Essential Kitchen Utensils

[Full Member]

Essential Kitchen Utensils

Those of you who have been following the 'Purposeless Products' thread will have noticed that Annie has been very thorough in sorting out her drawers.
I suspect that most of us have bought countless kitchen utensils over the years and that most of them have rarely, if ever, been used. It strikes me that we should be able to come up with a fairly short list of, say, ten utensils without which life in the kitchen would be tiresome whether at home or away.

My list would be :-

Paring knife
Chef's knife
Vegetable peeler (my luxury item)
Chopping board
Wooden spoon
Wooden spatula
Combined can/bottle opener and cork puller
Metal skewer (see Annie's post #229 in Purposeless Products)
Salt mill
Pepper mill

So imagine that you're off to a desert island (or packing a Moho) and are allowed ten items including a luxury item - what would your list consist of?

(This thread is, of course, dedicated to Annie.)

Colin :smile::smile::smile:

 

[Wully]

In that case give her a truck load of potatoes she can make chips and vodka ?

 

[Minisorella]

I probably wouldn't even count the salt and pepper as utensils Colin but I'd definitely add a cheese grater and a decent pair of kitchen scissors.

 

[Lee]

Anything lime green, that is the colour Linda has chosen for the motorhome.
For me one of the most important utensils after the kettle is the griddle, how else can you cook meet?

 

[Campervanannie]

Anything lime green, that is the colour Linda has chosen for the motorhome.
For me one of the most important utensils after the kettle is the griddle, how else can you cook meet?

Would that be
A cook at a meet
B cook meat
C both ?

 

[Clunegapyears]

Pressure cooker - soups and stews .... last night was the first time I cooked a whole chicken in it.... actually ?
Weighing scales - for dog food as have buy different varieties when away.
Sieve - not only draining pasta, potatoes etc but drain the washing up bowl water as it stops bits going down the plughole.
Spatula - scraping dishes clean.

 

[Full Member]

In that case give her a truck load of potatoes she can make chips and vodka ?

Surely you're not referring to the Annie I know, Wully?
The Annie I know wouldn't contaminate vodka with chips.
She'd use ice cream.

Colin :smile::smile::smile:

 

[Full Member]

I probably wouldn't even count the salt and pepper as utensils Colin but I'd definitely add a cheese grater and a decent pair of kitchen scissors.

I was thinking of the actual grinders rather than the contents, Jennie. I've a soft spot for freshly ground pepper.
The grater and scissors I do have in the Moho but could cope quite well with the knives and chopping board instead.
Even so we still have a relatively small number of utensils.

Colin :smile::smile::smile:

 

[Full Member]

Anything lime green, that is the colour Linda has chosen for the motorhome.
For me one of the most important utensils after the kettle is the griddle, how else can you cook meet?

That's true, Lee, but I hadn't thought to include kettles, pots, pans, griddles etc. in the list.
Have any other items been missed that you'd consider essential?

Colin :smile::smile::smile:

 

[Full Member]

Pressure cooker - soups and stews .... last night was the first time I cooked a whole chicken in it.... actually ?
Weighing scales - for dog food as have buy different varieties when away.
Sieve - not only draining pasta, potatoes etc but drain the washing up bowl water as it stops bits going down the plughole.
Spatula - scraping dishes clean.

Some useful items there, Clunegapyears. I tend to drain stuff using the saucepan lid whether home or away. When away I tend to use washing up water to irrigate the local vegetation.

Colin :smile::smile::smile:

 

[Izwozral]

Pan steamers, razor sharp multi knife, quality deep frying pan with lid, decent steak knives, all in one can,bottle,can opener, plus the usual knife, fork, spoons etc. Also the plastic sheets you get in red, blue, yellow and green for chopping, dicing, slicing fish, veg, meat and fruit.

 

[Pudsey Bear]

One of those silicone mat off cuts for opening jars n bottles

 

[Full Member]

Pan steamers, razor sharp multi knife, quality deep frying pan with lid, decent steak knives, all in one can,bottle,can opener, plus the usual knife, fork, spoons etc. Also the plastic sheets you get in red, blue, yellow and green for chopping, dicing, slicing fish, veg, meat and fruit.

All great ideas, Izwozral. I'm not a deep fryer personally but I can see the usefulness of it for those that do. The thin plastic chopping sheets are really useful - they flex so it's very easy to dump the chopped ingredients into a pan without spillage.

Colin :smile::smile::smile:

 

[Full Member]

One of those silicone mat off cuts for opening jars n bottles

They're really useful for the jars that are difficult to open. Another way to loosen tight lids is to carefully heat the lid with hot water. The small quantity of air at the top of the jar then expands and the seal breaks far more easily.

Colin :smile::smile::smile:

 

[Campervanannie]

Surely you're not referring to the Annie I know, Wully?
The Annie I know wouldn't contaminate vodka with chips.
She'd use ice cream.

Colin :smile::smile::smile:

Oh yes vodka coke and ice cream the perfect drink/pudding
does a bottle of vodka count as a untensil as when Daisymini and I are at a meet we find it hard to cook without one.

 

[Full Member]

Oh yes vodka coke and ice cream the perfect drink/pudding
does a bottle of vodka count as a untensil as when Daisymini and I are at a meet we find it hard to cook without one.

...................................whether or not at a meet.

Vodka is clearly an ingredient, Annie. You are allowed tanker-loads.

Colin :smile::smile::smile:

 

[icer]

I used to have a small lock knife in my cutlery drawer, do knot know when or where we purchased it.
Now in ownership of customs at Dover.
This was on they way out by the way..They wanted to see the engine first. Then he said do you have any knives and when I said yes, he asked to see them.
What's this here then? A knife says I.. No he say's its a lock knife and prohibited in the UK. Seemed pleased as punch and said we find lots of these.
Wanted to take details of my passport and sign to say I accepted his theft of my joint cutting knife.
Sad days we have

Ian

 

[Full Member]

I used to have a small lock knife in my cutlery drawer, do knot know when or where we purchased it.
Now in ownership of customs at Dover.
This was on they way out by the way..They wanted to see the engine first. Then he said do you have any knives and when I said yes, he asked to see them.
What's this here then? A knife says I.. No he say's its a lock knife and prohibited in the UK. Seemed pleased as punch and said we find lots of these.
Wanted to take details of my passport and sign to say I accepted his theft of my joint cutting knife.
Sad days we have

Ian

Thanks, Ian. The odd thing about the whole lock knife business is that it's not illegal to have a

non-folding ​

knife of the same dimensions or larger, such as a chef's knife, in a Moho.
Wandering the streets with these things is one thing. In a Moho surely another?

Colin :smile::smile::smile:

 

[trixie88]

tin opener......ignition lighter.......toast rack...........as well as all the usual things.

 

[Aldra]

A good garlic press