Cooking
Kitchen Essentials: Filling Your Utensil Jar
Stir, toss, serve, and more with ease.
Whether you’re new to cooking or a culinary expert, having the right kitchen utensils is essential. Here are 5 must-haves to help you stir, toss, serve, and more with ease. Keep these in a utensil jar on the counter for easy access and everyday use!
Wooden Spoon
A classic tool for stovetop cooking, wooden spoons are as great for caramelizing onions as they are for stirring a pot of soup. To clean, dish soap and a good scrubbing are great for daily use. For a deep clean, add your wooden spoons to a large pot of boiling water and boil for 10-15 minutes once a month. The boiling water will draw out even the toughest-to-scrub impurities from the spoon.
Spatula
There’s a lot of variety in the world of spatulas. In this case, we’re talking about rubber or silicone spatulas. We recommend you keep 2 in your utensil jar: one small and one large. A small spatula should be slim enough to fit into a jar to scrape out the last bits of peanut butter (or jam, mustard, chili paste, you name it!) from the container. A big spatula should make it easy to transfer batters or sauces from one bowl to another without leaving any behind. Look for spatulas that are 1 piece and heatproof. Hand wash with dish soap or pop in the dishwasher if safe to do so.
Tongs
For turning, tossing, serving, and beyond! Tongs are a versatile kitchen tool that definitely belong within arm’s reach. Use tongs to gently turn proteins like chicken, steak, or burgers on the stove without risk of splatter. Tongs are also an A+ choice to toss a salad so that every leaf gets a taste of your dressing of choice. Hand wash and dry your tongs to avoid any rust build-up.
Fish Spatula
Don’t be fooled by the name, a fish spatula can be used for more than fish. As its name suggests, it’s a great option for moving delicate, flaky fish like cod, tilapia, or salmon. It’s also good for shoveling up roasted vegetables from a sheet tray, or transferring sliced chicken from a cutting board to a serving plate. Fish spatulas often have wooden handles and an angled, slotted surface for food, so it’s best to hand wash and dry. Once you use a fish spatula a few times we’re pretty sure you’ll want to call it an everything spatula, too.
Ladle
One of the more specific tools in your utensil arsenal, the ladle is an important part of your kitchen basics. Soups and stews are practically unservable without one. Add your ladle handle-side down into your utensil jar to keep the bowl from getting stuck under your other utensils. Soup, anyone?
