[TECH AND FINANCIAL]
Our kitchens are fantastic sources of technical innovations. From ultrapowerful air fryers to indoor smokers, wonderful new inventions are released for home chefs every year — as well as other kitchen gadgets that should get thrown out with the compost.
Instead of giving in to gimmicks, it’s smarter to build your kitchen around dependable, multifunctional gear. We asked chefs and kitchen pros which gadgets they consider totally unnecessary — and which tools actually pull their weight around the kitchen. If you’re ready to declutter and streamline your space, knowing what not to buy is just as important as knowing what to keep.
These career cooks are the ultimate authority on which kitchen gadgets should get the boot — especially when cupboard, counter and drawer space is limited. Each one listed their least favorite kitchen tools and offered their preferred method or tool for completing the cooking task that they’re meant to do.
Masaharu Morimoto
Celebrity chef, restauranteur
Chef Morimoto encourages beefing up your knife skills to make thin and uniform vegetable slices.
Why: “While it brings good slices, mastering proper knife skills gives you more control, precision and safety in the long run. Mandolins can be bulky, hard to clean and risky if you’re not extremely careful. Relying too much on a mandolin, or tools like a two-in-one apple cutter or a tomato corer can hold you back from developing real technique. Taking the time to learn how to handle a sharp chef’s knife or Japanese blade will help you in almost every recipe.”
What to try instead: Mac 8-inch Japanese chef knife.
Eric Rowse
Lead chef-instructor Institute of Culinary Education, Los Angeles
Save your money — and some dignity — and skip the onion goggles.
Why: “A waste of money, as they don’t form a great seal around the eyes to prevent the sulfur compounds from getting to your eyes and making you cry. Keep your knife sharp and open a window or turn on a fan instead.”
What to try instead: CNET’s Peter Butler shares tips for cutting onions without crying.
4. Metal, gl***, stone and acrylic cutting boards
Instant read meat probes work fast and don’t require fussy Bluetooth connection.
Why: “These are a great tool but can be very expensive. I can see myself losing, breaking, dropping, accidentally throwing away or dropping it in the coals.”
What to try instead: ThermoPro’s Lightning Instant Read Thermometer
Peter Som
Cookbook author and lifestyle expert
A manual can opener is cheaper, works great and is less likely to break.
Why: “Most of us grew up with an electric can opener permanently stationed on the kitchen counter, like it was a vital appliance. But truthfully, they’re more nostalgia than necessity. They take up space, can be a h***le to clean and often struggle with irregularly sized cans. A good manual opener is compact, reliable and gets the job done without needing an outlet or a user manual.”
What to try instead: Oxo’s soft-handled can opener.
Richard Ingraham
Personal chef to Dwyane Wade and Gabrielle Union and author of Love: My Love Expressed Through Food
Separating an egg by hand isn’t so that difficult that it requires hardware.
Why: “A tool just for separating yolks is unnecessary for most home cooks.” The only exception may be this one, and even that is just for yolks. Err, I mean yucks.
What to try instead: Cracking an egg and using the shell halves or your fingers works just as well.
11. Garlic peeler tube
Why: “Rolling garlic cloves in a silicone tube may work but requires storing a single-purpose gadget.”
What to try instead: Smashing garlic cloves with a chef knife is quicker and more reliable.
12. Pizza scissors
A good butter knife works just as well and requires less space and maintenance.
Why: “It slices sticks of butter into pats… but why? A knife works instantly, and you don’t have to load and clean a plastic gadget for it.”
What to try instead: Williams Sonoma breakfast butter blade.
16. Pasta measurer
Why: “It’s a plastic disc with holes to tell you how much spaghetti to cook. Just eyeball it or learn the rough weight by experience. It’s not worth the drawer space.”
What to try instead: A kitchen scale for precise measurements.
17. Oil mister
Why: “Often clogs, sprays unevenly and requires constant cleaning. A small spoon or brush does the job with less frustration.”
What to try instead: World Market’s olive oil cruet.
18. Electric potato peeler
Jackie Carnesi
20. Oven mitts
There’s a reason pro chefs don’t use oven mitts.
Why: “Oven mitts are the most useless item in a home kitchen! A sturdy kitchen towel does the same job, and odds are, it’s more likely to be washed regularly. I don’t know many people who wash their oven mitts frequently enough … it seems many have deemed it an item that doesn’t warrant regular cleaning. It does.”
What to try instead: Stock a plethora of kitchen towels.
(function() {
window.zdconsent = window.zdconsent || {run:[],cmd:[],useractioncomplete:[],blockytics:[],functional:[],social:[]};
window.zdconsent.cmd = window.zdconsent.cmd || [];
window.zdconsent.cmd.push(function() {
!function(f,b,e,v,n,t,s)
{if(f.fbq)return;n=f.fbq=function(){n.callMethod?
n.callMethod.apply(n,arguments):n.queue.push(arguments)};
if(!f._fbq)f._fbq=n;n.push=n;n.loaded=!0;n.version=’2.0′;
n.queue=[];t=b.createElement(e);t.async=!0;
t.src=v;s=b.getElementsByTagName(e)[0];
s.parentNode.insertBefore(t,s)}(window, doblockent,’script’,
‘
fbq(‘set’, ‘autoConfig’, false, ‘789754228632403’);
fbq(‘init’, ‘789754228632403’);
});
})();
[NEWS]
Source link
