Hardware tools for the kitchen?

In article <[email hidden]>,

aem said:

OmManiPadmeOmelet said:

Thought this might be a fun thread idea. :-)
What tools do you have in the kitchen for food prep that you bought from
a hardware store and adapted to cooking?

Hacksaw
Blow torch

and Pastorio suggested microplaners which I'm going to have to
investigate. [snip]

I've got a small blow torch, small pliers, and a flashlight (for the
oven, which has no light). Oh, and a couple of sharpening stones. The
microplaner I got at a kitchen place. Hardware store is worth checking
out, though you might have more of an initial cleaning to do. -aem

It's on the shopping list......
--
Om.

"My mother never saw the irony in calling me a son-of-a-[censored]." -Jack Nicholson

In article <[email hidden]>,

Lisa Ann said:

Bob (this one) said:

needle-nosed pliers for removing fish bones
Vise-Grip pliers to hold the pasta roller to the benchtop
torch for meringues, pepper skins, caramelizing grapes rolled in sugar
chisels for carving vegetable garnishes
tile cutter for precision in making baking sheets covered with tiles
taping knife (like a wide putty knife) for scraping baking boards and
spreading frosting
small paint roller for oiling baking sheets (if doing a lot of baking)
Microplanes for grating
etc.

Pastorio

Wow, truly you are a resourceful and creative soul!

For some reason, though, this reminds me of my ex-husband's back
surgery...I was reading the Operating Room Report and encountered
something I didn't normally associate with surgical tools...a torque
wrench. I can still picture his surgeon stepping aside to let Dr.
Goodwrench do his thing, then resuming. <g>

Was he getting screws/pins installed?
A torque wrench would probably be very necessary to keep from damaging
bone?

Any surgeons on the list? :-)

Quoted message said:

Thanks for the hint on where to find microplanes!

Lisa Ann

--
Om.

"My mother never saw the irony in calling me a son-of-a-[censored]." -Jack Nicholson

Wayne Boatwright said:

I've got two sizes of rubber-headed mallets (look like small sledge-hammers)
that I use for pounding things chicken breasts, veal scallops, etc. I think
I only paid ~$5.00 for both.

I have one too... it's called a plumber's mallet (I think that was a
"Julia" suggestion many years ago).

OmManiPadmeOmelet said:

In article <[email hidden]>,

Lisa Ann said:

For some reason, though, this reminds me of my ex-husband's back
surgery...I was reading the Operating Room Report and encountered
something I didn't normally associate with surgical tools...a torque
wrench. I can still picture his surgeon stepping aside to let Dr.
Goodwrench do his thing, then resuming. <g>

Was he getting screws/pins installed?
A torque wrench would probably be very necessary to keep from damaging
bone?

Any surgeons on the list? :-)

LOL - No surgeons needed to explain...yes, he was having screws and
plates "installed". (And they may call them screws, but I've seen the
X-Rays...these suckers are *bolts*!) And yes, his doc explained to me
that a sterile torque wrench is essential. It still made me laugh
though.

Then again, I laugh at very strange things...when the doc came out to
talk to me after the 10+ hour surgery, once I found out the ex was
doing okay, my next question was..."What do you do when you have to use
the bathroom?"

As my friends at work constantly tell me, "LA...you're just not
*right*!"

Lisa Ann

OmManiPadmeOmelet said:

Thought this might be a fun thread idea. :-)
What tools do you have in the kitchen for food prep that you bought from
a hardware store and adapted to cooking?

Hacksaw
Blow torch

and Pastorio suggested microplaners which I'm going to have to
investigate.

Hacksaws are used for cutting bones primarily, and a blow torch is used
for crisping custards etc. and for singing hair feathers when I'm
processing my own poultry.

Anyone else?

Pliers

An oyster farmer who came in to the Greenmarket for a few years would
teach people who didn't know how to shuck oysters a trick I don't
need. His 10-year-old daughter would take a pair of pliers and break a
notch out of the shell edges opposite the hinge. Then it was easy to
cut the adductor muscle and open the shell.

His oysters had thin shell edges that made this very easy, but they
would not look good served on the half-shell if you did that. But for
other uses I don't see any problem.

Rodney Myrvaagnes J 36 Gjo/a

Kansas--working to become a science-free zone

osmium said:

o Water pump pliers to open small jars tops.

That's a doable idea! What do you use for the bigguns?

sf
whose under counter top remover came down last month (held up by glue,
not screws, for built in obsolesce)

PS - anyone know where would I look for another one?

"sf" <[email hidden]> wrote in message
news:[email hidden]...

Quoted message said:

osmium said:

o Water pump pliers to open small jars tops.

That's a doable idea! What do you use for the bigguns?

sf

The smaller strap wrenches work great for all size jars and bottles
J

sf said:

osmium said:

o Water pump pliers to open small jars tops.

That's a doable idea! What do you use for the bigguns?

I have a drawer full of a variety of jar openers. My favorite is a Dazey
with machined steel jaws that really grip and the operator can control the
pressure with a crank. I would guess it is virtually impossible to find,
except by luck at an estate sale or something such as that.

Janet Bostwick said:

"sf" <[email hidden]> wrote in message
news:[email hidden]...

Quoted message said:

osmium said:

o Water pump pliers to open small jars tops.

That's a doable idea! What do you use for the bigguns?

sf

The smaller strap wrenches work great for all size jars and bottles
J

That's a good idea, Janet... thanks!

A putty knife, co-opted into a stubby, offset spatula; it's become one of my
favorite baking tools.

Microplanes rock!

Huffy
--
"Home, James, and don't spare the horses!"
***************************

Quoted message said:

Thought this might be a fun thread idea. :-)
What tools do you have in the kitchen for food prep that you bought from
a hardware store and adapted to cooking?

Hacksaw
Blow torch

and Pastorio suggested microplaners which I'm going to have to
investigate.

Hacksaws are used for cutting bones primarily, and a blow torch is used
for crisping custards etc. and for singing hair feathers when I'm
processing my own poultry.

Anyone else?
--
Om.

"My mother never saw the irony in calling me a son-of-a-[censored]." -Jack

Nicholson

On Sat 29 Oct 2005 12:35:15p, sf wrote in rec.food.cooking:

Quoted message said:

Wayne Boatwright said:

I've got two sizes of rubber-headed mallets (look like small
sledge-hammers) that I use for pounding things chicken breasts, veal
scallops, etc. I think I only paid ~$5.00 for both.

I have one too... it's called a plumber's mallet (I think that was a
"Julia" suggestion many years ago).

That was what prompted me to get them.

--
Wayne Boatwright *¿*
_____________________________

http://tinypic.com/eikz78.jpg

Meet Mr. Bailey

OmManiPadmeOmelet said:

Bob (this one) said:

OmManiPadmeOmelet said:

Thought this might be a fun thread idea. :-)
What tools do you have in the kitchen for food prep that you bought from
a hardware store and adapted to cooking?

Hacksaw
Blow torch

and Pastorio suggested microplaners which I'm going to have to
investigate.

Hacksaws are used for cutting bones primarily, and a blow torch is used
for crisping custards etc. and for singing hair feathers when I'm
processing my own poultry.

Anyone else?

needle-nosed pliers for removing fish bones

Yes.

Quoted message said:

Vise-Grip pliers to hold the pasta roller to the benchtop

Never thought of that! That might solve our problem with the Victorio
strainer. I think I'm just going to get a motor for it tho'.

Quoted message said:

torch for meringues, pepper skins, caramelizing grapes rolled in sugar

Yep. I'm going to have to try mine for carmelizing.

Quoted message said:

chisels for carving vegetable garnishes

You have too much time on your hands. <lol>

Holdover from the restaurant years. When I was charging $50 for an
entree, it had better be great food, presented brilliantly.

We carved chains, recognizable animals, fanciful creatures like dragons,
trees, boats... All sorts of things, most of them edible.

Quoted message said:

Quoted message said:

tile cutter for precision in making baking sheets covered with tiles

I've never baked on tiles?
I do use large tiles for trivets tho'.

Line a baking sheet with sides with unglazed, lead-free tiles and use it
like the deck in a pizza oven.

Quoted message said:

Quoted message said:

taping knife (like a wide putty knife) for scraping baking boards and
spreading frosting
small paint roller for oiling baking sheets (if doing a lot of baking)

That's a neat idea, but sounds messy?

When you're doing 50 batches, who cares about mess? Takes a few people
to do it; one cleans.

Quoted message said:

Quoted message said:

Microplanes for grating

On the shopping list!

Quoted message said:

etc.

Hey don't stop now!
You were on a roll!!!

Wire brush for cleaning cutting boards.

Once I tried a jackplane to get thin slices of frozen meat. Not one of
my successes.

I've connected my variable speed electric drill to my pasta roller when
I was making a lot of pasta at one time. It worked, but it was a
nuisance to set up and deal with. Held down the trigger with duct tape
(what else?), but it kept slowing down as the tape stretched and
distorted. Still, it worked better than it would have if I'd been trying
to crank by hand.

Pastorio

Wayne Boatwright said:

On Sat 29 Oct 2005 12:35:15p, sf wrote in rec.food.cooking:

Quoted message said:

Wayne Boatwright said:

I've got two sizes of rubber-headed mallets (look like small
sledge-hammers) that I use for pounding things chicken breasts, veal
scallops, etc. I think I only paid ~$5.00 for both.

I have one too... it's called a plumber's mallet (I think that was a
"Julia" suggestion many years ago).

That was what prompted me to get them.

One of my kids gave me a Dead-blow mallet with shot in it. It doesn't
bounce when it hits. Wonderful. But definitely strange until you get
used to it. Smack a piece of veal and it just sits there after the hit.

Pastorio

OmManiPadmeOmelet said:

Thought this might be a fun thread idea. :-)
What tools do you have in the kitchen for food prep that you bought from
a hardware store and adapted to cooking?

Hacksaw
Blow torch

and Pastorio suggested microplaners which I'm going to have to
investigate.

Hacksaws are used for cutting bones primarily, and a blow torch is used
for crisping custards etc. and for singing hair feathers when I'm
processing my own poultry.

Anyone else?

Needle nose pliers for salmon pin bones. And my microplane, of
course.

modom

In article <[email hidden]>,
Pan Ohco <[email hidden]> wrote:
(snippage)

Quoted message said:

Quoted message said:

Quoted message said:

I've got a 6" wide Red Devil "bench knife" -- I think it's supposed to
be for spreading the stuff you use when you're taping sheetrock.

Frosting spreader? :-)

I think that a notched (for spreading adhesive) trowel would give cake
frosting a distinctive pattern

Pan Ohco

You can buy "cake decorating combs" for just such a purpose, too.
--
http://www.jamlady.eboard.com, updated 10-20-05 with a note from Niece Jo.

In article <[email hidden]>,

Bob (this one) said:

Wire brush for cleaning cutting boards.

Hmmmmm... Mine don't get that messy?
Copper scrubby at the worst...

Quoted message said:

Once I tried a jackplane to get thin slices of frozen meat. Not one of
my successes.

Sounds hilarious.
I can get pretty thin cuts on partially frozen with a cleaver, (or a
chef's knife) but I can see why you'd want a faster method.

Quoted message said:

I've connected my variable speed electric drill to my pasta roller when
I was making a lot of pasta at one time. It worked, but it was a
nuisance to set up and deal with. Held down the trigger with duct tape
(what else?), but it kept slowing down as the tape stretched and
distorted. Still, it worked better than it would have if I'd been trying
to crank by hand.

Pastorio

Love it! ;-D
There is a motor for the Victorio strainer, that might work on a pasta
roller?

Thanks!
--
Om.

"My mother never saw the irony in calling me a son-of-a-[censored]." -Jack Nicholson

In article <[email hidden]>,

OmManiPadmeOmelet said:

I've always just pounded meat with a flat, smooth metal meat mallet. The
one I have is two sided. Smooth on one side and short pyramid shaped
"teeth" on the other side.

Our meat mallet has teeth on both sides, one coarser than the other. We
just whack the meat with the side of it.

:-)

--
Dan Abel
[email hidden]
Petaluma, California, USA

In article <[email hidden]>,

OmManiPadmeOmelet said:

Anyone else?

OK, so we did the shop tools for cooking and medicine. How about
medical stuff? My father had a whole set of hypodermics that he used
for oiling hard to reach places. Some people use them in the kitchen
for injecting brine and flavored stuff into meat before cooking.

--
Dan Abel
[email hidden]
Petaluma, California, USA

OmManiPadmeOmelet said:

Thought this might be a fun thread idea. :-)
What tools do you have in the kitchen for food prep that you bought from
a hardware store and adapted to cooking?

Hacksaw
Blow torch

Pliers for skinning catfish. Clamp and PULL.

-L.

"Dan Abel" <[email hidden]> wrote in message
news:[email hidden]...

Quoted message said:

In article <[email hidden]>,

OmManiPadmeOmelet said:

Anyone else?

OK, so we did the shop tools for cooking and medicine. How about
medical stuff? My father had a whole set of hypodermics that he used
for oiling hard to reach places. Some people use them in the kitchen
for injecting brine and flavored stuff into meat before cooking.

Yes indeed I use a large hypodermic syringe. It was very difficult to
get though. I tried several pharmacists but they wouldn't give me one
unless I had a dirty needle to hand in <???>

Eventually I got one when I was being treated for a serious infection
last year. Because I was on IV antibiotics for several months, I had a
Hickman line inserted and was taught to do it myself at home. Suddenly
from not being trusted with a single one, I was given boxes of the
things🙂)