Spring has officially arrived! Time to take stock of your kitchen cupboards and update your kitchen appliances and tools. We love the upgrades to these particular kitchen tools. And the introduction of a new must-have appliance for our kitchen arsenal.
Sous Vide Your Dinner Tonight
Credit: C. W. Cameron
Credit: C. W. Cameron
Sous vide is more than a trend. It's a very real cooking method moving from restaurant kitchens to home kitchens at lightning speed. Seal your food into a foodsafe plastic bag and then lower it into gently circulating water that's held at a precise temperature. It's brilliant for seafood and meat and anything you don't want to overcook. Sansaire makes a sleek home sous vide machine that takes practically no space in your kitchen storage. It will work in any container that will hold water deep enough to immerse what you're cooking, so no need for a special pot. It's so quiet, you'll wonder if it's even running. But it is, cooking your food gently and evenly and then keeping it at the right temperature until you're ready to serve. $199. Available at Williams-Sonoma, Bed Bath & Beyond, Sur La Table and Target. sansaire.com/sous-vide-machine/
A Silicone Pan That Works
Credit: C. W. Cameron
Credit: C. W. Cameron
Did you try silicone pans when they first came out? The premise was great – everything you baked would slide right out. But the pans were floppy and I found them difficult to use. Now the Trudeau Corporation has come up with a way to make the pans sturdy. They added a steel rim so the pans are easy to handle and they added the rim to eight different cake, muffin and cookie pans. It's such a great idea that the pans were a 2017 Housewares Design Awards "Best in Category" winner for Cookware and Bakeware. Note that the pans are made of a special dark silicone so your baked goods will brown quickly, cook evenly and crisp beautifully. You might want to reduce the oven temperature just a bit when using. $27.99 for a 9-inch round baking pan. The Mercantile, 1370 Buford Highway, Cumming. 678-341-9906. themercantileco.com www.trudeau.com
A Mini-Oven Lunch Bag
Credit: C. W. Cameron
Credit: C. W. Cameron
This is brilliant - a lunch bag-sized appliance that can cook a frozen meal, reheat leftovers or work like a slow cooker taking ingredients from raw to cooked. The Hot Logic Mini is billed as a personal portable electric oven. It works with any sealed flat bottom container to cook or heat a meal. Combine oats, liquid and fruit, plug it in and in two hours, you've got hot oatmeal. Combine frozen ravioli and some spaghetti sauce and head to work. Plug it in and a few hours later you're enjoying a hot lunch at your desk. No dealing with that messy office microwave. You can take it on vacation and heat up meals in your hotel room! There are several packages. Each includes an insulated bag and the "low-slow conductive heating system." You can also buy one with a car adapter. The systems come alone or with Pyrex or silicone containers. $39.95 for the bag and heating system. hotlogicmini.com/collections/buy-now
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