289387 Wed May 22 09:21:00 -0700 2002 21 27 General Chowhounding Topics 0 1566453 Just picked up a Yunan steampot yesterday for $15. Used it to make a delicious soup for dinner last night. This got me thinking about other cheap, "off the beaten path" cookware I might want to pick up. Thought I'd throw the question out to the hounds: what cheap, unusual kitchen gadgets do you have that you have found surprisingly handy, useful, etc.? Wed May 22 09:21:00 -0700 2002 0 Tom from NC 1 1566462 One of the items my wife(she never throws anything out) brought into our relationship was believe it or not.. an ice pick. Even though I haven't see a block of ice for many moons.. you would be surprised at how many other household situations this thing is handy for. I am not much of a gadget person. I cook almost exclusively with one small knife (except now I have a boning and a bread knife). I bought a plastic mandolien but stored it away to keep from chopping off a finger. Besides it was a hassle to assemble and unassemble it each time. I like the small pastry wheel a lot. Useful across recipes. The stick blender is terrific and easy to clean. A bent icing knife is nice. A corkscrew is essential. I just bought one of the new carpenter type of graters(not so cheap) which is terrific. I just switched to Cushion Air baking pans(threw out all the dark ones) that I like a lot (never burn anything anymore). Just found a doughnut cutter (getting into that now). And two freebies.. a rubber circle to use on jars that won't open and removed the end pieces from my rolling pin that now works much better. Thats all Folks! Wed May 22 09:56:14 -0700 2002 1566453 0 DavidH 2 1566593 Pepper Grinder with two handles so you can squeeze the pepper out with ONE hand. You can actually stir something and grind fresh pepper into it at the same time, not needing two hands to turn and crank a pepper mill. My son admired it on Ming's Quest on the Food Network and we ordered one from their website. Wed May 22 19:34:02 -0700 2002 1566462 0 Ciaohound (Bob Savelli) 1 1566471 A plastic wrap thingy. It holds the roll and has a shielded hot wire. Put bowl in front of device, pull plastic over bowl, lift bowl, done. I bought it at Mcfrugals, $7 including the roll of plastic. Wed May 22 11:14:42 -0700 2002 1566453 0 Wylie 1 1566477 I generally dislike gadgets. They are often ineffective and almost always difficult to clean. But for some reason, at an unforgotten time long, long ago, I bought a cheap, plastic shrimp peeler. It's just a long, slighly bent piece of molded plastic. You hold the shrimp in one hand, place the tip of the peeler just below the top shell where the head was, and push. It works perfectly. The shell falls off, the black vein is removed, and best of all the last bit of tail stays on. This is a real time saver when cooking a lot of shrimp. I'll bet it didn't cost a buck. Wed May 22 11:25:51 -0700 2002 1566453 0 Pappy 2 1566484 Pappy - any chance you remember where you bought it? My husband usually has peeling duty in our house, and I think we would actually start having shrimp at home more often if we could find a gadget like that for him! Thanks! Wed May 22 11:52:19 -0700 2002 1566477 0 AzCat 3 1566487 No idea where I bought it, but it was somewhere here in the Washington, D.C. area. I have to believe they sell them everywhere. Bed, Bath and Beyond and Linens & Things have very large gadget displays, you might check there. It's literally just a piece of red plastic, so it probably would come packaged on a piece of cardboard. And it serves no other purpose, so it couldn't be called anything else. Good luck! Wed May 22 12:11:30 -0700 2002 1566484 0 Pappy 3 1566497 These things are pretty common. I have seen them at supermarkets, hardware stores, kitchen stores, and seafood markets. OXO makes a more expensive, but still cheap version. I'll attach a link to the epinions page on this item. Link: http://www.epinions.com/Oxo_8_5_in__Black_Handled_Shrimp_Deveiner_Peeler__Seafood_Tools_35881/display_~latest_prices Wed May 22 13:24:44 -0700 2002 1566484 0 Alan H 1 1566508 One of my favorites is a 69¢ plastic spout that screws into a lemon. When you squeeze the lemon, you get a directable stream of lemon juice instead of squirting it all over. The spout has an attached lid which snaps closed, so that you can store the tapped lemon to use again. Wed May 22 14:03:15 -0700 2002 1566453 0 LBQT 2 1566532 Hey, where can I get my 69-cent plastic lemon spout? I've only seen the $10 metal ones from Williams-Sonoma, which is why I don't yet have one. Wed May 22 15:29:13 -0700 2002 1566508 0 Caitlin McGrath 1 1566523 Microplane Microplane Microplane! The Microplane graters have to be just about the most incredible kitchen gizmo I've ever seen. It makes incredibly short work of zesting a lemon... just swish-swish-swish and you have one very naked lemon sitting on your counter, and a big pile of some of the fluffiest zest you've ever seen. It's awesome at grating Parmesan cheese, too. Wed May 22 14:38:56 -0700 2002 1566453 0 JK Grence (the Cosmic Jester) 2 1566533 RE: Microplane Graters. I understand there are two. A "fine" one that looks like a real wood-worker's rasp, and a "coarse" one that looks more like a regular grater. Which one do you have, and more importantly, which one should I buy. Or do I need both, assuming I want to zest citrus and grate cheese? Thanks! Wed May 22 15:31:42 -0700 2002 1566523 0 Pappy 3 1566542 King Arthur now sells a version with different grate sizes that snap on and off of a permanent handle. It's made by Microplane and works great - although I started out with a fine Microplane zester and still prefer that when I need something super fluffy, but you could just invest in the one with the interchangeable zesting panels and then have access to whatever you need. Wed May 22 15:47:43 -0700 2002 1566533 0 Buen Provecho 3 1566544 The fine one is great for both zesting and grating parmesan; I would only grate hard cheese with it though, as it's far too fine for softer cheeses. Also great for chocolate. Wed May 22 15:56:58 -0700 2002 1566533 0 Caitlin McGrath 1 1566527 Zyliss makes a 4-in-1 bottle/can/jar opener that's pretty handy. It opens regular bottles, of course, but also has one end that opens the plastic "twist-off" tops that come on soft drink and soda bottles, and has a little metal wedge to slip under the flip tops of cans. Plus the new version comes with a small plastic protrusion that slips under the lids of vacuum packed jars to release the pressure and thus allow the jar to be opened much more easily. For $6 or $7, it's worth it. For cooking, Le Creuset's heat resistant silicone spatulas and "spatula-spoons" are great -- not only do they never melt (I've used mine to make candy, even) or stain, but nothing sticks to them so they're a breeze to clean. I think Williams-Sonoma now makes a version of them, too. And brand new (as far as I know) on the market are combination potholders/trivets made of the same sort of silcone. They come in several bright colors, don't stain or burn like terrycloth potholders, can be washed off with the dishes (I imagine they're dishwasher safe too), and as a bonus, can be used to loosen tight jar lids as well. Wed May 22 14:52:50 -0700 2002 1566453 0 Janet A. Zimmerman 1 1566535 Speed pourers! These are the things bartenders use to pour spirits for cocktails but are fabulous for sticking in the tops of oil bottles. No splashing, a steady stream ... they're excellent. Wed May 22 15:37:00 -0700 2002 1566453 0 Miles 1 1566570 I have a $16 mandoline I got in Chinatown (NYC) that I love. I couldn't survive without my garlic press. I'm searching for an inexpensive egg topper that actually works. Anyone know where I could find one? Wed May 22 17:17:13 -0700 2002 1566453 0 JessicaKlonsky 1 1566596 Catamount glass measuring cups: they can be put on directly on a gas flame (donno abt elec) and they are the perfect shape and size to use an immersion blender for smoothies, etc. They also have a fat separator (also calibrated). Their only problem is that they are too easily chipped. Wed May 22 19:50:29 -0700 2002 1566453 0 saucyknave 1 1566615 I really love my lemon press. It was $15. Link: http://www.williams-sonoma.com/cat/pip.cfm?grp=222044&lst=nlemon%2Cjuicer&src=schfname%20ion%20nlemon%2Cjuicer%20p1 Wed May 22 23:41:31 -0700 2002 1566453 0 wow i'm a dog 1 1567436 OK, confession time: I'm actually kinda liking the plastic hand-crank grater I got at a Pampered Chef party. You put a chunk of cheese in the little well, clamp the arm over it, then hold this arrangement shut with one hand (easy, like holding tongs) while you crank with the other. I'm finding it much less unwieldy, and safer, than the flat graters I'm used to. And somewhat less effort -- yesterday I grated up an old, hard bit of Parmeggiano without encountering undue resistance (maybe 'cos it's new and still sharp? can those things be sharpened?). It has both coarse and fine graters (the actual graters are stainless steel). It assembles, comes apart and cleans easily. I have yet to try it out on a softer cheese, such as Cheddar, but I'm not really expecting that to be any less messy on this grater than on any other. Overall, I'm pretty pleased with the contraption. Fri May 31 16:20:54 -0700 2002 1566453 0 C. Fox 2 1567443 We have an ancient Mouli, which is metal, but sounds like the same thing. I think you can get other inserts for it too. I always use it for hard Parmegianno and Romano cheeses. I think it works with cheddar, but the cheddar has to be cold...otherwise you get a ricer effect of the cheese being pushed through holes, instead of being grated. For this reason, I don't think it would work with really soft cheeses...but I think it would work really well with a cold piece of chocolate (and much neater than a regular grater, you don't have to hold it with your hands!)! Hey! I found a website with pictures! They have metal and plastic and you can get them with one or two drums...there's something I have to look for at garage sales - the other drum!! Link: http://www.gourmetcottage.com/mouli2.htm Fri May 31 16:51:17 -0700 2002 1567436 0 Jill-O 3 1567451 I grew up using an ancient Mouli. Ours had three drums: fine and larger holes and a shaver (I don't remember ever using the latter). It is, indeed, great for hard cheeses and for chocolate, and the larger-hold drum actually works quite well for chopping stemmed parsley or other leafy fresh herbs directly into a pot or bowl. I'm sure my mother still has it, but I also suspect she may not have used it since she got her Microplanes. Fri May 31 17:58:34 -0700 2002 1567443 0 Caitlin McGrath