Setting Up a New Kitchen

Hand tools is what I'm calling anything gadget that doesn't need to be plugged in, with the exception of knives and other cutting tools. That's a pretty broad description, so I'll break it down a bit more. I'm dividing hand tools into 5 categories: Spoon, Spatula, Measuring, Grabbing, and Other. (There’s just no way to classify some tools, so there has to be an “other” category!)

Spoons

Spoons, ladles, and anything else to scoop things fall into this category. For the most part, I prefer heat resistant nylon. It doesn’t scratch, and it’s easy to clean. Metal spoons scratch, and wooden spoons can absorb bad stuff. It’s good to have at least two solid spoons and two slotted spoons available – more if you don’t wash dishes after every session. You don’t want to have to wash a dirty spoon in the middle of cooking.

Don’t put your cooking spoons into your mouth. If you want to taste something, transfer it from your cooking spoon to a table spoon. And on that same line, don’t put a table spoon that’s already been in your mouth into the food you’re cooking. While this may be no big deal if you’re only cooking for yourself, you want to build good habits. I still remember on my first date with my wife, she licked a spoon she had just scooped ice cream with, and then went back in to get another scoop. It was no big deal because my tongue was just in her mouth, she wasn’t even aware that she had double-dipped. After I pointed it out to her, she understood why none of her friends ever wanted ice cream at her house.

On the subject of ice cream, you don’t necessarily need an “ice cream scoop”. But whatever you use needs to be strong. This is a case where a heat resistant nylon tool doesn’t work. My favorite has a fluid filled handle. Warm the handle, and ice cream will slide right out of the scoop. Don’t bother with mechanical scoops for ice cream. Most aren’t strong enough.

It’s also good to have a couple ladles around. Again, heat resistant nylon won’t accidentally damage non-stick surfaces, but if you’re going to leave a ladle sitting in anything very hot, you really need a metal ladle.

Spatulas

This is a very broad category. People call a lot of different things “spatulas”. I’m basically using “spatula” to describe anything essentially flat that is used to get under food.

Turners fall in this category. You’ll need a couple of heat resistant nylon turners to save your non-stick cooking surfaces. I have a couple thin, wide ones that are good for turning things like frying eggs. I also have a couple of thick, narrower ones that are good for stirring and flipping during sautéing.

However, if you’re not on a non-stick surface, you may need a thin, but strong turner to slice under the food. The metal turners can even be used to scrape surfaces. I like the ones that are big enough to flip burgers, and have long enough handles that I can take them outside to the grill, too.

Also in the category of spatulas are “rubber scrapers”. Generally, the more heat these can take, the less flexible they are. I have a set of both very flexible, and a set of heat resistant scrappers around. A variety of sizes is good. Narrow scrappers with long enough handles can be used to clean-out bottles, too.

I confess. I have a couple of wooden spatulas, too. I use them when I’m stir frying, but I don’t immediately put them in with raw meat. Wooden spatulas won’t scrap the thin layer of caramelized oil that’s built-up in my wok, but can take heat far higher than even the best heat resistant nylon. After use, clean the wooden spatula’s surface with warm, soapy water. Don’t put them in the dishwasher, or allow them to soak. After cleaning the surface, put a cup of water in the microwave, and set the damp spoon next to it. Run the microwave on high until the spatula surface is dry (at least one minute) to kill any bacteria. (You can also do this with wooden cutting boards.) If a wooden tool cracks, or splits throw it out.

Measuring

If you are a baker, you're going to want a scale. The best baking recipies, and the best bakers, measure dry ingredients by weight. You see, in baking, a certain degree of precision is needed. A cake's texture is very dependant upon the intensity of chemical reactions that take place during baking. If your "cup" of flower is less compact than last time, your cake could come out very differently. But a pound is a pound is a pound -- assuming you're using the same ingredient each time.

If you're not a baker, you're not going to need that kind of precision. Meat and vegetables have lots of variation themselves. A pound of beans from this week's harvest is going to be slightly different from a pound of beans from next week's harvest, for example. So does it really matter whether we're using .25 lb of butter, or .26? Or even .30? Not really. Most of the time we just need to be in the ballpark.

But as many times as I make a package of macaroni and cheese, I can't tell the difference between one and two cups of water -- at least not until I see the final result, and it's far too late to take out some water. I still need a measuring cup. I like the ones with the steaply sloped side. They make it easier to have more precision in small quanities where it counts than with greater quanities. A two-cup size is good here.

If I'm just measuring water, I can reuse the cup without washing. Even with milk, a few rinses is enough. But sometimes I'm measuring something that requires me to wash the cup afterwards. And occasionally, while my favorite cup is dirty, I need to measure something else. Instead of just getting a second cup exactly the same, my second cup is a more traditional looking measuring cup. It's made out of pyrex, so I can put it in the microwave oven. And because it doesn't taper much, it's easy to stir things in it.

The main difference between liquid and dry ingredient measuring is that when you meausre liquids, you want some headroom so you don't spill. But when measuring dry ingredients, you want to be able to level-off the top. Liquids self-level, but dry ingredients tend to have high and low spots. That means you want a different measuring cup for each size. An inexpensive set nests well, and has easy to read markings.

While I don't often use my measuring spoons, I feel that they are important to have around, too. Don't trust that your flatware teaspoons and tablespoons are what they say they are. Measuring spoons also have deeper bowls, so you spill less.

Grabbing

It seems interesting that I would devote an entire category to one tool: Tongs. But giving tongs it's own category underscores just how important these grabbers are in the kitchen. Tongs are an extension of your hand. They'll go places your hand, even with gloves or oven mits, can't go. You'll lift chuck roasts out of juices. You'll turn sausage without puncturing their skins. You'll retrive that spoon that fell to the bottom of the gravey.

Obviously you'll want more than one set of tongs. Start out with a 9-inch and a 12-inch. Make sure they have sturdy shafts that won't bend under weight. This becomes very important if you decide to go beyond the 12-inch size. Bigger jobs may suggest bigger tongs would be better, but the longer the tongs are, the less stable they are.

Other

Back in the small appliances chapter, we looked at the electric can opener. But what happens if the power goes out?

First, a warning. Don't open your refrigerator door any more than you need to. It let's the cold out. The longer you can keep it cold in there, the better chance you won't have to throw everything out. So if you get hungry, it's time to raid the pantry instead of the refrigerator. While we usually heat canned vegetables and soup before we eat them, we don't have to. Cream soups aren't my favorites when they're room temperature, but chicken noodle soup and green beans are just fine. But you're not going to be able to have that feast if the only can opener you have is the electric one!

Even when the power is on, we've all had that problem of opening the new jar of pickles. And trust me when I tell you it doesn't get easier as you get older -- especially if you've spent all day writing these articles on a keyboard. The answer is a jar opener. It should go without saying that your jar opener ought to have a good, wide grip. What's the use of a jar opener that's as hard to hold as the jar is to open?

There are some times you'd like things to just slip through your fingers. However, your fingers aren't the most effective strainers your can find. You really need a real strainer. And a colander, too. You don't want to drain spaghetti through your fingers! Ouch! If you get a stainless steel colander, you may also be able to rig it up as a steamer, too.

Sometimes you just need something to hit the spot -- that tiny opening. That's when you need a funnel. Get a set with different sizes.

I also love my spaghetti grabber. It's the perfect tool for stiring the pasta, and scooping out a single piece to test for doneness.

You're short on money, right? Of course you are. (No one who has enough money browses the web. People with that much money pay other people to browse the web.) Want to stretch your meat budget? Get a tenderizing hammer. The hammer tears the long fibers that cheap meat has, making it possible to make some recipies with cheaper cuts of meat without turning the meal into a chewing contest.

You have some different ideas? Well, before you head off to look for other tools I haven't mentioned, let's mix it up a little bit. And what better way to mix it up than with a whisk! I like my small whisk, but often a fork will do just as well. There are all types and sizes of whisks for different functions, but I find that a reasonably sized balloon whisk is a good multi-taskable version to start off with.

That's a lot of stuff we covered in this chapter, but we've still got one more major category to look at: Cutting tools. We'll look at everything from knives to shredding tools in our last chapter.

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