Cast Iron Cookware
There are some foods I’ve found which cook so much better in cast iron. The skillets have this magical power of making everything super crispy and flavorful. There is no question that foods such as roasted broccoli or potatoes, seared pork chops, or whole chickens are best in my cast iron skillet. You can buy these skillets in all sizes for every application. With soups, chilis, and sauces, I use my cast iron Dutch oven. The enamel finish makes cleaning much easier and if I’m feeling lazy, I can stick the whole pot in the fridge with the lid on it (hopefully I’m not the only one that does this…HA) Lindsay even uses her dutch oven for baking homemade sourdough bread. Cast iron skillets and dutch ovens are so versatile, making them probably the most used items in my kitchen behind wooden spoons.
-M
Wooden Spoons
The other day I was cooking in my mother’s kitchen and realized I cannot function anymore without a wooden spoon. It’s quite silly actually, but I’ve become so accustomed to having one available that when they aren’t there I feel a bit lost. The spoons I use right now are technically bamboo, which tend to dry quicker and be easier to clean. At the end of the day, any wooden utensil is super handy. You can also buy bundles of wooden utensils that give you a variety of shapes. I cannot recommend this tool enough, they are so versatile.
-M
Bread Tools
When it comes to making homemade bread of any kind, I’ve found that the process can be a bit messy. Of course, you can always just use your stand mixer with a dough hook, but I personally enjoy the process of feeling the dough and kneading it myself. My goal over the past 6 months has been to simplify this process since we’re currently in a somewhat small kitchen with less-than-preferred counter space. My first saving grace has been the Danish Dough Hook. My sister Megan actually gifted me 2 of these for Christmas and it has quickly become one of my favorite tools. It acts very whisk but it’s unique shape keeps the dough from sticking and getting stuck inside of the tool. I love using this to mix up all of my bread ingredients in a glass bowl and give the dough a good “pre-knead.” If I need to work the dough on the countertop with flour, the next tool I have been loving is my Bench Scraper. It quite literally allows me to scrape up the dough ball easily and plop it into its proofing location. It also makes cleaning off solid surface countertops a breeze. The last tool I’ve been loving is my bread proofing basket. I have one for round loaves and one for loaf-shaped. I used to let my bread rise in a glass bowl on a floured tea cloth, but after multiple annoyances including the dough sticking/tearing and stray pet hairs making their may to my loaf from laundering the towels (ALL the dog hair is a struggle, can I get an amen HA), I had to find a better solution. The proofing baskets allow for a safe and clean vessel for the bread to rise and they encourage upward rise rather than outward. I have been loving them so far.
-L
Flour Sifter
Sifters are so handy for bread making but also for general cooking. I have noticed a HUGE difference in the quality of my gravys, sauces, and even doughs by sifting my dry ingredients. No more lumps! I have a large size sifter that has an old-school hand crank that shuffles the flour through, but I also have a smaller size (I use this one on a weekly basis) with a spring powered handle that makes it usable with just one hand. This one is so handy when one hand is covered in sticky dough.
-L
Immersion Blender
An immersion blender is so useful to have laying around the kitchen. I use it for so many recipes including whipping up homemade mayo to blending tomato bisque directly in my Dutch oven pot. I use mine all the time! My Kitchen Aid blender is great, don’t get me wrong, but it is so easy to pull this bad boy out and blend directly in whatever are cooking in. And an added bonus – it’s way easier to clean.
-M
