Tools: Containers and Knife Blocks

When cubes and I cook, we like having all of our utensils close at hand. Before our wedding we had two containers full of tools. After our wedding, we had more utensils - sushi mats, tongs, a Microplane, and more - and no place for them.

In mid-January, I decided to get another stoneware crock. I narrowed the choices to 5 crocks that I found on Etsy. Initially I'd thought that I'd tuck the new crock into the back corner. I ended up not liking how scattered the counter looked so put everything together.

The crock on the left is an antique estimated to be from the late 1880s, gifted to me by my grandparents as a housewarming gift. I wanted a second crock that would complement it. I chose the middle crock of the five I'd considered. After some rearranging all of our utensils now fit nicely.

How do you keep your utensils organized? In drawers or, like me, on your counters?

Credits: All images taken by Eden Hensley Silverstein for Recipes for the Good Life.

Tools: All for a Cup of Joe

Earlier in January, a discussion thread started on Chowhound about what appliance could you not do without.  I've waited until now to answer this question because I wanted to pay attention to what I relied on consistently.

The appliance I couldn't live without is my Capresso Infinity Burr Grinder. I tried out three different styles of grinders before deciding that only a burr grinder honors the labor that goes into the growing and harvesting of the coffee beans. I've had my Capresso since 2005 and use it almost every day.

Capresso 560.01 Infinity Burr Grinder, Black via Amazon, $83.69; Mirror Carafe from Crate and Barrel, $34.95; Bodum Chambord Coffee Press via Amazon, $39.95. 

The other two conveniences I couldn't live without are my Bodum French Press and our carafe. I've had the french press as long as I've had the grinder. Our carafe is a new addition to our kitchen. It was a wedding gift. I never fully appreciated a second cup of steaming hot, perfectly steeped coffee before this carafe arrived. Now as soon as the coffee is steeped it's transferred immediately into the carafe. When cubes wakes up two hours later he's also able to treat himself to a steaming hot cup of joe.

You might have noticed that this week's posts were a little sporadic and off schedule. I was offsite attending the Emerging Media Conference over at the Hotel Kabuki. A local venue meant I wasn't traveling by train - my time for inspiration and writing. We'll be back on track (pun intended) next week.

There was also a common theme with Thursday's Tips post and Friday's Where to Shop post - Thai cooking. (I've also been updating last February's What's in Thai Cooking post.) We're not going to be all Thai all the time, I promise. Let me explain. I've been getting ready for a Thai cooking class I'm going to be hosting on Sunday.  I'm super excited to have the girls over, and I want the day to be both fun and valuable to them.

We're going to visit a couple of the local shops for fresh ingredients and then we're going to hit the kitchen to make lunch. So while enjoying my morning coffee this week, I'd been organizing my thoughts into easily digestible topics and sharing with you. I've been gathering these topics into a cookbook that I'll hand out. I'll post the PDF of the cookbook from our day later next week in case anyone's interested. Thank you for continuing to read along and being patient with the change of schedule and topic.

Happy New Year!

One of this year's resolutions is "Get Organized. Stay Organized."

Notice anything new on our counter for 2011?

What are your favorite tools for organizing and keeping your kitchen neat?

Over the years I've used a variety of containers to organize the kitchen. The ones that I've kept share these qualities:

• Lightweight
• Durable
• Easy to use
• Small footprint (the container should be close to the size of the original packaging for an item)

I've had flour in three types of containers: Le Parfait French Glass Canning Jars with Gasket and Lid, ClickClack 4.4-Quart Stack and Seal, and Bag in Sugar Dispensers. The glass was heavy as well as bulky (one just landed in our Goodwill pile). The ClickClacks while they have a large footprint are incredibly easy to use. They hold all of the flour and have a wide enough mouth for a 1-cup measuring cup. The Bag in Sugar dispensers hold a 5 lb bag of flour. However, flour gets trapped between the bag and the container and they have a very large footprint (four just landed in our Goodwill pile).

Review: Taylor's Connoisseur Instant Read Thermometer

After careful consideration, we chose two items from CSN Store Cookware.com to review. The first item was the Taylor 501 Connoisseur Instant Read Thermometer for $15.99. 

As mentioned earlier, we already own a thermometer. We just weren't sure if it was a meat thermometer or an instant read thermometer. Luckily, we were able to locate the product instructions for the thermometer we already owned and find out. Our other thermometer is a Good Cook's Meat Thermometer. So we decided to purchase an instant read thermometer over another meat thermometer. If you're wondering about the differences, check out our Tips post.

We tried out the Taylor 501 Connoisseur Instant Read Thermometer for our one month wedding anniversary celebration. Unlike the meat thermometer we'd been trying to use for instant reads in the past, the thermometer does read the initial temperature of the meat faster. 

While we saw browning of our chicken we didn't see noticeable changes in the temperature readings. Thinking our Taylor instant read thermometer might be defective, we pulled out our Good Cook Meat Thermometer. 

It confirmed the reading of the Taylor thermometer and showed increases in the temperature as the cooking progressed. The instant read thermometer, however, didn't measure increases in temperature as well as the meat thermometer. I think this is probably because you're supposed to remove the instant read thermometer in between reads rather than leave it in.

Both thermometers stopped at roughly 150 degrees. We finally removed the chicken from the pan and sliced one open. The juices ran clear and the meat was white - although a tad overcooked. (Hel'um has a good description of how to tell if your chicken is completely cooked and safe to eat.)  This would lead me to believe that our thermometer is probably off by about 15 to 20 degrees. 

Unfortunately the Taylor instant read thermometer we purchased doesn't appear that it can be calibrated. Other instant read thermometers from Taylor, such as the 560 Gourmet Instant Read Thermometer and 801 Weekend Warrior Instant Read Thermometer, can be. Poor calibration doesn't make the thermometer useless it just means you have to mentally note the difference and take that into account each time you make a measurement.

Based on the calibration, I'd recommend not purchasing this particular instant read thermometer or any thermometer that doesn't have a way to adjust the calibration.

NOTE: We received the products from CSN Store Cookware.com to review free of charge. There were no restrictions on which product(s) we chose. The opinions contained herein are entirely our own.

Tips: Oven vs Instant Read Thermometers

The age old question as you stare intently over a pan or into an oven, is it done yet? You can slice your meat open - not the best option. Or you can skewer it with a thermometer being careful to avoid any bones or coming in contact with the bottom of the pan. Now if you're going the thermometer route before you put your thermometer into the oven and close the door, you need to know if it's an oven thermometer. If it's not, you'll find out soon enough; it'll melt.

We have a meat thermometer. At one point, I knew if it was an oven thermometer or an instant read thermometer; I'm no longer sure. I think it's an oven meat thermometer as it seems to take forever to get to some temperature other than 0. Or alternatively, we just don't really know how to use it.

Because we had the option to review a product from Cookware.com, a CSN Store, we looked at the thermometers they had available. The models we considered were:

• Taylor's Connoisseur Instant Read Thermometer for $15.99 (not oven safe but has silicone grips for safe and easy handling - our current thermometer does get hot to the touch)
• Taylor's Connoisseur Meat Thermometer for $19.99 (oven safe with safe temperature for meat clearly marked)
• Polder's Dual Probe Thermometer (THM-360) for $29.99 (oven safe with type of meat and "doneness" of meat settings - fancy!)
• Taylor's Commercial Wireless Thermometer for $34.99 (oven safe with programmable settings and customizable alerts when meat is almost ready and is ready)

One thing that would be helpful to anyone browsing Cookware.com is if they offered tips on which thermometer is the right one for the task at hand. Every cook, from the novice to the most experienced should have a meat thermometer but depending on what you're going to be cooking and how, you don't need all the bells and whistles and you need one - instant read - versus the other - oven - meat thermometer or both meat thermometers.

We braise meats as well as roast and broil them, so we actually need two meat thermometers. One we could use in the oven - placed in the meat at the beginning of the cooking that you can read without opening the oven door and removing the entrée. And another that we can quickly read whether or not meat on the stove top is ready.

In any case, we're getting a new meat thermometer. Now we just have to determine which one we're getting first.

Tips: Selecting a Mortar and Pestle

There's no Guestbook Recipe post today. We still acquiring the necessary tools and ingredients for the first recipe we selected. We're almost ready to make it though! We have selected and ordered a mortar and pestle - now it just needs to arrive.

As with most kitchen gadgets, it turns out you shouldn't choose a mortar and pestle based solely on its design. In the process of trying to figure out what we wanted to review from Cookware.com, a CSN Store, I learned how you should select a mortar and pestle.

Basically after knowing what you plan to use it for (curry pastes, guacamole, salsa, etc.), you need to consider the following:

• Material of both the mortar and the pestle. If you're making a guacamole or salsa, you won't want wood which will absorb liquid.
• Porousness of the mortar. If you don't want the flavor of what you're grinding to season your next batch choose marbles, vitrified ceramics, or granites.
• Surface of the mortar. They can be smooth like the Solid Thai Granite Stone, coarse like the Mexican Molcajete, or ridged like the Japanese Suribachi.
• Weight of the pestle. A heavier pestle makes the pounding of ingredients go much faster.
• Size of the mortar. If your mortar is too small, you'll have to work in batches. Small mortars typically yield a cup, large two cups, and so on.

For us of the mortar and pestle sets available from Cookware.com, the options that made sense for us to consider were: Frieling's "Goliath" Mortar and Pestle (Granite) for $49.95, Fox Run Craftsmen's Oversized Mortar and Pestle (Marble) for $59.99, or Le Creuset's Large Mortar and Pestle (PG4050-1230) (Ceramic) for $37.95.

If you're interested in learning more about mortar and pestles, check out these resources:

• Video: What is a Mortar and Pestle
• Tutorial: How to cure a Molcajete