4 Low-Tech Kitchen "Gadgets" I Love
There are four low-tech things I do in the kitchen that save bits of time and make me feel happy.
Find out what these Low-Tech Kitchen Gadgets are after the jump...
Share your favorite low-tech kitchen gadgets with us (and also tell us if you are on Team Jacinda or Team Jaime when it comes to butter bells) in the comments. You could win that Kokka double gauze pictured up there on the left.
Four Low-Tech Kitchen "Gadgets" I Love
1. Butter Bell
I love my butter bell. Jacinda is not so much a fan. If you don't know what it is, it's a place to store butter NOT in the refrigerator, so you always have soft butter ready to go. You put the butter in the "bell" shaped thing (seen sitting on top here) and in the canister part you put a tiny bit of cold water. You turn the bell upside down and sit it in the canister. Butter keeps for a long time, and when you're baking you always have softened butter ready. I also love being able to spread it on a muffin without muffin crumbles falling everywhere. However, if you get any crumbs or junk from your knife up in your butter bell, your butter will go rancid pretty fast. Here's a nice white one on Amazon
2. Parmesan Shaker Full of Flour
I love this and keep it on the counter all the time. It's a little confusing at first and you may find your husband has covered his delicious bowl of pasta with a light dusting of flour accidentally, but it's worth it. So now whenever I have to roll out dough or cookies, I shake out a perfect amount of evenly distributed flour. Try it, I guarantee you'll be thrilled. You can get a parmesan shaker at most kitchen shops or here on Amazon
3. Kidney Bean Pie Weights
If you are part of our Prudent Baby Facebook group, you've seen the picture of my eggplant-tomato-mushroom tart from the other night. The eggplant may have been a disaster, but the crust was amazing and it occured to me to share with you this pie weight trick. Pie weights keep pastry crusts from rising and flaking when they are baked. There is no need to own special pie weights. Well, maybe if you are a fancy schmancy baker for some reason I don't understand, but for the rest of us some dried beans will work fine. I use these kidney beans because that's what I had the first time I did it, but it doesn't matter. So make your pie or tart crust, cover it in foil or parchment paper or whatever the recipe calls for, then fill with dried beans. After you remove the beans from your baked pie shell, keep them in a vase or tupperware or whatever, and re-use over and over.
4. Salt Dish
I also think salt cellars are awesome, but my mom picked this little dish up for me in Kenya last month. It has a turtle on the bottom (we have a turtle too). I was so excited - perfect size to hold my salt by the stove. Maybe you don't think the five seconds it takes to shake salt into your hand and then toss it into your dish is a big deal, but I like not having to do that. Instead I just pinch it from the bowl and toss onto the food. It also feels kinda fancy, and little chances to feel fancy are rare and good.
So, tell us about some low-tech kitchen geniusness you adore...
posted by Jaime @ 11:14 AM
30 Comments:
I LOVE my butter bell.
Ohh I want a butter bell. Some of my favs are 1-the flour/sugar shaker from pampered chef. Similar to your Parmesan shaker. i have 3 of them, one with flour, one with powdered sugar and one with cinnamon and sugar mix. 2- I also love pampered chef nylon pan scrapers. They work great at get stuck on food off of dishes, wiping the counters and mopping the floors.3- I have a little magnet board that sits n a little easel that is easy to put recipes up on to read easily and be space efficient. 4- sorry it's pampered chef again, but an i-slice. Its the tiny little gadget that has a little blade on it that can stick to your fridge. It is awesome for clipping coupons and opening packages or boxes, but otherwise sticks to your fridge so it's easy to find when needed.
My mom puts her sugar in one of those plastic ketchup or mustard squirt bottles that you might see at a diner or restaurant. She complained that my dad got sugar everywhere everytime he spooned sugar into his cofee no matter what she did to try and contain it. Now that it is in the bottle, he can just squeeze out just the right amount he needs and no more sugar going everwhere!
Oh man, this is a genius post. How did I not think of keeping a little bowl of salt handy? I'm the Queen of Salt.
I think I'm Team Jacinda. I hadn't heard of the butter bell before, but I'm a little creeped out by the idea of butter or eggs or anything like that not being in the fridge...although the spreadability may make me reconsider.
This is something I have always wanted but never knew it existed. Thanks for opening my eyes onto something I will use every day once I get my hands on one!
I have never heard of the Butter Bell either, weird but good idea.
Hhmm i would love a butter bell! I also love soft spreadable butter....but butter sittin out freaks out my husband though.
My low tech kitchen gadget is a soap pump bottle filled with dish washing soap. Instead of putting our pretty soap pump in the bath room filled with hand soap i decided i would fill it with dawn and put it by the kitchen sink...now i don't have to have an ugly bottle of dish soap sitting out, or get it from the cupboard everytime and you get the perfect amount! i know 3 pumps is enough for a sink load :) i also buy dish soap less!
I use the parmesean shaker for other things too (I have more than one). Powdered sugar (for waffles and cake decorating), cinnamon and sugar mixture (for cinnamon toast and flavoring other things) and flour (like you do), garlic salt (my family loves this stuff). Just keep them separate or label them, mistaking garlic salt for powdered sugar would be horrible. :o(
I have seriously never heard of a butter bell, and for some reason feel like my mom failed me for never informing me. I can't wait to get my hands on one! I love, love to use a salt dish, always. Why would anyone want to do all that unnecessary shaking?
Thanks for the tips.
have any more?
I use Weck canning jars (minus the rubber gasket and clips) to store all my salts, which look great stacked on the counter. I get them at my local Sur La Table, but they don't have them on the website. You can buy them online here: http://tinyurl.com/254yu2e
Another handy tip I've picked up along the way is to keep a mesh tea infuser (http://tinyurl.com/23rurt4) in the flour canister for whenever I need to flour something. Its great because it will automatically sift out any lumps and will give you a nice even layer of flour. The infuser also works great for powdered sugar :)
Lastly, I like to keep a squeeze bottle of diluted bleach next the dish soap. It's great when you need to disinfect your sponge or want to make sure the cutting board is bacteria free after cutting chicken. I also keep a parmesan shaker filled with baking soda for those times when you need a little abrasive to clean the sink or a baked on, caked on pan.
I recently learned about putting my sponge in the microwave to sanitize it. Make sure the sponge is wet then place it on small plate and zap the thing for 2 minutes. Take it out of the microwave but be careful not to burn yourself as it will be hot after being zapped. 2 Minutes will kill most disease causing germs and bacteria. I can't tell you how many times my sponge just feels gross, and poof the microwave saves the day. I still do replace them every so often, but its a good refreshing tip.
Great tip about the flour in the shaker. I will have to do that ASAP!
We keep a mixture of kosher salt and pepper in a covered dish to cook with. My chef brother-in-law suggested it...I love it! I just have to make sure my husband washes his hands before sticking them in the jar to make whatever 'deliciousness' he is grilling.
I love my microplane zester - it's my favourite kitchen tool. I use it mostly for garlic because it turns a clove of garlic into a fine mush in just a few seconds which is great for tzatziki and other dips, but also awesome mixed up with vegetables before roasting them. The microplane is also great when you need to put fresh ginger in something - just keep the ginger root in the freezer in a ziploc baggie and grate in the amount you need!
Ziploc freezer bags are also the ideal marinating tool - you can mush the meat around in the marinade really easily. You can even put it all together and freeze it for later in the week!
I have been wanting a butter bell for a while, because I grew up with one and I don't remember the butter ever going rancid. I've been married just over a year and I tried leaving butter out to soften ONCE and it went rancid. I finally bought one at Sur la Table a few weeks ago and I'm so glad I did! Spreadable butter is a must around my house.
My other favorite kitchen tool is my silpat. Expensive at first, but you only have to buy one or two, ever. Also, nothing sticks to it, and it is so easy to clean!! Way better than parchment paper for baking.
To anyone planning to sanitize a sponge via microwave: MAKE SURE it is wet! My husband threw a dry one in there and it started on fire. =)
My pizza slicer! I know that everyone has one, but I use mine for for everything! With two little ones, I am always cutting up their food into bite size pieces, so I regularly use it to cut up waffles, pancakes, pizza, hot dogs and anythign else. I also LOVE LOVE LOVE my three different sizes of dough/batter scoops from pampered chef.
My Pampered Chef Mix and chop ( http://www.amazon.com/s/?ie=UTF8&keywords=pampered+chef+mix+n+chop&tag=yahhyd-20&index=aps&hvadid=70864791011&ref=pd_sl_cnq8l047q_b ) is my absolute favourite! I thought it was silly when I bought it. Why have a separate utensil for mixing ground beef and veggies, Right? Until I tried to make a pot of chili at my Sister-in-laws without one. By comparison, it was like cutting a tomato with a wet noodle. Frustrating! It's a must have, I like to keep an extra for last minute gifts. I also have a little spritz bottle with Vinegar in it. I use it for 90% of my kitchen cleaning, and only pull out my Clorox wipes when meat is involved.
I love the flour shaker idea! I have one I never use because I buy my parm in a block now. Must go find it...
my marble mortar and pestle. I'm not sure how much use the rest of the world has for something like this though, but here in the Philippines it is indespensable! From grinding spices for adobo to making a garlic paste to make fried rice, we use it for practically every meal!
My wonderful low-tech gadget is a wooden clothes pin -- the pinchy kind. I use them to clip shut bags of all sorts: cereal, cat crunchies, frozen veggies, snacks. Keeps the various contents where they belong and fresher too yet!
OK. I'm willing to try the butter bell again. It's 100% possible that bread crumbs ended up in the bell causing the mold.
I love my little bowls I use for salt/pepper! If I used butter more often, I'd totally use a butter bell.
I keep a set of small towels in the kitchen for small spills and grabbing hot pots/pans. But the best use is dampening one and using it under my cutting boards so they don't slip around the counter while I'm cutting!
I just found these too which are cute! http://www.etsy.com/listing/50866201/incolor-everyday-napkins-24-pack-choose
I hate using a million paper towels so I try not purchase them.
Sorry but the butter bell totally skeeves me out. My best friend had one in her house growing up and she swore by it (still does in fact) but all I can ever think of is "how long has that little greasewad of butter been festering in there?" Plus, I have a love of freshly melted butter on my hot toast...I think it satisfies my ocd to watch it go from a thick cold pat to melty drippy goodness.
I have a few faves, thanks for asking!
The Pampered Chef toast tongs - cheap to buy, and SO handy, especially when an english muffin gets caught in the toaster.
The Pampered Chef nylon scrapers - I don't even own stoneware, but I use one of those babies for scrubbing off just about anything my husband burns on my nice pans. Love them!
I own three mini aluminum scoops, like ice scoops, that live in my flour, sugar and powdered sugar canisters. Makes scooping and measuring so easy!
Also, one of my kid's favorites is the lowly brown lunch bag - because we can pop popcorn in it in the microwave and not have to drag the air popper out! No nasty trans fats, and a quick snack to boot.
If I owned a butter bell I'd use it, but maybe because we live in Oregon, I've never had a problem with leaving butter out in a covered butter dish. It doesn't go rancid - sometimes it gets melty if it's too hot, but I've left it out for up to two weeks, and not had problems.
I have the UGLIEST butter bell, so it's stashed in the back of my cupboard. I really should dig it out because I do like the concept...
Love your flour shaker idea...brilliant! I do that for powdered sugar, I don't know why I wouldn't have thought of it for flour.
I bought some ketchup/mustard squeeze bottles and the tips are very fine, so I actually use them for sauces. Tres chic, I know... : )
humm...not sure I could go for the butter bell! wish I had cool tips...but not so much!
I love my butter bell. In fact, thanks to thrifting we have a couple so that for brunches we can have regular and flavored butter.
I'm totally turning our old parmesan shaker into a flour shaker now.
I use my old mesh tea strainer that hinges closed and has a handle for tapping powdered sugar onto things like cake and funnel cakes. It does it lightly so you don't have clumps.
I have a love/hate relationship with my butter bell. I LOVE that my butter's soft. I HATE that it sometimes falls out of the bell and into the water!
The parmesan cheese shaker is a fantastic idea!
I have a wooden salt cellar with a lid that slides to the side. It ROCKS! It's so easy to use. I keep it full of kosher salt and use it every single day.
It's similar to this: http://tinyurl.com/25v8lu5
I also have several squeeze bottles (think restaurant ketchup/mustard bottles) that I bought empty very cheap. They are so great. They have a million uses:
- I fill it up with homemade chocolate syrup (SOOO EASY and no scary ingredients) and keep it in the fridge to make chocolate milk for the kiddos.
- saucing stuff
- decorating cookies/cakes/etc.
The other thing is that a Silpat/Roulpat is worth every penny. I even use mine when I'm making iron-on appliques or using fuseable interfacing. It works great. Just let the stuff cool and peel it right off the sheet!
I love a butter bell I have two! But I can't use them because our home is too warm, and it falls out. All. The. Time. Sigh.
My favorite thing in the kitchen is my Roux Whisk, LOVE IT.
I have a butter bell and had no idea what it was until now! I was using it as a butter dish for my husband's vegan butter at special dinners. haha! I'm thrilled to start using it correctly, who doesn't like spreadable butter?! Now I'll have to figure something else out for my hubby :)
I had a bad experience with my butter bell. Granted, we don't use butter very often. I prefer jam on my toast and salt and pepper on my corn. Putting it on pancakes and waffles just seems like overkill to me. And when I bake, I'd rather microwave the butter for 10 seconds at a time until it's softened than have to measure butter out of the bell. Plus, my butter bell is really big - I think it holds at least 2 sticks of butter! But I didn't know you have to keep it full. I'm sure there weren't crumbs or anything in it (again - don't use it very often), so when I opened it up one day I found it smelled exactly like blue cheese. So gross! I just gave up on that idea.
I have to second that vote for a silpat. Best thing ever when baking christmas cookies! And I keep my flour in snapware containers along with a spoon and a butter knife. That way, I always have one handy for scooping and leveling and I'm not dirtying up any extra silverware. But the tea ball idea is genius! I always feel like I'm contaminating my flour when I stick my hand in there to dust a work surface.
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