My Favorite Gadgets in the Kitchen

Hi, Chef Izabella here. I love cool gadgets. My dad is an engineer. My mom is a rocking culinary guru. Clearly, I have inherited a passion for using cool gadgets in the kitchen. I wanted to share a few of my favorite kitchen tools with you.
These 5 gadgets are absolute must-haves in my kitchen.

1) Citrus Reamer. This affordable and easy to use tool is great for getting the most juice out of citrus in a fast and efficient manner. My mom slices the citrus in half. I hold one half of the citrus in my right hand. I hold the reamer in my left hand and I squish the fruit flesh, releasing the juices into a bowl below. Sometimes we put a small strainer over the bowl, to catch the seeds. Note, if we were going to juice 40 oranges, we'd probably use a larger juicer. This tool is great when one needs to juice 1-3 pieces of citrus for a particular recipe.
Here is a link to a reamer: Citrus Reamer

2) Microplane Zester. My mom has been teaching me how

to cautiously and safely use a microplane zester. We use this for citrus zest, grating nutmeg, or shaving chocolate. I make sure to wrap my fingers up around the object that I'm grating, to avoid hurting my fingers. I gently move the food across the grater. We usually place the grater over a bowl, to catch the zest, grated nutmeg or tiny slivers of chocolate. If you are zesting citrus, flip the zester over, and push your finger along the bottom (non sharp) edge of the microplane, to get the extra zest that has built up. For my younger readers, this is an acquired skill. Please do not attempt to try the zester until your care taker allows you to. We like to rinse our microplane right after each use, and set it in the drying rack. If we wait to clean it, the food tends to stick to it. This is a key tool for adding fresh, delicious flavor to our dishes.
Here is a link to a zester: microplane zester

3) Digital Food Scale. Keep your recipe consistent each time you make it. Did you know the common "dip and sweep" way you use a measuring cup to measure your flour, can add up to 10% more than the recipe actually calls for. When we bake, we use very precise measurements. Having a digital food scale, is awesome at ensuring accuracy. Most scales will allow you to convert grams to ounces (if you need it). You can also zero out the weight of the plate or bowl that you want your food on and then slowly add the food ingredient to the scale (this is called the tare function). I couldn't imagine our kitchen without a digital scale.

4) Food Processor. My mom is the only one who handles the sharp blades in our kitchen. She'll help me set up the food processor. We measure out all of our ingredients. I am allowed to carefully add the ingredients into the top part of the food processor (so I don't get near the blade). Once the lid is safely on, mom lets me push the pulse or start buttons. I love pushing the off button too! I am allowed to safely scrape down the sides of the food processor with a spatula. My mom removes the blade and I get to transfer the yummy sauce or dough to a  serving bowl or preparation container. A food processor makes making sauces or doughs super quick and easy! For example, we make a pate brisee dough, pesto, hummus, dressings and more... in 5 minutes or less. Plus, for a pate brisee dough, a food processor is great, because you aren't handling the dough as much (over handling dough with hands, warms up the dough). You want all of your ingredients to stay as cold as possible. We use our mini food processor to quickly chop up nuts, chunks of chocolate or dried fruit (like banana chips).

5) 24 Mini Muffin Tin. I love to make mini treats. We use our 24 Mini muffin tins to make mini muffins, mini quiches, mini tarts, mini cupcakes and more. You can line them with adorable mini muffin foil or paper cups. Or, you can spray the tin itself with a non-stick spray, and simply put your food directly into the muffin tin itself. We have a lot of tea parties at my house. Our mini muffin tin gets used at least once a week.

Your input and thoughts are always appreciated. What are your favorite 5 gadgets in your kitchen?

Salute,
Chef Izabella (aka: Chef Izzy)

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