As someone who once had a summer job working for a store that sold a lot of as seen on tv or trendy kitchen products like slapchop etc. a lot of those products were originally designed for people with dexterity issues and disabilities in mind. Many single use products like those avocado knives may seem unnecessary for us, but for someone with arthritis or shakey hands, they can make everyday kitchen tasks we take for granted much easier and safer.
Excellent points, mate. I was a house painter for 30 years. I could crush coconuts with my hands back in the day. But at 69 and Jiu-jitsu practitioner with sprained fingers and Dupuytren's contracture-this rocks. I love to cook.
Potato ricers are brilliant devices but the lever action is tricky for me. Joseph Joseph - a brand that seems to cater to physical issues - has one that comes in two pieces, works like driving in a big screw and it's been even more brilliant.
This seems like a "citation needed" situation. Every single trendy or "as seen on TV" unitasker I have ever come across was clearly dreamed up by someone who was not trying to make life easier for people with disabilities; even those limitations due to simple old age. The inventor simply dreamed up a gimmicky device that usually did a bad job of the intended task and they hoped to make a lot of money selling it to people with more money than brains or a willingness to invest a tiny amount of effort learning how to perform the task.
Dexterity and disability issues weren't the criteria. Most of these were gimmicky unnecessary tools and the rice cooker might be the only one I'd consider. This watches more like a "must have as a TH-camr chef" but even that's a stretch for some of these products. A taco frying holder? Really? A waffle iron you use a "few times per year"? Takoyaki??? "Octopus balls are a weekly staple at home" said nobody ever. Love me a good Brian Lagerstrom video but this one sucks. This stuff will make for interesting garage sale fare one day.
I'm another proponent of the cherry pitter, which you can also use to pit olives! I probably only use it a couple of times a year, but I'm grateful every time I pull it out of the drawer. I've had this thing for over 40 years and I'm still happy I bought it all those years ago.
After four years of watching this channel, I finally caved a few months ago and bought the ground beef chopper. B-dwag has been shaming me for years and... he was right. It's a great tool.
I feel like a dollar store wooden spatula will do the same job. Ground beef wants to fall apart right when it stops being pink. A few seconds chopping and stirring and you're good.
@@EthelredHardrede-nz8yvWas it an egg/mushroom slicer? I've lost a lot of my manual dexterity and feel so, my knife work is harder. Slicing a lot of mushrooms meant getting out the Cuisinart with the slicing blade, but the slicer takes care of that.
@@stevecagle2317 I believe it is an avocado knife/tool. The one side is a blade for cutting an avocado in half, then that circular bit in the middle looks like its used for getting the pit out. Then the round oval side is for slicing each half of the avocado into even slices, while also removing the slices from the peel. OXO makes one that is about $10 and it might be worth it if you eat a lot of avocados.
Alright Brian, first time commenter. Adding: Rice paddle Sushi rolling mat Ice cream scoop Pizza cutter Can opener Fish bone tweezers One of those rabbit wine bottle openers. I’m finally going to get a garlic press and juice squeezer. I grew up on Alton Brown who was adamant about avoiding single use items, so that lesson stuck harder than it should
I worked at a Spanish restaurant that sold probably 100 orders a day of 4 mini pork cheek tacos, we used a special fry basket that could make 20 at a time and that basket honestly was the most important tool in our kitchen.
@@dpelpal as far as i know tacos are Mexican, but we had some Spanish influence with the use of sofrito and romesco. it wasn't our most authentic dish, but easily our most popular.
I'm not seeing anyone say "Potato ricer" and good gravy marrie was that game changing when it came to making potatoes. Saves SO much time and the potatoes come out so much better
Absolutely second this. They are a pain in the ass to clean though, similar to the bad garlic presses he mentioned in the vid. Especially if you don't rinse it immediately after use
@@ultimategamer8139 lazy cook here - thought you were kidding! Sooo much trouble - I use a masher initially and fold in butter and milk with a silicone spatula and they’re not riced quality, but much better than just ok. Spuds are pretty forgiving if you never, ever go near them with a whisk or hand mixer.
@@illShyy Joseph Joseph makes a ricer that comes in two pieces. It works via screw action rather than lever (they design a lot for people with physical issues) and it's much easier to clean in two pieces too. It's also more compact than most because it doesn't need to be over-long to get advantage on lever action.
@@illShyyIf you put them to soak in hot soapy water IMMEDIATELY after use, cleaning is easy. The trick is to prevent the potato solidifying in the ricer.
I'd also add an immersion blender to this list. I use it so often it's unreal. Soups yes, but also canned whole tomatoes, mayo, hollandaise sauce, whipped cream, etc.
Wow. Dreamfarm’s fluicer (flat juicer) is far better than the juicer he recommends I hope Brian, and anyone reading this will check it out. I have no affiliation with them, I just love how much room it saves plus it gets even more juice than his.
Ironically, I think you hit the 7th important criteria a lot: Consistency. Thats why I like a lot of my single use tools, e.g. the juicer, rice cooker, garlic press.
Also - Takoyaki pans can be used to make danish aebleskiver pancakes as well! I make a lot of the tiny pancake balls (stuffed with applesauce, pieces of fruit, or a tiny bit of Nutella) for a really fun breakfast. Also, depending on the filling they freeze well and reheat in the microwave in a silicone bag in a flash. They're GREAT as individual pancakes for kids. Toss 3-4 pancakes in a bag in the morning and you have breakfast in a flash.
I bought a pretty expensive Zojirushi rice cooker and I regret nothing. It's a bit more than single use as you can do a variety of rice dishes and other steamed or pressure cooked grains (porridge) in it. Even a cheap rice cooker is better than no rice cooker, though, I don't mean to imply anyone besides me has to get the fancy one, but I think the rice cooker is definitely the item on this list where it's fine to spend more on a "single use" tool.
My zoji and I have a special relationship too. It gives me perfect steel cut oats every week ready on a timer in the morning too! I also love my zojirushi bread machine, they make such quality tools. Between those two machines, I use them almost every day.
My first rice cooker was a $20 one from Mervyn's (yes, I am old). It lasted for years, using it 3-4 times per week. When it finally died, I got an Aroma. After about three years, it quit working. I finally got a Zojirushi, but just the basic one (cook/warm settings, unplug to turn off). It cost $60, but is an absolute beast. The steamer rack is great as well; make some dumplings along with the rice to go with my stir-fry.
College student with a tiny dorm kitchen. I like to have people over for dinner. My suitemate has one of the Zojirushi rice cookers and my friends and I have figured out that you can grease the bowl lightly, pour in a box cake mix, and cook it on the brown rice setting. Takes a long time, but we have dinner, watch a movie, and then have delicious perfect cake. Sometimes we get a can of whipped cream or I cook some frozen fruit with lemon and sugar to make a sauce.
I love my potato ricer. I use it for perfect mashed potatoes, but it works great to squeeze excess liquid from spinach, cabbage, sauerkraut, etc. Saves my hands and wrists!
Pam here….what kind do you have? I live in WI close to the infamous Door County Cherry Orchards, and make tons of Tart Cherry Jam. The pitter I have, is one made into a canning jar lid, with a spring push nail that pushes pit through a hole below, there is a rubber strip on the underside with a slit in it, so the pit is pushed through from the top, but when you release that the rubber slit closes and the pit is contained in the mason jar. These have saved countless hours of hand pitting with a Bobbie pin or some other doodad. But, now I buy my tart cherries in Bulk all washed and pitted into 5 gallon bucket!
I am 64 yrs old. The Taco Shell Frying Mold brought back great childhood memories. My Boston Irish mom had a Mold & several times a year we would have a special Taco Night. She would set out a buffet so we could choose our toppings. As an adult I discovered a few items were missing from her buffet choices - spicy peppers, avocados/guacamole & soft shell tacos. I won't be buying this item due to my soft shell preference but I am going to buy a jaccard. Thanks for the memory & your videos.💜
Here's the thing: if you try deep frying your own shells, you quickly realize that they are just as soft as soft shell, just crispy. It really is the best of both worlds, and that's before you even factor in the difference in taste.
Maybe not the perfect video to host these gadgets, but I think a sous vide and vacuum sealer combo deserves a shoutout! They became a serious game changer in my cooking once I made the investment and I recommend everyone that asks to try it out
One of my favourite criteria for tools is also safety. Safety tools can store knives properly, protect you from hot oil or even just protect your body from wear and tear. For example, I bought my parents a simple Starfrit jar opener (it's amazing, I even use it regularly) and it warms my heart when I see them go use it (even when they aren't using it in front of me, I know that they are because every time I go over it's there clipped to the fridge door, not lost in some drawer). All of a sudden, their wrists and fingers aren't hurting so much. Best 10 bucks I ever spent in my life. We cook because we love. I personally don't jaccard/jacquard/mechanically tenderize meat because I cook my meat as little as possible (undercook/rare); if my steak has any surface bacteria/contamination, that process will push it to the centre of the meat, which will not see the same temperature as the surface.
@trevorreniger5670 Just make sure you do it before the second rise because you need to push it down just stopping before going through the bottom. If you Google Bounded by Buns kaiser rolls the directions will tell you exactly how to do it better than I can lol
Spray or brush oil on a tortilla, hang it over a rung in your 350 degree oven for 8 minutes or so. You can wrap some foil around the rungs before hand to make a larger pocket at the base of the taco shell. This allows you to make a dozen at once, instead of having all your friends and family waiting for one or two at a time. If you're lazy, just fold them over 2 rungs--you end up with a wide flat bottom perfect for adding lots of toppings, and not so deep.
Totally agree, especially on the egg slicer. Just a couple presses (one across, one back to front) and the egg is ready for a salad, to be mixed for a sandwich, etc. Boths items are cheap and easy to clean, so fits Brian's criteria to a cook's T.
the core of the apple isn't actually hard, its just the seeds. When I slice apples, I just cut right through the core and slice it into 8ths, and throw out the now-exposed seeds (and stem and leafy bottom). The slices are just as edible as anything I've had from an apple corer and you have no waste, plus I find a knife way easier to clean than an apple corer.
The ground meat masher works really well to squish a can of Whole Peeled Tomatoes, as well as coming in very handy to make a fresh cherry tomato sauce! ❤
Thanks Brian. I really enjoy your videos. Today after a long day doing surgery I just needed to unwind and you were perfect. I learned alot as a bonus. You have turned my into a budding cook. Yes I do have the taco mold and have made the Bri"tega sauce which is fabulous. I also own the beef basher and you're right, its down right fun, but more importantly makes for a very uniform taco/sloppy joseph/etc sauce. I await your garlic press in 4 to 24 months, but more to the point I await your video each week. Thanks again. Would love to meet you one day. You seem like a great human
I gotta tell you how much I like your channel, so much of even halfway decent cooking isn’t so much about the recipe and ingredients but about the techniques and tools to get to the finished dish. Thank you!🫶✌️
Loved the scholarly approach to this video! Here's the criteria, there's the hint of sass, some books in the background made it a little professorial, bing bang boom.
🚨LIFE-CHANGING WAFFLE TIP: Mix shredded cheese and some cured meat crumbles into the batter. Waffle batter isn’t sweet enough on its own to make that taste weird. You just get this beautiful little fresh, savory cake with very little work… sorta like a savory sandwich on a brioche bun. It doesn’t stick to the iron either! Brian, I think it’d be rad if you tried it out and expanded on the idea. A video of savory waffle mix recipes would be fire 🙏🙏
@@AlphTime and develop some low carbohydrate waffles for the millions of people who need to cut starch to the minimum to regain health - or maintain it for those who’ve already gotten there!
Rice cooker was a game changer for me and not "single use" by any means - congee, porridge (oats), Hainanese chicken - so many options. Also egg slicer - love attempting to do the three dimensional slices without it falling apart to get perfectly mini-cubed egg pieces for egg salad - so much fun!!!!
I have a little counter top egg cooker that can do 7 hard boiled eggs (and a lot of other egg preparations as well, but I've literally only ever used it for hard boiled eggs). It's like a rice cooker in that I can do stove top hard boiled eggs, but it's so much faster and more consistent! I love it.
I have a countertop ice cream maker that has cooling built into it, no need to pre freeze a "sleeve", just turn it on, let it cool for 10 minutes, then throw in any liquid you want frozen. You can make nearly instant ice cream of any conceivable flavor with the ingredients you want (i got it to make diabetic friendly ice cream because the stuff in stores is so bad, i just use allulose). You can use frozen fruit, your favorite liquor, make granita, use Margarita, or espresso. You could use tomato juice, V8, or blended cucumber. Cost me like $130. Works perfectly.
Didn't list it because it's expensive? I bought it because of you and I'm VERY happy with my heavy rectangular pizza steel in my oven. It has improved everything I cook in the oven and I never cook pizza! I love it and recommend it to everyone. (Cost about $135 for a high end one).
I like my cookie scoops in various sizes…cookies, dog meals that I make a freeze and use daily, tomato paste, anything I can’t use but want to freeze and use later. Scoop onto a cookie sheet lined with parchment paper. Put in a labelled plastic freezer bag being sure to suck out as much air as possible.
The restraint you have to only use a waffle maker 4-5 times a YEAR, well... hats off, Bri. 🥰 If your potential garlic press is as good as your knife, I can't wait to get one!
Exactly, the IKEA garlic presser has been in my top drawer for years. Can't cook without it. As an Asian, I strangely do not own an electric rice cooker. I use a regular pot and put rice in it and cook it on the stove top.
I don't get how it can go so wrong. I'm pretty sure I have a 100% success rate with rice on the hob top. Can't remember the last time I thought my rice was subpar.
@@neilarmour4497 I always land my rice with a normal pot and hob, but I went to the dark side a couple years ago and I love the convenience of a big non-stick rice pot. But, yeah, rice is so nailable but it does require some understanding.
Yeah, I truly can't fathom a professional chef admitting he'd mess up rice "like 15-20% of the time." How?! I get that many home cooks don't measure or use timers or can't be consistent in their practice, but a chef? No shade to the video, because we all probably have dishes we struggle with, but I just don't quite understand how so many people struggle to cook a basic dish like rice. And to be clear, I don't disparage anyone who wants a rice cooker either, especially if they make rice frequently. They're convenient, create a consistent product (even with different styles of rice), and the "keep warm" feature is useful for a lot of people who don't want to have to worry about timing various dishes when preparing a meal. But even though I cook rice at least once or twice per week, I truly don't see the need for one myself. Admittedly, if you're using a new brand of rice or a stove you're unfamiliar with, you might need to tweak things slightly after the first go to get an ideal final product. But even in such situations, I can't remember the last time I cooked rice that anyone would notice there's even slightly anything off about but me (and I'm perhaps too finicky myself). And when I've rarely encountered rice with directions that didn't work to my own satisfaction the first go, I'd adjust and nail it perfectly the second time. I've even several times made novel rice-based dishes for guests I've never tried before, and I've never had a failure. Especially if you're making the same type of rice on your stove every day, I just can't understand how this is difficult.
I love my butter slicer. It looks like a butter dish with wires for a bottom. The correct way to use it is to place the butter in like you would in a butter dish, with the paper still attached to the top, and hold it over the butter dish and press the butter through with your thumbs sliding back and forth. Et voila a butter dish full of perfect pats. People always try to push the slicer down onto the stick and then say it doesn't work.
I use my baguette pan for making icebox cookies. Lay the log of dough in it while you refrigerate it and it will stay round. At Christmas, I made a bunch of batches and set them in the baguette pan out on my deck to freeze (I live in Canada). Works great!
I recently got a German spätzle-making tool, one of those grater-looking things, and I already can't imagine my life without it! It's amazing, it's never been so easy to make delicious noodles that can be combined with cheese, or bacon, or lentils, or broth. Instantly became my favorite single use kitchen tool.
One of my favorite single use tools is a potsticker or crimper. I'm not talking about a motorized one. Just a basic fold-over crimp thing. Super easy to clean. Not a fancy crimp but useful
Hi Bri Although a mandoline isn't single use, i kinda would put them there, Ever sicne i got one from ikea for 5$, it kinda substitutes a kitchen knife Can shred cabbage or any root veggie for raw consumption and overall it's my favorite tool in the kitchen
Glad to hear I'm not the only one who struggles with crumbling beef. Best method I've come up with so far is to use a silicone spatula to repeatedly press and pull the meat on a non-stick pan as it's warming up. The thin layer closest to the surface cooks just enough to create a difference in density so that, as you pull, the remaining uncooked meat comes away easily. Your crumbles end up more like tiny corn flakes than rice crispies, but it usually only takes about as much time as for the pan to come up to temperature. It does, however, require a non-zero amount of hand strength.
The stack of cookbooks had me intrigued! I have to use recipes to cook, it would be great to have you do a cookbook review or recommendation video, because you haven’t steered us wrong on a recipe yet!
Thank you very much Brian for the great videos always. Your detailed tips are essential for me as a college student to start my way into cooking. Your buying guides are awesome, I have your suggested pot, pan, thermometer, and now the rice cooker which arrived just today that also revolutionized my love for rice. All of them are a pleasure to use and make cooking so much easier. Keep going. I would love to see a video on your recommendations of meat replacements like tofu on how to use them and which meat can be replaced how. Would be great. Tomorrow morning, the sourdough starter get's fed for Friday bread baking.
I own several plastic squeeze bottles. My favorite use is to put butter on popcorn. I cut a standard butter cube lengthwise twice and push the quartered cube pieces into a squeeze bottle. When I make popcorn I just microwave the bottle of butter for a few seconds to melt the butter then squeeze it onto the popcorn. Then I put the bottle back into the fridge till the next time I make popcorn. I agree with Alton Brown that most unitask tools are pointless but agree with you that there are some exceptions; especially the citrus squeezer and garlic press.
I really enjoyed this video, Brian. I’ve had a Toastmaster waffle maker for decades and use it a lot for my mother’s waffle batter recipe. This tool also has a reverse side flat surface for making bacon or grilled cheese sandwiches. A great addition to any kitchen!
My favorite esoteric single-use tool is the plättar (pronounced "pletta") pan I inherited from my grandmother, used for making these tasty Swedish mini- pancakes. It's a cast-iron pan with 6 ~3" diameter indentations in it. Gram would make them for me when I visited her after school when I was a kid, so there's definitely a nostalgia factor here.
I used a potato masher to mince meat for years. I didn't think I needed the meat chopper, until I did. What a difference. Much easier than the masher. Easier on the cookware, too. Great video, Brian.
THANK YOU for this - I have tried multiple garlic presses and have not been thrilled (cleaning is hard and as you mentioned - the actual grip strength required is exhausting if you're using a lot of garlic, as I do). Just ordered your suggestion as I've seen you using it for years and always wondered where you got it!
I used a cheap plastic vegetable chopper press bought on amazon at my restaurant specifically for onions; you just lob off the top and bottom of an onion and cut it in quarters, run it through the press, and you get ultra uniform cubes (you can use a small or medium die/grate) and it's uniform among all staff regardless of skill level as it's only a few easy cuts plus using it helps prep onions very fast. I use a upside down butter knife to clean stuck on onion pieces to the press mold.
@@nancycy9039 1000% better than anything else. The squeeze bottle allows you to direct oil where you want. If you do literally any sort wok cooking or stir fry, it's non negotiable.
Some larger brands of olive oil have integrated spouts. Really makes it easy to pour and don't have to deal woth transferring between bottles. Not as much choice for your oil and of course not ultra high end but for cooking olive oil not as much of an issue vs a finishing oil where you'll really get the benefits of super premium oils
@@GraemeHein Squeeze bottle is better. Much more control of flow rate. But, EVOO prefers the dark. So, story time, I tried the Graza Sizzle variety that nearly every TH-cam chef started using about a year ago. As oil, it's mid, but it's relatively expensive and OO is already expensive now. But, the bottle is brilliant. It's an opaque 750-ml squeeze bottle, and I've been refilling it with better, cheaper oil (currently Trader Giotto's 100% Italian President's Reserve EVOO; the whole name is necessary because TJ has like 9 different variants on the shelf...) No more caps to remove, drop, pick up, clean, replace; no more wiping bottles; excellent flow and placement control; less photonic degradation; basically the platonic ideal of an EVOO delivery tool. They should stop selling the oil and just sell the bottles, tbh...
As a half Asian, my number one small appliance in the kitchen is a rice cooker and it has more than one use. You can cook complete one pot meals with it, cook/steam (sweet) potatoes, cakes, and a lot more! Have a look into it and it could be the theme of a future video you do! Also, I’m happy that the avocado slicer in your thumbnail didn’t actually make the list. I thought I knew you well enough that it was used sort of like a “click-bait” and I’m happy I was right 🤓
We love you, Brian! I am finally going to break down and get the ground beef smasher thingy and the baguette mold. I cook a lot of ground beef for my Dad and dang, who doesn't love a good baguette?
The one-use tool I use all the time is a dicer. I no longer have to worry about having vegetable pieces that are all slightly different shapes and sizes (I don't have the best knife skills). Also, no more tears from cutting onions. Now I just press the veg through this thing and everything comes out perfectly uniform. Plus it is MUCH faster than cutting each vegetable with a knife.
I got one of those too and I absolutely love it. My only complaint is that it's difficult to clean everything out of the little squares no matter how hard you pick them out. It tends to shred up my dish cloth or my sponge
A tool I didnt know I needed until my son bought me one for christmas 4 years ago. . . .and now I use it 3 to 4 times a week is a Sous Vide wand. Those are game changers for cooking many different things
Brian is great!! Have to agree the most used appliance in my kitchen is my rice cooker. Not only good for white and brown rice, but it makes the best worry-free oatmeal, all kinds come out great. BTW, Brian's suggestion of getting premium rice for special rice dishes is excellent. Never knew rise tasted that good. worth the price. Thanks, Brian!
I got one of those Rapid Brands Brownie Bakers as a joke gift. The thing cost like $5 and you can have pretty fantastic brownies in 5 minutes start to finish. It is insane how well it works.
The ground beef masher is great for stirring up natural peanut butter. I dump the PB into a large bowl then stir it up with the masher, return it to the jar and refrigerate. Super fast and easy.
Love my Belgian Waffle Maker and Rice Cooker. I have the exact same Aroma Rice cooker Bri-Guy showed that I got for $20 during Black Friday in 2020 and a Presto Flipside Waffler I got on sale for $30. Affordable tools that do a job much better and easier and make my family happy. When I got my Meat Smasher as a gift, I thought it was a stupid novelty thing... Then I used it. Now it's been used multiple times every week for the last several years.
I’ve gotten a lot of use out of my cordless KitchenAid 5 Cup Food Chopper- I got it at a time when I was having hand pain and it hurt to chop vegetables. But it turned out to be more versatile and does more than just chop. I’ve used it to make oatmeal meal flour from old fashioned oatmeal, make creamy salad dressing with fresh herbs, chop cranberries for muffins, and chop onions and carrots when making a recipe where the appearance doesn’t need to be super consistent. I don’t have a lot of countertop space and its compact footprint earned it a spot always on the counter. The full size food processor is just too large to keep on the counter and it’s a hassle to drag it out of the closet.
Omgoodness...my rice cooker!! A definite lifechanger ! I eat jasmine rice 2-3 x per day and couldn't do it without. I do quinoa in it too. THE BEST TOOL 😊
@@leigh8031 well I ponied up for a good one. I have arthritis in my hands and I shred a great big old block as I go through a lot of cheese with several men in my house. I cannot use the old block grater anymore.
Please consider a few of my favorite once a year kitchen gadgets: Pasta rollers, ravioli press, spaetzle cutter, bean sprouting jar, molcajete, seafood steamer, salad spinner, pizza oven, large deep fryer, kettle grill and cookie shooter.
@@Tvaikah Dealing with the oil afterward is a task a lot of people want to avoid. Also, frying can leave a thin residue on the stove, hood, walls, and other surfaces nearby.
@1:59 Yes, and that Ikea garlic press is the best cheap press you can buy. Even then, I broke too many of them. I use a grinder attachment for my hand blender, Braun MQ60, to grind peeled garlic fine enough. The blender has 21 speed and I use the lower ones to do it.
Great list! Citrus Juicer, yeah, first time I used it (upsidedown), I was like What the F...?!? I was also anti meat chopper when we first got one, now a convert. Squeeze bottles - what took me so long, they are great for oils and sauces as you indicate - like GREAT!
Okay I many of the items you mentioned and agree with your rationale. I did immediately get the rice cooker for the exact reason you mentioned. It worked great. The orange chicken wasn’t bad either.
How I make stove top (white) rice without burning it ever (Combo of Alton Brown and ATK): 1:1 ratio cups of white rice to cups of water, plus 1/2 cup water for boiling Put water in a kettle Put rice into a pot with some oil or butter. Turn on the stove and cook the rice until it's coated in the oil and starts to brown slightly, you want it really hot. If you want to season it or add aromatics, do that too. Once the rice is starting to brown and the water is boiling, carefully and quickly combine them. Place a tight fitting lid on top, leave the heat on for a moment to make sure it's boiling, then turn off the heat completely and leave it alone for 25 minutes. Fluff and enjoy. You can't burn it and don't have to baby it because the heat is turned off after the lid goes on. Works for me every time.
Same amount of water. Boil it, add the rice, turn the heat to low, stir once, cover (I use tin foil with a potholder on top because my 1-qt pan doesn't have a fitted lid) and continue for 20 minutes.
Maybe not quite "single use," but I've been glad I bought a Danish dough whisk years ago. It's that weirdly-shaped dough mixing tool comprising a wooden handle with a thick wire head twisted in an unusual triple loop configuration. It really is more effective for hand-blending cookie and brownie doughs and batters than any other tool I've used.
Before getting a new tool, it's always worth asking yourself if you have a tool already on hand that could do the job just as well. I almost got a citrus juicer, until I realized my potato ricer can do the exact same thing! But I also rarely need to squeeze more than half a citrus at a time, so that's part of it, too.
@@Shadeadder If you don't need to juice more than one or two lemons at a time, a citrus juicer is pointless. But if you regularly juice more, it's indispensable.
@@MaunoKoivistoOfficial Yes, I don't often find myself juicing several citrus at a time. Occasionally I'll make lemon bars or something, but that's at most a few times a year. In which case, the potato ricer works fine for me.
I have kids and use my waffle maker like once a week. I learned to make french toast waffles Add vanilla, brown sugar, and cinnamon to batter. The smell alone is amazing.
I would probably call them 'cinnamon waffles' since it wouldn't have the egg dipped element of french toast, but your waffles sound delicious. I'm sure your kids will have happy memories of this. 🧇
I have the same taco mold you have but I also made my own taco bender using a couple of wooden dowels. To make it take a 5/8 inch round dowel cut about 6 inches long and a 1/4 inch round dowel cut about 10 inches long., drill a 1/4 hole in the center of the 5/8 inch dowel and glue in the 1/4 dowel to make a Tee. To use, bring enough oil to temp in a 3-4 quart sauce pan, drop in your corn tortilla and let it float on top of the oil for a few seconds, flip it and then use the wood dowel Tee to push the tort down in the center, the tort will fold perfectly, hold it in place until it is set. the tort will slightly over bend and hold onto the tool which will allow you to pick it up and out of the oil. If you want a narrower taco shell use a 1/2 dowel or a larger taco use a bigger dowel, point being you can make a 100 of them for the same cost of your taco mold and the tool stores very easily and can also be used as a crepe spreader.
Live your channel. I just watched your single use kitchen tool. FYI The meat grinder is also excellent for shredding cooked boneless/skinless chicken. Thnx fir great content m
I use it for canned diced tomatoes that aren't diced sufficiently for my tastes (looking at you, Kirkland Brand Diced Tomatoes; you're oh so convenient, but more "quartered" than "diced"). Works great when I'm already mashing beef for chili, and I put in the tomatoes and smash them up, too.
I love my lemon zester and wouldn’t be without it. Lemon zest is a game changer in lots of baking. Also the zester is great for shredding whole nutmeg and fresh nutmeg is hands down more potent than the store bought grind.
jar opener is critical. i like the one that is a plastic handle with a few round shapes in it to fit different sizes. i also really like my batter dispenser because it makes filling muffin tins so much cleaner, and for pancakes and waffles. i have the kind that is a cylinder with an opening on the bottom that opens when you pull the handle. another good one is a french fry maker....potato press.
I've tried various jar openers and they've always fallen short. Now I just put on a rubber washing up glove (or the pair if it's a really testing jar!) and the lids pop right off.
I wouldn't say critical unless you don't really have any grip strength or have a medical condition. To date I've yet to come across a jar I couldn't open, and even the most stubborn ones open if you just tap the lid on a hard surface.
TIP use a bottle opener to break the seal on a jar lid - just hook it under the lip and pull up gently until you hear a little hiss, then it is very easy to open.
Danish dough whisk. Hands down the best thing i ever purchased. I bake sourdough bread regularly and other dough related items frequently. It makes my life soooo much easier. And it is weirdly easy to clean and even fun doing it xD
I to have a cherry pitter that does 6 cherries at a time. Before that, I did the straw method, which was messy and a little dangerous. Super glad I have it now. My kids love cherries. Saves a bunch of time too.
I'm a home cook that's starting to develop arthritis, and I can tell you that the ground meat chopper tool is an absolute game changer. I used to manually chop up the ground beef and turkey with the edge of a stainless cooking spoon, but my hand and wrist would be in pain from the process every time. The chopper tool is just so much better ergonomically because of the more natural grip position and using your whole arm for the motion. I kick myself for avoiding getting one for so long, but at least now I can make taco meat, chili, and bolognese without pain.
- A little battery operated milk whisk frother, great for all kinds of drinks but pretty single purpose. - Peeler, not only good for exterior peeling to get skin off but also for creating ribbons of carrots, etc for salads - Can opener, the grand-daddy of essential single purpose kitchen tools! - Cheese slicer, sometimes you just need thinly sliced cheese, y’know?
I keep a list of single-use tools that I share with family for birthday or Christmas gift ideas. They get me something I want, and I don't feel guilty paying for a single-use tool.
@@3_up_moonUm…guessing you didn’t watch the video yet…I wondered the same thing as you, but discovered when Brian is saying “single use” he’s actually meaning “single purpose”. Example, a garlic press is only used for pressing out minced garlic. But you keep the tool for the next time you want to press garlic.
@@markg6032 I don't think he did, but I recently read he regrets his railing against unitaskers - that some things are just worth the space in your kitchen, even if they are for only one purpose.
Paella pan... From Valencia... (pronounced va-len-thee-a) I make a paella a year, but it is an AMAZING experience. We all gather in the kitchen, process the ingredients while sipping Spanish red wine (Rioja). The key is to finish the paella before finishing the wine (key = buy lots of vino!). We use Tyler Florence's Ultimate Paella recipe... (Maybe Brian will make paella???)
I own all of these things. Just donated my rice cooker to the hospice thrift shop. I can make perfect, fluffy rice in a pot on the stove. Also on the ground beef musher, do yourself a favor of purchasing a nonstick one. I have both and the nonstick one is so easy to clean. The other one goes in the donation box. Eagerly awaiting your garlic press because I have a drawer of substandard ones. I bought all of these things using links from your videos (even the taco shell mold). I use it all of the time. I agree with the modification to this tool.
Have you tried the Kuhn Rikon or Mankitchen garlic press? I switched from a Winco garlic press that was a pain to clean to the Kuhn Rikon one and my life is a bit better now. I hope Brian takes some inspiration from some of the innovation that makes the Kuhn Rikon so much easier to clean.
If you live in CA or FL and have citrus trees lining your backyard fence like I do.....an electric juicer just makes sense when citrus is in season (Dec-March).....for fresh squeezed orange juice, lemonade, frozen lemon cubes, lemon and lime juice for pies.....etc...... we have to use all the citrus before the trees set new flowers in the spring.........I have a Breville...... it works great and clean up is not that bad. I also have a NutriBullet centrifugal fruit/vegetable juicer stored in the garage for pomegranates...... which are a beast to juice otherwise, but are easy-peasy when you have friends who give you 20+ pomegranates off their tree every October.
a microplane is even better than a press to turn garlic into a fine paste, almost as quick and slightly easier to clean. Plus you can use it for many other things.
After I got a micro plane I never used a garlic press again. Also they seem to be very poor quality (at least the ones I got) because I broke 2 and I am not strong. Also cleaning a micro plane is 10 easier than cleaning a garlic press
Some recipes depending on the size call for multiple cloves. Microplaning multiple cloves of garlic is pretty time consuming, and your fingers will also reek of garlic for a good while planing that many. In the time you can plane 1 clove down, you can have 5 or more mashed through a press. And if the garlic is skinned properly cleaning a press really isn't difficult or time consuming.
Adding mine: - A bamboo steamer. It’s not even single use because you can actually steam so many types of food in it. - a crepe pan. It’s s not a necessity, but in my life apparently it absolutely is, and that’s the reason I have two. I probably make crepes as often as you make waffles and I also use it for regular pancakes. - fondue set. I know we are no longer in 1970, but I love my fondue pot because a cheese fondue party is literally the fastest and easiest dinner party you could have - and it is fancy, delicious, fun and sociable. It helps that I didn’t have to go out and buy mine. -Tortilla press. I only use it a few times a year but it’s so worth it if you live far away from any decent tortilla options.
I cant tell you how many times I took out a head of garlic for a recipe, then decided I didn't want to bother and just used garlic power instead. After hearing that you use fresh garlic so much more thanks to the press, I immediately bought one. Thank you! P.S. Glad that avocado slicer didn't make the list 🤣 My wife brought one, never uses it, and I actually find it's MORE work than just using a regular old knife.
You're the reason why I've bought 3 beef mushers. I can't believe what efficient tools they are. You are so right about some handles on gadgets. You have to have mitts like a basketball player to use them. And Wow, you're pizzas all look fantastic in this spot. Way to go!
Great list of single use kitchen items. I have most of them and use them regularly. People saying use a microplane instead of the garlic press has never microplaned their fingers trying to get the last bit of garlic done. Is that user error? Absolutely. But I go to the IKEA garlic press every time, especially since the inner basket is removeable making it a breeze to clean. I'll have to consider the jaccard, it just feels like a pain to clean without a dishwasher.
microplane is a different consistency than a press or chopping fine. It can make a difference. And I have one of those cutproof gloves for microplane, shredder or mandolin work. I think that counts as a single use tool: "keep your hands from being shredded" is the single use.
What about the pizza stone that is in your oven?? I've watched LoTs of your videos and never heard you speak about it. BTW I got a meat masher last month and yes it's a game changer. Thanks 🚀💥
I just got my ground beef smoosher about 10 days ago. I don’t know how I lived without it! Thank you, Brian . You are my favorite TH-cam foodie. I’ll look for the taco fryer. I live in Belize now so I may have to fashion my own. I do love crunchy ground beef tacos.
As someone who once had a summer job working for a store that sold a lot of as seen on tv or trendy kitchen products like slapchop etc. a lot of those products were originally designed for people with dexterity issues and disabilities in mind. Many single use products like those avocado knives may seem unnecessary for us, but for someone with arthritis or shakey hands, they can make everyday kitchen tasks we take for granted much easier and safer.
Excellent points, mate. I was a house painter for 30 years. I could crush coconuts with my hands back in the day. But at 69 and Jiu-jitsu practitioner with sprained fingers and Dupuytren's contracture-this rocks. I love to cook.
Potato ricers are brilliant devices but the lever action is tricky for me. Joseph Joseph - a brand that seems to cater to physical issues - has one that comes in two pieces, works like driving in a big screw and it's been even more brilliant.
This seems like a "citation needed" situation. Every single trendy or "as seen on TV" unitasker I have ever come across was clearly dreamed up by someone who was not trying to make life easier for people with disabilities; even those limitations due to simple old age. The inventor simply dreamed up a gimmicky device that usually did a bad job of the intended task and they hoped to make a lot of money selling it to people with more money than brains or a willingness to invest a tiny amount of effort learning how to perform the task.
@@Tvaikah I'll definitely second that one having arthritic thumbs
Dexterity and disability issues weren't the criteria. Most of these were gimmicky unnecessary tools and the rice cooker might be the only one I'd consider. This watches more like a "must have as a TH-camr chef" but even that's a stretch for some of these products. A taco frying holder? Really? A waffle iron you use a "few times per year"? Takoyaki??? "Octopus balls are a weekly staple at home" said nobody ever. Love me a good Brian Lagerstrom video but this one sucks. This stuff will make for interesting garage sale fare one day.
I'm another proponent of the cherry pitter, which you can also use to pit olives! I probably only use it a couple of times a year, but I'm grateful every time I pull it out of the drawer. I've had this thing for over 40 years and I'm still happy I bought it all those years ago.
Most just buy pitted cherries and olives.
We have a cherry tree! I absolutely need a cherry pitter.
My wife was so down on the cherry pitter but it's a game changer.
@@Tvaikah But some pick cherries in their backyard :)
After four years of watching this channel, I finally caved a few months ago and bought the ground beef chopper. B-dwag has been shaming me for years and... he was right. It's a great tool.
I got one too. Makes nice ground beef for tacos and spaghetti sauce.
I feel like a dollar store wooden spatula will do the same job. Ground beef wants to fall apart right when it stops being pink. A few seconds chopping and stirring and you're good.
@ I thought the same but saw Brian using it and how consistent and fine his meat clumps were. Give it a try, I think you’ll change your mind.
This tool is also great for breaking down whole canned tomatoes.
@@ahofftn I used it for that too.
Here's a second use for the meat chopper - I also us it to roughly chop 28oz cans of whole peeled tomatoes right in the can.
Hell yeah
@@BrianLagerstrom
Where is the Green thing better than a knife. Was that just click bait?
@@EthelredHardrede-nz8yvWas it an egg/mushroom slicer?
I've lost a lot of my manual dexterity and feel so, my knife work is harder. Slicing a lot of mushrooms meant getting out the Cuisinart with the slicing blade, but the slicer takes care of that.
@@stevecagle2317 I believe it is an avocado knife/tool. The one side is a blade for cutting an avocado in half, then that circular bit in the middle looks like its used for getting the pit out. Then the round oval side is for slicing each half of the avocado into even slices, while also removing the slices from the peel. OXO makes one that is about $10 and it might be worth it if you eat a lot of avocados.
@@EthelredHardrede-nz8yv definitely an egg slicer
Alright Brian, first time commenter. Adding:
Rice paddle
Sushi rolling mat
Ice cream scoop
Pizza cutter
Can opener
Fish bone tweezers
One of those rabbit wine bottle openers.
I’m finally going to get a garlic press and juice squeezer. I grew up on Alton Brown who was adamant about avoiding single use items, so that lesson stuck harder than it should
The Zeroll scoop is the best!
@@brycebyte The IKEA garlic press is very inexpensive.
ice cream scoop doubles as cookie dough scoop!
and can opener is hardly single-use, because so many foods come in cans
I worked at a Spanish restaurant that sold probably 100 orders a day of 4 mini pork cheek tacos, we used a special fry basket that could make 20 at a time and that basket honestly was the most important tool in our kitchen.
I had no idea tacos were Spanish! What part of Spain are these tacos from?😍
@@dpelpal as far as i know tacos are Mexican, but we had some Spanish influence with the use of sofrito and romesco. it wasn't our most authentic dish, but easily our most popular.
@@TenSyc Authenticity is overrated. All that matters is that it tastes amazing.
I'm not seeing anyone say "Potato ricer" and good gravy marrie was that game changing when it came to making potatoes. Saves SO much time and the potatoes come out so much better
Absolutely second this. They are a pain in the ass to clean though, similar to the bad garlic presses he mentioned in the vid. Especially if you don't rinse it immediately after use
I use mine for mashing bananas too
@@ultimategamer8139 lazy cook here - thought you were kidding! Sooo much trouble - I use a masher initially and fold in butter and milk with a silicone spatula and they’re not riced quality, but much better than just ok. Spuds are pretty forgiving if you never, ever go near them with a whisk or hand mixer.
@@illShyy Joseph Joseph makes a ricer that comes in two pieces. It works via screw action rather than lever (they design a lot for people with physical issues) and it's much easier to clean in two pieces too. It's also more compact than most because it doesn't need to be over-long to get advantage on lever action.
@@illShyyIf you put them to soak in hot soapy water IMMEDIATELY after use, cleaning is easy. The trick is to prevent the potato solidifying in the ricer.
I'd also add an immersion blender to this list. I use it so often it's unreal. Soups yes, but also canned whole tomatoes, mayo, hollandaise sauce, whipped cream, etc.
All of this. I also love using an immersion blender for making milkshakes!
So... It's not a single use item?
@@louisekoch3937 I mean... it blends things. That's a single use. Just like a lemon juicer could also juice a lime, or an orange.
@@louisekoch3937 ...ok you know what fair point.... XD
@@KodyBaker Called splitting hairs.
That was the proper level of shaming for people that use a lemon/lime juicer the wrong way. Bravo
When I learned the 'right' way to use a juicer, I showed my partner.
We both came to the same conclusion: We are such idiots. LOL :)
I like how seemingly the only thing you can do with lime juice is margaritas lmao
In my defence, it's been working quite well for me using it the wrong way. 😂😂😂. 🤦
Wow. Dreamfarm’s fluicer (flat juicer) is far better than the juicer he recommends I hope Brian, and anyone reading this will check it out. I have no affiliation with them, I just love how much room it saves plus it gets even more juice than his.
I have an electric citrus juicer that cost £15, saves SO much time, and gets cleaned in the dishwasher. Haven't used my handheld one since.
Ironically, I think you hit the 7th important criteria a lot: Consistency. Thats why I like a lot of my single use tools, e.g. the juicer, rice cooker, garlic press.
Also - Takoyaki pans can be used to make danish aebleskiver pancakes as well! I make a lot of the tiny pancake balls (stuffed with applesauce, pieces of fruit, or a tiny bit of Nutella) for a really fun breakfast. Also, depending on the filling they freeze well and reheat in the microwave in a silicone bag in a flash. They're GREAT as individual pancakes for kids. Toss 3-4 pancakes in a bag in the morning and you have breakfast in a flash.
Also, poffertjes!
LOL I was going to say the same. I have a couple of Danish æbleskive-pans, which could be used for takoyaki as well, I presume.
@perthomsen8708 i come here to say the same thing. It looks like the cooking technique is almost identical too.
I mentioned escargot. Maybe mini yorkies. Those things are a secret multitasker.
Poffertjes definitely and South Indian paniyaram
I bought a pretty expensive Zojirushi rice cooker and I regret nothing. It's a bit more than single use as you can do a variety of rice dishes and other steamed or pressure cooked grains (porridge) in it. Even a cheap rice cooker is better than no rice cooker, though, I don't mean to imply anyone besides me has to get the fancy one, but I think the rice cooker is definitely the item on this list where it's fine to spend more on a "single use" tool.
Zojirishi is worth the investment, for sure. It's a true "bleed once" item.
My zoji and I have a special relationship too. It gives me perfect steel cut oats every week ready on a timer in the morning too!
I also love my zojirushi bread machine, they make such quality tools. Between those two machines, I use them almost every day.
Strong agree here. I make way more rice than I would otherwise. The keep warm mode is fantastic.
My first rice cooker was a $20 one from Mervyn's (yes, I am old). It lasted for years, using it 3-4 times per week. When it finally died, I got an Aroma. After about three years, it quit working. I finally got a Zojirushi, but just the basic one (cook/warm settings, unplug to turn off). It cost $60, but is an absolute beast. The steamer rack is great as well; make some dumplings along with the rice to go with my stir-fry.
College student with a tiny dorm kitchen. I like to have people over for dinner. My suitemate has one of the Zojirushi rice cookers and my friends and I have figured out that you can grease the bowl lightly, pour in a box cake mix, and cook it on the brown rice setting. Takes a long time, but we have dinner, watch a movie, and then have delicious perfect cake. Sometimes we get a can of whipped cream or I cook some frozen fruit with lemon and sugar to make a sauce.
Thanks!
I love my potato ricer. I use it for perfect mashed potatoes, but it works great to squeeze excess liquid from spinach, cabbage, sauerkraut, etc. Saves my hands and wrists!
yup. I use mine to squish the (hardboiled) eggs for egg salad sandos as well.
I love mine, too, and thank you for the tip about using it for spinach! Never even occurred to me!
Second the potato ricer... it rices cauliflower too - for mashed cauliflower or rustic cauliflower chowder\soup
I agree! Potato ricer is criminally underrated
To "save" something, you would need a method to do it without a ricer. What would this be ? Mash it with bare hands between your fingers ?
Cherry Pit Tool - If you want to use fresh cherries in a recipe it's a must.
I have a slap type that pits 6 cherries at a time.
Pam here….what kind do you have? I live in WI close to the infamous Door County Cherry Orchards, and make tons of Tart Cherry Jam. The pitter I have, is one made into a canning jar lid, with a spring push nail that pushes pit through a hole below, there is a rubber strip on the underside with a slit in it, so the pit is pushed through from the top, but when you release that the rubber slit closes and the pit is contained in the mason jar. These have saved countless hours of hand pitting with a Bobbie pin or some other doodad. But, now I buy my tart cherries in Bulk all washed and pitted into 5 gallon bucket!
Cherry pitters also can pit olives
@@KeithandPamBilyeu I have the red single cherry OXO pitter.
I am 64 yrs old. The Taco Shell Frying Mold brought back great childhood memories. My Boston Irish mom had a Mold & several times a year we would have a special Taco Night. She would set out a buffet so we could choose our toppings. As an adult I discovered a few items were missing from her buffet choices - spicy peppers, avocados/guacamole & soft shell tacos. I won't be buying this item due to my soft shell preference but I am going to buy a jaccard. Thanks for the memory & your videos.💜
Here's the thing: if you try deep frying your own shells, you quickly realize that they are just as soft as soft shell, just crispy. It really is the best of both worlds, and that's before you even factor in the difference in taste.
Maybe not the perfect video to host these gadgets, but I think a sous vide and vacuum sealer combo deserves a shoutout! They became a serious game changer in my cooking once I made the investment and I recommend everyone that asks to try it out
One of my favourite criteria for tools is also safety. Safety tools can store knives properly, protect you from hot oil or even just protect your body from wear and tear. For example, I bought my parents a simple Starfrit jar opener (it's amazing, I even use it regularly) and it warms my heart when I see them go use it (even when they aren't using it in front of me, I know that they are because every time I go over it's there clipped to the fridge door, not lost in some drawer). All of a sudden, their wrists and fingers aren't hurting so much. Best 10 bucks I ever spent in my life. We cook because we love.
I personally don't jaccard/jacquard/mechanically tenderize meat because I cook my meat as little as possible (undercook/rare); if my steak has any surface bacteria/contamination, that process will push it to the centre of the meat, which will not see the same temperature as the surface.
I also use my ground beef chopper when i make kaiser rolls to stamp the top of the rolls before baking 😊
Ohhh! That's a great idea. Fun twist on scoring breads/rolls with a knife or a lame. Thanks!
@trevorreniger5670 Just make sure you do it before the second rise because you need to push it down just stopping before going through the bottom. If you Google Bounded by Buns kaiser rolls the directions will tell you exactly how to do it better than I can lol
Spray or brush oil on a tortilla, hang it over a rung in your 350 degree oven for 8 minutes or so. You can wrap some foil around the rungs before hand to make a larger pocket at the base of the taco shell. This allows you to make a dozen at once, instead of having all your friends and family waiting for one or two at a time.
If you're lazy, just fold them over 2 rungs--you end up with a wide flat bottom perfect for adding lots of toppings, and not so deep.
That's what I do
Sure, but baked tortillas are not as good as deepfried tortillas
@@deadmayday6702 There's no difference if you brush enough oil on.
@@Tvaikah Yes, there is.
An egg slicer and apple corer are 2 single use items I am always happy that I have on hand, followed closely by the ice cream scoop.
Totally agree, especially on the egg slicer. Just a couple presses (one across, one back to front) and the egg is ready for a salad, to be mixed for a sandwich, etc. Boths items are cheap and easy to clean, so fits Brian's criteria to a cook's T.
the core of the apple isn't actually hard, its just the seeds. When I slice apples, I just cut right through the core and slice it into 8ths, and throw out the now-exposed seeds (and stem and leafy bottom). The slices are just as edible as anything I've had from an apple corer and you have no waste, plus I find a knife way easier to clean than an apple corer.
The ice cream scoop is also great for scooping cookie dough before baking
@@donaldraether3052 Love my apple corer & slicer.
Egg slicer!
The ground meat masher works really well to squish a can of Whole Peeled Tomatoes, as well as coming in very handy to make a fresh cherry tomato sauce! ❤
Great point about the tomatoes. You can just stock whole tomatoes instead of whole plus diced
Thanks Brian. I really enjoy your videos. Today after a long day doing surgery I just needed to unwind and you were perfect. I learned alot as a bonus. You have turned my into a budding cook. Yes I do have the taco mold and have made the Bri"tega sauce which is fabulous. I also own the beef basher and you're right, its down right fun, but more importantly makes for a very uniform taco/sloppy joseph/etc sauce. I await your garlic press in 4 to 24 months, but more to the point I await your video each week. Thanks again. Would love to meet you one day. You seem like a great human
Maybe we can meet Bri & Lorn at the book signings! 😊🥳
I gotta tell you how much I like your channel, so much of even halfway decent cooking isn’t so much about the recipe and ingredients but about the techniques and tools to get to the finished dish. Thank you!🫶✌️
Way too many channels focus on tweaking a dish until it's perfect, Brian focuses on practicality. Practicality is super important too.
Loved the scholarly approach to this video! Here's the criteria, there's the hint of sass, some books in the background made it a little professorial, bing bang boom.
🚨LIFE-CHANGING WAFFLE TIP:
Mix shredded cheese and some cured meat crumbles into the batter. Waffle batter isn’t sweet enough on its own to make that taste weird. You just get this beautiful little fresh, savory cake with very little work… sorta like a savory sandwich on a brioche bun. It doesn’t stick to the iron either!
Brian, I think it’d be rad if you tried it out and expanded on the idea. A video of savory waffle mix recipes would be fire 🙏🙏
@@AlphTime and develop some low carbohydrate waffles for the millions of people who need to cut starch to the minimum to regain health - or maintain it for those who’ve already gotten there!
Rice cooker was a game changer for me and not "single use" by any means - congee, porridge (oats), Hainanese chicken - so many options. Also egg slicer - love attempting to do the three dimensional slices without it falling apart to get perfectly mini-cubed egg pieces for egg salad - so much fun!!!!
I've grown to like coarse egg salad that's just made by squishing 'em.
...Literally every slice of an egg is three-dimensional with or without a gadget.
I have a little counter top egg cooker that can do 7 hard boiled eggs (and a lot of other egg preparations as well, but I've literally only ever used it for hard boiled eggs). It's like a rice cooker in that I can do stove top hard boiled eggs, but it's so much faster and more consistent! I love it.
I have a countertop ice cream maker that has cooling built into it, no need to pre freeze a "sleeve", just turn it on, let it cool for 10 minutes, then throw in any liquid you want frozen.
You can make nearly instant ice cream of any conceivable flavor with the ingredients you want (i got it to make diabetic friendly ice cream because the stuff in stores is so bad, i just use allulose).
You can use frozen fruit, your favorite liquor, make granita, use Margarita, or espresso.
You could use tomato juice, V8, or blended cucumber.
Cost me like $130. Works perfectly.
Didn't list it because it's expensive? I bought it because of you and I'm VERY happy with my heavy rectangular pizza steel in my oven. It has improved everything I cook in the oven and I never cook pizza! I love it and recommend it to everyone. (Cost about $135 for a high end one).
Ditto! I love mine. My pizza game is insane because of it.
I like my cookie scoops in various sizes…cookies, dog meals that I make a freeze and use daily, tomato paste, anything I can’t use but want to freeze and use later. Scoop onto a cookie sheet lined with parchment paper. Put in a labelled plastic freezer bag being sure to suck out as much air as possible.
The restraint you have to only use a waffle maker 4-5 times a YEAR, well... hats off, Bri. 🥰 If your potential garlic press is as good as your knife, I can't wait to get one!
Exactly, the IKEA garlic presser has been in my top drawer for years. Can't cook without it.
As an Asian, I strangely do not own an electric rice cooker. I use a regular pot and put rice in it and cook it on the stove top.
Rice is so easy. Measure the water and set a timer. Perfect every time.
Uncle Roger does not approve
I don't get how it can go so wrong. I'm pretty sure I have a 100% success rate with rice on the hob top. Can't remember the last time I thought my rice was subpar.
@@neilarmour4497 I always land my rice with a normal pot and hob, but I went to the dark side a couple years ago and I love the convenience of a big non-stick rice pot. But, yeah, rice is so nailable but it does require some understanding.
Yeah, I truly can't fathom a professional chef admitting he'd mess up rice "like 15-20% of the time." How?! I get that many home cooks don't measure or use timers or can't be consistent in their practice, but a chef? No shade to the video, because we all probably have dishes we struggle with, but I just don't quite understand how so many people struggle to cook a basic dish like rice.
And to be clear, I don't disparage anyone who wants a rice cooker either, especially if they make rice frequently. They're convenient, create a consistent product (even with different styles of rice), and the "keep warm" feature is useful for a lot of people who don't want to have to worry about timing various dishes when preparing a meal.
But even though I cook rice at least once or twice per week, I truly don't see the need for one myself. Admittedly, if you're using a new brand of rice or a stove you're unfamiliar with, you might need to tweak things slightly after the first go to get an ideal final product. But even in such situations, I can't remember the last time I cooked rice that anyone would notice there's even slightly anything off about but me (and I'm perhaps too finicky myself). And when I've rarely encountered rice with directions that didn't work to my own satisfaction the first go, I'd adjust and nail it perfectly the second time. I've even several times made novel rice-based dishes for guests I've never tried before, and I've never had a failure.
Especially if you're making the same type of rice on your stove every day, I just can't understand how this is difficult.
I love my butter slicer. It looks like a butter dish with wires for a bottom. The correct way to use it is to place the butter in like you would in a butter dish, with the paper still attached to the top, and hold it over the butter dish and press the butter through with your thumbs sliding back and forth. Et voila a butter dish full of perfect pats. People always try to push the slicer down onto the stick and then say it doesn't work.
I use my baguette pan for making icebox cookies. Lay the log of dough in it while you refrigerate it and it will stay round. At Christmas, I made a bunch of batches and set them in the baguette pan out on my deck to freeze (I live in Canada). Works great!
What a great idea! Thanks.
I recently got a German spätzle-making tool, one of those grater-looking things, and I already can't imagine my life without it!
It's amazing, it's never been so easy to make delicious noodles that can be combined with cheese, or bacon, or lentils, or broth. Instantly became my favorite single use kitchen tool.
One of my favorite single use tools is a potsticker or crimper. I'm not talking about a motorized one. Just a basic fold-over crimp thing. Super easy to clean. Not a fancy crimp but useful
Great vid! There's a couple I'll never use, but hey... one that comes to mind is a fat/gravy separator. I hardly ever need it but nice to have.
Total unitasker, but the task is cherce.
I make a lot of homemade meat stocks and use my separator for that at least a couple times a month.
No idea why but I imagined using a chemistry separatory funnel instead of a gravy separator.
Hi Bri
Although a mandoline isn't single use, i kinda would put them there,
Ever sicne i got one from ikea for 5$, it kinda substitutes a kitchen knife
Can shred cabbage or any root veggie for raw consumption and overall it's my favorite tool in the kitchen
Glad to hear I'm not the only one who struggles with crumbling beef. Best method I've come up with so far is to use a silicone spatula to repeatedly press and pull the meat on a non-stick pan as it's warming up. The thin layer closest to the surface cooks just enough to create a difference in density so that, as you pull, the remaining uncooked meat comes away easily. Your crumbles end up more like tiny corn flakes than rice crispies, but it usually only takes about as much time as for the pan to come up to temperature. It does, however, require a non-zero amount of hand strength.
The stack of cookbooks had me intrigued! I have to use recipes to cook, it would be great to have you do a cookbook review or recommendation video, because you haven’t steered us wrong on a recipe yet!
Try looking through the James Beard list. I'm fairly certain every book in that stack is a past award winner or nominee.
@ thanks! That’s a great idea!
Thank you very much Brian for the great videos always. Your detailed tips are essential for me as a college student to start my way into cooking. Your buying guides are awesome, I have your suggested pot, pan, thermometer, and now the rice cooker which arrived just today that also revolutionized my love for rice. All of them are a pleasure to use and make cooking so much easier. Keep going.
I would love to see a video on your recommendations of meat replacements like tofu on how to use them and which meat can be replaced how. Would be great. Tomorrow morning, the sourdough starter get's fed for Friday bread baking.
I own several plastic squeeze bottles. My favorite use is to put butter on popcorn. I cut a standard butter cube lengthwise twice and push the quartered cube pieces into a squeeze bottle. When I make popcorn I just microwave the bottle of butter for a few seconds to melt the butter then squeeze it onto the popcorn. Then I put the bottle back into the fridge till the next time I make popcorn. I agree with Alton Brown that most unitask tools are pointless but agree with you that there are some exceptions; especially the citrus squeezer and garlic press.
I really enjoyed this video, Brian. I’ve had a Toastmaster waffle maker for decades and use it a lot for my mother’s waffle batter recipe. This tool also has a reverse side flat surface for making bacon or grilled cheese sandwiches. A great addition to any kitchen!
My favorite esoteric single-use tool is the plättar (pronounced "pletta") pan I inherited from my grandmother, used for making these tasty Swedish mini- pancakes. It's a cast-iron pan with 6 ~3" diameter indentations in it. Gram would make them for me when I visited her after school when I was a kid, so there's definitely a nostalgia factor here.
I used a potato masher to mince meat for years. I didn't think I needed the meat chopper, until I did. What a difference. Much easier than the masher. Easier on the cookware, too. Great video, Brian.
THANK YOU for this - I have tried multiple garlic presses and have not been thrilled (cleaning is hard and as you mentioned - the actual grip strength required is exhausting if you're using a lot of garlic, as I do). Just ordered your suggestion as I've seen you using it for years and always wondered where you got it!
I used a cheap plastic vegetable chopper press bought on amazon at my restaurant specifically for onions; you just lob off the top and bottom of an onion and cut it in quarters, run it through the press, and you get ultra uniform cubes (you can use a small or medium die/grate) and it's uniform among all staff regardless of skill level as it's only a few easy cuts plus using it helps prep onions very fast. I use a upside down butter knife to clean stuck on onion pieces to the press mold.
I 110% agree with the squeeze bottle, especially for oil. I swear by it. I love it. I would be lost without it
Better than other bottles? Because you can just squeeze?
@@nancycy9039 1000% better than anything else. The squeeze bottle allows you to direct oil where you want. If you do literally any sort wok cooking or stir fry, it's non negotiable.
Not. A. Unitasker! 1000 uses. Seriously.
Some larger brands of olive oil have integrated spouts. Really makes it easy to pour and don't have to deal woth transferring between bottles. Not as much choice for your oil and of course not ultra high end but for cooking olive oil not as much of an issue vs a finishing oil where you'll really get the benefits of super premium oils
@@GraemeHein Squeeze bottle is better. Much more control of flow rate. But, EVOO prefers the dark. So, story time, I tried the Graza Sizzle variety that nearly every TH-cam chef started using about a year ago. As oil, it's mid, but it's relatively expensive and OO is already expensive now. But, the bottle is brilliant. It's an opaque 750-ml squeeze bottle, and I've been refilling it with better, cheaper oil (currently Trader Giotto's 100% Italian President's Reserve EVOO; the whole name is necessary because TJ has like 9 different variants on the shelf...) No more caps to remove, drop, pick up, clean, replace; no more wiping bottles; excellent flow and placement control; less photonic degradation; basically the platonic ideal of an EVOO delivery tool. They should stop selling the oil and just sell the bottles, tbh...
As a half Asian, my number one small appliance in the kitchen is a rice cooker and it has more than one use. You can cook complete one pot meals with it, cook/steam (sweet) potatoes, cakes, and a lot more! Have a look into it and it could be the theme of a future video you do! Also, I’m happy that the avocado slicer in your thumbnail didn’t actually make the list. I thought I knew you well enough that it was used sort of like a “click-bait” and I’m happy I was right 🤓
I have that rice cooker. Life changer. Worth every penny.
We love you, Brian! I am finally going to break down and get the ground beef smasher thingy and the baguette mold. I cook a lot of ground beef for my Dad and dang, who doesn't love a good baguette?
The one-use tool I use all the time is a dicer. I no longer have to worry about having vegetable pieces that are all slightly different shapes and sizes (I don't have the best knife skills). Also, no more tears from cutting onions.
Now I just press the veg through this thing and everything comes out perfectly uniform. Plus it is MUCH faster than cutting each vegetable with a knife.
I got one of those too and I absolutely love it. My only complaint is that it's difficult to clean everything out of the little squares no matter how hard you pick them out. It tends to shred up my dish cloth or my sponge
See, I could never. Chopping veggies with a knife is one of the best things about cooking.
@@Avenuegirl73 You could try using a dishwashing brush.
@@miriamrobarts good idea
I'll try that. Thx
I don't know if it's just me, but i honestly love chopping garlic by hand. I find it relaxing. ❤
But you didn’t include the avocado slicer in the thumbnail?
Yes! I love it. So much safer to use.
I clicked on the video for his opinion on that tool.. one i own already lol
I honestly figured that was bait. I would never use one over a knife.
They do make it easy to have perfect slices. Agree, I wanted to hear his opinion of it.
I thought it was an egg-slicer, which is what I came for. Eggs and avocados both being soft, is it both? 🤔
A tool I didnt know I needed until my son bought me one for christmas 4 years ago. . . .and now I use it 3 to 4 times a week is a Sous Vide wand. Those are game changers for cooking many different things
i watched this to see the avocado tool!!! is that in another video? i have one and i love it!!
Brian is great!! Have to agree the most used appliance in my kitchen is my rice cooker. Not only good for white and brown rice, but it makes the best worry-free oatmeal, all kinds come out great.
BTW, Brian's suggestion of getting premium rice for special rice dishes is excellent. Never knew rise tasted that good. worth the price. Thanks, Brian!
I got one of those Rapid Brands Brownie Bakers as a joke gift. The thing cost like $5 and you can have pretty fantastic brownies in 5 minutes start to finish. It is insane how well it works.
The ground beef masher is great for stirring up natural peanut butter. I dump the PB into a large bowl then stir it up with the masher, return it to the jar and refrigerate. Super fast and easy.
Love my Belgian Waffle Maker and Rice Cooker. I have the exact same Aroma Rice cooker Bri-Guy showed that I got for $20 during Black Friday in 2020 and a Presto Flipside Waffler I got on sale for $30. Affordable tools that do a job much better and easier and make my family happy. When I got my Meat Smasher as a gift, I thought it was a stupid novelty thing... Then I used it. Now it's been used multiple times every week for the last several years.
I’ve gotten a lot of use out of my cordless KitchenAid 5 Cup Food Chopper- I got it at a time when I was having hand pain and it hurt to chop vegetables. But it turned out to be more versatile and does more than just chop. I’ve used it to make oatmeal meal flour from old fashioned oatmeal, make creamy salad dressing with fresh herbs, chop cranberries for muffins, and chop onions and carrots when making a recipe where the appearance doesn’t need to be super consistent. I don’t have a lot of countertop space and its compact footprint earned it a spot always on the counter. The full size food processor is just too large to keep on the counter and it’s a hassle to drag it out of the closet.
Sandwich press. Life is unsupportable without it. Pastry latticing tool turns store bought pastry into a magnet for awed compliments:).
((YES!!!)). I've been using my panini press for EONS and I love, loVE, LOVE it... Good one Toni !! 🤗👍✴
Omgoodness...my rice cooker!! A definite lifechanger ! I eat jasmine rice 2-3 x per day and couldn't do it without. I do quinoa in it too. THE BEST TOOL 😊
My favorite.. rotary cheese grater. I never buy pre shredded cheese!
Total game changer for parmesan. And so easy to clean.
I had one of these and it broke after only a few uses. Now I either use a grater or (if I need a lot of cheese for a recipe) a food processor.
Do you shred it all at once or as you need it?
Softer cheese get stuck in mine...any tricks/tips? The hard cheeses are a no-brainer, for sure.
@@leigh8031 well I ponied up for a good one. I have arthritis in my hands and I shred a great big old block as I go through a lot of cheese with several men in my house. I cannot use the old block grater anymore.
Please consider a few of my favorite once a year kitchen gadgets: Pasta rollers, ravioli press, spaetzle cutter, bean sprouting jar, molcajete, seafood steamer, salad spinner, pizza oven, large deep fryer, kettle grill and cookie shooter.
Man, it's not the taco shaper thingy that's the deal-breaker. It's the big pan of oil I need to deep-fry. So messy!
Use metal zig zag taco holders with holes cut in the sides, grease your tortillas, and put them in the air fryer until crisp
Messy how? It's contained in a pan.
@@Tvaikah Dealing with the oil afterward is a task a lot of people want to avoid. Also, frying can leave a thin residue on the stove, hood, walls, and other surfaces nearby.
I wonder if you could shallow fry the tortillas and fold them with the filling in the pan.
I got an electric deep fryer with a filtration system that pours the oil into a storage container. No regrets.
@1:59 Yes, and that Ikea garlic press is the best cheap press you can buy. Even then, I broke too many of them. I use a grinder attachment for my hand blender, Braun MQ60, to grind peeled garlic fine enough. The blender has 21 speed and I use the lower ones to do it.
Great list! Citrus Juicer, yeah, first time I used it (upsidedown), I was like What the F...?!? I was also anti meat chopper when we first got one, now a convert. Squeeze bottles - what took me so long, they are great for oils and sauces as you indicate - like GREAT!
Okay I many of the items you mentioned and agree with your rationale. I did immediately get the rice cooker for the exact reason you mentioned. It worked great. The orange chicken wasn’t bad either.
How I make stove top (white) rice without burning it ever (Combo of Alton Brown and ATK):
1:1 ratio cups of white rice to cups of water, plus 1/2 cup water for boiling
Put water in a kettle
Put rice into a pot with some oil or butter. Turn on the stove and cook the rice until it's coated in the oil and starts to brown slightly, you want it really hot. If you want to season it or add aromatics, do that too.
Once the rice is starting to brown and the water is boiling, carefully and quickly combine them. Place a tight fitting lid on top, leave the heat on for a moment to make sure it's boiling, then turn off the heat completely and leave it alone for 25 minutes. Fluff and enjoy.
You can't burn it and don't have to baby it because the heat is turned off after the lid goes on. Works for me every time.
Same amount of water. Boil it, add the rice, turn the heat to low, stir once, cover (I use tin foil with a potholder on top because my 1-qt pan doesn't have a fitted lid) and continue for 20 minutes.
Maybe not quite "single use," but I've been glad I bought a Danish dough whisk years ago. It's that weirdly-shaped dough mixing tool comprising a wooden handle with a thick wire head twisted in an unusual triple loop configuration. It really is more effective for hand-blending cookie and brownie doughs and batters than any other tool I've used.
Before getting a new tool, it's always worth asking yourself if you have a tool already on hand that could do the job just as well. I almost got a citrus juicer, until I realized my potato ricer can do the exact same thing! But I also rarely need to squeeze more than half a citrus at a time, so that's part of it, too.
@@Shadeadder If you don't need to juice more than one or two lemons at a time, a citrus juicer is pointless. But if you regularly juice more, it's indispensable.
@@MaunoKoivistoOfficial Yes, I don't often find myself juicing several citrus at a time. Occasionally I'll make lemon bars or something, but that's at most a few times a year. In which case, the potato ricer works fine for me.
kudos for not shilling any particular brands for these tools
what about a ricer for mashed potatoes?
I have kids and use my waffle maker like once a week. I learned to make french toast waffles
Add vanilla, brown sugar, and cinnamon to batter. The smell alone is amazing.
I would probably call them 'cinnamon waffles' since it wouldn't have the egg dipped element of french toast, but your waffles sound delicious. I'm sure your kids will have happy memories of this. 🧇
I have the same taco mold you have but I also made my own taco bender using a couple of wooden dowels. To make it take a 5/8 inch round dowel cut about 6 inches long and a 1/4 inch round dowel cut about 10 inches long., drill a 1/4 hole in the center of the 5/8 inch dowel and glue in the 1/4 dowel to make a Tee. To use, bring enough oil to temp in a 3-4 quart sauce pan, drop in your corn tortilla and let it float on top of the oil for a few seconds, flip it and then use the wood dowel Tee to push the tort down in the center, the tort will fold perfectly, hold it in place until it is set. the tort will slightly over bend and hold onto the tool which will allow you to pick it up and out of the oil. If you want a narrower taco shell use a 1/2 dowel or a larger taco use a bigger dowel, point being you can make a 100 of them for the same cost of your taco mold and the tool stores very easily and can also be used as a crepe spreader.
Live your channel. I just watched your single use kitchen tool.
FYI The meat grinder is also excellent for shredding cooked boneless/skinless chicken.
Thnx fir great content m
Ground beef tool also good for whole canned tomatoes.
I have it & I love it
I also have the avocado tool from the thumbnail & I sometimes wish I had 2.❤🎉
I use it for canned diced tomatoes that aren't diced sufficiently for my tastes (looking at you, Kirkland Brand Diced Tomatoes; you're oh so convenient, but more "quartered" than "diced"). Works great when I'm already mashing beef for chili, and I put in the tomatoes and smash them up, too.
I find a potato masher does a great job breaking up minced beef.
I love my lemon zester and wouldn’t be without it. Lemon zest is a game changer in lots of baking. Also the zester is great for shredding whole nutmeg and fresh nutmeg is hands down more potent than the store bought grind.
jar opener is critical. i like the one that is a plastic handle with a few round shapes in it to fit different sizes. i also really like my batter dispenser because it makes filling muffin tins so much cleaner, and for pancakes and waffles. i have the kind that is a cylinder with an opening on the bottom that opens when you pull the handle. another good one is a french fry maker....potato press.
Oooh, I haven’t seen that jar opener! Is it easy enough to operate with sore hands?
I've tried various jar openers and they've always fallen short. Now I just put on a rubber washing up glove (or the pair if it's a really testing jar!) and the lids pop right off.
I wouldn't say critical unless you don't really have any grip strength or have a medical condition. To date I've yet to come across a jar I couldn't open, and even the most stubborn ones open if you just tap the lid on a hard surface.
TIP use a bottle opener to break the seal on a jar lid - just hook it under the lip and pull up gently until you hear a little hiss, then it is very easy to open.
Danish dough whisk. Hands down the best thing i ever purchased.
I bake sourdough bread regularly and other dough related items frequently. It makes my life soooo much easier.
And it is weirdly easy to clean and even fun doing it xD
What do you think about potato ricer?
Potato ricer has to be on the keep list.
Definitely would have made my list too
I to have a cherry pitter that does 6 cherries at a time. Before that, I did the straw method, which was messy and a little dangerous. Super glad I have it now. My kids love cherries. Saves a bunch of time too.
I'm a home cook that's starting to develop arthritis, and I can tell you that the ground meat chopper tool is an absolute game changer. I used to manually chop up the ground beef and turkey with the edge of a stainless cooking spoon, but my hand and wrist would be in pain from the process every time. The chopper tool is just so much better ergonomically because of the more natural grip position and using your whole arm for the motion. I kick myself for avoiding getting one for so long, but at least now I can make taco meat, chili, and bolognese without pain.
You can also use a hand mixer or the whisk attachment on an immersion blender to easily chop up ground beef right in the pan as it cooks.
- A little battery operated milk whisk frother, great for all kinds of drinks but pretty single purpose.
- Peeler, not only good for exterior peeling to get skin off but also for creating ribbons of carrots, etc for salads
- Can opener, the grand-daddy of essential single purpose kitchen tools!
- Cheese slicer, sometimes you just need thinly sliced cheese, y’know?
I keep a list of single-use tools that I share with family for birthday or Christmas gift ideas. They get me something I want, and I don't feel guilty paying for a single-use tool.
Why would you throw them away after using them once though? So your family doesn't run out of gifts to give you?
@@3_up_moonUm…guessing you didn’t watch the video yet…I wondered the same thing as you, but discovered when Brian is saying “single use” he’s actually meaning “single purpose”. Example, a garlic press is only used for pressing out minced garlic. But you keep the tool for the next time you want to press garlic.
@marybishop9928 I did watch the video. It doesn't change the definition of words by any means
@@3_up_moon Valid point. "Unitasker" is a better term, but maybe Alton Brown copyrighted that.
@@markg6032 I don't think he did, but I recently read he regrets his railing against unitaskers - that some things are just worth the space in your kitchen, even if they are for only one purpose.
Paella pan... From Valencia... (pronounced va-len-thee-a)
I make a paella a year, but it is an AMAZING experience. We all gather in the kitchen, process the ingredients while sipping Spanish red wine (Rioja). The key is to finish the paella before finishing the wine (key = buy lots of vino!).
We use Tyler Florence's Ultimate Paella recipe... (Maybe Brian will make paella???)
I own all of these things. Just donated my rice cooker to the hospice thrift shop. I can make perfect, fluffy rice in a pot on the stove. Also on the ground beef musher, do yourself a favor of purchasing a nonstick one. I have both and the nonstick one is so easy to clean. The other one goes in the donation box. Eagerly awaiting your garlic press because I have a drawer of substandard ones. I bought all of these things using links from your videos (even the taco shell mold). I use it all of the time. I agree with the modification to this tool.
Have you tried the Kuhn Rikon or Mankitchen garlic press? I switched from a Winco garlic press that was a pain to clean to the Kuhn Rikon one and my life is a bit better now. I hope Brian takes some inspiration from some of the innovation that makes the Kuhn Rikon so much easier to clean.
I've got 4 different ones in my drawer now. Jury is still out. If Brian puts one out I will buy it because his chefs knife is wonderful.
If you live in CA or FL and have citrus trees lining your backyard fence like I do.....an electric juicer just makes sense when citrus is in season (Dec-March).....for fresh squeezed orange juice, lemonade, frozen lemon cubes, lemon and lime juice for pies.....etc...... we have to use all the citrus before the trees set new flowers in the spring.........I have a Breville...... it works great and clean up is not that bad.
I also have a NutriBullet centrifugal fruit/vegetable juicer stored in the garage for pomegranates...... which are a beast to juice otherwise, but are easy-peasy when you have friends who give you 20+ pomegranates off their tree every October.
The takoyaki pan could also be used to bake "munker" a classic traditional Scandinavian baked good that tastes wonderful. Well worth a try.
Or Dutch "Poffertjes"- small buckwheat flour pancakes, usually served with melted butter and dusted with icing sugar.
We've made Escargots Bourgogne with ours. As with regular pans, cast iron makes it much better than non-stick.
I got the ground beef tool. It is great. Also works for quickly making a basic guac
a microplane is even better than a press to turn garlic into a fine paste, almost as quick and slightly easier to clean. Plus you can use it for many other things.
After I got a micro plane I never used a garlic press again. Also they seem to be very poor quality (at least the ones I got) because I broke 2 and I am not strong. Also cleaning a micro plane is 10 easier than cleaning a garlic press
Some recipes depending on the size call for multiple cloves. Microplaning multiple cloves of garlic is pretty time consuming, and your fingers will also reek of garlic for a good while planing that many. In the time you can plane 1 clove down, you can have 5 or more mashed through a press. And if the garlic is skinned properly cleaning a press really isn't difficult or time consuming.
Adding mine:
- A bamboo steamer. It’s not even single use because you can actually steam so many types of food in it.
- a crepe pan. It’s s not a necessity, but in my life apparently it absolutely is, and that’s the reason I have two. I probably make crepes as often as you make waffles and I also use it for regular pancakes.
- fondue set. I know we are no longer in 1970, but I love my fondue pot because a cheese fondue party is literally the fastest and easiest dinner party you could have - and it is fancy, delicious, fun and sociable. It helps that I didn’t have to go out and buy mine.
-Tortilla press. I only use it a few times a year but it’s so worth it if you live far away from any decent tortilla options.
This makes me wanna see you review tools that viewers love for a fun roasting session.
With Alton Brown (who constantly decried kitchen unitaskers) as a guest star.
@@arkmagiusAll asparagus tongs, all the time.
I cant tell you how many times I took out a head of garlic for a recipe, then decided I didn't want to bother and just used garlic power instead. After hearing that you use fresh garlic so much more thanks to the press, I immediately bought one. Thank you! P.S. Glad that avocado slicer didn't make the list 🤣 My wife brought one, never uses it, and I actually find it's MORE work than just using a regular old knife.
You're the reason why I've bought 3 beef mushers. I can't believe what efficient tools they are. You are so right about some handles on gadgets. You have to have mitts like a basketball player to use them. And Wow, you're pizzas all look fantastic in this spot. Way to go!
Great list of single use kitchen items. I have most of them and use them regularly. People saying use a microplane instead of the garlic press has never microplaned their fingers trying to get the last bit of garlic done. Is that user error? Absolutely. But I go to the IKEA garlic press every time, especially since the inner basket is removeable making it a breeze to clean. I'll have to consider the jaccard, it just feels like a pain to clean without a dishwasher.
Yeah, no one wants my finger or fingernail shards in their food 😳
microplane is a different consistency than a press or chopping fine. It can make a difference. And I have one of those cutproof gloves for microplane, shredder or mandolin work. I think that counts as a single use tool: "keep your hands from being shredded" is the single use.
What about the pizza stone that is in your oven?? I've watched LoTs of your videos and never heard you speak about it. BTW I got a meat masher last month and yes it's a game changer. Thanks 🚀💥
I'm guessing the stone falls into the multi use category.
It's a pizza steel, not a stone. A crucial difference
I just got my ground beef smoosher about 10 days ago. I don’t know how I lived without it! Thank you, Brian . You are my favorite TH-cam foodie. I’ll look for the taco fryer. I live in Belize now so I may have to fashion my own. I do love crunchy ground beef tacos.