My first is this silicon spatula. It’s construction isnt just a silicon tip with wooden handle. Its the red silicon for much more of the handle, which I’ve felt makes it easier to clean and last longer, since gunk isnt getting wedged between the handle and tip. I like it so much I have two.
The second is probably just a spray bottle with water and dish soap. I clean up messes and the stove and countertops with it, and it’s incredibly convenient.
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Multi-cooker. Mine’s an instant pot but there are many like it. I made sure to get a stainless steel pan because I knew I’d be abusing it.
Batch cook 8 portions at a time. Portion them up into 4 jars (I use wecks) of 2, 3 in the freezer and 1 to eat that day. We just started bulk mashing potatoes to freeze, re-heat then add dairy for 5 minute carbs. My freezer is full of butter chicken, beef stew and squash soup right now. Chilled ingredients come in, are processed and cooked into meals that day, and then set to freeze.
Rice is good enough. It’ll ferment doughs on cold days. Make’s yoghurt, I used to make it directly in the jars. Stocks are effortless, again frozen immediately in an ice cube tray. Steam veggies. Confit meat works incredibly.
Close second is the air fryer, i’d replace either in a heartbeat. But if I were to start again i’d get an IP immediately after kitchen basics.
I love the idea of freezing the potatoes and adding the dairy later! Instant Pot is great for mashed potatoes. It steams them nice and relatively quickly and then I use a ricer to break them down.
The scoop that came with our instant pot. That thing can’t even go in the dishwasher we use it every night for rice, sauce, curry, stew, casserole… Everything.
Anyone who knows where I can buy more please, please tell me!
Besides the workhorse knives (the tools most used have to be of good quality), my favorite misc item is a Rosle bar spoon I got 20 years ago. It’s more a proper spoon shape than other bar spoons, with a bowl shaped spoon and straight handle, and it’s like 12 inches long. I use it at least a few times a week.
Sadly long discontinued, and I can’t even find a picture online anymore.
Hands down my wooden chopsticks, wooden spoon or wooden spatula. I use at least one of these guys for everything I cook. I also don’t want anything plastic in my kitchen - the packaging is bad enough as is.
microplane (much, much more than a “zester”) - relatively under-known, but a true godsend
What do you do with this other than zesting? I tried searching and I see something about grating hard cheese but that’s it.
Grinding garlic instead of finely chopping it. You don’t even have to peel it first. The peel is tougher and will just come off instead of being grated.
I use mine for grating whole nutmeg.
Hmm there’s an idea. I didn’t even think about hard spices.
How else do you use your nutmeg?
I get it pre-ground. The only spice I really process is black pepper, which I have a dedicated grinder for. It’s one of those shortcuts I decided to take because I don’t use it very often.
Upgrade to a box grater. Slice, grate, shred, zest all in one.
My knife, it’s not only a work of art itself, but so so good to use
Do you meant utensil?
Next time, take it one step further lol:
I don’t think I have a favourite, but I’m definitely with you - when it comes to food prep I’ll always choose an item that is one solid piece over one that has joins (and other unnecessary grooves and crevices, or that is porous) where crap accumulates and is hard or even impossible to remove.
Probably my mixers. I’ve got a spiral dough mixer and a KitchenAid mixer. That spiral mixer is a beast!
Medium sized wood Spurtle. Only utensil that you need.
My toaster oven. It’s got an air fryer function on it as well. I use mine several times a day for snacks, sides, and sometimes my main entree.
The runners up…
My silicone kitchen utensils are pretty high up there, though. Spoonula, spoon, straight spatula, and fish spatula all work hard in my kitchen. So easy to clean. New silicone tools keep coming out and improving too. Rated for higher temps. I don’t like it when I need to replace something, but at least when I do, it’s a welcome upgrade.
My enameled dutch oven does a lot for me. I have made so many soups and entrees. I deglaze it pretty much every meal so cleaning it isn’t too much of a pain. I don’t like taking care of raw cast iron, but something about the enamel doesn’t register as much of a pain to me.
I like my measuring tools with no seams. I got the Sur La Table ones.
My silicone mats for my oven are great. Since getting them, my biscuits don’t stick. They’re perfect every time.
My Vitamix is another small appliance I use often. It’s really good for when I am having texture issues and I need some fruits and veggies. (I love green smoothies!)
Ok I gotta stop, I just want to write about everything in my kitchen… Except for my knives. I need to get better ones but I keep getting decision fatigue so I keep using the ones I have. I want to learn how to sharpen them better too before I ruin a good one.
Lmao I have you tagged as “cream cheese slut” and I have no recollection why
A modern-day scarlet letter.
But also not wrong.
tagged? Is that a Lemmy thing?
Sync for lemme mobile
Basically I can put name tags on user’s that stay with them. Mainly used for people I want to avoid. Some are weird like the one I mentioned
Man, you and I are kitchen twins. Love my toaster oven (roasting broccoli is probably my main use for it), silicon spoonulae & spatulae. I use the enamel dutch oven for stews (and winter is when I love making stews), soups, and no-knead bread. Use silicone mats for a lot of stuff (though increasingly using parchment paper) and have a heavy duty blender (not a Vitamix but a Cleanblend).
Roasted broccoli is the best!
i thought this was a bdsm question
I have this silicone lid I got from Aldi. It’s just a giant flat circle of silicone with an indented lid in the middle. I bought it for my giant soup pot as I didn’t have a lid for it, but it’s so much more than a lid. It’s amazing as a splash guard, it seals via vacuum to pots so you can lift from two points instead of just the handle, it’s good for covering food and keeping it warm… I love it more than I ever thought I would. And it’s super easy to clean!
An old wooden spoon of my moms. It has a circular handle, which makes it infinitely better than the other wooden spoons for just about everything.
If you make bread, a Danish whisk. Is so much easier to stir a dough together.
If you make anything that requires pitted cherries, get a cherry pitter. It’s a single use tool, but it makes a terrible task much faster and easier than any stupid youtube hack
