Thursday, May 24, 2012

The Implements of Construction


The Implements of Construction

Today I have decided to take a brief departure from recipes to discuss those items which you need to implement said recipes. We are all aware of the utter plethora of various kitchen gadgets and devices that are available on the market but money and space is limited so the question is what to get and as money doesn't grow on trees (I know this as I tried planting a loony) how much to spend.

I guess the first thing that should be determined first is what is the single most important tool in the kitchen. Well for that we are looking for the most versatile piece of equipment that we have that can perform the largest number of functions in the kitchen, and when looked at from that angle the answer is obvious (if it wasn't already) that this tool is the chef's knife.

This isn’t because because knifes are so f'n cool (although we both know they are) but the knife is in fact so important in the act of cooking that I would suggest being willing to spend at least half your kitchen budget on a top quality knife and steel if you are shopping on a limited budget. One of the things is if you are patient enough most of the other really necessary tools can be found in an acceptable shape and quality at places like thrift and second hand stores but that rarely if ever goes for knives.

So the next question arises, well how does one choose the right knife? Well there are few major things to look for to see if you have the right knife. The first and most important is of course the quality of the steel from which the knife is made. The thing is I could get very technical and try talking out of my ass about number grades and whatnot that I don’t really know anything about or I could quite simply just breakdown for you what I do know.

First off look at where the steel is from as there are some countries that are well known for making great steel blades such as Germany, France, Spain, Portugal, and Japan. Conversely there are other countries that are known for producing low or consumer grade steel knives which are softer and can be prone to 'pitting' such as much of eastern Europe and China thus steel from these locals is generally to be avoided.

Second check the balance of the knife on your standard 10”-12” chef's knife the balance point should ideally be about 1/2”-3/4” down the blade from the handle. If the balance on the knife is off that often will indicate problems or irregularities with the blade construction.

Third look at the 'Tang' of the blade, the tang is the portion of the knife steel that extends beyond the blade into the handle. Does the tang run all the way through the handle? If not it may indicate a weak point in the knife.

Fourth look at the 2 profiles of the blade. The first is simply the front to back profile, does the blade have a nice curve to the edge without being too extreme so that the knife can rock back and forth nicely using a minimum of up and down hand movement. The second profile is the back profile of the blade. Look at the very back of the blade holding the knife out in front of you. If the blade remains the top thickness for the first third of the way down before the bevel to the blade begins this is ideal.

Finally look at how well the edge is ground. A brand new top quality chef's knife should be razor sharp, with a small but barely noticeable 'hollow' at the edge (like the curves on the bottom of a valentine's heart).

Now that you have the right knife the question is how to properly care for it. The easiest and most important thing I can stress as far as this goes is getting a decent knife sharpening steel and sharpening the blade a few times every use or every other use, as long as the blade is kept sharp it shouldn’t need major sharpening which can really shorten the blade life. Also never use 'scotchbrite' pads or anything else that is abrasive to clean your knife, really as long as you clean your knife right after use it should require little more than a rinse of water and a wipe with a towel.

So you ask now Why in gods name did you just bore us with all this useless crap about knives? Well simply the knife can take the place of almost every kitchen gadget out there on the market and do the job just as well as the specialized gadget and often better. When you have a good knife you don't need a garlic press, a food processor, a meat grinder, a grater, and the list goes on.

Now of course a knife alone won't cook you a meal other implements will be needed. Probably next on your list after the right knife is a small selection of pots and pans. For this your most important piece is probably a 4-6 qt. Saucepan because if you have no other pots and pans you can still do just about anything you want that can be done on a stove top in a medium saucepan. Next you would want a 12”-14” frying pan and finally a small saucepan around 1-1.5 qt. You will also need some sort of oven pan but nothing special just a simple ceramic or corning ware oven pan will do and you can get them all the time at thrift stores for next to nothing. Once you have these pots and pans you are fairly well set, sure sometime a few others here and there would be really nice but you should be able to accomplish just about anything you want with these.

I don’t have too much more to say about picking out your pots and pans other than to stress AVOID NON-STICK AT ALL COSTS!!! Go with stainless steel or cast iron or even glass/ceramic over non-stick any day because I’ve yet to find the food mess that soaking in hot water for a half hour wont solve with the exception of burnt rice and that will destroy your non-stick pots as well.

You will of course want to finish out your collection of tools with some of the standard fare such as spatulas, cooking spoons, cutting boards etc... but all that should be fairly easy to come by at a fairly inexpensive price (once again thrift and second hand stores hint,...hint,...)

Bleeding Teddy – The Bachelor Gourmet

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