Kitchen favourites

I had to head into a cookwares shop this week to get some more cutlery (is it just our place that somehow loses cutlery?) I swear after Rob’s party we lost so much stuff back to the party hire people, and then somehow teaspoons go missing in lunch boxes…in any case…we needed them. So Mags and I headed into a great place in Bowral (Cookshop Plus for the locals down here) grabbed the cutlery and then I spent probably way too long perusing the aisles looking at all the beautiful kitchen stuff. Stuff shoes THIS is the kind of place I could drop a lot of cash. I checked my phone for my master list (I use this app that I add to so whenever I am out and in town I can check what I need to grab at the shops) saw that I didn’t need anything else (since got home and realised that I need to get tongs so re-added so to the list) but of course added in a few bits and bobs and headed home.

Got me thinking about some of my favourite items that get used in my kitchen. The workhorses, the most used and loved that have held together over the years of over use and the items that I might not use all the time but LOVE. Thought I’d share some of them with you guys.

The work horses

These are the items that get used pretty much every day, day in, day out. They are the ones that can be relied on again and again, they hold up despite their over use and are my ones that I could NOT live without.

1. Scanpan roasting pan

IMG_7415

We were given this as a wedding present 11 years ago now and pretty much gets used 2-3 times a week, every week. That’s a lot of use…over 1000 times I’d say. And look at it? Perfect condition! Nothing sticks to this bad boy, it washes a dream every time and makes my potatoes perfect every single time. This is my number one pick in the kitchen. It’s the best present to give someone for a wedding or housewarming and I have even managed to get others on board to it. Nikki wrote about it here.

I may or may not (OK I totally may have) purchased a new one on Monday when I was at this shop but a smaller size. This is a quality purchase and the cost per use basically means it’s free by the time you are done with it.

IMG_7417

You can buy them online from lots of different places I just did a basic google and saw them here. Shop around for a bargain.

2. Microplane

This is my all time favourite little gadget that I use. I have pretty much replaced by garlic crusher and use this instead to grate my garlic/ginger it also works as a zester. It gets chucked in the dishy and is still as sharp today as when I got it probably 5 or 6 years ago now.

IMG_7418

Sure, I’ve lost a little skin over the years but I LOVE this thing. You can buy it online here but again shop around for bargains as there are always lots for kitchen stuff.

3. Coffee machine

Speaks for itself really. This bad boy gets used a couple of times a day, every single day of the year without fail. With Rob and I both working from home it’s our coffee shop. I have always loved Breville for coffee machines and I cannot and will not ever get a pod thing…I will use these style of ground coffee into a thingy every time. Sure there’s more cleaning up, but it actually tastes like coffee.

IMG_7430

This is like ours but we don’t have a grinder we just use ground coffee.

The not as used but just as LOVED

These are my items that don’t get as used as the work horses but give me great pleasure every time I use them. It could be the aesthetics of them, or the silliness, but they will bring a smile to my face whenever they are used.

1. The dough scraper

When I started making bread I found getting the proved dough out a messy business. That was until I discovered that there are scrapers for this very thing. So satisfying! I think I love this so much because it means if I have used it, bread is not far behind!

IMG_7426

You can see a range of scrapers online here but you can get these anywhere I’m sure.

2. The Crinkle cutter

I have written about this before but it’s still as much in use for making home made chips for the kids. Anything to take me back to my beloved Red Rooster chips from the 80’s is a good thing for me! I use this on raw veggies too and was good for Mags when she started feeding herself as it was easy to grip onto.

IMG_7425

You can get them online here (but again search this was the first one that came up for me).

3. The cake skewer tester

Sure you can use a wooden skewer but when I got this from the cooking supplies shop it made me feel like a legit baker. This is thin. And it’s pink! And a love heart! And when it’s used it means cake it not far away!

IMG_7427

You can buy them online here.

4. Wooden pizza cutter

My Mother in law bought me this back from New York a few years ago now and it’s dead set the very best pizza cutter you can find. It’s not sharp, the wooden bevelled edges cut through the pizza perfectly every time though. One of my all time kitchen favourites.

IMG_7420

You can check them out online here. The brand is Epicurean.

5. Lemon Squeezer

My Mum gave this to me when she moved down to the Highlands and I can’t tell you the joy it brings me! Maybe because it’s yellow? But I LOVE this thing…gets so much juice out too!

IMG_7421

Here’s one the same that I found online.

5. Kettle

I have always had a kettle that goes on the stove rather than electric. Sure it takes SO much longer and can be a real pain in the arse but I love them and will only ever use these kind. Call me old fashioned…

IMG_7432

This is the company that makes this kettle (random Indian prices?!) and we had one like this before too. Love these!

Silliest item in the kitchen?

These bad boys…

IMG_7424

Onion goggles. And no, they don’t work. But aren’t they FABULOUS? You can check them out online here.

So there you go, my favourites from my kitchen that are used and loved pretty much week in and week out. I’d love to know what some of your favourites are?

Most cherished kitchen item?
Hardest working?
Silliest?
Anything that we need to know about?

Comments

  1. Onion glasses! I’ve been so tempted to buy them at the Spotlight check out. Thank you for the review. Community service.

  2. My Le Creuset 28cm French oven. I have only had it for a couple of months but it has become my very favourite kitchen item. I use it a lot, cleans well and goes from stovetop to oven and back again…love it.
    And my Panasonic bread machine. Love fresh bread smell in the morning and would never make it if I didn’t have a machine to do it for me!

  3. I got the scanpan medium roaster for mothers day and I’m already considering a second. So so so easy to clean.

  4. I would love to know your fry pans recommendations.

  5. Love those goggles, I had one of those lemon squeezers but I got a bit excited one evening, and used it to squeeze a few too many lemons for alcoholics beverages and it died! GUTTED!

  6. Blimey Beth – this was like looking in the mirror! I too cannot abide pod coffee machines, lose all my spoons, make crinkle chips and love my stove top kettle. And I was looking at those onion glasses only the other day!

    I have a glove to wear whilst microplaning – it was about $20 ( from Wheel and Barrow or Williams Sonoma I think) but that’s been easily offset by having to buy less Band-Aids!

  7. Lisa Mckenzie says

    I need a scanpan roaster mine is old and horrible,thank you Beth I love my coffee machine,my mezzaluna cause I’m not quick with a knife!

  8. This is my kind of crack! I can live without fashion but am totally besotted with kitchen items..

    I have several of the items you mention and also an orange squeezer by the same brand as the lemon squeezer. So quick and easy – good for pink grapefruit too – a great addition to cocktails!

    Love my coffee machine – it uses whole beans and grinds them when you press the button for a shot.

    Couldn’t survive without the slow cooker. It’s bubbling away at the moment and means the dinner is ready when we return from sport training later this afternoon.

  9. My favourite thing in the kitchen is my extra large splatter guard. Don’t do a lot of shallow frying but if making veal Schnitzel for my boys when they visit, it saves so much cleaning up. I managed to find an extra large one in a kitchen shop which fits over my extra large Scanpan fry pan. The large ones are sometimes difficult to come by. PS can’t so without my microwave either.

  10. Love my kitchen aid stand mixer and fisher paykel dish drawers. But kids were forever putting dirty dishes in the clean load or ended up with both drawers 1/2 full so 1 day I’d had enough and made a simple magnet so no more guessing what is clean and 1 drawer filled at a time!

  11. Thank the kitchen gods you got us on to that Scanpan. Took me a little while to hunt down the big one but LIFE CHANGER!! x

  12. Jodie De Zuba says

    Hands down my Kitchen Aid gets the most use! It was a wedding gift 10 years ago and is used 2 to 3 times a week.

    Micro plane is another favourite, the best for lemon zest!

    Small copper pan, bought on my trip to Paris in 1991, use it everyday to melt butter, heat milk or reheat coffee! Love it!

    • How gorgeous! Copper pots are the most delightful things ever – especially little ones! What a lovely memory from a beautiful place x

  13. Stick a magnet on the back of your cake skewer tester and hang on the fridge, I could never find mine in the drawer even though its bright, problem solved.

  14. I have a scanpan roaster. Is my standout favourite in my kitchen! I am also VERY fond of my Chef’s Toolbox pressure cooker total life changer!

  15. We also received the Scanpan roasting tray as a wedding gift {four years ago – today}. And I love my mircoplane. But we don’t have a coffee machine – we go out for coffee. I’m super excited that our local is easy walking distance with a double pram {filled with 2 year old, newborn} and 3 year old on a bike.

  16. 1) Cast iron pot
    2) Cast iron griddle pan
    3) Rolling pin
    4) Really good quality cake tins
    5) Enormous china mixing bowl
    6) Scanpan saucepans
    7) Razor sharp knives (but I don’t go for expensive ones, I buy Kiwi brand from Asian grocers and chuck them out when they get a bit damaged).
    at least 2 of the above (and often all) are on the go at all times. Also love my pressure cooker and I really, really want that cake tester … and the Scanpan roasters (but there is absolutely nothing wrong with my stainless steel ones, except they’re a bastard to keep clean). xx

  17. Shazziebazzie says

    I second the lemon squeezer, makes it easy and lots of juice. My workhorse is my food processor, use it pretty much daily. I covet a mini food processor, I think Cuisineart makes it. My latest love is my 11L Scanpan stock pot. I have some beautiful dishes I bought overseas last year that I am too emotionally attached to to use yet. Made by Nicholas Mosse. So they sit behind a glass door and make me happy every time I look at them. I also love Good Grips potatoes peelers. Can spend ages in a kitchen shop. And stationery shops. And chemists!!!

    • Me too – all my kind of favourite shops! I need to get a new food processor I had a shitty one that worked for years but recently died…could be a good Christmas pressie!

  18. I need to hear good things about the scanpan roasting pans, especially the new ones! Have wanted one for donkeys years but a cookware shop lady told me recently that the new ones are no good, something to do with eco friendly non stick being poor. Tell me it isn’t so! I wanna Scanpan!

  19. I went into a large Kitchenware shop yesterday for just two…2 cake colours and came out some time later with 2 large bags of things I didn’t know I needed!!

  20. Love, love, love my Scanpan Classic roaster. The best thing I have ever bought, thinking of getting another. Next on the list if I can get over the price tag is a Le Creuset pot ?

  21. My stand mixer & food processor are godsends! Love my Jamie Oliver cookware & my secondhand enamel baking dishes.
    Something I do need is a new measuring jug. All the numbers have worn off my small Pyrex one so I’m pretty much just guessing at the moment or using my fiddly measuring cups. And I need a new microplane. Mine does the job but not like it used to…

  22. My most used kitchen appliance is the electric pressure cooker. Amazing. Risotto in 7 minutes. Soups and stews in 30 mins. I even take it on holidays.

  23. Beth, you can do lemon testing with the parmesan grater!!

    Thank you, thank you.You’ve just saved me about an hour of my life, I think…

    Keep on sharing your weird tips. Love ’em. I now know how to find the gas tank (petrol?) in rental cars and push in those side thingies on the cling wrap.

    Small things make a big difference. LOVE your blog!! You’re doing a great job.

  24. Sorry, auto-correct…I wanted to say lemon ZESTING. Not testing 🙂

  25. Love love love my Chefs Toolbox cookware. Hands down the best purchase I have ever made!

  26. We got the very same Scan pan roasting dish for an engagement present. Our family friend raved how awesome it was (I think she had a few wines??) we put it away to be used in the new house. Oh my days!!! We too use it 1-2 times a week. It cleans so well, nothing sticks and it wasn’t the wine talking. Best thing in the kitchen x

  27. Good Brevile coffee machine and no grinder?!! If you’re buying ground coffee, do yourself a HUGE favour and get a burr grinder. (I have a similar Brevile machine with built in grinder.) You will not believe how much better freshly well-ground beans will make your coffee taste. The different will be another big step up again from pod coffee. Promise!

  28. I have that lemon squeezer, I’m obsessed with it lol

  29. Interesting that nobody (I think!) has mentioned a Thermomix. I couldn’t part with the $$ to buy one. Now considering that all the items listed above would probably be the price of a Thermo. (Does it make coffee?! Nooooo, thumbs down!)
    Just interesting to observe the feedback of the cooks here, not a criticism of anyone that does have one – and if it rocks their (kitchen) world!
    Liz X
    P.S Slow cookers are great Beth, and not at all expensive, great for those long sports days XX

    • I’m tossing up whether to get one too. I don’t have any kitchen gadgets so it would cover all the things I need to buy, but geez it’s a lot of $$ at once!

      • Hi Claire
        I bought the thermo chef (thermomix clone) for less than half the price. It does the same thing and has all the same features. I just wish I had bought it when the toddler was a baby for baby food. It makes great mashed potato, but burns a bit on the bottom and is a bit of a pain to take the blade out and clean. I used it for soup once but it tasted undercooked so I put it in the electric pressure cooker. It frightens me a bit and it is noisy! I haven’t used it much at all. As I said above, the electric pressure cooker is my favourite appliance.

    • I’ve never really seen a thermo in action – I bet if I did I would be singing it’s praises!

  30. I got soooo excited by the onion goggles….until I read it more carefully….A former contact lens wearer, I used to pride myself on being able to cut onions FOREVER without a single tear. Damn corrective laser surgery has taken away my only super-power….but I can vouch that my regular swimming goggles (which quite frankly have not seen the inside of a 50m pool for over half a decade) are far less stylish than that red pair, but they actually DO work in the kitchen!

Leave a Reply to Beth Cancel reply

*