My new favorite products - kitchen products

[pjrose]

PJ - I found these --- but they aren't glass. Do you want glass?

Thanks. Those are cute, but I'm looking for glass. I think these beasties were pretty common a few decades ago.....maybe a basic Libby or Anchor Hocking style.....but of course now that I'm ready to transition from Welch's Jelly Glasses and misc. BK and McD's glasses, I can't find them!

Hmmm.... more like these:

http://www.kmart.com/shc/s/p_10151_10104_02465316000P?mv=rr

 

[bjones9942]

1) Spend a little more and get Vollrath tongs. They're better -- at least for those of us who use them all day long.

2) A pan will do the exact same thing as a "steak weight" without having to find a home for it. Just place the pan on top of the meat. A foil-wrapped brick also works just fine.

3) Squeeze handled dishers are a MUST for lefty cooks. Regular dishers are near impossible to use left-handed.

4) Aluminum pots and pans are abomination. They react with acids -- tomato, lemon, wine, vinegar, etc. Why not spend $15 more and get a stainless pan with an aluminum bottom?

(1) I don't use them all day (thankfully! - I'm a front-of-the-house guy), and the ones I listed have now lasted me 3 years without any apparent ill-effects. I can't say that for any Oxxo product I've purchased.

(2) I *do* clean the bottom of my pans, but I still don't want them sitting on my food I know the brick trick, but that involves wasting a lot of foil, which I'm adverse to. And with my luck, my brick would have been made with dung - not my idea of fun with food! I also have a bacon weight, for which a brick would be a poor substitute!

(3) Agreed. And for righties as well. The dishers with the tab operator aren't easy for anyone to use and I've had the plastic handles (which are nicely color coded by size) snap right off.

(4) Because I don't have to? Yes, my daily use aluminum pan is slightly pitted, but I can still slide eggs around in it with just a hint of oil. And the extra '$15' paid for two more pans Actually, I have a cast iron skillet that I normally use for acidic foods, but I inherited that and you can't buy 75+ year old seasoned cast iron skillets at the Webstaurantstore.com

 

[bjones9942]

WOW - I didn't know that some of these products existed! I had never heard of a steak weight --- but what a great idea. I like Scoop's idea of using a pan, too. This is one of those things that has been subliminally bugging me for some time. I have been cutting slits at the fat edge of T-bones and pork chops to cut down "some" on the curling --- but that is not aestetically pleasing nor are the light and brown spots.

I didn't know about footed grates --- and what a great idea for using them for a breading station or roasting. I recently was listening to a cooking show and the chef (I think it was Alton Brown) said that he preferred flat roasting stands to the V-shaped ones --- now I know what he meant.

I had been looking for what turns out to be the "squeeze handled dishers" but I was searching for scoops (I associate them with ice cream) and I was not finding what I wanted. Now I know.

I bought these glasses from this store (thanks to someone on Tug) and the glasses are fantastic. They hold 20 oz which is the perfect volume for a glass. (Most glasses this size are plastic. I have an aversion to drinking out of plastic). And they fit perfectly in my dishwasher.

Thanks!
elaine

No problem! The webstaurantstore.com has a LOT of items, you just have to search for them Next time you have a couple of hours free just wander around the site. Stick thermometers are really inexpensive, and they have nice aprons too. And they do have cutting gloves (in reference to the mandolin posts). They're not particularly cheap, but will last quite a while. You only need to get one (the other hand will be holding the knife/mandolin). A friend recently sliced her finger quite badly on a mandolin, so I bought her a glove and made her promise she'd use it!

Congrats on the glasses find! I still have most of an old set of Anchor Hocking glasses that I bought in the 1970's

 

[glypnirsgirl]

what to buy next?

I have the following items on my "what to buy next" list:

A garlic mincer

And because the garlic needs to be peeled before using the mincer,
a garlic peeler.

Has anyone tried either of these? I have a garlic press and I do not like it. I can never get even half as much garlic out of the press as I can by hand peeling and mincing. They really feel more like a garlic juicer than a press.

I saw these bins for organizing my refrigerator. I decided that they are too expensive. Instead, I am using some plastic shoeboxes that I had left over from organizing my scuba gear. They are working well (except that they are not designed for the fridge so the sizes aren't just right) so far. One of my reluctances in buying the fridge binz was my concern that we wouldn't actually continue to use them. So it made sense to me to try the less expensive alternative first.

 

[bjones9942]

I have the following items on my "what to buy next" list:

A garlic mincer

And because the garlic needs to be peeled before using the mincer,
a garlic peeler.

Has anyone tried either of these? I have a garlic press and I do not like it. I can never get even half as much garlic out of the press as I can by hand peeling and mincing. They really feel more like a garlic juicer than a press.

I saw these bins for organizing my refrigerator. I decided that they are too expensive. Instead, I am using some plastic shoeboxes that I had left over from organizing my scuba gear. They are working well (except that they are not designed for the fridge so the sizes aren't just right) so far. One of my reluctances in buying the fridge binz was my concern that we wouldn't actually continue to use them. So it made sense to me to try the less expensive alternative first.

I use a Zyliss garlic press (it appears they're available from Target as well). You don't have to remove the paper from the clove, and there's very little garlic left in the press when done. I have their original model, which may be slightly different. It was recommended on America's Test Kitchen. I have one of the peelers, but found that it took more time than it was worth. If you're going to mince, dice, pulverize, ... then a quick smash with the flat of your knife will allow you to remove the paper from the clove much more easily.

Interesting alternative for the fridge bins! My only issue would be that they open from the top and not the front.

 

[pjrose]

Garlic and boxes

I have the following items on my "what to buy next" list:

A garlic mincer

And because the garlic needs to be peeled before using the mincer,
a garlic peeler.

Has anyone tried either of these? I have a garlic press and I do not like it. I can never get even half as much garlic out of the press as I can by hand peeling and mincing. They really feel more like a garlic juicer than a press.

I saw these bins for organizing my refrigerator. I decided that they are too expensive. Instead, I am using some plastic shoeboxes that I had left over from organizing my scuba gear. They are working well (except that they are not designed for the fridge so the sizes aren't just right) so far. One of my reluctances in buying the fridge binz was my concern that we wouldn't actually continue to use them. So it made sense to me to try the less expensive alternative first.

I read somewhere that the garlic mincer didn't work as well as described - maybe it was that it was hard to get all the little pieces out, or hard to clean? Can't remember.
This is my favorite garlic tool - it makes very very thin slices, that you can leave as is or easily zip a knife over to mince.
http://www.amazon.com/MIU-France-Stainless-Garlic-Truffle/dp/B000UY2FK4

Regarding the peeler, if you want that kind of thing just use one of those usually-free rubbery jar-openers that are often handed out with advertising on them. I have at least a half dozen advertising various banks etc. If you want to buy one, go to the dollar store. However, I've never had an issue with peeling garlic - just slice off the root end, make one vertical slice through the skin, or cut the whole clove in half lengthwise, and the peel will slip off. Or, if you're going to be cutting the clove up anyway, lay the unpeeled clove on the cutting board, place the flat side of a heavy knife on top of it, and give the knife a good whack with your fist. You can pick the peel right off of the smashed garlic, and if you then want to mince it, it only takes a few passes of the knife. (Yeah, this all sounds like more trouble than the mincer you linked, but consider whether the mincer seems like a nuisance to clean and to get out all the little garlic pieces.)

I like my OXO GoodGrips garlic press
http://www.oxo.com/p-472-garlic-press.aspx
Mine is the older version with softer "flaps" or "baffles" where the thumb goes.....but it broke after 30 years. The little red plastic part flips around to push any remaining garlic backwards through the holes, for re-pressing or cleaning. But honestly, even before mine broke I usually used the slicer.

I use the plastic organizer boxes in my refrigerator too - shoe size and the one that's almost double a shoe box. For the freezer I use similar inexpensive organizers, but plastic baskets (with holes); I suspect that's better for air circulation.

 

[IngridN]

I've also tried the garlic peeler and ended up tossing it. It wasn't worth the hassles.

Ingrid

 

[glypnirsgirl]

I read somewhere that the garlic mincer didn't work as well as described - maybe it was that it was hard to get all the little pieces out, or hard to clean? Can't remember.
This is my favorite garlic tool - it makes very very thin slices, that you can leave as is or easily zip a knife over to mince.
http://www.amazon.com/MIU-France-Stainless-Garlic-Truffle/dp/B000UY2FK4

Regarding the peeler, if you want that kind of thing just use one of those usually-free rubbery jar-openers that are often handed out with advertising on them. I have at least a half dozen advertising various banks etc. If you want to buy one, go to the dollar store. However, I've never had an issue with peeling garlic - just slice off the root end, make one vertical slice through the skin, or cut the whole clove in half lengthwise, and the peel will slip off. Or, if you're going to be cutting the clove up anyway, lay the unpeeled clove on the cutting board, place the flat side of a heavy knife on top of it, and give the knife a good whack with your fist. You can pick the peel right off of the smashed garlic, and if you then want to mince it, it only takes a few passes of the knife. (Yeah, this all sounds like more trouble than the mincer you linked, but consider whether the mincer seems like a nuisance to clean and to get out all the little garlic pieces.)

I like my OXO GoodGrips garlic press
http://www.oxo.com/p-472-garlic-press.aspx
Mine is the older version with softer "flaps" or "baffles" where the thumb goes.....but it broke after 30 years. The little red plastic part flips around to push any remaining garlic backwards through the holes, for re-pressing or cleaning. But honestly, even before mine broke I usually used the slicer.

I use the plastic organizer boxes in my refrigerator too - shoe size and the one that's almost double a shoe box. For the freezer I use similar inexpensive organizers, but plastic baskets (with holes); I suspect that's better for air circulation.

Love the MIU garlic slicer, It is like a mini-mandolin for garlic. Right now, I am peeling my garlic by hand using the smash method and then I hand mince. OR one of my new discoveries suggested by one of the recipes that I recently tried is using my microplane grater --- it is much faster than mincing and it results in really fine and uniform garlic. When I do that, I have to add the garlic later than I normally do so that it won't burn.

I have the Zyliss garlic press. And it doesn't seem to leave much in the press other than the skin, but not much comes out, either.

And, if I didn't mention it earlier, my microplane grater is FANTASTIC. I use it for cheese, garlic, zesting, and I have gotten to like grating apples, carrots and other vegetables to just get them into other dishes without being noticeable.

elaine

 

[Elan]

I have the following items on my "what to buy next" list:

A garlic mincer

And because the garlic needs to be peeled before using the mincer,
a garlic peeler.

Has anyone tried either of these? I have a garlic press and I do not like it. I can never get even half as much garlic out of the press as I can by hand peeling and mincing. They really feel more like a garlic juicer than a press.

I saw these bins for organizing my refrigerator. I decided that they are too expensive. Instead, I am using some plastic shoeboxes that I had left over from organizing my scuba gear. They are working well (except that they are not designed for the fridge so the sizes aren't just right) so far. One of my reluctances in buying the fridge binz was my concern that we wouldn't actually continue to use them. So it made sense to me to try the less expensive alternative first.

I have a Pampered Chef garlic press similar to the Zyliss shown. Never really had any issues with it's performance. I use my large chef's knife to smash the garlic and peel by hand. I've never considered this a hassle either.

Also agree with the microplane. There's really no other good way that I'm aware of to zest a lemon or orange, especially for delicate desserts where you don't want any noticable material, just flavor. I don't use mine a lot, but it sure comes in handy.

One silly kitchen item I use frequently is a hamburger press. I have an el cheapo, but it works great. Not really a neccessity, but it's definitely a time saver, especially when pre-forming patties to vacuum seal and freeze (for when my spoiled kids don't want to eat what I've fixed for dinner).

 

[pjrose]

. . .

I have the Zyliss garlic press. And it doesn't seem to leave much in the press other than the skin, but not much comes out, either.

. . .

Don't you peel the garlic first? I'd think the skin would hold back the garlic from coming out of the holes.....

 

[glypnirsgirl]

Don't you peel the garlic first? I'd think the skin would hold back the garlic from coming out of the holes.....

No, I don't peel. I put it in whole. Maybe this is the problem!

I had read in some cooking magazine that you didn't need to peel first because the press will hold the peel. And it certainly does that!

I will have to try peeling then pressing. I may get better results.

elaine

 

[glypnirsgirl]

I was beginning to question my sanity. I decided to google "how to use a garlic press" and came up with this video.

So, I watched the video and the presenter says that there is no need to peel the garlic ... and she gets about the same amount of garlic from her press that I get from mine.

She should peel her garlic, too!

elaine

 

[bjones9942]

I was beginning to question my sanity. I decided to google "how to use a garlic press" and came up with this video.

So, I watched the video and the presenter says that there is no need to peel the garlic ... and she gets about the same amount of garlic from her press that I get from mine.

She should peel her garlic, too!

elaine

Lol! I get a sufficient amount of garlic when I use my press (and I don't usually peel first) Maybe it's the extrusion process extracting the liquid from the garlic as it forces it through the holes, and you're not counting that in with the bits of cellulose?

I too enjoy my microplane, but I frequently zest my knuckles. I guess the cutting glove doesn't work too well if you don't wear it!

 

[Passepartout]

I guess I'm just soooo last century. I peel the cloves then smash 'em a little more with the side of the chef knife then mince the heck out of 'em. I never cared for trying to get the bits of smoosched garlic parts out of the little holes in any squeezer I've tried.

I'm the same way, though, about cleaning up the food processor that DW gets out for slicing anything. Give me a good chef's knife every time unless I have a whole lot of slicing to do.

Could be I have pretty good knife skills, razor sharp knives and like to show both of them off.

Jim

 

[pjrose]

To Peel or Not To Peel?

Hmmm....maybe this calls for some experimentation of randomly assigning garlic cloves to be or not to be peeled, pressing and measuring.

But since my favorite garlic press broke after several decades of heavy use, and I don't miss it enough to get another, I guess I won't do it.

Anyway, my method was:

1. cut end off garlic clove, if necessary make a slit in the peel, and remove the peel with fingers
   
2. put clove - whole or if it's huge in a few big chunks - in press
   
3. Press the press
   
4. Scrape the pressed garlic from the outside of the press, open the press, and put the pressed garlic back in the press. This is because the press usually has a wad of unpressed garlic in it, and I figure if I put something on top of that and re-press, it'll all go through.
   
5. Press again
   
6. Repeat steps 4 and 5

And this, my friends, is why I now use the mini-mandolin instead, and if I want to, 1-2 seconds with a sharp knife to mince the thin slices.

Maybe I'll buy one of those gizmos Elaine posted above!

Or buy jarred minced garlic

Actually, in a soup or stew or pot roast, I put in whole peeled cloves. Lots of them, easily a dozen or more good-sized ones. With hours of cooking they get very soft, practically dissolving into the sauce. The few that are still left are yummy, and those who are afraid of them can easily pick them out and pass them over to me

 

[ScoopKona]

How to peel garlic:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0d3oc24fD-c

 

[pjrose]

Pretty cool, Scoop. Have you tried this?

I'm afraid if I did it I'd break my hand or wrist on the first step, and have garlic flying all over the kitchen on the second step

But I'm tempted.....maybe next time I need a whole bunch of garlic I'll give it a try

 

[Kal]

OMG, I can't believe all those techniques miss a very key step...REMOVAL OF THE GERM!

The very center of each clove is the "germ" which over time will send out a green stem. Not only is it bitter but the mere fact that it exists means that your garlic will be less potent.

So if you are one who is a bit pedantic and may have a narrow, often ostentatious concern for details and minutiae here is what we do.

Remove the outside wrapper, then slice the clove in half lengthwise. Look at the inner part of each half and gently remove the germ (it will be obvious because of its different texture). Then proceed to squish, smash, grate, slice, press or dice the remaining virgin garlic as you like.

And just when you thought it was safe to whack that garlic clove!!

 

[MuranoJo]

I'm not entirely sure, but I think Scoop's video was just for fun, no?
If not (really?), I may try it, but we rarely use that much garlic at once, maybe 4-5 cloves.

I gave up on the presses--got tired of digging out the remnants. Now I just smash with the side of a chef's knife and then mince or do whatever with the knife.

 

[ScoopKona]

I'm not entirely sure, but I think Scoop's video was just for fun, no?
If not (really?), I may try it, but we rarely use that much garlic at once, maybe 4-5 cloves.

I gave up on the presses--got tired of digging out the remnants. Now I just smash with the side of a chef's knife and then mince or do whatever with the knife.

Ok, sorry to be rude. BUT WHY DO YOU THINK I LINKED THAT VIDEO?????? This is how I peel garlic. This is how I peel garlic EVERY DAMNED DAY. Except I use two hotel pans and knock out 20-30 whole bulbs of garlic at a time.

Let me be VERY frank -- there is a whole industry devoted to separating wannabee cooks from their money. They'll offer every manner of useless and counterproductive crap, promising that real chefs use this in restaurants. (And everybody wants to be a real chef, right???)

Truth of the matter is, the people who actually do this for a living have the mechanics of cooking down to a science. And we don't have the $800 to spend on the latest egg cracker or turnip twaddler. We use pans, knives, and a VERY small assortment of gadgets. I use a stick blender every day. I use a whisk every day. I use a Robot-Coupe every day (a food processor on steroids). Sometimes I use a mandoline. And sometimes I use a microplane grater. That is IT.

http://ruhlman.com/2012/02/stupid-kitchen-tools/

EDIT -- Tongs, spatulas, and spoons are assumed.

 

[pjrose]

Somebody needs a {{HUG}} except I'm afraid if I were close enough to try he'd bite.

I didn't think it was a joke, Scoop, I thought it was for real and fascinating - I'm just kind of scared to try it 'cause I'd have garlic flying all over the kitchen!

Love the video, Scoop. I have lots of rounded wooden spoons; the only two wooden tools I use are a large wood spatula referred to above, and a very old (40 years?) formerly-rounded wooden spoon that has developed an angled edge over decades of soups, stews, chilis, and the like.

And Kal, are you serious about the germ? the little green thing? When I see cloves with that I want to plant them in the back yard to have garlic chives (that's what I'd get, isn't it?)

 

[ScoopKona]

And Kal, are you serious about the germ? the little green thing? When I see cloves with that I want to plant them in the back yard to have garlic chives (that's what I'd get, isn't it?)

No, you'd get garlic. That's what the bulb is -- a garlic bulb. Just like a tulip bulb produces tulips, a garlic bulb produces garlic. The part we eat is fuel for the germ in the middle.

I grow garlic and shallots every year. I could buy them cheap, sure. But the homegrown is SO much better than what I can get locally. So I use that for very special meals.

 

[pjrose]

. . .
And Kal, are you serious about the germ? the little green thing? When I see cloves with that I want to plant them in the back yard to have garlic chives (that's what I'd get, isn't it?)

No, you'd get garlic. That's what the bulb is -- a garlic bulb. Just like a tulip bulb produces tulips, a garlic bulb produces garlic. The part we eat is fuel for the germ in the middle.

I grow garlic and shallots every year. I could buy them cheap, sure. But the homegrown is SO much better than what I can get locally. So I use that for very special meals.

I know I'd get garlic. I meant the green stalks; I thought those were called 'garlic chives' but I looked it up and it's actually a different plant.

Nonetheless, couldn't the garlic stalks be used too, minced or snipped like green onions or scallions or chives?

 

[Kal]

...Nonetheless, couldn't the garlic stalks be used too, minced or snipped like green onions or scallions or chives?

Taste one and see if you think they're bitter.

 

[pjrose]

I know I'd get garlic. I meant the green stalks; I thought those were called 'garlic chives' but I looked it up and it's actually a different plant.

Nonetheless, couldn't the garlic stalks be used too, minced or snipped like green onions or scallions or chives?

Taste one and see if you think they're bitter.

First I'd have to grow one.....
I wonder if I planted a bunch of garlic cloves around/among the plants that the deer like, if the deer would stay away?