Things found in your kitchen.

[trekkiedane]

Apparently some people don't own a pizza-slicer and other people have several different types ranging from cheap over professional to only used when eating pizza with trekkies.

Made me wonder... Which other weird, totally useless/profoundly useful, strange, never used or even daily used drawer/cupboard fillers do you have.

I'll start this with my lemon-squeesers:

Up until I was forty I'd always just used the hand and fork method when needing lemon juice. I then inherited a pressed uranium-glass lemon squeeser (and a couple of lemon vedge-squeesers which I've never used) and recently I bought a pair of cheap plastic lemon squeeser-thongs (which I rarely use; I rarely need so much juice that I can't just use the glass-one).

How about you? Do you have an apple-peeler, a cherry de-stoner, a garlic-peeler, a mandolin, corn cub peeler/holders, egg-slicer, cheese slicer, tomato cutter, banana box, wine thermometer, lid-unscrewing gadget or any other, not entirely 'normal', non-electric gizmo in your kitchen?

[Roger Wilco]

I have a pineapple cutting "thing", which kind of drills into the pinapple from the top and you can pull out the whole inside of the fruit without cutting away the hull. Makes it a lot less messy to eat a pineapple.

[Finn]

Cheese Slicer
egg slicer

[CorporalClegg]

People just need to learn how to use a knife.

[trekkiedane]

CorporalClegg wrote:

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People just need to learn how to use a knife.

Yes, it's strange how many of these thingamagoos are just simple cutting-implements, isn't it?

But then... if you don't have a decent knife, or know how to sharpen the one you have, some of the drawer fillers actually do a decent job. I'd love to have a decent mandolin -but they're pricey and a good knife does the job for me.

[Rhubarbodendron]

an exotic device I use rather often is my candy thermometer. I need it for making my famous robinia honey fudge The sugar has to boil at exactly 114°C. Only a few degrees more or less and you get syrup, toffees or hard boiled sweets.

[trekkiedane]

^I almost included a sugar thermometer in my OP -decided against it because people who have one usually have it because they actually use it

[KimM]

trekkiedane wrote:

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^I almost included a sugar thermometer in my OP -decided against it because people who have one usually have it because they actually use it

indeed.. if I had a candy thermometer it'd be fudge every other weekend. our diets would go all 'splodey. it's really better that I don't have one!

[Timby]

trekkiedane wrote:

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I'd love to have a decent mandolin -but they're pricey and a good knife does the job for me.

Whatup.

[CorporalClegg]

trekkiedane wrote:

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But then... if you don't have a decent knife, or know how to sharpen the one you have, some of the drawer fillers actually do a decent job. I'd love to have a decent mandolin -but they're pricey and a good knife does the job for me.

The sad thing is most of those "drawer fillers" add up. A standard 8 inch Wusthof chef's can be had for about $100 and will last a lifetime--and probably cheaper than the total cost of all those gizmos.

Once you have that, the only other knives you should spend on are a cleaver and maybe a fillet*, and they can be 2nd tier. The other miscellaneous cutlery (paring, steak, sandwich, breads, etc.) can be cheap stuff and probably purchased second-hand. In any case, if you're shop wisely you can get a full kitchen's worth of knives for under $200. With a little practice, you can eventually chuck all those other devices in the trash.

And nobody should EVER sharpen their own knives. Always have a professional do it, especially once you buy one of those first tier knives. But you should still buy the honing rod and sharpening stone from the manufacturer of your main knife.

One thing I hate is the language they sometimes use. For one, almost everyone calls honing rods "sharpening rods" which is just a total misnomer. And when you run a blade across a stone, you're really not "sharpening" it so much as giving it a finer hone.

A proper sharpening involves special tools that basically get rid of the old edge to create a new one.

A basic rule of thumb is use the honing rod once a week (twice if you're a heavy chopper) and the stone once a month and take it to the shop once a year. You should be able to find a good sharpener on Angie's List. Also, these days both honing rods and sharping rods come with guidelines for the appropriate edge angle--which is why I suggested on having the same manufacturer.

ETA: *I forgot to include my one exception for fillet knifes: If you eat a lot of fish, they're obviously a must have. But the thing about about them is, because of they're shape and size, they're actually the best kitchen utility. This is especially true if you're an avid camper. They're specifically designed for an outdoor environment, and their sheaths usually come with special backpack attachments.

A good 8-inch fixed blade fillet can do just about everything.

[An Officer]

Goodness! That's some serious knife talk, haha!

I don't think I have anything too unusual... I have an apple/potato peeler, and a garlic crusher... neither of which sees much use.

[trekkiedane]

^One of these?

I never found one that I didn't thought took off WAY more than just the peel!

CorporalClegg wrote:

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But you should still buy the honing rod and sharpening stone from the manufacturer of your main knife.

One thing I hate is the language they sometimes use. For one, almost everyone calls honing rods "sharpening rods" which is just a total misnomer. And when you run a blade across a stone, you're really not "sharpening" it so much as giving it a finer hone.

A proper sharpening involves special tools that basically get rid of the old edge to create a new one.

My bad engrish; what you say here sounds like something I would have said had I had the words. (although, I wouldn't have been that thorough). -Thanks for pointing out these things

[Mr. Laser Beam]

I have two droors full of kitchen crap that I have never used in close to 20 years. I don't even know why I bought them. It must have been back when I actually thought I could cook.

[An Officer]

If you get the angle and pressure right, they seem to do a pretty good job... I'm talking about this kind:

http://compare.ebay.co.uk/like/18096...bar&adtype=pla

[trekkiedane]

An Officer wrote:

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If you get the angle and pressure right, they seem to do a pretty good job... I'm talking about this kind:

http://compare.ebay.co.uk/like/18096...bar&adtype=pla

AH!
Those I understand! I have these two:

And they both do a pretty good job -once you've acquainted yourself with them- with roots and, yes, apples and that sort.