Tools of the Trade

[amadi]

A comment axelrod made in an earlier post struck a note with me: rice cookers are awesome because you put ingredients in, can go back to bed and wake up to hot food waiting for you.

For the same reason, I love my slow cooker. I appreciate something that lets me make even complex meals with no tending, just prep and go.

I've also been recently reminded that a good knife makes prep work so much easier. (I now really grok why chefs will use anyone's pans, pots and appliances but carry their own knives with them.) With arthritic hands, I am far more capable of doing cutting/chopping prep work with a good knife that fits my hand and has a good sharp edge on it than I was with a drawer full of mediocre knives.

Our focus thus far has largely been on recipes, but I'm curious what tools, appliances and "hardware" are important parts of your kitchen arsenal?

Comments

[amadi]

Two additions: my excellent new knife? From IKEA. It is probably stamped metal that will be useless in a year and won't hold an edge once I have to sharpen it. But it cost $4, and has a handle that works with my hand, so I'm okay with buying another a year from now if need be.

Also used regularly in my kitchen (enough so that I take mine on vacation) are Orka silicone steamers. I only use mine in the microwave, though they are oven proof up to a certain temp. Veggies in the microwave come out tender, perfect, never overcooked, dried out or mushy. It's another set it and forget it kind of thing. I've also seen that they actually enable the microwaving of fish and boneless chicken, without either being, well, microwaved looking. I don't know about taste, but I think it would depend a lot on what you add in terms of spices and flavorings.