Few More of Our Kitchen Favorites

I missed a perfect excuse to bake a pie yesterday (3/14) and share that with you, but to make up for that, I will share a few more of very useful items we have in our kitchen. These items aren't necessities in the kitchen, but they are certainly very helpful and convenient, and none of them are expensive.

Oil mister

I think I got this cute little gadget because it was on sale. But once I started using it, I actually purchased two more - these things are great! They are sold by Williams-Sonoma: click here for listing. This is the most natural way to spray a fine mist of oil as no aerosols are involved.

First time I used it, I made basil-infused olive oil. The size of this mister is small, just a few ounces, which is perfect for making infused oil because once you make additions to the oil, there is a chance of bacterial contamination and food poisoning. So the less you keep it, the less the chance of a mishap. Make just enough of infused oil for using for a few weeks. Now that I have several of these puppies, I have one filled with vegetable oil - it is healthier to use less oil, and using this mister to spray the pan is certainly great to reduce amount of oil used in cooking, where appropriate.

Mister is easy to disassemble for easy cleaning.

There is a filter that prevents clogging if you are adding herbs or spices to the oil.

To spray, you need to pump air into the container to increase pressure. Few forceful pumps and oil mister is ready to use.

This is a very genius low-tech way to spray some oil, and it is certainly healthy as it doesn't have any additives like the oil aerosols you can buy in a store and it is healthy because you are likely to be using less oil if you spray it on the pan or elsewhere rather than pour it from a bottle.

OXO egg beater

Another great low-tech tool I have is a manual egg beater. Yes, there are electric tools to beat eggs, and especially egg whites into a stiff foam. But all of those cost more, and most of those have an electrical cord, and the cordless versions are even pricier, not to mention that you will have to be paying for electricity. Sold at many retailers, here is a listing on Williams-Sonoma: click here, and Amazon: click here.

If you think that it isn't good enough to beat egg whites into stiff peaks, think again. This manual egg beater does a great and quick job - all you need to do is turn the lever.

And it can be disassembled for easy cleaning.

Spice/nutmeg graters

For a long time I had this spice grater by Microplane that I used for grating various small amounts of spices like cinnamon or nutmeg (for larger quantity of grated spice, coffee or spice grinder is best).

And we still get a lot of use out of this one (purchased in Crate and Barrel store), but at least as far as grating nutmeg goes, there is a much cooler gadget:

Click here for listing on Williams-Sonoma site, click here for Amazon listing. It is quite a good looking piece that stores as well as effectively grinds the nutmegs.

You can store about 6 nutmegs in this container, plus the nutmeg that is being ground in the center portion. The top portion has strong metal teeth that hold the nutmeg being ground in place and a spring that pushes the nutmeg down on the cutter in the bottom.

As you turn the lever, the nutmeg is being ground. Very easy and very effective. And again, no electricity needed for grinding. Only disadvantage is that it pretty much works only on nutmegs.

Silicone basting brushes

Here is another great and totally inexpensive tool for the kitchen - silicone brush. Although it is primarily used for basting, it is just a great brush all around. The fine bristles are silicone and are just continuation of the handle, so you don't have to worry about any shedding as you would with traditional brushes. And because it is silicone, it is heat resistant to a very high temperature and can be used on very hot surfaces. I often use it to brush melted butter on a pancake pan (because there is no mister for butter like the oil mister above!). The white one is my favorite between the two pictured - it was purchased at Crate and Barrel store, the other brush is available on Amazon.com.

Glass storage containers

In my previous post on kitchen gadgets I talked about glass containers for use in prep work and mixing (click here for that post). However I do not recommend using them for storage for one simple reason - they are round and you will end up wasting space on your shelves and/or fridge. I discovered these awesome square assorted containers.

These Italian-made freezer-, dishwasher- and microwave-safe containers can be stacked for efficient storage and come in a set of three of various sizes from 1 quart to 3.5 quarts. And as I stated before, they are square and make the most efficient use of space. Click here for listing on Williams-Sonoma site, click here for Amazon listing.

I highly recommend all the items I described here and I will surely be sharing more of these useful gadgets with you.