Saucy
June 15, 2005

Practically Cooking: Go Go Gadget

You've got a need to feed. But with all the gadgets cluttering up the kitchen section of your local department store, how do you know what you really need and what you can live without (for now, at least)?

Nearly all of the most basic kitchen tools can be found at any large grocery store, though not always at the best prices or with the most attractive or durable selection to choose from. Target, Bed Bath & Beyond or even Wal-Mart offer inexpensive gear to get you started. You can replace the pieces you use most often with sturdier and/or more aesthetically pleasing items from specialty stores like Sur La Table, the Wooden Spoon, or the Chopping Block as you can afford them. Wherever you choose to buy your kitchenware, the list below consists of what I consider to be indispensable:

Safety First!

• Aprons
Sure, they make you look like a bit of a dork, but the alternative is to risk ruining your clothes or to change into a t-shirt and jeans every time you cook. Take your pick.

• Kitchen towels
Paper towels are good for cleaning up spilled blood from meats or other bacteria-laden substances, but kitchen towels are obviously more absorbant than paper towels, so they're quicker to clean up with; they're less wasteful; and they can sub as hot pads in a pinch.

• Oven mitt/hot pads
If you get a kick out of reaching into pots of boiling water, you can get a silicone oven mitt, which can stand temperatures up to 600°F, but personally I find them too inflexible. I'll take a good old, ordinary cloth oven mitt instead, thanks.

Get a Grip

• Can openers
No matter how diligent you are, even if you live upstairs from the most phenomenal grocery store on the planet, you'll still need to pull out the canned tomatoes sometime.

• Potato Mashers
If you like mashed potatoes, you'll need a potato masher. I like somewhat lumpy mashed potatoes (with the skin!), so I prefer wire mashers, but potato ricers make smoother mashed potatoes for those who prefer them. Even if you don't particularly like mashed potatoes, mashers come in handy for making refried beans, tomato sauces, and any number of other dishes.

• Spatulas
Stainless steel spatulas are more likely to damage your pots and pans, so it's best to go with plastic. But if you know you'll be using a certain spatula on the stove (as opposed to solely in mixing bowls), be sure to make sure it has good heat resistance. I've melted a couple of spatulas over the past few years, and it's not pretty.

• Tongs
Tongs can fill in for a slotted spoon, and they're perfect for plating or turning over steaks or chicken breasts in the pan. You won't need a pair quite as big as the one for your outdoor grill.

• Two-pronged fork
Definitely go with stainless steel here. Plastic just isn't sturdy enough, wooden forks can't pierce anything.

• Whisks
Even though you can use a fork to beat eggs for breakfast, whisks are more efficient, fluffing your eggs higher and stiffer more quickly. If you bake, they're a must for cakes, meringues, bread, and other staples. Even if you don't bake, they're inexpensive, so it can't hurt to have one around for that occasional batch of scrambled eggs.

• Wooden spoons
For mixing spoons, go with wood, period. Stainless steel utensils stand a higher chance of scratching your cookware, but wooden spoons also absorb and distribute flavors. (Would you rather your soup taste like aluminum?) Because of this latter fact, you may want to dedicate spoons to various tasks. For instance, have one set for savory dishes and another for sweets and baking.

Choose spoons -- or any wooden utensils -- crafted from a solid piece of wood, or they will split along the glue lines. No matter how many you have, you'll figure out a way to use them all, so you'll want several. But get cheap ones; it'll hurt less when you snap one in half.

Hold It

• Measuring spoons and cup measures
Unless you plan to spend a lot of time baking, think of these as training wheels. With baking, you'll need to stay a bit more precise, but once you've gotten the hang of the cooking side, you'll be able to eyeball (or sniff) most of the quantities you need for your everyday cooking.

• Mixing bowls
Copper bowls make eggs fluffier, so one of those is nice if you like omelettes, scrambled eggs or quiche. Otherwise, it doesn't much matter what they're made out of, though I simply prefer glass (or plexiglass) or stainless steel to plastic.

• Ramekins, monkey dishes, or dessert dishes
I promise I won't pull out the French terms on you too often, but mise en place is key. It means "put in place" -- that is, having everything set before you start cooking. In order to keep yourself from rifling through your cabinets or trying to slice up mushrooms while your oil is burning in the pan, use small bowls to lay out all your spices, flour, other ingredients prior to lighting your stove.

I recommend Pyrex Prepware 6 oz. dessert dishes, which come in sets of four. They're inexpensive, durable, and see-through, to more quickly identify which ingredients are which while you're darting around your kitchen.

• Strainers and collanders
Collanders are useful for washing vegetables, draining noodles, or sifting out the floaties in a stock to make clear broth. If the floaties in a liquid are too fine for your strainer's mesh, use a paper towel or a coffee filter. You can also use strainers to sift flour in a pinch.

• Tupperware -- and lots of it
Tupperware is the single person's best friend -- plastic bins of any kind, really. Plastic bins are great for marinating meats in, storing frozen foods, and storing leftovers. They work well in the freezer, too, of course. Buy them in a bunch of different sizes, because the less bacteria-laden air trapped in the container along with your food, the longer it will keep in your fridge without spoiling or in your freezer without getting freezer burned.

One other word of warning: until recently, Tupperware hasn't always been terribly happy with oily or acidic foods like tomatoes, often staining easily. Even these supposedly "stain-proof" plastic bins aren't as resistant as their makers would like you to believe. While these blemishes are only cosmetic, they're also somewhat unavoidable, so you might want to have your ugly plastic bins set aside solely for tomato or freezer duty.

Fancy Stuff

• Food processor and/or blender
Don't think you have to run out and drop the cash for a Cuisinart right now. Sometimes, a $15 blender will work just fine. There are many combination food processor/blenders, though, so if you find yourself wanting your onions chopped more finely or hummus puréed more smoothly, buy one and conserve your apartment's precious counter space by passing on your old blender to a deserving charity or friend.

• Meat thermometer
Any number of factors can make your food cook more or less quickly than the recipe says, so you might want to get a meat thermometer. You can opt for cheaper, smaller, button thermometers, as well, and they'll work well enough. I had a couple of them go bad on me before I gave in and went for an electric one with a digital probe such as this one from Pyrex.

Since probe thermometers alert you when the inside of a piece of meat has reached a preset temperature, you don't need to pay attention to them as closely -- and since you're not constantly opening and closing the oven door to check the temperature with a hand thermometer, your food will cook faster, too. And, at $20 or so for basic models, they're not terribly expensive, either. As an extra feature, most also include timer functionality, so you'll get even more out of your investment.

• Pepper mills, mortar and pestle and/or handheld coffee grinder
If you like pepper at all, you absolutely need a pepper mill. There's just no way around it: pre-ground black pepper just doesn't cut it. But pepper isn't the only spice that tastes better fresh-ground; pretty much all of them do. Spices stay fresh longer whole. A mortar and pestle is the old school way of grinding whole spices, but some, such as fenugreek, perhaps, may prove a little too resilient if either your arm muscles or your mortar and pestle are too small. This is where an electric coffee grinder comes in handy. If you're only grinding up a little bit of salt and pepper, a mortar and pestle will be quicker and easier to clean. But if you frequently grind up large amounts of whole spices, such as for curry powder, you'll definitely appreciate an electric coffee grinder. Don't use the same grinder for both your morning brew and your spices, though, or the flavor of your curry may take on a hint of coffee.