(Newswire.net — June 17, 2020) — Cooking at home is not only money-saving and healthy, but it also is an incredibly rewarding process. There is nothing like opening the oven and smelling a delicious home creation, just waiting to be devoured. To get to this point, however, there are a couple of seriously underrated tools that could up your cooking game from simple to superb. In this article, a restaurant expert and chef Matthew Delsignore, talks about five kitchen tools that do not get as much attention from the public as they should.
1. Immersion Blender
The immersion blender is the king of homemade sauces and soups. With a traditional stand blender, you typically need to pour the food you want to be blended into the glass pitcher and then transfer it back to its original pot. It’s not only time consuming, but also can be dangerous as hot steam escapes from the blender’s top. Who needs that, when you can stick an immersion blender (also called a stick blender) right in the saucepan, no matter how hot it is. Some grades of immersion blenders can also be used instead of a food processor, as well. This tiny tool can replace a lot of clunky devices and is a must-have for smooth vegetable soups and perfect milkshakes.
2. Double Boiler
If you’re a chocolate fiend, a double boiler will be your new best friend. Many recipes call for tempered chocolate, which can be a difficult task in the microwave or with a makeshift double boiler, a bowl precariously set on a saucepan. A double boiler gently heats up substances that are sensitive to heat; think egg yolks, chocolate, or butter. The bottom half is filled with water and simmered, while the cooking takes place in the top half. It’s the perfect excuse to make a beautiful hollandaise sauce for an egg benedict brunch or a chocolate dip for sumptuous strawberries. Hello, sophistication!
3. Baking Mat
An essential part of any home baker’s arsenal, baking mats are the healthy alternative to nonstick spray or butter. These handy mats also make clean up after cooking suspiciously easy. What will you do now that you’re not scrubbing baking sheets with steel wool all day? These are typically made of food-grade silicone and are safe for both the oven and the freezer. They’re great for cooking chicken in the oven, making no-bake cookies, or whatever culinary feat you have dreamed up. No more greasing pans or scraping charred bits of food off pans for you.
4. Handheld spiralizer
Curly fries are no longer the domain of fast food joints; you can make them without leaving the house with a handheld spiralizer. There are automatic spiralizers that can do the work for you, but they’re often large and unwieldy. A handheld one packs just as much punch and takes up a lot less space. It works by cutting the vegetable of your choice into thin curly spirals and is ideal for making salad toppings, curly fries, or zucchini noodles. Once you try it, you’ll never go back to un-curly foods.
5. French Press
Elevate your coffee repertoire by using a French press; the body of this device works to steep the coffee grounds in boiling water, and then a plunger separates the grounds from the brewed coffee. Making it this way, instead of the traditional drip coffee maker renders a much smoother, less bitter brew. It takes about the same amount of time and effort as making drip coffee, as well, so superb coffee is well within arm’s reach. Make a cup of French press coffee to put into a homemade chocolate cake instead of water, or wow guests with a cold brew made in your refrigerator.
With these five tools, you can be unstoppable in the kitchen.
About Matthew Delsignore
Matthew Delsignore is an expert in the restaurant business, particularly specializing in Asian cuisine. A position of a sushi chef at a new establishment allowed Matthew Robert Delsignore to share not only his love of food but also his knowledge of the industry. He is best known for his work ethic and enthusiasm, combined with a passion for fitness.