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

[kake]

Do you wash your rice before you put it in the cooker (as in, with several changes of water, preferably until the water runs clear, rather than just a quick rinse)? I realise this adds to the burden/difficulty of making the rice, but I find it makes a huge difference to the final result.

I use weight rather than volume measurements for my rice, but in case it helps, for jasmine rice I use 200g rice:275g water for two portions and 300g rice:400g water for three portions.

It's possible that your cooker's broken, though — perhaps there's a problem with the temperature sensor. How long does it usually cook the rice for before switching to "keep warm"?