Mobi Sandwich Bags

These colorful sandwich bags from Mobi make "brown-bagging" it to work much more fun.

Mobi Sandwich Bags  |  $4.99 for 20 at Mobi

By Michelle Alderson | July 10, 2007 in Kitchen Essentials | Permalink | Comments (1)

Professional Knives from MKS Available for Home Cooks

Previously only offered to cooking professionals, British-made MKS Knives are now available to the public.  Made from British SF77 stainless steel and hand-finished, they come with injection molded bicycle grips over a bacteria resistant tubular stainless handle.  Prices range from $44 to $225 for the 10" chef's knife.

link: MKS Knives 

By Robert | September 10, 2006 in Kitchen Essentials | Permalink | Comments (4)

IKEA appreciates the little things...

After a dishwasher run, you've probably experienced the pooling of water on the tops of your inverted coffee mugs.  Well, a fifty cent IKEA Trofe coffee mug takes care of that problem with a small notch on the bottom ring to drain away the water.  Why hasn't anyone else thought of this?  [via Gizmodo] 

By Robert | September 9, 2006 in Kitchen Essentials | Permalink | Comments (2)

New Alessi Toaster - A modern classic?

Brand new for 2006, Alessi introduces this stainless steel toaster and bun-warmer designed by Stefano Giovannoni that will may inspire an aplliance makeover for the rest of your kitchen.

Alessi Toaster  |  $208 at Einrichten Design 

By Robert | May 31, 2006 in Kitchen Essentials | Permalink | Comments (0)

Stainless Steel Melamine Bowls help with hot and cold mixing

By Robert | May 13, 2006 in A Food & Wine Gift Guide, Kitchen Essentials | Permalink | Comments (0)

May Specials at Cooking.com

We cruised by Cooking.com and found these great specials for May, and maybe just in time for Mother's Day. 

• $20 Rebate on 10-c Grind and Brew w/ Thermal Carafe
• 20% Off Anolon Open Stock- Hurry! Offer ends 5-6-06!
• Calphalon One Triple Bonus
• KitchenAid Pink Stand Mixer-Use Coupon Code C92984 and get FREE Shipping
• Mother's Day Gifts from Cooking.com

By Robert | May 9, 2006 in Kitchen Essentials | Permalink | Comments (0)

Instant kitchen by Basic Bachelor

Are you moving into a new place and don't have a single kitchen utensil?  Bachelor Kitchen has the solution that will save you hours of shopping at Bed, Bath & Beyond.  The Basic Bachelor is a comprehensive set of kitchen tools from top manufacturers that will get your new kitchen off to a great start.  This set might even be good enough to throw away your old hand-me-down kitchen set and start over.  Includes 39 items, some from Zyliss, John Boos, Vollrath, Matfer, and Polder.

Basic Bachelor  |  $399.00 from The Bachelor Kitchen

By Robert | March 15, 2006 in Kitchen Essentials | Permalink | Comments (1)

Cool Stuff for Any Room in the House

By Michelle Alderson | February 13, 2006 in Kitchen Essentials | Permalink | Comments (0)

Exquisite Stone Mortars and Pestles

Yesterday, we found these strikingly designed mortars and pestles by London based sculptor and designer John Julian.  Made from porcelain (pictured above) or black granite, these simply sculpted shapes bring together a perfect blend of design and utility.

Available and found at Le Sanctuaire in Santa Monica California. 

By Robert | December 7, 2005 in A Food & Wine Gift Guide, Kitchen Essentials | Permalink | Comments (0)

Food Processor Test Review by Cook's Illustrated

"The champs in the pastry tests - the Cuisinart Pro Custom and KitchenAid - were also the best overall models. Both machines have large 11- or 12-cup bowls (ideal for many tasks and necessary for kneading bread dough), heavy bases (in excess of 10 pounds) so they remain stable, and ultra-sharp blades that stop instantly when the pulse button is being used. This last feature is especially important when making pastry dough. Some models required a 2-second spin-down after each pulse, making it much more difficult to stop cutting the butter into the flour at precisely the right moment." -- Garth Clingingsmith

Continue reading "Food Processor Test Review by Cook's Illustrated"

By Robert | December 6, 2005 in Kitchen Essentials | Permalink | Comments (0)

9 Kitchen Essentials from Alton Brown

• Lodge Cast Iron Skillet - There's just something about cooking in a heavy cast iron skillet, like eggs over easy or pancakes, that's unlike any other pan.
• Peeler by Firm Grip
• Temperature Probe - every kitchen needs an instant read thermometer.
• Oven Thermometer - just to make sure that your oven is the temperature you want and not what the dial tells you
• Pizza stone - we don't have one, so we can't tell you what we think.
• Electric Knife by Black & Decker - don't have this either but maybe we're just old fashioned and like a good carving knife.
• Cuisinart Mini-Prep - we have one, but can't remember the last time we used it. Was easy to clean and we think that's Alton's point here.
• Electric Kettle - boils water faster than a microwave or stovetop. Gotta have one.
• Spring loaded tongs - we have a couple and could use a few more actually.

By Robert | November 30, 2005 in Kitchen Essentials | Permalink | Comments (0)

Silicone Bakeware Surges in Popularity for Holiday Baking

Have you noticed the popularity of silicone kitchen equipment?  We were shopping at our Bed, Bath, & Beyond store this weekend, and were floored by the amount of floor space given to silicone bakeware and other cooking accessories.  Has anyone else noticed?

For sure, silicone baking mats like Silpat and basting brushes work wonders in our kitchen, but now there's so much more.  From muffin pans, to bread loafs, to cake forms, spatulas, gloves, and rolling pins .  Wow!  How much silicone cooking accessories has made it into your kitchens?

See silicone cooking accessories at:  Chef's Catalog  |  Sur la Table   |  Amazon

By Robert | November 21, 2005 in Kitchen Essentials | Permalink | Comments (1)

Natural Kitchen Cleaning Kit from Caldrea

Caldrea cleaning products are natural, pleasant smelling, also effective way to clean your kitchen.  Lift your senses with these cleaning solutions that are blended with mint and ylang ylang oils, with a touch of citrus from oranges, lemons, and bergamot.  Keeps hands soft too.

Caldrea 3-pc. Kitchen Cleaning Set, Citrus Mint Ylang Ylang |  $29 at Cooking.com

By Robert | October 31, 2005 in Kitchen Essentials | Permalink | Comments (0)

Cheese Graters by America's Test Kitchen

These cheese graters were selected by America's Test Kitchen as tested in October 2005 Cook's Illustrated.

• Box Grater - by Cuisipro 6-Sided Stainless Steel Grater  |  $25 at Cooking.com
• Rasp Grater - by Microplane 12-in. Microplane Zester  |  $10 at Cooking.com
• Rotary Grater - by Pedrini Rotary Cheese Grater  |  $15 at Amazon.com

By Robert | October 21, 2005 in Kitchen Essentials | Permalink | Comments (0)

Braun Multiquick Hand Blender

Once we added a hand blender to our kitchen, we wondered how we ever got by without it.  This Braun Multiquick Hand Blender saves lots of cleaning time from using a food processor or counter top blender.  Puree, whip cream, crush ice, and make smoothies.  Blending right in your glass, pot, or bowl saves on using extra utensils.  A do-it-all kitchen tool.

Braun Multiquick Hand Blender  |  $35 at Cooking.com
Braun Professional Multiquick Hand Blender  |  $59 at Amazon.com

By Robert | October 19, 2005 in Kitchen Essentials | Permalink | Comments (2)

Stackable Dinnerware by Jonathan Adler

Mix and match these simply designed melamine dinnerware pieces by Jonathan Adler.

Jonathan Adler Dinnerware |  $4 and up at Velocity Art & Design

By Robert | October 18, 2005 in Kitchen Essentials | Permalink | Comments (0)

Kershaw Shun Kitchen Shears

A good pair of kitchen shears helps with a multitude of kitchen tasks.  This is Kershaw-KAI's version, manufactured in Seki City, Japan's cutlery production and historic samurai sword-making center.

Kershaw Shun Classic Kitchen Shears |  $32 at Cooking.com

By Robert | October 10, 2005 in Kitchen Essentials | Permalink | Comments (0)

What to Look for in a Kitchen Scale

We've been in the market for a kitchen scale, and weren't really sure what features to look for.  As with all things, great design and great functionality are sometimes hard to find in one item.  Since we don't have much familiarity with using a kitchen scale, we went searching for information online.  The best we found was kitchen scale test and review from Cooking for Engineers' website.

"A kitchen scale is an essential tool in every kitchen. Most American kitchens have a set of measuring cups, but don't have a kitchen scale. Even though kitchen scales aren't that common to the American kitchen, Amazon.com still has over 200 scales for sale ranging from $7 to over $300. Is this a gadget that only perfectionist chefs and constant bakers need? No, give a good scale a try and you'll find that it's a better and faster way to cook."

Read complete review:  CookingforEngineers.com Kitchen Scales
Shop:  Amazon's selection of kitchen scales

By Robert | October 7, 2005 in Kitchen Essentials | Permalink | Comments (0)

Magnum Plus Pepper Mill - Reader Favorite

The Unicorn Magnum Plus Pepper Mill is a reader favorite for their kitchens.  Also chosen by Cook's Illustrated in their Best categories.

9-in. Unicorn Magnum Plus Pepper Mill  |  $45 at Cooking.com

By Robert | September 8, 2005 in Kitchen Essentials | Permalink | Comments (0)

Mandoline Picks -- Oxo and Others....

What's that chef doing? Plucking out a tune when he should be slicing onions?

Oh, hold on. He's strumming on a mandoline … so he is slicing onions. The mandoline — a kitchen gadget with a stationary blade that you "strum" your vegetables over — is the secret weapon restaurants use for cutting things into absolutely neat, even slices. Or ultra-thin slices for, say, fresh potato chips or an elegant potato gratin.   Read whole article here.

Oxo Mandoline available at Amazon.

By Robert | January 16, 2005 in Kitchen Essentials | Permalink | Comments (0)

Easier Grating with Microplane Graters

From everyday cooking to holiday baking, we find the razor edges of our Microplane graters to make the difference in adding lemon rind or parmesan cheese to our recipes.

Full line of Microplanes available at Sur La Table.

By Robert | December 1, 2003 in Kitchen & Cooking Tips, Kitchen Essentials | Permalink | Comments (0)

Vintage Storage Looking Hip

Whether you're looking for that perfect storage container that looks great on your counter top or one that is roomy enough for all your essentials, you've found it in the Vintage Storage Containers from Stonewall Kitchen. This canister is elegant and classic in its simplicity and can hold just about anything you've got in mind.

Stonewall Kitchen also has begun their holiday promotion for 10% off on orders placed before Dec. 10. Shop early to save!

By Robert | October 26, 2003 in Kitchen Essentials | Permalink | Comments (0)