.

[Nicola]

Hey Julie...I stand outside kitchen stores. Nose pressed against the glass. Then walk on - just walk on. Freelance writing doesn't make nearly enought to support my habit.

My potato masher impales my hand long before the potatoes, or squash, or rutabaga have surrendered. ugh...so...I love your masher.

My 6-inch supermarket chef knife - from Sainsbury's in England is my bestest kitchen friend. It was 9 pounds sterling. And worth more than every penny.

And Steve brought a standing mixer into our kitchen, when it became our kitchen - it's a miracle machine. We tortured it with a fruitcake batter last christmas and it won...and the fruitcake was delicious.

Kitchen tools - My name is Nicola and I'm and addict.

[Mrs. S]

I adore kitchen-ware (I try to avoid kitchen stores, too, but for many reasons, not just this one) but my real weakness is stationery. And you know what? They have a stationery aisle or section in almost every store - even the grocery store! It's torture, I tell you, torture...

but in such a good way.

[Lisa (Homesick Texan)]

I cook just about everything in my 12-inch cast iron skillet; I haven't bought another skillet in years. Rubber spatulas are another thing that I would be useless without.

Bridge Kitchenware just moved into my office building. I don't know if any of y'all remember the old Manhattan store (it was a cavernous space, with tons of treasures hidden away--most of the fun was digging around trying to find oddball gadget) but the new place is so sterile and bright, I haven't felt the impulse to shop there, which is probably a good thing.

[Anne]

I'm going to troll every flea market and garage sale until a potato masher like yours in mine. MINE! Do you hear me?!

I am a kitchenware junkie too. I still have $20 on a Williams Sonoma gift certificate we got for our wedding, but I know I'll spend more than that if I go in, so I'm resisting for now.

[the bee]

I love your kitchen things.I have an egg beater that was once on the set of the Waltons. My brother bid
on it from e-bay. It is decorative only. Your masher is great. This year Jan and I want to learn to can veggies and fruit. Do you know how? Let me know. I still pine for a kitchen aid mixer...

[lobstersquad]

Oh that masher!!! insanely jealous. When I saw the picture I didn´t even know what it was, but I wanted it.

[for Joke!]

So funny! That thing you call a china cap? In my house that is our potato ricer! It is amazing at making fluffy mashed potatoes.

I love my cast iron pan too, and my medium sized Le Creuset enamel coated cast iron cooking pot. Love, love.

I thought the pasta attachment was so expensive too! We move around a lot so it is hard to invest in major electrical kitchen tools (like a Kitchenaid) since the sockets always change when we move... so that is why I opted for the hand crank. I kind of like it in its old school way!

[sher]

I have a potato masher just like yours and it's one of my most treasured items. My mom got it from an elderly woman who brought it over from Germany, so it's very old. I always told my mom that I wanted it and finally she gave it to me. It's just fabulous.

[jenjen]

I absolutely love all your gadgets! Especially that china cap contraption, at $5 it's a gem of a bargain.

[Natalia]

I think it's impossible to leave a kitchen store without buying at least one thing. And even that is pretty impressive. Cast iron skillets are wonderful. Everyone should have one, don't you think?

[Rebecca]

I think kitchen gadgets are just grown-up versions of kids' toys. I do have a hard time passing by a kitchen store, or the kitchen ware aisle of a department store, or how about the off-price stores? You never know what you might find there, but you are right, the best places are yard and rummage sales. That's where I got my great electric pancake griddle/waffle iron, which if I'm not mistaken, will also work as a panini press, all for $3.

[William Burkhamer]

Very cool.

[Lindy]

My three cast iron pans are, IMHO, my most valuable material posessions. It is very important to have at least as many well seasoned cast iron pans as you have children, to keep them from an eventual falling out over their inheritance.

Kitchen gadgets are my passion as well. I look for old biscuit cutters at yard sales. I have a couple of very strange biscuit cutting devices-I really should show them off one day. Love the masher.

[Julie O'Hara]

I passionately agree with you on the cast iron skillet. I have a nine inch and a 12. They are so great for cooking anything, as well as baking. They are virtually nonstick without the worries of the teflon fumes!

[cazza]

I had a cast iron fryingpan (is that the same as a skillet in American?) with a wooden handle. It went missing for a while a few years ago. I was distraught. How could I misplace such a heavy, well used, piece of kitchen equipment.

Husband and I went to watch the school production of Oklahoma! in which youngest son had a small part.

I am sorry to say that my voice rang clearly through the theatre .... "That's my fryingpan!"

The wooden handle perished shortly thereafter and was not able to be resuscitated. I now have a legitimate excuse to frequent kitchenware shops ... hunting for the perfect cast iron frying pan.

[IFC]

That china-cap is inspiring. It looks like some long-lost Eames design--efficient, friendly, and above all beautifully human in its economy of means. And that cute little finial on the pestle! Very, very jealous.

[the bee]

Hey Jujubee- we miss you ....
Let us know that you are ok.
I am now hooked on your blog ..

[Julie]

aria, potato ricers are one of the (many)things on my list of kitchen equipment I want. And, yes, cast iron is the best.

angela, hope your new apartment has a decent enough kitchen so you are able to start bringing some of that stuff over.

Miz S, ah yes, the scoopy thing. A very important piece of kitchen equipment.

Christine, I've never seen a new one like this, but I have seen another one the same general age as this one on ebay.

ann, would LOVE the Clementine Paddleford book but I don't think it would be a fair trade. I just checked Amazon and the least expensive copy is $115. You got a real deal on your copy! China caps just like mine are all over ebay for about $10. Except no one calls them china caps. Search under "sieve strainer" and you should find at least a half dozen. It's not a fine mesh like a chinoise (another kitchen tool that I lust after), more like the medium plate on a food mill. Easier to use then a food mill though.

kevin, cast iron skillets must be one of the best dollar values in kitchen equipment given how long their useful life is. And I recommend the KA pasta roller attachment. I find myself using it a lot and making things that I know I wouldn't make without it.

Nicola, that's one of the great things about this potato masher, it's weight gives it enough heft to make potato mashing easy. I hear you on the addict thing. I need to be in a 12-step program for this. Also cookbooks.

Mrs. S, yes! Love stationary products too. I've been known to go overboard in office supply stores.

Lisa, I would be SUNK if I worked in the same building as any kitchenware store. Sterile and bright wouldn't stop me.

Anne, garage sales and flea markets are great sources for things like that and so is ebay. I completely recommend looking for a potato masher like this one. It's so practical, I have no idea why no one still makes them like this.

Bets, I have never canned. Mike's mother is a major canner though. She just visited us and brought sauerkraut, currant jam, and other home preserved items. Maybe next summer I'll try canning.

Ximena, it's a cool looking thing all by itself.

forjoke!, I never thought of using it for ricing potatoes! This thing does everything. Amazing piece of equipment, huh?

sher, isn't it fabulous? It's definitely, hands-down the best $0.50 I ever spent to buy mine.

jenjen, that was also $5 well spent. My china cap contraption is very well used. I was straining soup with it just last night.

Natalia, I have that same problem in kitchen stores. And I definitely think everyone should have a cast iron skillet. The last one I purchased (as a gift) was less than $20 and will last a lifetime.

Rebecca, you're right, kitchen stuff is like toys for grownups and yard and rummage sales are two great sources of kitchen stuff. You're griddle sounds like an excellent buy.

Will, I'm just waiting to hear about the kitchen stuff you're getting for your new kitchen.

Lindy, biscuit cutters are a great thing to find at yard sales and flea markets! I hope you do show yours off some day.

Julie, isn't amazing how non-stick they become? I own no pans with teflon or other non-stick surfaces and never, ever find I miss them.

cazza, great story. Cast iron skillets (or frying pans if you prefer) are good kitchen items and effective stage props.

I feel Crazy, the wooden pestle is beautifully made and wonderfully decorative. I love the idea of that much care being put into something so simple.

bets, that was a very long period between updating. It wasn't meant to be that long but... stuff happens. Or doesn't as the case may be.