"The Small Drawer" - Kitchen Gadgets
Dave Koch | Tuesday, October 6, 2009 at 9:00AM 
Every good kitchen has a bunch of gadgets. They keep well in drawers, some used rarely, some never. Earlier we examined "The Big Drawer," those tools that stir, scoop, shred, and otherwise make a meal happen. Here we examine "The Small Drawer," those gadgets that we could live without, but they really really come in handy.
They measure, they shred, they peel. Like I said, we could cook without them, but we'd rather not. Here is our list of gadgets which you will find in "The Small Drawer":
Tea Ball
Measuring Cups
Measuring Spoons
Can Opener
Serving Spoons
Pizza Cutter - almost weekly (we like this one
Bench Scraper
Vegetable Peelers (4 total, 2 Lancashire peelers and 2 "Y" peelers) - almost weekly
Hand-held Cheese Plane
Garlic Press
Ice Cream Scooper - almost weekly (we like this one
Candy Thermometer
Pastry Blender
Very Small Spatula
Hand Mixer Beaters
Small Metal Spatulas (a Mini Off-set Icing Spatula and a Straight one) - rarely
Spaghetti Measuring Tool
Pastry Brush
Zester
Melon Baller
Muddler
Citrus Reamer
Small Whisks (2) - like this 3-Piece Whisk Set
What useless gadgets are you secretly harboring in your kitchen junk drawer?
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Reader Comments (2)
My. What a sizable gadget drawer you have! Enough room for a Melon Baller and a Citrus Reamer? Oh the envy ;)
I didn't see Microplane on your list... but if you have the room, I highly recommend one. Fun stuff!
I was going to say, the kitchen gadget section of stores are my weakness. Everything's priced just-so that I can justify spending nearly my whole paycheck on unitaskers that seemed like a good idea at the time. And then I look at them later and I'm like, olive grabber?? WTF?! I must say I have a giant tea ball-looking thing that's more for steeping spices in mulled wine, but I use it for making broth (holds all the loose spices and don't need cheesecloth), and by bf uses it for beermaking, for similar steeping. The microplane gets used a lot more than I thought -- always adding fresh nutmeg to things. The mellon baller is great when I'm hollowing out squash to stuff/roast, and for coring apples and pears for pastries. And by the way, I saw the FoodBuzz nominations and dammit, YOU WERE ROBBED!! I was totally expecting to see your blog up there, as you deserved a nomination. I sure as hell voted for you!