50 Comments
Oct 14, 2022Liked by Leah Koenig

My microplane - I use it for zesting citrus, pulverizing ginger, and shredding garlic (easier to clean than the garlic press). I've also used it for nutmeg when I couldn't find the micro-microplane and to get a really fine shred of the very last of the cheese on a hard parm rind.

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I bought a silicone pastry mat a few years ago at Aldi. One of my favorite stores! And I used it this year to roll out the challah and braid it before I put it on the baking pan. And yeah I’m not a experienced challah baker but it came out beautifully. The silicone is great because it doesn’t stick so while you’re rolling out those snakes to braid them it’s easy to manipulate it without it getting all weird.

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Oct 14, 2022Liked by Leah Koenig

Silicon pastry brushes - I use them for everything, including brushing oil up the sides of skillets to use less oil while still ensuring that food won’t stick. Close runner up: immersion blender. Such a game changer.

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founding
Oct 14, 2022Liked by Leah Koenig

One super low-tech, one higher...my wooden spoon and my Kitchen Aid mixer!

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Oct 18, 2022Liked by Leah Koenig

My egg cooker, very old, from my mother-in-law, makes perfect hard boiled eggs. Also my microplane, and my french press.

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Oct 16, 2022Liked by Leah Koenig

It’s canning season ( still…😂😂😂) so I would have to say my jar lifter. Going in and out of the steam canner without my jar lifter would be one version of hell for me. Another would be my squid. It’s a combination of a basting bulb and a silicone brush. And it kind of does look like a squid. You can fill it with tons of stuff and use it to brush on, or you squeeze it into pan juices and it sucks them up so you can baste/brush with them. It’s kind of magical……

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Oct 15, 2022Liked by Leah Koenig

My current favorite kitchen gadget is an item called The Ringer. It’s a metal mesh scrubber for cast iron pans. I use my well-seasoned cast iron skillets daily and use The Ringer to remove any food debris without soap (which ruins the seasoning of the pans). I ordered this scrubber on Amazon and leave it hanging from the dish drainer. It’s also great for scrubbing my kitchen sink! I think everyone needs this universal multi-use item!

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Oct 15, 2022Liked by Leah Koenig

Immersion blender!

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We cook several different cuisines, so this is a hard question. Without our basic Chinese-store iron wok and the flimsy tools that came with it, we’d probably hang up the chef hats. We broke the blender from overuse, but surprisingly never replaced it and have hardly noticed. I suppose it’s all about the knives (Wursthof in our case), but my favorites, not most used, would be the basic French ballon whisk and the mortar and pestle.

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Oct 15, 2022Liked by Leah Koenig

Does the electric kettle count? I use it every day- coffee, tea, hot water bottle, heating water so it boils faster... if not, it’s probably going to be my stand mixer- as an avid baker, it gets a lot of love for sure.

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My rolling pin!

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Two little things I have had for years and still use all the time. My garlic press and my mortar and pestle. Time savers . I love the idea of the pasta strainer. Might have to check that out!

Of course a good knife is most important...

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Nov 4, 2022Liked by Leah Koenig

I love my mini whisk!

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Yum, hot chocolate with a milk frother is the best!! My favourite tool is the Benriner mandolin I have (I use it for onions and potatoes mostly but lots of other stuff too). I also use a Victorinox pastry knife as my main kitchen knife and it makes such light work of everything.

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Oct 14, 2022Liked by Leah Koenig

This is a tough question as I have so many tools I love and rely on regularly: micro plane, cuisinart food processor, vitamix blender, waffle iron (that’s a new one), and my instant pot (which I’m totally crushing on). But the one thing (actually 2 things) I use constantly for anything I’m making is my Henckel pairing knife and a silicon spoon I bought years ago at Sur la Table. Can’t live without them.

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Oct 14, 2022Liked by Leah Koenig

A kitchen gadget that I never expected to love was a gift from my kids and spouse, ordered during the pandemic for my birthday. It's the silicone clip-on pasta strainer. This invention saves you from having to transfer the pasta into a colander and then either back into the pot or into a serving bowl. Just clip it, strain the pasta into the sink, unclip and serve! Love this thing and use it every time we have pasta. Easy to wash and takes up minimal storage space. I thought it wouldn't stay on and there would be pasta everywhere. Not so. There's no learning curve (well, maybe one minute tops.) Even if you're carb-free, you can boil up some string beans and then strain them with this. I didn't mean for this to sound like a review but there you have it - highly recommend for any kitchen. And apparently I'm not alone https://www.southernliving.com/food/kitchen-assistant/clip-on-strainer

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Two very low-tech things :

- my old wooden spoon which has the perfect size and shape to stir everything,

- an arkansas oil stone to sharp my knives (it lasts forever).

Both of these objects are coming from relatives who passed away, and I love the idea of keeping on using their favorites tools!

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My dough pastry scraper - makes making challah and especially the clean up so much more enjoyable. So satisfying to use :) <3

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IF you decide to sleuth this gadget , be sure to use the term “ ORKA silicone baster “ or you will likely be offered a number of different fishing lures……!!! LOL

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Immersion blender

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