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that cooking meme
Sep. 24th, 2012 12:02 amBecause I like to talk about cooking.
Bold the ones you have and use at least once a year, italicize the ones you have and don't use, strike through the ones you have had but got rid of.
I need to get a bamboo steamer, since I like to cook Asian food and a lot of Chinese, Japanese, and sometimes Indian recipes call for steaming--but first I need a big enough pot to fit it into. A pressure cooker would also be useful, because I live at a high altitude and beans take forever to cook. And I should get a second coffee grinder, because I grind both spices and coffee and really it's better to have separate grinders for that. I'd really like an electric mixer, too (for breads, cakes, etc.) although that isn't on the list. I occasionlly daydream about pasta machines and ice cream makers, but I'm not sure I'd get enough use out of them to justify the expense and the house room; ditto a pizza stone. And although I cook a lot of rice, I'm a rice cooker skeptic, in part because the way you cook rice for Japanese food is different from how you cook it for other east Asian cuisines, and very different from how you cook rice for Indian food. So much depends on what you do before you put the rice on the heat (e.g. rinsing it and letting it dry vs. rinsing it and letting it soak) that I don't think a rice cooker would save much labor. On the other hand, I used to be slow cooker skeptic too, but my housemate owns one and I've discovered how handy it is for making stocks and long-simmered dishes,
Finally, who doesn't use a meat thermometer? Apart from vegetarians, that is. It's difficult to roast birds or large cuts of meat properly if you can't take their internal temperature. ETA: The answer to my question seems to be: people who like their meat braised or pot-roasted. I'm not a huge braised-meat fan, except for chicken thighs, whereas I love roasted meat (rare for beef, medium for pork) so I do need a meat thermometer.
Bold the ones you have and use at least once a year, italicize the ones you have and don't use, strike through the ones you have had but got rid of.
I wonder how many pasta machines, breadmakers, juicers, blenders, deep fat fryers, egg boilers, melon ballers, sandwich makers, pastry brushes, cheese knives, electric woks, miniature salad spinners,I'm unsure of what some of these items actually are. Jam funnels, for instance. I have funnels, which I use for pouring liquids or bulk spices into jars, but are they jam funnels? Is a gravy strainer distinct from a regular strainer, of which I have several?griddle pans, jam funnels, meat thermometers, filleting knives, egg poachers, cake stands, garlic crushers, margarita glasses, tea strainers, bamboo steamers, pizza stones, coffee grinders, milk frothers, piping bags, banana stands, fluted pastry wheels, tagine dishes, conical strainers, rice cookers, steam cookers, pressure cookers, slow cookers, spaetzle makers, cookie presses, gravy strainers, double boilers (bains marie), sukiyaki stoves, ice cream makers, and fondue sets languish dustily at the back of the nation's cupboards.
I need to get a bamboo steamer, since I like to cook Asian food and a lot of Chinese, Japanese, and sometimes Indian recipes call for steaming--but first I need a big enough pot to fit it into. A pressure cooker would also be useful, because I live at a high altitude and beans take forever to cook. And I should get a second coffee grinder, because I grind both spices and coffee and really it's better to have separate grinders for that. I'd really like an electric mixer, too (for breads, cakes, etc.) although that isn't on the list. I occasionlly daydream about pasta machines and ice cream makers, but I'm not sure I'd get enough use out of them to justify the expense and the house room; ditto a pizza stone. And although I cook a lot of rice, I'm a rice cooker skeptic, in part because the way you cook rice for Japanese food is different from how you cook it for other east Asian cuisines, and very different from how you cook rice for Indian food. So much depends on what you do before you put the rice on the heat (e.g. rinsing it and letting it dry vs. rinsing it and letting it soak) that I don't think a rice cooker would save much labor. On the other hand, I used to be slow cooker skeptic too, but my housemate owns one and I've discovered how handy it is for making stocks and long-simmered dishes,
Finally, who doesn't use a meat thermometer? Apart from vegetarians, that is. It's difficult to roast birds or large cuts of meat properly if you can't take their internal temperature. ETA: The answer to my question seems to be: people who like their meat braised or pot-roasted. I'm not a huge braised-meat fan, except for chicken thighs, whereas I love roasted meat (rare for beef, medium for pork) so I do need a meat thermometer.
