Hounds In The Kitchen » kitchen

Kitchen Tools You Do NOT Need {Friday Five}

Rachel — Fri, 16 Mar 2012 13:22:15 +0000

Can I ask a favor? I am a finalist in a food photography contest on Feastie. If you have a second (no registration necessary) can you vote for ‘Beach Food in the Bahamas’? I would really appreciate it!

Wanting a distraction from client work and house work, I sat down last night to spend a gift card at Williams Sonoma earned for participating in the Foodie100.

Very quickly I was ranting to Alex about unnecessary kitchen gadgetry. The proliferation of tools that are single use, duplicate a function a simpler tool can perform, or plain don’t work is exasperating and not at all limited to Williams Sonoma. It’s no wonder people think cooking is difficult when stores sell so many confusing kitchen tools.

That is not to say that our kitchen isn’t full of utensils. We own at least a half dozen spatulas for different uses. Our drawers contain several duplicates of tools we use most often. And yes, in the dark bottoms of cabinets you can find a few cutesy or single use tools languishing until I get a chance to donate them to someone who might want them more.

At any rate, here are five of the non-essential tools that caught my wrath:

Vertical chicken rack, i.e. beer can chicken holder – Pssstttt…the beer can will hold the chicken upright just fine! Don’t spent $30 (or $175! for a Staub version) on a piece of metal that will just get grossed up with chicken juices!

Flexible silicone spatula in the shape of anything – Star Wars, Cars, Snow White and other characters were not created to be smooshed flat, cut out of silicone and slid under pancakes. You know what they do in protest? Ruin your breakfast.

Mustard scoop – Who has no thumbs and doesn’t do a useful thing except clutter up the utensil drawer? <—that guy

Waffle tongs – See above. Who creates these things?!

Measuring spoon that says ‘pinch’ – Look how cute it is? It says pinch or dash or smidge! Seriously, if a baker can’t pinch two fingers together to hold a smidge of this or that, they need help beyond what a set of measuring spoons can offer.

Avocado/watermelon/egg/banana/potato/tomato/jalapeno slicer/knife/cutter – If it is designed to cut one vegetable or fruit in one precise way, great. How many varieties of produce do you buy in a year? How big is your knife block? My guess is those two numbers don’t match and a single sharp pairing knife can do the job of all these tools.

I must say that the Williams Sonoma catalog actually made me search a good long while to find all these unnecessary utensils. I enjoy how the site populates recipes that search terms. The list of tools I want to buy (big wire strainer, vegetable/nut hand chopper, le creuset terrine, oversize mortar and pestle, fluted bundt pan, all clad anything, le creuset anything, etc.) is much bigger than the goofy tools.

It’s possible that some of you own and use what I consider non-essential. If it works for you – enjoy. But in the interest of simplicity and functionality, I try to fill my drawers with select highly-useful tools and I encourage you to do the same.

What odd tools do you love and use often? What have you seen or been given that are a complete waste of time?

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Kitchen Tools You Do NOT Need {Friday Five} is a post from Hounds In The Kitchen.
If you like what you read, please consider supporting us with a donation or visit the Hounds in the Kitchen shop for ebooks and favorite tools. Thanks!

In My Kitchen Cupboards

Rachel Tayse — Thu, 14 Jan 2010 21:58:59 +0000

Friends were recently discussion kitchen cupboards. A well organized kitchen thrills me, so I offered to photo-document what’s going on in my cabinets.

When I designed this kitchen in the fall of 2008, I centered my thoughts around working zones and storage. I’m a ‘everything in it’s place and a place for everything’ sorta girl, so I designated space for what we use where we use it. Primarily I selected IKEA drawers because they keep things organized.

In the photos below, I decided to keep it real and not style a thing. That means some cupboards are messier than ideal. Here goes:

The sink and dishwasher are in the washing zone along with most of our serving dishes.

The counter on the pass through holds the Kitchen Aid Mixer on top and baking supplies in drawers below.

Surrounding the stove is open storage for pots and pans.

Pantry items and mixed drink supplies are in skinny cabinets along the wall opposite.

Cooking tools and more pantry items are in drawers below.

So there’s a quick and dirty tour of my kitchen cupboards! What’s in your kitchen? If you would like to join the bare-all party, leave a link to a post about your kitchen cupboards or pictures in the comments.

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In My Kitchen Cupboards is a post from Hounds In The Kitchen.
If you like what you read, please consider supporting us with a donation or visit the Hounds in the Kitchen shop for ebooks and favorite tools. Thanks!

Kitchen Projects

Rachel Tayse — Mon, 27 Jul 2009 01:28:07 +0000

Last Sunday my parents unexpectedly watched Lillian for the day. What a treat!

Instead of slothing around like we usually do, I wanted to get some kitchen remodeling projects wrapped up. Our Japanese guest Kayoko arrived to stay with us Thursday and that motivated me to get a lot of things done last week!

After a delicious, inexpensive, large portioned lunch at Lavash Cafe, Alex and I measured, measured, measured, then cut and installed the toe kicks. I can’t believe we waited so long for this little finish job. It was pretty quick and makes the cabinets look much more complete.

Then I was inspired to cover the gaping hole above the stove. I tested whether a piece of cork would fit. With a little modification (cutting off the ‘tongue’ on one side) it did! Alex pulled out the finish nailer and fastened it into place.

That only leaves two projects: countertops and trim. Alex has the Concrete Countertops Made Simple book out of the library again and I overheard him telling Kayoko that he will build them this summer. I’ll believe it when I see it.

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Kitchen Projects is a post from Hounds In The Kitchen.
If you like what you read, please consider supporting us with a donation or visit the Hounds in the Kitchen shop for ebooks and favorite tools. Thanks!

Cabinet choices

Rachel Tayse — Tue, 02 Dec 2008 22:03:11 +0000

We are heading to Ikea West Chester this weekend to order cabinets. We remeasured the kitchen to make sure everything is correct last night. Here are our top three door choices. What do you like best?

Ulriksdal solid oak - solid wood, most expensive, but being discontinued and on sale

Tildaholm oak - would match rest of woodwork in house most closely

Adel - cheapest, most modern look

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Cabinet choices is a post from Hounds In The Kitchen.
If you like what you read, please consider supporting us with a donation or visit the Hounds in the Kitchen shop for ebooks and favorite tools. Thanks!

Master Plan added

Rachel Tayse — Mon, 01 Dec 2008 03:58:08 +0000

Check out the Master Plan page I just added. It includes lots of pictures from the kitchen planner. We’d love to know what you think – please comment!

top down look

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Master Plan added is a post from Hounds In The Kitchen.
If you like what you read, please consider supporting us with a donation or visit the Hounds in the Kitchen shop for ebooks and favorite tools. Thanks!

Would you buy a kitchen with a purple floor?

Rachel Tayse — Wed, 26 Nov 2008 04:28:58 +0000

We will be putting in linoleum floor in the new kitchen. Lil and I are most attracted to madagascar violet, a lavender base with orange and peach patches. Assuming the rest of the kitchen is in a moderate color palette, what do you think of the purple floor? Would it negatively affect resale?

madagascar violet

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Would you buy a kitchen with a purple floor? is a post from Hounds In The Kitchen.
If you like what you read, please consider supporting us with a donation or visit the Hounds in the Kitchen shop for ebooks and favorite tools. Thanks!