How do I use my kitchen utensils?

Picture this, (It's a true story) just the other day I bought a frame to put up in my house. But I don't have a hammer and was being cheap and didn't want to buy one. I figured there must be something else that I could use at home to get the job done. So I go home with my screws and my frame and I tried hammering in the screws into the wall with a can of corn... Do you think it worked? Definitely not. The only thing that ended up happening is I hurt my hand and punctured my can of corn and the screw still didn't get in the wall... Go figure... Duh....

This goes to say that any task done with the wrong tool, ends up either harder than it should be or a total disaster. Thats why there are certain tools made for certain things. Imagine if there was just one tool in the world to do every job. It simply wouldn't work. Each tool is shaped differently and serves a completely different purpose. Same goes for your kitchen tools. Known as your kitchen Utensils.

Today I am going to teach you a few of the basic kitchen utensils I have in my kitchen and what it is used for. This way if you have it in your kitchen you will know more about it and if you don't have it you can buy one to facilitate your cooking experience. Okay, here we go.

Kettle

a kettle is used to boil water, instead of boiling your water in a microwave or in a pot. This facilitates the job. the kettle on the left is normally filled with water and then placed on a stovetop to boil your water and it usually makes a whistling sound once your water is hot and boiled. The kettle on the right is normally plugged into a wall socket and filled with water and with the push of a button it turns on and boils your water and after about 2 minutes it is boiled and turns off automatically. This is great for tea drinkers like myself. This is one of the most used items in my kitchen. My husband and I absolutely love all types of fruit and mint teas.

Juicer

This is amazing for making your own homemade fresh juices. You can make any juice you choose to make with fresh fruit. No water, sugar or mystery ingredients added. You just simply throw in the fruit of your choice and press a button and there you go it will crush your fruit and make fresh orange, apple, pineapple, strawberry, kiwi, mango, watermelon, cantaloupe, blueberry or whatever type juice you want easily. This is a healthier option to buying juice from concentrate or juice powders to just add water. Those things are loaded with sugar and mystery ingredients.

Fruit Basket

Fruit baskets are essential to every kitchen, for a few reasons. They make your fruit look more enticing to eat, they preserve your fruits for a little longer giving it air and space at the bottom to breathe so that the fruit don't sweat and soften as well as they add to the beauty of your kitchen or dining room table.

Salad Tongs

 

My mom called me the other day on the phone and was so amazed, saying Elise you know those things that are used to mix salad. "yes, mom - you mean Tongs : - )" Yes, Tongs. Did you know that they lock and unlock? kkkkkk.... My mom is so cute. She knew what they were used for but didn't know that they could actually lock and unlock. After I told her that I knew she inspired me to write this blog to explain all about our household kitchen utensils because sometimes you have something in your kitchen because you know it's something you need there but you don't necessarily know how to use it.

So for all of those who did not know. Yes, these are called Tongs  and they do open and close, lock and unlock. If you notice the button on top by you just pushing the button in it will unlock and open and by you pulling the button upward it will lock and close. For other models it is not a pin but instead a sort of ring that goes over the entire tong. If you pull the ring out it will open the tongs and if you manually close in your tongs and pull your ring back on top it will secure the tongs in a closed position which makes it easier to store. 

Tongs are mainly seen being used to toss salads and fruit salads. You use this to mix in all of your ingredients well into your salad. It is also used to pick up your sales to put onto the plate. But another way it can be used is when deep frying foods. You can pick it up out of the oil easily allowing the oil to drip out and not burning your hand.

Wooden Spoons

Wooden spoons are very necessary in your kitchen. They are mainly used for the cooking process. Some people cook with a regular metal fork or spoon but that is wrong. It will completely scratch the bottom of your pot, you can easily burn your handle since the handle is not long enough and it wont give you the even mix and greatness of the good old fashioned wooden spoon. 

There are many different wooden spoons. They can be used for multiple things whilst cooking. For instance here are some uses of these wooden spoons pictured above from left to right. The two square spoons can be used as an egg flipper would be. Use it to make pancakes, eggs, sausage, burgers or anything that you will need to flip over during the cooking process. The round spoons are mainly used to cook anything else. Ground turkey, pasta, potatoes or anything that needs mixing or sautéing. The rounded wooden spoon with the 3 breathing hole in the center would be used mainly to cook vegetables. When you are boiling or steaming your vegetables or deep frying something when it is time to lift it up out of the pot, you would normally use this spoon because it will lift up your food and drain out its liquids at the same time; leaving you only with the solid piece. And lastly the fork looking wooden spoon would be used as a fork to fluff up your rice at the end of cooking or to separate ingredients in the pot as it cooks etc. Another use of this fork along with another rounded wooden spoon would give the same effect as the tongs. To toss/mix/plate a salad. If you do not own a pair of tongs. Use your wooden spoon as well to do the same thing.

Ladle

Used to pick up and serve soups, broths, beans or anything with lots of liquid. This is more of a serving spoon. Used at the time your food is already cooked and ready to plate, to facilitate the plating process.

Serving Spoons

From left to right: The big rounded spoon is used mainly to pick up foods from being deep fried, the round spoon with holes in the center is used to pick up and serve foods with liquids such as cooked vegetables, stews etc. The round spoon is used to serve most foods such as mashed potatoes, rice and anything else. The egg flipper serving spoon is used to serve (notice I used the word serve and not to cook with... Cooking is done with wooden spoons) any flat foods such as eggs, pancakes, lasagnas or anything that needs to be plated in the same form it is served in.

Placemats

Nowadays there are so many different gorgeous styles of placemats. You can get them in any shape, color, style or material. They are not only a great addition to your home decor but as well a necessity when serving your hot meals. Placemats are very useful to avoid rings that can destroy your furniture. Usually when your plate is too hot or too cold and you put it on your wooden or other material table it will leave a ring and on some materials it will not come off on others it will come off if you use the right product and attend to it immediately but most of the time will not come off if you don't handle the stain on the spot.

So in order to avoid this, use your placemats for your food as well as drinks whenever sitting at a table.

Okay thats all for today. But I will keep giving you tips of different tools you might or might not have in the kitchen and how to use them all.

From my kitchen to yours

God Bless