A friend just introduced me to a chainmail metal scraper for cast iron pans. I’m stunned that I have never before encountered this hard-working helper. What’s your favorite kitchen tool?
Adding to the chorus on the immersion blender, the microplane, the instant read thermometer, the digital scale. Several years ago, I bought a silicon scraper for my cast iron pans; it's very inexpensive and does the job well. Also in the very cheap department: a mini-spatula that scrapes out the last bits of peanut butter, etc. from jars. But the real game-changer in my lifetime as a cook has been parchment paper. There is nothing like it.
All these things! But especially the silicon mini-spatula. I'm using those for everything these days, and now have quite the collection. On a busy cooking day, I'll use at least three or four of them.
What???? No one has mentioned the inexpensive wooden juicer, which gets every bit of juice out of citrus and rinses off easily. Along with my immersion blender, this is my favorite, that's for sure!
I have about five pairs of small cheap tongs in my utensil drawer. I find them to be super versatile for cooking and serving, it’s nice to be able to grab a fresh one at will.
An $8 Victorinox 4-inch serrated paring knife -- I have a drawerful of colors and tips (pointed or round). I prefer these over my more expensive knives, which sit in my knife block, wondering.
Chino's Rancho Santa Fe personnel turned me on to this knife. The best!! Also great small present, ie share, with friends. Lots of colors, happy prep work.
My Spurtle! Flat bottomed wooden spoon. (Spatula meets spoon) Graham Kerr, the Galloping Gourmet, used them on his tv shows back in the 70’s. Durable, gets into the corners of a pan, heat resistant, perfect!
A bench scraper. I thought using one’s knife after chopping vegetables would suffice. That is until I used a bench scraper in a cooking class. What a game changer!
As a child my mother took old purses of my grandmothers from the 20’s and used them as a “chain mail” scrubber. Later she regretted it when she saw them being appraised on Antiques Roadshow.
My bench scraper. Along with scraping clean my cutting surfaces I use it for
portioning bread dough, scooping up chopped vegetables, cutting bar cookies and, when sprayed with oil, portioning homemade marshmallows and sticky nougat. It’s the perfect tool for cleaning egg up off the floor. All for $1 per scraper.
I think you nailed it! Lol I have all the aforementioned stuff, but nothing gets as much consistent use as the bench scraper! It’s the first thing out as I organize my prep.
Love my chain mail iron skillet cleaner and my Microplane for grating zest but my absolute fave is my THERMAPEN! It has a dedicated spot on the shelf. ❤️ Great question!
A potato ricer. Makes perfect, silky smooth mashed potatoes; hits the sweet spot in between an old-fashioned masher that leaves some little potato chunks behind and a food processor that results in gluey potatoes.
No argument with the ricer, but you can use a food processor to mash potatoes without the gluey effect by putting the potatoes through the shredding disc. Think of it as a "power ricer".
I don't know what it's called but it's a whisk shaped like a spring and it's for stirring sauces - my sister had one and I gave it to all my sisters-in-law as presents when I first met them. Then I finally gave one to myself! I'm using it a lot these days drinking all this cocoa!
So many great tools mentioned here. I use them all. Couldn’t pick a fave. But immersion blender has no competition. Ditto thermopen, microplanes, Lamson fish turner spatulas. Tongs.
My favorite & most used is the potato/vegetable peeler, because I am left handed and not as efficient with a knife! I am one of those left handers that wish there were more left handed pans, scissors, etc. Wonder if this response will prompt any left handers to weigh in.
I'm a leftie, and it's one reason I first tried the Victorinox serrated (not straight) knives (see comments below!) -- the serration works well in either hand.
Silicone spatulas, especially the small ones, I can go through three a day. And my Shun chef's knife. Luckily I live in Portland so I can easily get it sharpened for free (for life!) at the factory.
Opinel tomato knife. My sister came to my house and I handed it to her to slice tomatoes. She looked at me wide eyed, a revelation. I promptly gave all my nieces one for Christmas, and of course one for her too.
I’m in the Junior League and I was looking to create a cooking basket of goodies to raffle off. This was a timely post and you all have given fantastic ideas. Thank you!!
One other thing. Ever since I started drinking loose tea, I have mourned the presence of tea leaves in the drink itself. Then I discovered teapots with an insert to hold the tea leaves while they steep. Such a small, happy invention!
I have three very old Cuisinart spatulas that I use every day. I can't find decent replacements, because everything I find is either too small or too hard. Would love to find something new.
Two I can't live without - wooden spatula from Jonathan's spoons - perfect for every pan - https://www.woodspoon.com/ and cheap bamboo spider (Chinese skimmer) - use to retrieve noodles/pasta, blanched veggies from boiling water!
I love Jonathan's spoons! Purchased the "inside-out" tongs, a coffee spoon, and another wood spoon from a craft fair pre-COVID and can't wait to get more. He creates such beautiful and useful things!
I have a two pronged narrow wooden fork that I use many times a day to stir, poke and whisk. Expanding sponges from Trader Joe’s, just the right size to squeeze dry.
Thermapen! Checking doneness by feel and sound is idyllic, but impractical. When you’re trying to get food to the table on a weeknight, you don’t have time to keep checking and rechecking, or starting over if you’ve overcooked it.
I like the Rösle locking tongs. The have an ergonomic locking system that works with one hand that involves an internal magnet and ball. Hold it in one hand. If it's open, close it and and point it up and it locks. If it's closed, point it down and it opens. They make a silicone one for non-stick surfaces and very durable stainless one for everything else in various lengths.
My thick, solid cutting board made from strips of wood. Beautiful, stable, and very satisfying to use with my knives sharpened with my whetstone. I’m with everyone else on the thermapen, mandoline, and scraper.
Wouldn’t the chain mail destroy the seasoning on the skillet. I use a metal scouring pad occasionally but only as a last resort. The best technique I find, is to wash the skillets while still hot (no soap, just hot water and a nylon dish brush).
Mystery solved! One of these was hanging inside the under sink cabinet when we moved into our new condo a few months ago. It’s pretty but had no idea what it was. Thanks,Ruth!!
But wouldn’t a chain mail scraper wear off the finish of a cast iron pan? What’s the best way to clean such pans without destroying the finish? Do you re-season them with every use?
Ditto other replies. Chain Mail does NOT remove the finish. Soap and acidic ingredients remove the finish. Heat a little water in the skillet that needs to be cleaned. Scrub with the chain Mail to loosen. Rinse with hot water. Place back over the heat to dry.
I use salt from the shaker and dry paper towel as a kind of sandpaper to remove burned on bits of food. It’s much less abrasive than steel wool or chain scraper and spares the beautiful non-stick seasoning that took years to develop. I would only use chain scraper in extreme circumstances, and then I’d probably have to re-season.
I've been using a chain mail scraper for a few years now. It's very effective at removing bits of food and you don't really need to rub hard. I think it's safe for the finish.
Things I use all the time that give me great pleasure: cheap flat bottom wooden spoon, Wusthof fish spatula, Wusthof chef's knife, OXO salt grinder for grinding black salt, OXO salad spinner, OXO mandoline, inexpensive Victorinox knives that stay sharp forever and can get tossed in the tool drawer.
Digital scale! Honorary mention to silicone whisks, microplane, and quarter sheet pans.
Stick blender!
Adding to the chorus on the immersion blender, the microplane, the instant read thermometer, the digital scale. Several years ago, I bought a silicon scraper for my cast iron pans; it's very inexpensive and does the job well. Also in the very cheap department: a mini-spatula that scrapes out the last bits of peanut butter, etc. from jars. But the real game-changer in my lifetime as a cook has been parchment paper. There is nothing like it.
All these things! But especially the silicon mini-spatula. I'm using those for everything these days, and now have quite the collection. On a busy cooking day, I'll use at least three or four of them.
What???? No one has mentioned the inexpensive wooden juicer, which gets every bit of juice out of citrus and rinses off easily. Along with my immersion blender, this is my favorite, that's for sure!
I have about five pairs of small cheap tongs in my utensil drawer. I find them to be super versatile for cooking and serving, it’s nice to be able to grab a fresh one at will.
An $8 Victorinox 4-inch serrated paring knife -- I have a drawerful of colors and tips (pointed or round). I prefer these over my more expensive knives, which sit in my knife block, wondering.
Chino's Rancho Santa Fe personnel turned me on to this knife. The best!! Also great small present, ie share, with friends. Lots of colors, happy prep work.
absolutely adore these!!@!!
I use a carbide sharpener on these serrated knives. Just run it over the blades and they get perfectly sharp in seconds
My Spurtle! Flat bottomed wooden spoon. (Spatula meets spoon) Graham Kerr, the Galloping Gourmet, used them on his tv shows back in the 70’s. Durable, gets into the corners of a pan, heat resistant, perfect!
OMG! Yes! Love that one side is straight & the other curved. So perfect.
A bench scraper. I thought using one’s knife after chopping vegetables would suffice. That is until I used a bench scraper in a cooking class. What a game changer!
I get “the look” from my partner when I do the back of the knife scrape. 😏
I give my husband that look when he does the same thing. 😀
My clean finger. Best spatula ever.
Fish turner! Can’t live without it
I use mine for everything! :)
Used mine twice this week alone!
As a child my mother took old purses of my grandmothers from the 20’s and used them as a “chain mail” scrubber. Later she regretted it when she saw them being appraised on Antiques Roadshow.
Love this!
My bench scraper. Along with scraping clean my cutting surfaces I use it for
portioning bread dough, scooping up chopped vegetables, cutting bar cookies and, when sprayed with oil, portioning homemade marshmallows and sticky nougat. It’s the perfect tool for cleaning egg up off the floor. All for $1 per scraper.
You neglected to mention that it's the only thing that can clean a pizza steel.
It’s wonders never cease. The poor tool surely needs better marketing strategies, having been relegated to the baking drawer in most kitchens.
So I'm not the only one who drops eggs on the floor! I love that!
I think you nailed it! Lol I have all the aforementioned stuff, but nothing gets as much consistent use as the bench scraper! It’s the first thing out as I organize my prep.
Thanks Susan. I can't begin to count how many I have given away to friends and aspiring cooks.
Love my chain mail iron skillet cleaner and my Microplane for grating zest but my absolute fave is my THERMAPEN! It has a dedicated spot on the shelf. ❤️ Great question!
I was just going to say the same thing about my thermapen. By breads, meats, pies, etc., finally are cooked to the right temperature
Yes! And CAKE! All those years of guessing - praying - when a big pound cake might be done! Now, it just hits 200 degrees F and it’s out of the oven!
Wondering if you can share the brand of thermapen you use? Thanks!
Thermapen is the brand I believe.
A Swedish Whisk: https://www.amazon.com/Ludwig-Scandinavian-Type-Whipper-Small-Whisk/dp/B00DJ6BCRC?th=1
Put that in my Amazon basket!
A potato ricer. Makes perfect, silky smooth mashed potatoes; hits the sweet spot in between an old-fashioned masher that leaves some little potato chunks behind and a food processor that results in gluey potatoes.
No argument with the ricer, but you can use a food processor to mash potatoes without the gluey effect by putting the potatoes through the shredding disc. Think of it as a "power ricer".
Bench scraper. Thermapen. Digital scale.
I don't know what it's called but it's a whisk shaped like a spring and it's for stirring sauces - my sister had one and I gave it to all my sisters-in-law as presents when I first met them. Then I finally gave one to myself! I'm using it a lot these days drinking all this cocoa!
Maybe you mean something like this?
https://www.amazon.com/Mini-French-Spring-Coil-Whisks/dp/B00SC3FTEO/ref=sr_1_9?crid=37EF1Y2JH89IS&keywords=french+whisk&qid=1644370380&s=home-garden&sprefix=french+whisk%2Cgarden%2C101&sr=1-9
okay - a French Spring Coil Whisk, I could call it - April in Paris!
So many great tools mentioned here. I use them all. Couldn’t pick a fave. But immersion blender has no competition. Ditto thermopen, microplanes, Lamson fish turner spatulas. Tongs.
My favorite & most used is the potato/vegetable peeler, because I am left handed and not as efficient with a knife! I am one of those left handers that wish there were more left handed pans, scissors, etc. Wonder if this response will prompt any left handers to weigh in.
I'm a leftie, and it's one reason I first tried the Victorinox serrated (not straight) knives (see comments below!) -- the serration works well in either hand.
thank you! have not tried.
Mini whisks! So incredible useful. For little vinaigrettes, sauces, even stirring sugar into tea. I have a bunch and am constantly reaching for them.
Silicone spatulas, especially the small ones, I can go through three a day. And my Shun chef's knife. Luckily I live in Portland so I can easily get it sharpened for free (for life!) at the factory.
Thermapop, fish spatulas, a cheap Japanese plastic mandolins.
Yep I keep two sizes and got rid of my stainless mandolin sine I no longer cook commercially
Opinel tomato knife. My sister came to my house and I handed it to her to slice tomatoes. She looked at me wide eyed, a revelation. I promptly gave all my nieces one for Christmas, and of course one for her too.
Silicon spatula!!! a gajillion uses!
I’m in the Junior League and I was looking to create a cooking basket of goodies to raffle off. This was a timely post and you all have given fantastic ideas. Thank you!!
One other thing. Ever since I started drinking loose tea, I have mourned the presence of tea leaves in the drink itself. Then I discovered teapots with an insert to hold the tea leaves while they steep. Such a small, happy invention!
A Foley fork….old fashioned tool for incorporating and blending solid substances with dry and wet ones!
Been thinking about this lately. Silicone spatulas, microplanes, Kuhn Rikon “y” shaped vegetable peelers and Meisermaster tomato knives.
I have three very old Cuisinart spatulas that I use every day. I can't find decent replacements, because everything I find is either too small or too hard. Would love to find something new.
Two I can't live without - wooden spatula from Jonathan's spoons - perfect for every pan - https://www.woodspoon.com/ and cheap bamboo spider (Chinese skimmer) - use to retrieve noodles/pasta, blanched veggies from boiling water!
I love Jonathan's spoons! Purchased the "inside-out" tongs, a coffee spoon, and another wood spoon from a craft fair pre-COVID and can't wait to get more. He creates such beautiful and useful things!
I have a two pronged narrow wooden fork that I use many times a day to stir, poke and whisk. Expanding sponges from Trader Joe’s, just the right size to squeeze dry.
My Wusthof chef's knife!
Thermapen! Checking doneness by feel and sound is idyllic, but impractical. When you’re trying to get food to the table on a weeknight, you don’t have time to keep checking and rechecking, or starting over if you’ve overcooked it.
I like the Rösle locking tongs. The have an ergonomic locking system that works with one hand that involves an internal magnet and ball. Hold it in one hand. If it's open, close it and and point it up and it locks. If it's closed, point it down and it opens. They make a silicone one for non-stick surfaces and very durable stainless one for everything else in various lengths.
https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B000PK55QE/ref=ppx_yo_dt_b_search_asin_title?ie=UTF8&th=1
My thick, solid cutting board made from strips of wood. Beautiful, stable, and very satisfying to use with my knives sharpened with my whetstone. I’m with everyone else on the thermapen, mandoline, and scraper.
Lol tongs!
There are so many but I would have to say my Shun knife or knives as that is what is used the most everyday when preparing dinner.
Wouldn’t the chain mail destroy the seasoning on the skillet. I use a metal scouring pad occasionally but only as a last resort. The best technique I find, is to wash the skillets while still hot (no soap, just hot water and a nylon dish brush).
It does not destroy the seasoning on the skillet (or the wok). Really.
The half rubber spatula. It reaches the last scoop out of every jar of everything!
Mystery solved! One of these was hanging inside the under sink cabinet when we moved into our new condo a few months ago. It’s pretty but had no idea what it was. Thanks,Ruth!!
Benriner mandoline slicer. Thermapen One instant read thermometer. Di Oro heat resistant spatulas.
I, too, love the Benriner...so easy to use! And the Thermapen is the best!
I too love the Beneiner.
But wouldn’t a chain mail scraper wear off the finish of a cast iron pan? What’s the best way to clean such pans without destroying the finish? Do you re-season them with every use?
Ditto other replies. Chain Mail does NOT remove the finish. Soap and acidic ingredients remove the finish. Heat a little water in the skillet that needs to be cleaned. Scrub with the chain Mail to loosen. Rinse with hot water. Place back over the heat to dry.
I use salt from the shaker and dry paper towel as a kind of sandpaper to remove burned on bits of food. It’s much less abrasive than steel wool or chain scraper and spares the beautiful non-stick seasoning that took years to develop. I would only use chain scraper in extreme circumstances, and then I’d probably have to re-season.
Nope, the chain mail really does not harm the seasoning. Promise.
I've been using a chain mail scraper for a few years now. It's very effective at removing bits of food and you don't really need to rub hard. I think it's safe for the finish.
The chainmail is a game-changer, for sure!
Best knife... can't live (or travel) with it.
My funnels, one that fits over the opening of a mason jar, another with a narrower opening which fits over an olive oil, salad dressing or milk bottle
Brilliant tool. Got mine w a Finex pan and lid. One of my favs
Garlic/ginger mandolin! Hands down fav and a bench scraper
Garlic/ginger mandolin
My wooden spoons/spatula.
Things I use all the time that give me great pleasure: cheap flat bottom wooden spoon, Wusthof fish spatula, Wusthof chef's knife, OXO salt grinder for grinding black salt, OXO salad spinner, OXO mandoline, inexpensive Victorinox knives that stay sharp forever and can get tossed in the tool drawer.