Gadgets to Help You Cook to Beat the Clock
Kitchen gadgets are great stocking stuffers for the foodies in your life. I have a few tried and true gizmos that I’ve had for years.
- One is a nutmeg grater, about $3. Craig Claiborne, former food editor of The New York Times, once called this his favorite tool. I wouldn’t go that far but there’s no question that freshly grated nutmeg is light years beyond the powdery stuff in cans.
- Another favorite is my fat handled vegetable peeler by Oxo. It’s so much easier to use than those puny all-metal ones. Great for older folks (I gave one to Mom) and people with arthritis. Oxo makes a whole line of good grip tools, including garlic presses and can openers. From $7 to 15.
- A digital, instant-read thermometer is a must for any serious cook. An instant-read thermometer, as the name implies, gives you a quick (though not exactly instant; it takes about 15 seconds) fix on the temperature of a roast, casserole or the foaming milk for your morning cappuccino. No more meat thermometers that stay permanently lodged in your turkey only to get so grease splattered after a few uses that they become unreadable. The digital instant read thermometers are more accurate and easier to read than analog thermometers. Taylor is the best known brand. Its thermometer, about $20, is waterproof and goes from minus 40 to 450 degrees.
- Speaking of heat, ever leave a rubber spatula inside a hot pan only to come back to a melted mess? Not going to happen with the new generation of silicone spatulas that withstand very high temperatures. Le Creuset silicone spatulas, for example, are guaranteed to take up to 800 degrees. About $11, depending on size. (There are other brands, which vary in quality and in how much heat they can handle.)
- Also from the asbestos file: Williams-Sonoma sells silicone potholders that withstand temperatures of up to 675 degrees. Their textured surface also prevents slipping. And they are dishwasher safe, $7.
- Frying bacon and other meats can make a mess of your stove. But mesh splatter screens eliminate this and don’t let meat steam the way conventional covers can. Up to $20, depending on size.
- The Microplane grater/zester, about $12, makes easy work of Parmigiano and other grating cheeses. Patterned after a carpenter’s tool designed for shaving wood, this grater produces billowy threads that seem to give you more volume than other graters. It also does an excellent job on grating citrus rinds, giving you more rind and less pith as well as protecting your knuckles.