All good suggestions. I got the 1/8th sized sheet pan for when I need to do things like freeze chops etc in my tiny freezer before bagging and putting in the freezer so they don't (hopefully) don't stick together badly among other tasks. Love tongs and have 3 of them, two are coated. One is a 12" Good Grips I got for Christmas a good number of years ago and love them, I have 2 others, one is a Sir La Table version with silicone tips, so a touch slippery but do the job and recently, bought a non coated Good Grips, it and the Sir La Table tongs are 16" long. I have the older variant of the Cuisinart 3 cup chopper for when I just need to chop something small that my 11 cup processor is just too big for. For a long time, I had a white version of the 3 cup model, until the lid broke and no replacement for those, but can get the bowl though, so just replaced with a metallic red one this week and it got used last night in fact for a chicken cutlet for dinner. My 11 cup is the classic DLC 8 model that's been around for almost 40 years. My original one was from 1982, but the lid to that broke and no bowl/lid will fir those anymore so had to replace. That was in 2019 with the current iteration. Even though it's just me, I use it to make dough for pizza quite regularly, and to grind other things, and cheese etc so it gets used a lot. All good stuff, though I don't have as small of a kitchen, it's poorly laid out as it dates to the 20's and had to add an island as a counter next to the stove as I had maybe 32" of space to the left of the sink for a counter when I bought this house in 2016. That meant the stove was all by itself, with the sink all the way across the room and had storage below to the sink's left that I usurped to put in a dishwasher, the best thing I ever did, outside the island, come counter/storage - and got a sheet pan etc vertical storage next to the DW even! Anyway, all good suggestions for many of us that find ourselves with small kitchens or just cooking for 1 or 2. BTW, agree on a 2 Qt pot, and a 3.5-4 Qt pot, have both and often use them regularly.
I decluttered my kitchen this year and counterintuitively, I kept one big pot and one big pan and switched to batch cooking. It has changed my life. First, getting rid of all of my small pans made it so easy to get to my pans. I only cook one day a week now. I find that an immersion blender is a space saver and does most of the things that a blender or food processor does. I also re-evaluated food storage. I opted for glass containers that could be used as bakeware, storage, and as mixing bowls. I never knew how much space I was using because I had those three as separate categories in my brain.
I’d like to add that Lodge Cast Iron skillets are also available with Dual Handles. Two short, helper sized handles, which take up a little less space and fit better in the oven. OXO quality can’t be beat.
Question why does the plastic get sticky and when you get the pan brown do you need parchment paper or can you put the food on the pan directly? And I use my tongs to get my mail out of the box when the postman shoves it in.
I had a brain wave: multi-level cooling rack and an array of 1/8 sheet pans so that I can prep and not cover all surfaces with them. I wish you stuck in a couple more pieces of equipment instead of showing us how a salad spinner works. 🥸 I have the food processor - perfect for a one can batch of hummus and for a batch of lemon sablés. I also have the old version of the salad spinner. Tongs are the best. I have extendible ones which are useful but a pain to clean. Ugh. No to plastic cutting boards. They are murder on your knives.
OMG, I have a Cuisinart mini chopper and never realized that there were holes in the top that I could drizzle oil through for perfect salad dressing. Thanks, America's Test Kitchen!
If you want to maximise space, don't own dozens and dozens of tea/coffee mugs. It's amazing how much shelf space you'll make available. And it won't cost you a cent.
The mom and pop cafe here will take your donated cups and mugs. They go through so many and they are truly grateful for them. You can tell which cafes take them bc of the mismatched cups they give you.
Hi. I keep a pair by the washer n can't reach in to get clothes on the bottom of behind the center post. When I BBQ, those tongs are nearby, just wipe them off n you 're good to go. I just have to remember to return them by the washer after cleaning them. Peace to you and yours
So I have to buy more smaller equipment to save space? Unfortunately for my situation, the person who designed my kitchen had only a superficial notion of what a kitchen is for.
@@bartoscar except like mine that have a 3d surface. Lots of places for junk and bacteria. And then a place where the coating strips off and the pan has a grey spot. Edit: Really took it down and it is no longer "3D."
Totally second the 1/4 & 1/8 sheet pans! Great fir breading & frying too! Smaller pans are great for storage and clean up but long handles are a no no! I normally cook for 4 and I find I use two 14” pans (lodge cast iron & all clad roaster) most of the time!! I really don’t need anything smaller as you can do just about everything with a bigger pan - food has room to roast and not steam as when stuff is too crowded! - but if you’re pan is too small then you’re in trouble. I do use an 8” & 10” non stick pan and a couple of 4 & 8 quart pots too but that’s all. The more I cook the more I streamline what I use in the kitchen
My microwave died a few years ago.. I was saving up to buy one but have found i love my toaster oven!! Not only does the food taste better, i gained a ton of counter space! The tiny sheet pan is great. I also use vintage Fire King pie plates for leftovers. 😃
You can actually get a Set of Tramontina or Cuisinart or several other Tri-Ply Pots for around the same price as that ONE pot. WHen they were the only maker of Tri-Ply , they MIGHT have been worth it - but Not today. And one must also remember that Aluminum Pots (NSF) for professional use(THey sell them at Sam's Club) actually control heat BETTER and are cheaper.
You lost me with the small cutting board. Small cutting boards are a scourge upon my cooking. I have one that size and I can't even cut half an onion without having to stop to move things around. My tiny kitchen gets a giant cutting board
I have a big board that lives on the countertop in my small kitchen, always ready to use (and useful!) and looks good. The only place I want a small cutting board is behind a bar for slicing fruit.
Totally agree! Unless slicing a single lemon or something similar, small cutting boards are useless. I actually gave my small one away and don't miss it one bit.
@@getoffmydarnlawn Same here. For small tasks, I also have some of those flexible cutting mats within reach. Cut up an onion & toss the mat into the sink. Big board is ready for whatever without the lingering aroma of onion juice.
not really because it's small for me, it's not made of wood. anything other than wood cutting board is horrible on your knives. I went to a friends house once and all she had was a glass one. a glass cutting board I never heard of. used her wood counter instead.
@@oldtimerlee8820 I have flexible mats for cutting meat so they can go straight into the sink so there is no worry about cross contamination. I use the big board for cutting all my veggies. I'm not that sensitive to onion or garlic smells.
Same here on the pricing. While they may be nice to have for those with the budget it takes to afford them, my a- lot-less-expensive, various sizes, of cookware perform well for the tasks at hand. A number of years ago I found enamelware pint sized sauce pans to match my quart sized ones. (I have 2 each.) While I have heavy bottomed quart size when scorching is an issue, I usually reach for the enamelware. It heats the contents faster, on my gas stove. It's more quick to react when rapid heat change is needed, too. These enamelware pieces were only a few dollars each. BTW, I have a large collection of castiron cookware. Often, it is the best skillet, pot, Dutch oven, etc. to use to prepare a meal.
Calphalon Tri-ply and Tramontina are two good alternatives that offer nearly equal performance to the All-Clad for a much lower price. In fact, the Tramontina Gourmet Stainless Steel Induction-Ready Tri-Ply Clad Covered Sauce Pan, 2-Quart, was ATK's "Best Buy" in their small saucepan test. (Strangely, though, they only tested two pans: the All-Clad and the Tramontina.)
I cannot believe I've gone this long without knowing you can just wash your herbs in the salad spinner. I've been rinsing them upside down under the faucet and just shaking them for decades. 🤡
Along the same lines of limited space, I would love to see a Gear video on maximizing storage space in small kitchens. Also, on the topic of hand mixers, I love my 6qt Kitchen aid, but if I am making a small batch of meringue cookies, the whisk will not reach just a couple of egg whites. I put the egg whites into the 6 qt stainless bowl, get started whipping them with the Kitchen aid hand mixer and then take over with the full size whisk. Works great.
I fully understand what you mean, for myself I did the Dime trick with my KitchenAid. Look it up on TH-cam (KitchenAid Stand Mixer: Dime Test) it may help you get more done with smaller batches. Over time the head of the mixer loosens.
For space saving technique, I like the utensil rail system by Hafele. Also I like the cans to roll forward dispenser at the top of my pantry where it is otherwise wasted space. Who is tall enough to see what is on that top shelf?
I so wish Cuisinart would make a 4 or 5 cup food processor with S and grater/ slicer blade. They made the Tasty which would have been great if the build quality wasn’t terrible.
Same for me. Interestingly, I solved my storage space issues by switching to 100% batch cooking and only keeping my largest pan. It is counterintuitive but I was able to get rid of 5 or 6 smaller pans and batch cooking cut back on how many nights per week I cook and lowered my electric bill.
@@wishingb5859 ....right now I have kitchen items from my parents, grandparents, ex-husband along with my own purchases, gifts and move out finds. I only use about ten percent of the entire inventory.
@@msr1116 Lucky you! You must have some of the best made and interesting kitchenware around, lol! My favorite work horses are a set of pink Pyrex missing bowls I got back in the 80s from a lady that died in her 90s. My mom saved them for me when she cleaned out the lady's house. I bought a large set of Euro specs Le Creuset back in the 90s and I use the 1.9 liter (2qt) saucepan almost everyday. The rest sit in the cabinet unused.
I bought half, quarter and eighth sheet pans at the restaurant supply store and paid half the price for equal the quality. Love the smaller ones and reach for them constantly. Will never waste $ on expensive ones again. These are total kitchen workhorses….prep, bake, broil, freeze…no warp and no fuss over a ding or scratch when they only cost $5 to $8. Just get them!
I love that! personally I use my cast iron skillet in the oven more often than my sheet pan. Being able to move from stovetop to oven makes it far more versatile
Hi. It would be cheaper to buy a microplaner. Even with arthritis it is easy to use. Also, microplane garlic, onion, choco, nutmeg, cinnamon sticks. Peace to you and yours
Hi. Mr Bear !! Just type in rasp grater n cheese n there are already white a few. Check American Test Kitchen, Review Rasp Type Graters. Not all graters are the same. Peace to you and yours
I have a tiny suzy homemaker kitchen and have all those same exact tools. But the best tip for me was the pull apart top on the salad spinner! I didn't know the lid pulled apart. I even paused the video and retrieved the spinner to try it and voila! I've just been letting it dry on the dish drainer and put it away, spots and all. Thank you Lisa!! Love these videos.
Here's something else you may not know. The top part of the lid can be twisted apart and opened to allow cleaning inside it - that's the spinning mechanism, and dirt and grime will get trapped in there. There are videos on YT that demonstrate this. BTW, putting it back together is trickier than it first appears (it must be reassembled in a particular way), so watch the entire video.
1/4 size pans are my favorite. Cleans so much easier too. Also if needed i can put two items on different pans and have them in the oven for different lenghts of time.
I like that size, too. Found mine at Sam's Club. Another way to use them, when cooking for 2 is do a pan for each person, with individual preferences of seasonings, sides, etc. Some people like foods extra spicy - HOT, while others don't, for example.
I'm a Nana and I'm making the move into either a tiny house or a 4 season rv! So I'm binge watching these too! I've downsized twice already and now it's crunch time! If it won't fit it's gotta go, most won't fit! 😂
I'd really love to see an episode on *successful* kitchen items that store ultra-compactly. We all remember saucepans that have removable handles, and have those handles fail off at critical times. Are there any cookware or gadgets that can be stored tightly (i.e. without wasted space) and still be highly usable?
Hi. Rachael Ray makes a stackable set of cookware. Even if the cookware is stackable, I would use squares of bubble wrap in between the pans (cast iron n stainless steel included, they scratch easily). Peace to you and yours
I watch some vlogs from Japan that use ceramic cookware with removable handles for their compact-sized cooktops. They seem to have good quality handles. Here is the first I heard of them ever failing.
Hi. The thing with removable handles is a) you forget where you put the handle, b)the more moving parts, more things get broken. Evaluate your cooking, ask yourself, do I really need that? n why. Remember, a lot of folks moved on from removable handles for a reason. Look into those stackable corner racks that hold like up to 5 pots. Peace to you and yours
I'd like to see that too. Not cookware but I bought a set of Correl plates that look great, are sturdy, and 6 plates stacked are only about an inch high.
I'm sorry, $200 for a 2-quart saucepan? I'm sure it's an excellent pan, but I just can't imagine the value-add over the $25 2-quart I've had for 10 years. Sometimes extra tech in a pan makes a big difference, but in a 2-quart saucepan, I seriously doubt it.
I use the plastic cutting sheets on my cutting board and then transfer them to bowl or pan. I don’t like the feel of the sheets on the counter, but using them on the board works for me,.
O M G, I have an old Oxo spinner that I use regularly and never knew you could pop off the inner lid! And the white sliding thingy--So that's what it's for! We'll just skip over the fact that I've never really cleaned the lid 😳 Always love your videos and learn even more from the comments!
Would also like to suggest the 3.5qt kitchenaid stand mixer 😊 it's not as powerful as the original or pro models but still works with most recipes and a little easier & lighter to move around
I used to like Lisa's presentations but the addition of Hannah is not only annoying but breaks my eardrums. (I still can't get over - I think it was a bread oriented video - where Hannah ran her fingers through her hair then proceeded to prepare dough.) Ugh. Maybe it was the editing, but even THAT needs to be reviewed before publishing, ATK.
I have to laugh at how things have upsized over the years... 2-quart saucepans, 10-inch skillets, and hand mixers are the standards everybody used 50 years ago, unless you had a really big family! 12-inch skillets still seem like restaurant ware to me, and 4-quart saucepans apparently came into their own sometime after I gave up looking for them anymore (some 30 years ago). I didn't know 1/8 sheets even existed; I'm going to have to look into getting some of those.
They are also called toaster oven sheet pans. Shop around as these vary widely in price and quality. Sometimes the most bang for the buck is to shop for a set of baking pans for a toaster oven. Especially if you've downsizing to a toaster oven for most of your baking/roasting needs. I bought a relatively inexpense set for our Colman Camping Oven. So far, pleased with the results. Hope this helps.
These are great tips. I just love my hand mixer and I’m needing a new small food processor. Thank you both so much. I definitely use these tips. I’m also thankful for the blender recommendations. You guys are always right on time. 💗💗💗
Regarding smaller tongs, I stopped using mine when I switch to kitchen tweezer. An average size tweezers are extremely nimble. If you are using the smaller tong, it means you are not that near the flame, so a tweezer would be sufficient while being much more space efficient. Not just that, you can use it to take out individual olives, capers and tiny fish if you want to. The only problem I have is scraping. It’s not as convenient but I use a spoon or fork if I need to scrape. I can eat with the same utensil if I am cooking for myself only. You can eat with the tweezer if you want to as well, I eat noodles with it. I don’t want to go back to chopstick after getting a decent tweezer.
I have a small kitchen. You missed the biggest problem! Storage containers for leftovers. I have a dozen different kinds. All different sizes and shapes. They don't nest efficiently and the lids are all different. Like matching socks after the wash. I have great pyrex mixing bowls that nest perfectly. They fit in the cupboard easy. But my storage containers take up two cupboards, and I STILL end up looking for the right size and don't find it, or I don't find a lid to match. Is there a nesting set of storage containers in two or three different sizes that all use the same lid? I'll chuck everything I have and start over if I can find such a thing.
@@barbaraeinzig4257 Those don't stack compactly. They actually take more space than the stuff I have now. I'm not looking for fancy containers. I'm looking for ones that have a very small footprint when I'm not using them.
Not sure if you've found a solution yet but check out the ikea 365+ set, they have multiple sizes both plastic and glass that nest and all use the same lids. I have glass so I can bake the food such as quiche or lasagne right in it and then (once cooled) pop on a lid and toss in the freezer, great for work lunch box.
I got stopped at the 2 qt sauce pan for $197. You are obviously speaking to those who have higher end incomes. My retirement income is no where near this price point, and I suspect there are many others who would not spend $197 for a pan like this. My $30 pans do everything I need.
I keep my long tongs in the kitchen to help me get things that are too far back in the cabinet or too high for me to comfortably reach. I have a Braun food processor - it has a small bowl that fits inside the big one - and it has variable speed on both the pulse and continuous.
I like this as a tip for people like my mum who've lost the strength in her hands necessary to do the whooshy lift thing for draining pasta. She's stopped cooking pasta for herself because leaving it to drain under its own weight the pasta goes cold. 👍
I’d love to see an episode on how to store grilling paraphernalia if you don’t want to store it outside or have space in the kitchen. Between tongs, long spatulas, gilling basket, etc this is a storage issue for me since the grill is outside a slider off the dining room. That room holds only a dining table and chairs.
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You need a cart outside. Like a small cabinet or someone's old kitchen counter section. Just leave all that stuff out there covered like the bbq
I do find with the OXO tongs the silicon coated pincers deteriorated after about a year. They are great for non-stick pans, but I still prefer the uncoated style. ( My choice is get a couple pairs form a restaurant supply place or Smart And Final for about $5 each or less. The ones I have are at least 5 years old.
Yeah, not paying two hundred dollars for a sauce pan, nor am I paying sixty dollars for a hand mixer. As for tongs, the pair I bought for two dollars and fifty cents work perfectly fine. I think I spend the extra money on something else.
While my Cuisinart Mini Chopper was still under warranty the company replaced it because the shaft the blade attaches to rusted. Now that the warranty is up, it has rusted again. It is a design flaw in that water stays up inside the blade. It was ok until I stopped drying it with a q-tip every time I washed it. Rusty kitchen equipment …I don’t think so!
I use cast iron all the time. From my old 8 inch fry pan for eggs, to my 14 inch dutch oven. Currently have 4 frypans and 4 dutch ovens. Even have a 16 inch dutch oven that is used outside to fry fish in.
Can you please make a video on testing out different produce storage containers for the fridge? Like the Home Edit vs the OxO produce keeper and any others. Trying to keep produce fresh for as long as possible is rough.
Someone posted a suggestion of using one quart wide mouth Mason jars. Wash first then fill the jar and put on lid keeps fresh for a week and doesn't get lost.
I tried making do with just a hand mixer for a long time and it kept me from baking bread very often as kneading bread by hand is a PITA. Kitchenaid makes a smallish stand mixer, IIRC its 3 1/2 quarts, that I got which handles my small bread making projects wonderfully and it doesn't take up that much space.
For cookware, I only have one deep pan for everything. Was gonna invest on a korean set and it has a removable handle, so I can use the pan and pot pieces as "bowls" if I need to. It's just a bit pricey tho. But so far, living alone, a pan is enough, esp if you got a one burner stove (I have an induction cooker). I have a rice cooker, a microwave, and an oven toaster, so I dont have to rely on my pan all the time. Edit: agree on the cast iron pan. You can use it as something to like a weapon if you need it, like that one in Tangled.
Hanna, please ask one of your crew to wash some dishes in your sink and see how often they bang their forehead on the upper cabinet. Now for the positive: Good job on the tongs advice. Clamshells are best overall. You should actually advise AGAINST other styles in general. The bent wire tongs with loop handles are good for when you have one guest you don't like, because you will drop at least one steak. Good advice re the hand mixer weight, expense, its speeds and wire blades. Also for the smaller food processor. I got a smaller one, not for space, but because it is much lighter to move around. My household hint: Never buy a garlic press. Instead get a medium pattern Microplane. Then you can prepare garlic, zest citrus, grate hard cheeses, and grate whole nutmeg with one tool. Microplanes just rinse off under cold water whereas cleaning a garlic press is like fighting a ground war.
Love tongs! Besides turning and grabbing foods, I'm disabled and they are great for picking up things I drop on the floor in the kitchen! Also good for reaching items on higher shelves. And like you, I prefer one with silicone coating, and one without. I'm in the process of updating my kitchen equipment so I stumbled across your videos at exactly the right time!
I use the very long grill tongs to pull clothes out of the dryer. The dryer is low, situated in a dark corner and deep bending to reach that lone sock in the very back is a skill that I've lost.
Hard disagree on small cutting boards. They are not useful for me. Everything else is great advice. I own several of the products mentioned, and I’m a happy camper. Another great way to save space: buy only 3 knives. An 8” chef’s knife, a serrated knife, and a paring knife. This arsenal should suit almost any home cook. (You could maybe get by with just the one chef’s knife in a pinch.)
I would never be able to live with out my cast iron pans. My kitchen is the size of yours Hannah! I have all the size of cast iron most of them came from my grandmother I LOVE THEM.
I have this mixer and I'm really pleased with it. I also have a Kitchenaid stand mixer but I usually reach for the hand mixer, it's works great for most tasks.
Tongs are the essential tool most likely to be missing in a home kitchen. I was lucky to learn their usefulness as a teenager working in a restaurant in the 1970's.
I love my Cuisinart stainless-steel saucepans in 1, 2 & 3q. Affordable too! They have glass lids with strainer rims for easy draining. Smaller 2 came with set of cookware, 3q got online. I love being able to see through lid while cooking!
First of all, I’m an ATK fanboy! In particular their gear reviews. However, ATK’s continued recommendation of Lodge makes me suspicious of EVERY other recommendation they post. There is no person who is well served by a modern Lodge skillet. They tested a group of underperforming skillets and recommended the least of the evils. They need to do a comparison of real skillets like Butterpat, Field, Smithey, Finex, Stargazer, etc. The performance on the Field (which is my least favorite of these brands) is DRAMATICALLY better than the Lodge for a very slightly higher price.
@@sandrah7512 Well, some of my faith is restored! I own them all (plus others and vintage) and must say the Stargazer is the best for performance. 4-month lead time on getting the 12” though, which may be why they weren’t included in the test. Many manufacturers don’t bother with an 8” because of low demand. I’ll give them credit though on the Smithey, exceptional quality. My personal #2. Everyone, take my word, if money is tight, go with a Field! Lodge from the last 20 years should be reserved for cartoon weapons, they’re seriously unfit for the kitchen. A 2019 study found that it takes 7 years of regular use for a Lodge to begin to perform at an “adequate” level. All of the others I mentioned are at “exceptional” performance out of the box, while Butterpat meets standards for “elite” performance out of the box. If you’re wondering what to do with a stimulus check though, Smithey, Stargazer, and Butterpat are all worth the money!
They recommend the small sheet pan for the toaster oven. That’s the appliance I could use instead of heating the big oven for one item. Will search their videos for a recommendation.
That Electric Mixer is good. However IF I can Still find it. I bought a " Hand-Crank Mixer " It Worked Quite Well And took up only about an 1/8 th., or less of the space [ of that Kitchen-Aid mixer ] ! I wish I still had it !
I love my 2 qt. All-Clad sauce pan, but I have to say the 1 qt. sauce pan I purchased a few years ago gets used WAY more than the 2 qt. I live alone so the 1 qt. is the perfect size for rice, reheating a serving of soup or other leftovers or making a small bit of sauce or gravy. Without a microwave my 1 qt. has become indispensable. And it fits inside the 2 qt., so no extra storage.
I have a 1 qt, 2 qt and 3 qt, plus larger Dutch oven, pasta pot, and restaurant soup pot. The 2qt gets used the most, though I wouldn’t want to do without any of the others except maybe the 3qt. I live alone, too… but I have a great freezer, and freeze leftovers.
I'm really impressed with the electric lunchbox and Shabuki pot. I seldom use my stove now. The Shabuki is essentially an electric pot with a steamer insert, and the electric lunchbox uses steam. I cooked a Cornish hen in my Shabuki and steamed vegetables above it. I bought a small bamboo steamer so now I can have three cooking tiers and do rice at the same time. Yesterday I made a small carrot cake in my electric lunchbox. I was dubious about steaming a cake, and it came out pale, but is delicious! it's moist, cooked through, and delicious!
I want to buy just one thing that does the job of food processor, Spice blender, smoothies/hummus etc. Anybody have any recommendations? I dont think it exists right now(leaning towards vitamix though)
I had used cast iron fry and bake pans for years. However, as I got older, I found that my wrists and hands hurt due to the weight of the equipment. Finally, I stopped using cast iron and instead must use the lighter weight coated fry and glass pans. I do, however, miss cooking with cast iron.
Agree with 2 quart All-Clad saucepan. Mine is almost 20 years old and is in perfect shape. You can give this to you great grandkids. Ans she forgot one critical thing: It is induction capable, and because of it's efficiency and safety, induction is the future of cooking (I have both induction and gas in my kitchen). Induction is twice as efficient as regular electric cooktops, and it infinitely more precise. I know on my induction cooker, a 5 out of 20 is just boiling.
Nothing to do with space saving devices, but lots to do with saving space! Could you please do a segment on dehydrators? I am very interested in starting to dehydrate food, and am struggling with which dehydrators are the best.
@@sandrah7512 LOL, so true, it would not be a very dynamic video. FWIW, you can also dehydrate food in the June oven, which we reviewed. I did apple slices for 10 hours and the oven makes a little time-lapse video where you get to watch them shrink up on your phone app. (Too bad most dehydrators don't have cameras in them.)
@@sandrah7512 Huh? No, I never suggested 6 mins of real-time whipping. That is a red-herring. I wanted to see those numbers go by real fast. I think that would be "mildly humorous".
Unfortunately your small Nordic Ware sheet pan is a newer one that has their raised logo on the working surface, instead of the stamped logo on the bottom surface. I wanted to buy one as a gift but decided not to because the raised lettering would be too hard to keep clean.
@@sandrah7512 You may be right about that but I'm talking about cleanliness and accumulated gunk that's impossible to scrub out of the space between the lettering.
I bought that Oxo cutting board at ATK's recommendation. After washing it in the dishwasher for a few months it's warped and no longer keeps good grip! Love all of ATK's other recommendations.
Warping... dishwashers. There are 2 kinds. First, dishwashers that get very hot with a heating element, and the other kind now often made without them - relying on residual hor water heat to dry.
I just want to be financially comfortable enough that I get to buy their recommendations that I need (I would like to have that saucepan but not the salad spinner).
For the saucepan, buying used is a possibility; All-Clad makes long-lasting pans, so that's closer to $80 than $200. (From a quick look on eBay.) Going lower than that, any 2-quart saucepan with a disc bottom will give you reasonable results. I find that saucepans don't benefit that much from tri-ply construction, all that matters is if the bottom is thick enough to spread the heat around, and it's reasonably likely to find something like that at a thrift store or garage sale. (Just check for any obvious structural issues, and make sure the bottom is still flat. It's difficult to mess up a stainless steel pan.)
@@trevorc4413 unfortunately here i my country, we're not big on long lasting brands and selling them at auctiond or finding them at thrift stores. I just checked ebay and the pans avaliable there cost as much as the shipping. Thanks for the advice though!
LOVE the small salad spinner! I happen to have an unbranded one I picked up from a thrift store that works as good as the Oxo (absolutely no markings of any kind, sadly, so I can't find another - would have loved to buy addl ones for family). My larger one is, of course, the Oxo - perfect when prepping for a crowd.
The 9-inch tongs by OXO are a must for me. I use them for sautéing vegetables, caramelizing onions, scraping fond from the bottom and sides of a Dutch oven when making a red secure, etc. Any home cook would benefit from having them as an asset in the kitchen.
Never trust anyone who has clean cooking pans with zero scorch marks or burns of any kind. They don't know kitchens and will burn your food. Upon seeing that first pan I know we are in good hands. 😂
I don't trust "chef shows" that use brand new pots & pans every time they cook anything. I wish I were one of the lucky recipients of those "used" pots and pans!
Hi. I'm having a debate with myself. These days the food processor has evolved. Besides just slicing n shredding veg, it can make dough. I do have a Kitchen Aide 5 speed hand mixer. Sooo, can I just buy a good processor n skip the EXPENSIVE Stand Mixer? Peace to you and yours
I own a stand mixer & the more I watch ATK the more I think the food processor is more useful. Unless you want to do a type of bread that requires a stand mixer you won't miss it.
Hi. Yeah, the price of the Kitchen Aide is just up there, that would be the only brand I would consider, but you would have to buy extra attachments to equal what a good processor can do. Thanks for your input. Peace to you and yours
There is a collapsible salad spinner that stores into 1-1.5" height. What about an Immersion Blender with attachments instead of one hand mixer? Or a hand mixer with multiple attachments and storage bin with a dough hook?
One thing that's changed the organization of my cookware is a 2-set of universal silicone lids. The big one fits my huge cast iron skillet (which has to live on the stove permanently), and the small one fits everything else. They both fit into the wooden plate rack I use for my half- and quarter- sheet pans and the cooling racks that can nest in the pans. Shallow cabinets, but everything fits and is easily accessible.
On the kitchen aid hand mixer: the wirebeaters they tend to bend out of shape to be totally useless then you have buy new ones which is a pain, I need something that beat through a heavy load.
Vlogs from Japan and videos of optimal space utilization in RVs and campers have ideas of coping with really compact kitchens, and show the multi use appliances that are available. Immersion blenders with various attachments allow for more versatility. (Off topic but the blonde gal reminds me of Michelle Phillips from The Mamas and Papas in the 1960s.)
All good suggestions. I got the 1/8th sized sheet pan for when I need to do things like freeze chops etc in my tiny freezer before bagging and putting in the freezer so they don't (hopefully) don't stick together badly among other tasks. Love tongs and have 3 of them, two are coated. One is a 12" Good Grips I got for Christmas a good number of years ago and love them, I have 2 others, one is a Sir La Table version with silicone tips, so a touch slippery but do the job and recently, bought a non coated Good Grips, it and the Sir La Table tongs are 16" long.
I have the older variant of the Cuisinart 3 cup chopper for when I just need to chop something small that my 11 cup processor is just too big for. For a long time, I had a white version of the 3 cup model, until the lid broke and no replacement for those, but can get the bowl though, so just replaced with a metallic red one this week and it got used last night in fact for a chicken cutlet for dinner. My 11 cup is the classic DLC 8 model that's been around for almost 40 years. My original one was from 1982, but the lid to that broke and no bowl/lid will fir those anymore so had to replace. That was in 2019 with the current iteration. Even though it's just me, I use it to make dough for pizza quite regularly, and to grind other things, and cheese etc so it gets used a lot.
All good stuff, though I don't have as small of a kitchen, it's poorly laid out as it dates to the 20's and had to add an island as a counter next to the stove as I had maybe 32" of space to the left of the sink for a counter when I bought this house in 2016. That meant the stove was all by itself, with the sink all the way across the room and had storage below to the sink's left that I usurped to put in a dishwasher, the best thing I ever did, outside the island, come counter/storage - and got a sheet pan etc vertical storage next to the DW even!
Anyway, all good suggestions for many of us that find ourselves with small kitchens or just cooking for 1 or 2.
BTW, agree on a 2 Qt pot, and a 3.5-4 Qt pot, have both and often use them regularly.
I decluttered my kitchen this year and counterintuitively, I kept one big pot and one big pan and switched to batch cooking. It has changed my life. First, getting rid of all of my small pans made it so easy to get to my pans. I only cook one day a week now. I find that an immersion blender is a space saver and does most of the things that a blender or food processor does. I also re-evaluated food storage. I opted for glass containers that could be used as bakeware, storage, and as mixing bowls. I never knew how much space I was using because I had those three as separate categories in my brain.
Probably the most useful TKA video I have watched. Thank you.
I’d like to add that Lodge Cast Iron skillets are also available with Dual Handles. Two short, helper sized handles, which take up a little less space and fit better in the oven.
OXO quality can’t be beat.
I wish you folks would test double boilers. They are very useful pots.
Question why does the plastic get sticky and when you get the pan brown do you need parchment paper or can you put the food on the pan directly? And I use my tongs to get my mail out of the box when the postman shoves it in.
I had a brain wave: multi-level cooling rack and an array of 1/8 sheet pans so that I can prep and not cover all surfaces with them.
I wish you stuck in a couple more pieces of equipment instead of showing us how a salad spinner works. 🥸
I have the food processor - perfect for a one can batch of hummus and for a batch of lemon sablés. I also have the old version of the salad spinner. Tongs are the best. I have extendible ones which are useful but a pain to clean.
Ugh. No to plastic cutting boards. They are murder on your knives.
OMG, I have a Cuisinart mini chopper and never realized that there were holes in the top that I could drizzle oil through for perfect salad dressing. Thanks, America's Test Kitchen!
If you want to maximise space, don't own dozens and dozens of tea/coffee mugs. It's amazing how much shelf space you'll make available. And it won't cost you a cent.
The mom and pop cafe here will take your donated cups and mugs. They go through so many and they are truly grateful for them. You can tell which cafes take them bc of the mismatched cups they give you.
Could you come explain to my wife how this logic makes sense? Apparently it's an absurd idea if I say it.
Hard agree. One person doesn't need more than 3 or 4 mugs. I have one for coffee, one for tea and a xtra LRG mug for water or herbal tea.
@@Rhin0sAreUnic0rns just give her hooks to hang about four mugs under the cabinet. Accidently break the rest over a period of time.
@@Whisperhollow great idea, but she doesn't like the hook idea due to her "clumsiness". And since I'm not really clumsy, it will be very suspicious
funny but tongs come in handy if your short and can’t reach stuff in cub boards another great video
Me too!! I thought I was the only short person who uses tongs to each stuff in the cupboard!!!
I keep a long pair for picking things up from the floor, since bending that far down is difficult sometimes.
Hi. I keep a pair by the washer n can't reach in to get clothes on the bottom of behind the center post. When I BBQ, those tongs are nearby, just wipe them off n you 're good to go. I just have to remember to return them by the washer after cleaning them. Peace to you and yours
Lol, I use the coated ones to get things out of the cupboards!
I have utilized the wooden spoon and tong combo for tricky situations on occasion.
So I have to buy more smaller equipment to save space? Unfortunately for my situation, the person who designed my kitchen had only a superficial notion of what a kitchen is for.
Good to know that discolored sheet pans are normal. I thought I was ruining mine with stuck on spots 😆
They're actually better when they're darker! Dan did a short video about it
@@bartoscar except like mine that have a 3d surface. Lots of places for junk and bacteria.
And then a place where the coating strips off and the pan has a grey spot.
Edit: Really took it down and it is no longer "3D."
I consider them “seasoned”.
th-cam.com/video/hrufGZsP-jo/w-d-xo.html here’s a super good video on why dark pans are actually better for even browning
Better browning!
I love how relaxed these little episodes are.
Me too. It is like having a few girl friends over for a cup of tea.
Totally second the 1/4 & 1/8 sheet pans! Great fir breading & frying too!
Smaller pans are great for storage and clean up but long handles are a no no!
I normally cook for 4 and I find I use two 14” pans (lodge cast iron & all clad roaster) most of the time!!
I really don’t need anything smaller as you can do just about everything with a bigger pan - food has room to roast and not steam as when stuff is too crowded! - but if you’re pan is too small then you’re in trouble.
I do use an 8” & 10” non stick pan and a couple of 4 & 8 quart pots too but that’s all.
The more I cook the more I streamline what I use in the kitchen
My microwave died a few years ago.. I was saving up to buy one but have found i love my toaster oven!! Not only does the food taste better, i gained a ton of counter space! The tiny sheet pan is great. I also use vintage Fire King pie plates for leftovers. 😃
I have decided not to spend $200 for a two quart sauce pan.
You can actually get a Set of Tramontina or Cuisinart or several other Tri-Ply Pots for around the same price as that ONE pot. WHen they were the only maker of Tri-Ply , they MIGHT have been worth it - but Not today. And one must also remember that Aluminum Pots (NSF) for professional use(THey sell them at Sam's Club) actually control heat BETTER and are cheaper.
You lost me with the small cutting board. Small cutting boards are a scourge upon my cooking. I have one that size and I can't even cut half an onion without having to stop to move things around. My tiny kitchen gets a giant cutting board
I have a big board that lives on the countertop in my small kitchen, always ready to use (and useful!) and looks good. The only place I want a small cutting board is behind a bar for slicing fruit.
Totally agree! Unless slicing a single lemon or something similar, small cutting boards are useless. I actually gave my small one away and don't miss it one bit.
@@getoffmydarnlawn Same here. For small tasks, I also have some of those flexible cutting mats within reach. Cut up an onion & toss the mat into the sink. Big board is ready for whatever without the lingering aroma of onion juice.
not really because it's small for me, it's not made of wood. anything other than wood cutting board is horrible on your knives. I went to a friends house once and all she had was a glass one. a glass cutting board I never heard of. used her wood counter instead.
@@oldtimerlee8820 I have flexible mats for cutting meat so they can go straight into the sink so there is no worry about cross contamination. I use the big board for cutting all my veggies. I'm not that sensitive to onion or garlic smells.
I wish the mini food processor also came with the grating and slicing attachment of the bigger relatives😕
Preparing to live in a 4-window skoolie...this was a great video.
I'm not paying $197 for a pot though.
Same here on the pricing. While they may be nice to have for those with the budget it takes to afford them, my a- lot-less-expensive, various sizes, of cookware perform well for the tasks at hand. A number of years ago I found enamelware pint sized sauce pans to match my quart sized ones. (I have 2 each.) While I have heavy bottomed quart size when scorching is an issue, I usually reach for the enamelware. It heats the contents faster, on my gas stove. It's more quick to react when rapid heat change is needed, too. These enamelware pieces were only a few dollars each.
BTW, I have a large collection of castiron cookware. Often, it is the best skillet, pot, Dutch oven, etc. to use to prepare a meal.
Calphalon Tri-ply and Tramontina are two good alternatives that offer nearly equal performance to the All-Clad for a much lower price. In fact, the Tramontina Gourmet Stainless Steel Induction-Ready Tri-Ply Clad Covered Sauce Pan, 2-Quart, was ATK's "Best Buy" in their small saucepan test. (Strangely, though, they only tested two pans: the All-Clad and the Tramontina.)
I cannot believe I've gone this long without knowing you can just wash your herbs in the salad spinner. I've been rinsing them upside down under the faucet and just shaking them for decades. 🤡
Along the same lines of limited space, I would love to see a Gear video on maximizing storage space in small kitchens. Also, on the topic of hand mixers, I love my 6qt Kitchen aid, but if I am making a small batch of meringue cookies, the whisk will not reach just a couple of egg whites. I put the egg whites into the 6 qt stainless bowl, get started whipping them with the Kitchen aid hand mixer and then take over with the full size whisk. Works great.
Absolutely! Same!
I fully understand what you mean, for myself I did the Dime trick with my KitchenAid. Look it up on TH-cam (KitchenAid Stand Mixer: Dime Test) it may help you get more done with smaller batches. Over time the head of the mixer loosens.
@@DoubleMDownie I've already done the dime trick, but with the 6qt bowl, sometimes it's just hard to get started with a small amount of egg white.
For space saving technique, I like the utensil rail system by Hafele. Also I like the cans to roll forward dispenser at the top of my pantry where it is otherwise wasted space. Who is tall enough to see what is on that top shelf?
I so wish Cuisinart would make a 4 or 5 cup food processor with S and grater/ slicer blade. They made the Tasty which would have been great if the build quality wasn’t terrible.
I like my pots to have two grip handles instead of one long handle. They take up less storage space.
Same.
Braising pan, Dutch oven, or both. Each with oven safe handles and lids.
Same for me. Interestingly, I solved my storage space issues by switching to 100% batch cooking and only keeping my largest pan. It is counterintuitive but I was able to get rid of 5 or 6 smaller pans and batch cooking cut back on how many nights per week I cook and lowered my electric bill.
@@wishingb5859 ....right now I have kitchen items from my parents, grandparents, ex-husband along with my own purchases, gifts and move out finds. I only use about ten percent of the entire inventory.
@@msr1116 Lucky you! You must have some of the best made and interesting kitchenware around, lol! My favorite work horses are a set of pink Pyrex missing bowls I got back in the 80s from a lady that died in her 90s. My mom saved them for me when she cleaned out the lady's house. I bought a large set of Euro specs Le Creuset back in the 90s and I use the 1.9 liter (2qt) saucepan almost everyday. The rest sit in the cabinet unused.
I bought half, quarter and eighth sheet pans at the restaurant supply store and paid half the price for equal the quality. Love the smaller ones and reach for them constantly. Will never waste $ on expensive ones again. These are total kitchen workhorses….prep, bake, broil, freeze…no warp and no fuss over a ding or scratch when they only cost $5 to $8. Just get them!
Restaurant supply stores are to a foodie what a candy or toy store is to a child.
I love that! personally I use my cast iron skillet in the oven more often than my sheet pan. Being able to move from stovetop to oven makes it far more versatile
@@msr1116 SO AGREE! Unfortunately the one in my town is only open until 2 PM, what's up with that???
I wish that small Cuisinart processor had a grating blade for things like cheese.
Hi. It would be cheaper to buy a microplaner. Even with arthritis it is easy to use. Also, microplane garlic, onion, choco, nutmeg, cinnamon sticks. Peace to you and yours
@@kikigamble4315 please create a video I can watch of you grating cheddar cheese on a micro plane.
Hi. Mr Bear !! Just type in rasp grater n cheese n there are already white a few. Check American Test Kitchen, Review Rasp Type Graters. Not all graters are the same. Peace to you and yours
Hi. Sorry, my computer wants to type other words for me. There are many videos out there already concerning grating cheese. Peace to you and yours
You can put a chunk of cheese into a food processor and it will chop it up into pieces as small as if you grated it.
I have a tiny suzy homemaker kitchen and have all those same exact tools. But the best tip for me was the pull apart top on the salad spinner! I didn't know the lid pulled apart. I even paused the video and retrieved the spinner to try it and voila! I've just been letting it dry on the dish drainer and put it away, spots and all. Thank you Lisa!! Love these videos.
I have that exact small salad spinner and I had no idea it pulled apart, either. Ha-ha!
@@jeanvignes Same here!
Here's something else you may not know. The top part of the lid can be twisted apart and opened to allow cleaning inside it - that's the spinning mechanism, and dirt and grime will get trapped in there. There are videos on YT that demonstrate this. BTW, putting it back together is trickier than it first appears (it must be reassembled in a particular way), so watch the entire video.
"tiny suzy homemaker kitchen" Love it!
It's quite amusing that "smaller" kitchen gear is just the standard size stuff we use in the UK.
Haha I'm in the US and this is standard for all us apartment-dwellers as well.
1/4 size pans are my favorite. Cleans so much easier too. Also if needed i can put two items on different pans and have them in the oven for different lenghts of time.
I like that size, too. Found mine at Sam's Club. Another way to use them, when cooking for 2 is do a pan for each person, with individual preferences of seasonings, sides, etc. Some people like foods extra spicy - HOT, while others don't, for example.
We’re 2 grandmas and a Golden Doodle and Poochon are moving into a 21 ft Camper Van! Guess how badly I needed this right now!
I'm a Nana and I'm making the move into either a tiny house or a 4 season rv! So I'm binge watching these too! I've downsized twice already and now it's crunch time! If it won't fit it's gotta go, most won't fit! 😂
As a single person this is s very tool helpful. More of the smaller stuff for us cooking for one people ... Please.
I'd really love to see an episode on *successful* kitchen items that store ultra-compactly. We all remember saucepans that have removable handles, and have those handles fail off at critical times. Are there any cookware or gadgets that can be stored tightly (i.e. without wasted space) and still be highly usable?
Hi. Rachael Ray makes a stackable set of cookware. Even if the cookware is stackable, I would use squares of bubble wrap in between the pans (cast iron n stainless steel included, they scratch easily). Peace to you and yours
I watch some vlogs from Japan that use ceramic cookware with removable handles for their compact-sized cooktops. They seem to have good quality handles. Here is the first I heard of them ever failing.
Hi. The thing with removable handles is a) you forget where you put the handle, b)the more moving parts, more things get broken. Evaluate your cooking, ask yourself, do I really need that? n why. Remember, a lot of folks moved on from removable handles for a reason. Look into those stackable corner racks that hold like up to 5 pots. Peace to you and yours
I got the Tefal stacking non-stick pots and skillets with removable handles. They work perfectly, very sturdy
I'd like to see that too. Not cookware but I bought a set of Correl plates that look great, are sturdy, and 6 plates stacked are only about an inch high.
I'm sorry, $200 for a 2-quart saucepan? I'm sure it's an excellent pan, but I just can't imagine the value-add over the $25 2-quart I've had for 10 years. Sometimes extra tech in a pan makes a big difference, but in a 2-quart saucepan, I seriously doubt it.
It's ATK. Money is no object.😅
I use the plastic cutting sheets on my cutting board and then transfer them to bowl or pan. I don’t like the feel of the sheets on the counter, but using them on the board works for me,.
$197 for a sauce pan is out of my price range. At that price it seems insulting extravagant and pretentious.
I used my good grips tongs to pull a black snake out of the birdhouse. Worked great!
O M G, I have an old Oxo spinner that I use regularly and never knew you could pop off the inner lid! And the white sliding thingy--So that's what it's for! We'll just skip over the fact that I've never really cleaned the lid 😳 Always love your videos and learn even more from the comments!
Same here. My mind was blown when she pulled it off. That’s what I get for not reading the instructions.
Would also like to suggest the 3.5qt kitchenaid stand mixer 😊 it's not as powerful as the original or pro models but still works with most recipes and a little easier & lighter to move around
I used to like Lisa's presentations but the addition of Hannah is not only annoying but breaks my eardrums. (I still can't get over - I think it was a bread oriented video - where Hannah ran her fingers through her hair then proceeded to prepare dough.) Ugh. Maybe it was the editing, but even THAT needs to be reviewed before publishing, ATK.
I use my tongs for squeezing limes and lemons. Stick them into a cut side and twist.
I don't mind paying for quality but $200 for a saucepan that barely holds anything is just absurd.
I have to laugh at how things have upsized over the years... 2-quart saucepans, 10-inch skillets, and hand mixers are the standards everybody used 50 years ago, unless you had a really big family! 12-inch skillets still seem like restaurant ware to me, and 4-quart saucepans apparently came into their own sometime after I gave up looking for them anymore (some 30 years ago).
I didn't know 1/8 sheets even existed; I'm going to have to look into getting some of those.
They are also called toaster oven sheet pans. Shop around as these vary widely in price and quality. Sometimes the most bang for the buck is to shop for a set of baking pans for a toaster oven. Especially if you've downsizing to a toaster oven for most of your baking/roasting needs. I bought a relatively inexpense set for our Colman Camping Oven. So far, pleased with the results.
Hope this helps.
These are great tips. I just love my hand mixer and I’m needing a new small food processor. Thank you both so much. I definitely use these tips. I’m also thankful for the blender recommendations. You guys are always right on time. 💗💗💗
Regarding smaller tongs, I stopped using mine when I switch to kitchen tweezer. An average size tweezers are extremely nimble. If you are using the smaller tong, it means you are not that near the flame, so a tweezer would be sufficient while being much more space efficient. Not just that, you can use it to take out individual olives, capers and tiny fish if you want to. The only problem I have is scraping. It’s not as convenient but I use a spoon or fork if I need to scrape. I can eat with the same utensil if I am cooking for myself only. You can eat with the tweezer if you want to as well, I eat noodles with it. I don’t want to go back to chopstick after getting a decent tweezer.
I love your demonstrations, and also the tips! Great job, Ladies!
I have a small kitchen. You missed the biggest problem! Storage containers for leftovers. I have a dozen different kinds. All different sizes and shapes. They don't nest efficiently and the lids are all different. Like matching socks after the wash. I have great pyrex mixing bowls that nest perfectly. They fit in the cupboard easy. But my storage containers take up two cupboards, and I STILL end up looking for the right size and don't find it, or I don't find a lid to match. Is there a nesting set of storage containers in two or three different sizes that all use the same lid? I'll chuck everything I have and start over if I can find such a thing.
Weck
@@barbaraeinzig4257 Those don't stack compactly. They actually take more space than the stuff I have now. I'm not looking for fancy containers. I'm looking for ones that have a very small footprint when I'm not using them.
Not sure if you've found a solution yet but check out the ikea 365+ set, they have multiple sizes both plastic and glass that nest and all use the same lids. I have glass so I can bake the food such as quiche or lasagne right in it and then (once cooled) pop on a lid and toss in the freezer, great for work lunch box.
I reuse margarine containers. Great for freezing single servings of soup or cooked beans.
I got stopped at the 2 qt sauce pan for $197. You are obviously speaking to those who have higher end incomes. My retirement income is no where near this price point, and I suspect there are many others who would not spend $197 for a pan like this. My $30 pans do everything I need.
I keep my long tongs in the kitchen to help me get things that are too far back in the cabinet or too high for me to comfortably reach. I have a Braun food processor - it has a small bowl that fits inside the big one - and it has variable speed on both the pulse and continuous.
Those salad spinners are also great for draining umm, spinning the extra water out of pasta.
I like this as a tip for people like my mum who've lost the strength in her hands necessary to do the whooshy lift thing for draining pasta. She's stopped cooking pasta for herself because leaving it to drain under its own weight the pasta goes cold. 👍
As a single person, I love my FastaPasta (original brand) for cooking pasta in the microwave.
I’d love to see an episode on how to store grilling paraphernalia if you don’t want to store it outside or have space in the kitchen. Between tongs, long spatulas, gilling basket, etc this is a storage issue for me since the grill is outside a slider off the dining room. That room holds only a dining table and chairs.
You need a cart outside. Like a small cabinet or someone's old kitchen counter section. Just leave all that stuff out there covered like the bbq
I do find with the OXO tongs the silicon coated pincers deteriorated after about a year. They are great for non-stick pans, but I still prefer the uncoated style. ( My choice is get a couple pairs form a restaurant supply place or Smart And Final for about $5 each or less. The ones I have are at least 5 years old.
If you think paying $197 for one 2 qt saucepan is ok then it should be the only saucepan you'll need. One.
Yeah, not paying two hundred dollars for a sauce pan, nor am I paying sixty dollars for a hand mixer. As for tongs, the pair I bought for two dollars and fifty cents work perfectly fine. I think I spend the extra money on something else.
While my Cuisinart Mini Chopper was still under warranty the company replaced it because the shaft the blade attaches to rusted. Now that the warranty is up, it has rusted again. It is a design flaw in that water stays up inside the blade. It was ok until I stopped drying it with a q-tip every time I washed it. Rusty kitchen equipment …I don’t think so!
I use cast iron all the time. From my old 8 inch fry pan for eggs, to my 14 inch dutch oven. Currently have 4 frypans and 4 dutch ovens. Even have a 16 inch dutch oven that is used outside to fry fish in.
Can you please make a video on testing out different produce storage containers for the fridge? Like the Home Edit vs the OxO produce keeper and any others. Trying to keep produce fresh for as long as possible is rough.
Someone posted a suggestion of using one quart wide mouth Mason jars. Wash first then fill the jar and put on lid keeps fresh for a week and doesn't get lost.
I love Vollrath tongs since there's no spring on the top, and those springs tend to rust.
Also made in USA. Oxo utensils are made in China.
Always love watching Lisa and Hannah. Good practical info.👍
I tried making do with just a hand mixer for a long time and it kept me from baking bread very often as kneading bread by hand is a PITA. Kitchenaid makes a smallish stand mixer, IIRC its 3 1/2 quarts, that I got which handles my small bread making projects wonderfully and it doesn't take up that much space.
For cookware, I only have one deep pan for everything. Was gonna invest on a korean set and it has a removable handle, so I can use the pan and pot pieces as "bowls" if I need to. It's just a bit pricey tho.
But so far, living alone, a pan is enough, esp if you got a one burner stove (I have an induction cooker).
I have a rice cooker, a microwave, and an oven toaster, so I dont have to rely on my pan all the time.
Edit: agree on the cast iron pan. You can use it as something to like a weapon if you need it, like that one in Tangled.
Hanna, please ask one of your crew to wash some dishes in your sink and see how often they bang their forehead on the upper cabinet.
Now for the positive: Good job on the tongs advice. Clamshells are best overall. You should actually advise AGAINST other styles in general. The bent wire tongs with loop handles are good for when you have one guest you don't like, because you will drop at least one steak.
Good advice re the hand mixer weight, expense, its speeds and wire blades. Also for the smaller food processor. I got a smaller one, not for space, but because it is much lighter to move around.
My household hint: Never buy a garlic press. Instead get a medium pattern Microplane. Then you can prepare garlic, zest citrus, grate hard cheeses, and grate whole nutmeg with one tool. Microplanes just rinse off under cold water whereas cleaning a garlic press is like fighting a ground war.
Love tongs! Besides turning and grabbing foods, I'm disabled and they are great for picking up things I drop on the floor in the kitchen! Also good for reaching items on higher shelves. And like you, I prefer one with silicone coating, and one without. I'm in the process of updating my kitchen equipment so I stumbled across your videos at exactly the right time!
I use the very long grill tongs to pull clothes out of the dryer. The dryer is low, situated in a dark corner and deep bending to reach that lone sock in the very back is a skill that I've lost.
Hard disagree on small cutting boards. They are not useful for me. Everything else is great advice. I own several of the products mentioned, and I’m a happy camper.
Another great way to save space: buy only 3 knives. An 8” chef’s knife, a serrated knife, and a paring knife. This arsenal should suit almost any home cook. (You could maybe get by with just the one chef’s knife in a pinch.)
I would never be able to live with out my cast iron pans. My kitchen is the size of yours Hannah! I have all the size of cast iron most of them came from my grandmother I LOVE THEM.
might have to get that hand mixer, mine is a hand-me-down that's like 15 years old and doesn't mix well and even on level 1 it's too fast
I’ve had that hand mixer for 30 years and it’s still going strong.
I have this mixer and I'm really pleased with it. I also have a Kitchenaid stand mixer but I usually reach for the hand mixer, it's works great for most tasks.
Tongs are the essential tool most likely to be missing in a home kitchen. I was lucky to learn their usefulness as a teenager working in a restaurant in the 1970's.
I love my Cuisinart stainless-steel saucepans in 1, 2 & 3q. Affordable too! They have glass lids with strainer rims for easy draining. Smaller 2 came with set of cookware, 3q got online. I love being able to see through lid while cooking!
Ikea
I would never pay $200 for a pot with rivets.
First of all, I’m an ATK fanboy! In particular their gear reviews. However, ATK’s continued recommendation of Lodge makes me suspicious of EVERY other recommendation they post. There is no person who is well served by a modern Lodge skillet. They tested a group of underperforming skillets and recommended the least of the evils. They need to do a comparison of real skillets like Butterpat, Field, Smithey, Finex, Stargazer, etc. The performance on the Field (which is my least favorite of these brands) is DRAMATICALLY better than the Lodge for a very slightly higher price.
@@sandrah7512 Well, some of my faith is restored! I own them all (plus others and vintage) and must say the Stargazer is the best for performance. 4-month lead time on getting the 12” though, which may be why they weren’t included in the test. Many manufacturers don’t bother with an 8” because of low demand.
I’ll give them credit though on the Smithey, exceptional quality. My personal #2.
Everyone, take my word, if money is tight, go with a Field! Lodge from the last 20 years should be reserved for cartoon weapons, they’re seriously unfit for the kitchen. A 2019 study found that it takes 7 years of regular use for a Lodge to begin to perform at an “adequate” level. All of the others I mentioned are at “exceptional” performance out of the box, while Butterpat meets standards for “elite” performance out of the box.
If you’re wondering what to do with a stimulus check though, Smithey, Stargazer, and Butterpat are all worth the money!
They recommend the small sheet pan for the toaster oven. That’s the appliance I could use instead of heating the big oven for one item. Will search their videos for a recommendation.
That Electric Mixer is good. However IF I can Still find it. I bought a " Hand-Crank Mixer " It Worked Quite Well And took up only
about an 1/8 th., or less of the space [ of that Kitchen-Aid mixer ] !
I wish I still had it !
I love my 2 qt. All-Clad sauce pan, but I have to say the 1 qt. sauce pan I purchased a few years ago gets used WAY more than the 2 qt. I live alone so the 1 qt. is the perfect size for rice, reheating a serving of soup or other leftovers or making a small bit of sauce or gravy. Without a microwave my 1 qt. has become indispensable. And it fits inside the 2 qt., so no extra storage.
Yeah, I have a 1qt and a 4 qt and never think ‘I really need a 2.’ But I might be weird. :D
I have a 1 qt, 2 qt and 3 qt, plus larger Dutch oven, pasta pot, and restaurant soup pot. The 2qt gets used the most, though I wouldn’t want to do without any of the others except maybe the 3qt. I live alone, too… but I have a great freezer, and freeze leftovers.
I'm really impressed with the electric lunchbox and Shabuki pot. I seldom use my stove now. The Shabuki is essentially an electric pot with a steamer insert, and the electric lunchbox uses steam. I cooked a Cornish hen in my Shabuki and steamed vegetables above it. I bought a small bamboo steamer so now I can have three cooking tiers and do rice at the same time.
Yesterday I made a small carrot cake in my electric lunchbox. I was dubious about steaming a cake, and it came out pale, but is delicious! it's moist, cooked through, and delicious!
@@SuzanneU thanks for your comment, I had never heard of an electric lunchbox, and looked it up. What a great concept!
I want to buy just one thing that does the job of food processor, Spice blender, smoothies/hummus etc. Anybody have any recommendations? I dont think it exists right now(leaning towards vitamix though)
Vitamix, worth it
@@barbaraeinzig4257 yep bought it last weekend!
$197 for a sauce Pan?!?? Was that a typo?
I would have had a bingo, but I don't have the mixer. Everything else, including two 2qt All Clad pots 😁
I had used cast iron fry and bake pans for years. However, as I got older, I found that my wrists and hands hurt due to the weight of the equipment. Finally, I stopped using cast iron and instead must use the lighter weight coated fry and glass pans. I do, however, miss cooking with cast iron.
Cast iron if only 1 pan? How about the lighter carbon steel?
Agree with 2 quart All-Clad saucepan. Mine is almost 20 years old and is in perfect shape. You can give this to you great grandkids. Ans she forgot one critical thing: It is induction capable, and because of it's efficiency and safety, induction is the future of cooking (I have both induction and gas in my kitchen). Induction is twice as efficient as regular electric cooktops, and it infinitely more precise. I know on my induction cooker, a 5 out of 20 is just boiling.
Nothing to do with space saving devices, but lots to do with saving space! Could you please do a segment on dehydrators? I am very interested in starting to dehydrate food, and am struggling with which dehydrators are the best.
@@sandrah7512 Okay.I admit dehydrators are not particularly exciting!
@@sandrah7512 LOL, so true, it would not be a very dynamic video. FWIW, you can also dehydrate food in the June oven, which we reviewed. I did apple slices for 10 hours and the oven makes a little time-lapse video where you get to watch them shrink up on your phone app. (Too bad most dehydrators don't have cameras in them.)
I HIGHLY recommend a silicon clip-on pot strainer. Life-changingly easy to use, store and clean. I very, very rarely pull out a colander these days.
EXCELLENT suggestion
Unfortunately, those OXO tongs have a weak rivet that tends to fall apart, rendering the tongs useless.
I think I'd rather have a big chopping board, use a full size cast iron pan as my medium oven tray, and eat my salad slightly damp.
I am always a fan of Lisa!!
I wanted to see a clock on-screen while you were whipping cream.
@@sandrah7512 Huh? No, I never suggested 6 mins of real-time whipping. That is a red-herring.
I wanted to see those numbers go by real fast. I think that would be "mildly humorous".
Tanner was just trying to help by shouting, 'Quiet on the set'
Unfortunately your small Nordic Ware sheet pan is a newer one that has their raised logo on the working surface, instead of the stamped logo on the bottom surface. I wanted to buy one as a gift but decided not to because the raised lettering would be too hard to keep clean.
@@sandrah7512 You may be right about that but I'm talking about cleanliness and accumulated gunk that's impossible to scrub out of the space between the lettering.
I bought that Oxo cutting board at ATK's recommendation. After washing it in the dishwasher for a few months it's warped and no longer keeps good grip! Love all of ATK's other recommendations.
You should try to contact manufacturer online.. Perhaps not dishwasher safe?
I have 2 different sizes and they have never warped from the dishwasher?
Warping... dishwashers. There are 2 kinds. First, dishwashers that get very hot with a heating element, and the other kind now often made without them - relying on residual hor water heat to dry.
What really irritates me are kitchen utensils with those thick, ergonomic handles. They take up so much space in my utensil box. Anyone?
I guess you don't need them but I have arthritis in my wrists and hands and am very happy they exist!
Really a salad spinner? Those take up a lot of room for just a convenience item.
I have my mom's Revere Ware pot set, a few items there are Revere Ware that were my grandmothers, plus my mom's K5SS Kitchenaid mixer.
I just want to be financially comfortable enough that I get to buy their recommendations that I need (I would like to have that saucepan but not the salad spinner).
For the saucepan, buying used is a possibility; All-Clad makes long-lasting pans, so that's closer to $80 than $200. (From a quick look on eBay.) Going lower than that, any 2-quart saucepan with a disc bottom will give you reasonable results. I find that saucepans don't benefit that much from tri-ply construction, all that matters is if the bottom is thick enough to spread the heat around, and it's reasonably likely to find something like that at a thrift store or garage sale. (Just check for any obvious structural issues, and make sure the bottom is still flat. It's difficult to mess up a stainless steel pan.)
@@trevorc4413 unfortunately here i my country, we're not big on long lasting brands and selling them at auctiond or finding them at thrift stores. I just checked ebay and the pans avaliable there cost as much as the shipping. Thanks for the advice though!
I prefer Wagoner cast iron because it is lighter to handle. Lodge full of food weighs a ton.
LOVE the small salad spinner!
I happen to have an unbranded one I picked up from a thrift store that works as good as the Oxo (absolutely no markings of any kind, sadly, so I can't find another - would have loved to buy addl ones for family). My larger one is, of course, the Oxo - perfect when prepping for a crowd.
The 9-inch tongs by OXO are a must for me. I use them for sautéing vegetables, caramelizing onions, scraping fond from the bottom and sides of a Dutch oven when making a red secure, etc. Any home cook would benefit from having them as an asset in the kitchen.
Never trust anyone who has clean cooking pans with zero scorch marks or burns of any kind. They don't know kitchens and will burn your food. Upon seeing that first pan I know we are in good hands. 😂
I don't trust "chef shows" that use brand new pots & pans every time they cook anything. I wish I were one of the lucky recipients of those "used" pots and pans!
Hi. I'm having a debate with myself. These days the food processor has evolved. Besides just slicing n shredding veg, it can make dough. I do have a Kitchen Aide 5 speed hand mixer. Sooo, can I just buy a good processor n skip the EXPENSIVE Stand Mixer? Peace to you and yours
I own a stand mixer & the more I watch ATK the more I think the food processor is more useful. Unless you want to do a type of bread that requires a stand mixer you won't miss it.
Hi. Yeah, the price of the Kitchen Aide is just up there, that would be the only brand I would consider, but you would have to buy extra attachments to equal what a good processor can do. Thanks for your input. Peace to you and yours
There is a collapsible salad spinner that stores into 1-1.5" height.
What about an Immersion Blender with attachments instead of one hand mixer? Or a hand mixer with multiple attachments and storage bin with a dough hook?
I have a glass top stove- is there a type of cast iron that I could use?
One thing that's changed the organization of my cookware is a 2-set of universal silicone lids. The big one fits my huge cast iron skillet (which has to live on the stove permanently), and the small one fits everything else. They both fit into the wooden plate rack I use for my half- and quarter- sheet pans and the cooling racks that can nest in the pans. Shallow cabinets, but everything fits and is easily accessible.
Does cutted rubber particles from the board get into food?
I had a small board and hated it. You can put a large board over the sink if you don't have counter space.
On the kitchen aid hand mixer: the wirebeaters they tend to bend out of shape to be totally useless then you have buy new ones which is a pain, I need something that beat through a heavy load.
Vlogs from Japan and videos of optimal space utilization in RVs and campers have ideas of coping with really compact kitchens, and show the multi use appliances that are available. Immersion blenders with various attachments allow for more versatility. (Off topic but the blonde gal reminds me of Michelle Phillips from The Mamas and Papas in the 1960s.)