Some people mistake me for being a pure tech guy. I think I’m different from most guys who claim to be into electronic gadgets. For me, it’s not about the specs; I could care less about the number of megapixels or gigabytes. I’m more interested in the use cases. I am also more excited about user interface innovation than pure technical innovation.
Anyways, all this to say that I like having nice kitchen tools (despite their low-tech nature) that have innovative user “interfaces”. But not necessarily the stuff everyone raves about (e.g. Wustof knives, All-Clad or Le Creuset pans, etc.). Here are some of the tools I really like:
- Screwpull corkscrew: I’ve never seen anyone use this type of corkscrew before. I found out about it from Wine for Dummies. Many manufacturers make this type of corkscrew. The one I have is the Metrokane Velvet Corkscrew. This type of corkscrew is the one that is most highly recommended by Wine for Dummies; they actually criticize people for spending more than they need to on an obnoxiously large and expensive corkscrew like the Metrokane Rabbit.
- Benriner mandoline: This is a necessity for any Korean/Japanese kitchen. I guess a lot of companies make them but the one you’ll find in most Korean kitchens is a plastic one made by Benriner. However, I get freaked out whenever I use it because it’s extremely dangerous (you can easy slice off part of your hand if you’re not careful).
- Pampered Chef Hold ‘N Slice: I’m not a big fan of their business model but I really like this product. I almost sliced off a fingertip while chopping onions a few years ago (had to go to the ER and get stitches); this tool has taken away all my fear in chopping vegetables.
- OXO Good Grips i-Series Swivel Peeler: When smack and I were dating, I’d always get frustrated when I had to cook at her place. One reason was because this was a household with four women and they didn’t have a vegetable peeler! When they had to peel vegetables, they just used a knife. How barbarian. Anyways, when we got married, we added a nice peeler to the registry (the one I had was getting rusty).
- Zeroll Ice Cream Scoop: This is a superior ice cream scooper to the scoopers with the lever that you find in most kitchens. Those always seem to break easily. The Zeroll with never break and works well.
Comments 7
hey..I didn’t pay for the rabbit Corkscrew. it was a gift. and it works, really, really well.
Posted 06 Feb 2007 at 4:15 pm ¶yeah, my brother in law actually got me something like the rabbit, but i asked him to return it and get me the screwpull instead. it was funny watching him explain it to the lady at the wine store “he didn’t like this one. he wanted a cheaper one.”
i also prefer the screwpull because it’s smaller and takes up less space.
Posted 06 Feb 2007 at 4:20 pm ¶If you can’t stand those ostentatious cork pullers, and think a cork screw is the way to go, there is something even better: the two prong cork puller. This elegant device requires some skill, so you will have to practice your technique. But once you learn to use it, you will be able re use your wine cork! They come in handy for securing fishing lures, for propping doors, or even for re-corking your wine when you stuff it back in the fridge. Reduce, reuse, recycle! :)
Posted 07 Feb 2007 at 10:43 am ¶The thing that boils my blood the most is that the same idiots who buy the motorized cork screws pick up plastic corks so they can re-cap their wine. So they butcher the cork with this wine bottle opener, and buy plastic parts to stuff in their wine. How ignorant and disgusting! These are the same people who haven’t used a bicycle in 20 years, and instead bought sports cars, but never learned to drive them. AHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH.
Here is what I’m talking about. They cost around $2.00.
http://www.wineopeners.com/Cork-puller-ah-so-corkscrew.html
the korean mandoline was difficult to wash w/o spiking oneself on the sharp prongs. :( i think we should upgrade to the OXO mandoline when we have the money. the oxo mandoline looks safer and less threatening to use.
Posted 07 Feb 2007 at 11:53 am ¶look! a safe mandoline: http://www.kitchenkapers.com/16203.html
Posted 08 Feb 2007 at 1:22 pm ¶ooh nice. thanks for the link.
Posted 08 Feb 2007 at 1:24 pm ¶i used to have wustof knives (actuallly, i still do packed away somewhere), but the knives that i have upgraded to are “global.” i also noticed that these were the knives that they used on “top chef”… yay! if you ever upgrade, you should look into global… they are amazing amazing amazing. also, if you get another mandoline, tell smack, do NOT get the oxo one (i think she commented that she wanted that). it sucks. i hate it, and wish i had gotten a different one. it sucks to the point that i just julienne my own veggies by hand now, and lastly, the rabbit… dtlee and i drink wine a lot (when we went to napa last year, we bought 2 cases of this one wine — we served it with dinner while smack was visiting — the best wine ever!!), and we love the rabbit. not only is it easy to get the cork out, it is as easy to get the cork off the screw. the ease of the rabbit has gotten us so spoiled that we could never go back to using a traditional corkscrew. see ya!
Posted 02 Mar 2007 at 7:18 pm ¶Post a Comment