Tag Archives: Must Haves

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Must Haves – Item # 7 – Rice Cooker

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Alton Brown is a favorite celebrity chef of mine and he has a basic aversion to ‘Unitaskers’, those being kitchen gear items that only do one thing only.  I have to agree with him in most cases.  Now, I don’t know how he feels about Rice Cookers as it is by definition a unitasker, but I know that I find mine indispensable.

Generally speaking, I don’t care for ‘converted’ rice, no matter who’s uncle made it.  It is quick…  and that is about all I will say for it.  I much prefer a good basmati or jasmine rice, and a medium grain brown rice like Sunbrown Calrose Brown Rice is even better.  But, they take time to cook, and in our 24/7 busy world, that isn’t convenient.

Enter the rice cooker.  A good rice cooker allows you to put the water and rice in the machine in the morning, set the time you want it to be ready, and walk away.  The result is perfectly cooked rice ready when you want it, all with minimal fuss.

Like everything, rice cookers come in all sorts of sizes and shapes.  When I purchased mine 15(?) years ago, it was one of the better ones available, and I needed to go to an Asian kitchen store to get one.  Now, they are much more readily available, and of course on Amazon.  The one I went with back in the day was a Zojirushi rice cooker with fuzzy logic and timer.  I love it, and it has served me very well.  When I have to replace it, it will be with another Zojirushi model.

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The Zojirushi NS-ZCC10 5.5 cup Neuro Fuzzy Rice Cooker is the current model of mine

 

The fuzzy logic bit basically means that the unit detects when the water in the bowl is absorbed, and turns the unit down from cook to keep warm.  It also determines the correct cooking time for the amount of rice to ensure that it is ready at the right time.  I really recommend this feature.  The timer is also highly recommended, as it gives you that ‘set it and forget it’ function.

I have had opportunity use a more basic rice cooker, and it really did do a sub-par job.  It was small, and tended to boil over and cook the rice unevenly.  Size and quality really do matter with rice cookers.

One accessory that is a great help when working with ‘real’ rice is a rice washing bowl.  Any regular rice should be rinsed very well under cold water until the water runs clear.  This removes the surface starch from the rice grain, which is left in place makes for sticky / gummy rice.  By washing the rice, you end up with a light, fluffy finished product.

If you like rice with your dinners, even from time to time, this is a great investment for your kitchen.

Enjoy!

 

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Must Haves – Item #5 – Sticky Stuff Measuring Cups

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These little gems are such a time saver in the kitchen. When working with anything sticky or thick, like honey, molasses, peanut butter, sour cream etc., it is so convenient to be able to set the desired amount on the cup, fill the container to the top and then press the plunger to discharge the ingredient cleanly and completely out and into the mixing bowl.

They really take the frustration and mess out of trying to get sticky ingredients measured up and into your vittles.

I have 5 – a 2 cup, a 1 cup and 3 tablespoon measures. They come apart for easy cleaning, and beyond putting a thin layer of oil on the silicone seal when you put them back together, they are pretty much maintenance free.

I use the KitchenArt Pro Adjust-A-Cup series, and have had great success with them. The only caution is that you have to follow the directions and lube the silicone seal with cooking oil, or it can tear on reassembly and destroy the cup – a lesson learned the hard way.  There are others out there that are likely just as good, but these are the ones I use.

Hopefully this will keep you from getting into a sticky situation!

   

Enjoy!

Next Up – Knives

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Must Haves – Item #4 – Mixing Bowls

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All the fanciest ingredients in the world won’t be of much use if you don’t have bowls to mix them in. These big brothers to the prep dishes  definitely make the list of must have’s for the kitchen.

Now, most everyone has a bowl or two in the kitchen, and really the science behind them has been around for millennia.  Make a container out of whatever you have at hand, and seal it so that the wet stuff can’t get out.  Pretty basic really…  Of late, there have been some interesting attempts to create the better mousetrap, but basically, a bowl is still a bowl.

I have these in my kitchen, and find them very good for the tasks at hand:

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The stainless ones are of medium gauge, so they don’t feel flimsy but I don’t need a crane truck to move them around. They have a sufficiently large flat spot on the bottom to ensure they are stable on the counter, and high enough sides to whisk dry ingredients without sending them flying.

The only other thing that I look for is that they nest together for storage. This also works together with having a variety of sizes to choose from, as having the right size bowl for the job is really handy.

The glass bowls are basically the same idea, but just in a heavier and more ‘hot stuff’ friendly format.

I have seen and had opportunity to work with some of the new silicone bowls that are out there…  All I will say is that my momma said if you can’t say anything nice…

The other bowl I value greatly is the ‘mondo’ stainless bowl that I use when working with large quantities of ingredients, like my Italian Burger mix. It doesn’t see daily use, but when I need it, it is indispensable.

Being a bit OCD (stop it Dear, I hear you) and being used to my own kitchen, when I go to another kitchen it is always an adjustment to working with others gear. It surprises me how so many people only have 2-3 bowls, and that can creates a challenge for any large cooking project.  The value in a good number and selection of mixing  bowls  in your kitchen really can’t be overstated.

Besides, what good is a cleanup crew, if you can’t leave a large selection of dirty bowls for them??

Enjoy!

Next Up – Sticky Stuff Measuring Cups

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Must Haves – Item #3 – Prep Dishes

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There are so many cooking techniques out there that one loses count.  Some are basic, some take years of practice to master.   However I think the most valuable techniques any cook can develop in order to improve the success and enjoyment of cooking is also one of the easiest to learn.

The French call it “Mise en place”. In English, it means “putting in place”.  Ever notice when you watch a cooking show that most chefs have all the ingredients measured out and ready to go?  They just grab the little dish with the ingredient and in it goes – no muss, no fuss, no measuring…  This is mise en place at work.  The other advantage of mise in place is it puts an end to every cooks nightmare scenario – being mid cooking, going to the pantry for an ingredient and then quizzically staring at the shelves saying to oneself “I was sure I had that…”.

Mise en place only requires a little bit of time and a small set of dishes to organize the ingredients in. I have about 20 prep dishes, about half are glass, half are stainless, and they are a variety of sizes.  I also use ziplock sandwich bags for larger amounts of items.  Here is my collection of dishes

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These dishes are inexpensive, and for less than any ‘as seen on TV’ kitchen gadget you can stock yourself with a healthy selection of dishes.   The type and size is really up to you, I like the wide shallow glass for herbs and dry ingredients, and the deeper metal ones for liquids.  The only kind I don’t really care for are the silicone ones, they are expensive in comparison, and I don’t like working with them as much.  Explore your local kitchen shop or mega mart and you will find a selection of them that will work for you.

Once you get into the swing of assembling your ingredients in advance, you will never go back to trying to measure out something while the step before is burning in the pan. Your cooking will improve, your stress will decrease, and you will be able to tell everyone you have mastered a really useful French cooking technique!

Enjoy!

Next up – Mixing Bowls

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Must Haves – Item 2 – Digital Kitchen Scale

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This is my second favorite kitchen gadget.  From measuring dry ingredients such as flour (5 oz per cup) to portioning out burger patties, it is quick and accurate.

When baking, accuracy in flour measurement is really important.  Depending on temperature, humidity and method used with the measuring cup, the actual amount of flour in ‘a cup’ can very significantly enough to affect the outcome.  With a scale, the weight is always the same.  and it is a fair bit faster to just pour flour into a bowl on the scale until you have just enough.

Then you can zero (tare) out the scale, and add your next ingredient by weight and so on.  It really does make life in the kitchen much easier – for real.

I place a bowl on the scale, and then portion out my meat patties into 6 oz patties (8 oz if Kathy isn’t looking) and then every patty is the same size and cooks in the same time as each other.

Buying meats in bulk is a great way to economize, but portioning it out into 1 lb portions then bagging it for the freezer makes it easy to use down the road.

You can even weigh a puppy prior to… no, not cooking him… figuring out how much food he should be getting!

No amimals were harmed in the taking of this photo. All dishes were cleaned prior to being used again. 8-)
No amimals were harmed in the taking of this photo. All dishes were cleaned prior to being used again. 😎

I have a different scale, but this one is very highly rated by a source I trust very much.

Next up – Prep Dishes

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Must Haves – Item 1 – The Thermopen

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I am in the process of adding a section to the site with links to some of my favorite kitchen gear.  Kitchens are a funny place – stuff accumulates with the same mysterious ways as crop circles pop up on the land (maybe their both aliens messing with us), and much of it is not actually useful.  So much if the gear is useful for little other than taking up space.

Much if it is designed to ‘make life easier’ in the kitchen – As Seen On TV.  Unfortunately, most of the time the bits of kit just don’t work, or worse take twice the time to use and clean up than just doing the ‘old fashioned’ way.  Alton Brown is my hero when it comes to what he calls ‘unitaskers’.  And the only permissible unitasker in his books is the fire extinguisher.  I tend to agree.

That said, there are a few items that every cook should have in their kitchen.  The first is an instant read thermometer.  A top quality instant read thermometer is something you will use pretty much every time you cook.  A cheap imitation will be buried in the back of your drawer faster than you can say “this piece of garbage…”.  My favorite, and the one that is generally considered to be the best, is the Thermopen .  Available by mail order only, it is indispensable in my kitchen.  I use it to measure the temp of water to bloom yeast (105-115 degrees), the temp of baking break (200+), to check meat on the grill or in the smoker, or to gauge poultry in the oven.  Tonight I used mine to make sure the smoked burger patty in the frying pan was fully cooked without having to cut into it and let the juices out.

The Thermopen is quick, accurate and has a very small tip that makes the smallest puncture in your food, which preserves juices and keeps it from looking like it got cooked on a dart board.

You can check it out here at:

http://www.thermoworks.com/products/thermapen/

I will add some more items that I find indispensable in the days to come.

Next Up – Digital Kitchen Scale