Over the last month, I have gotten a lot of hits on the topic of the electric skillet. One question that has come up more than once, is can you bake in an electric skillet? Can I turn out a batch of chocolate chips cookies in such a device? In order to answer the question we first need to know what it means to be bake. Baking is exactly the same process as roasting. People typically use the word baking when creating sweet items like cookies, brownies, and cakes. People typically use roasting when cooking big hunks of meat, like beef, chicken, or turkey. Although no one seems to say I roasted a ham. Do you bake or roast your potatoes?

The process of baking or roasting involves cooking something with dry heat. If you are using liquid than you are braising or stewing. Baking/roasting involves two processes of cooking: radiation and convection. In an electric skillet your food is touching the source of heat, the bottom of the skillet, so this is not radiate heat, this is cooking via conduction. Convection involves cooking through the movement of air around the food. Air cannot move around the bottom of the food in an electric skillet, so convection isn’t taking place. So technically speaking it is not possible to bake in an electric skillet.

If you tried to make cookies in an electric skillet, they would not cook evenly. The bottom would easily burn, and if you are using one without a non-stick surface, then you would have to use oil in order for them not to stick and then you would be frying your cookies. The closet you would come to making cookies, is making pancakes. Pancakes are cooked via conduction and are flipped when one side is cooked.

In closing, keep your baking in a oven. Check out my electric skillet page for recipes that will work in an electric skillet.

One tool that I have found myself using more often in the kitchen over the last couple years is a pastry brush. It’s good for brushing butter, egg washes, sauces, and more! The problem with pastry brushes is that they are hard to clean. The classic wooden pastry brush with the bristles much like a paint brush, are very difficult to clean and the bristles will eventually start falling out. Silicone brushes were invented to fix this problem. However they created another problem. Silicone doesn’t hold liquids as well, so even though its easier to clean, it was harder to use. That is until someone had the bright idea to put a section of larger bristles with holes in them to help hold whatever you wanted to brush on. I purchased an Oxo brand one over a year ago and it has been the best pastry brush I have ever used. And it’s not very expensive, under $8. Anyone that has a use for a pastry brush I highly recommend you get one of these brushes, they are a time saver.

If you want to get the best flavor from your cheese than you need to grate it yourself. To grate it yourself you need a grater. The kind I recommend is the only one you will ever need – a box grater. A box grater is 4-sided, like a box. Each side should have a different size holes for shredding different types of cheeses and to shred them different sizes.

When choosing a box grater, there are two things that you should look for. Is it stable? You don’t want the cheese grater to be moving all over the table when you are at work, or you may end up with some nice cuts on your hands. I also like a grater that has a lid or container at the bottom, so that the chesee has somewhere to go. It also makes it easy to transport the cheese to it’s next location. A couple brands I like are Faberware (which is what I have) or Oxo. Alton Brown recommends in his book “Alton Brown’s Gear for Your Kitchen” a model from KitchenAid. $15-$20 is all you need to pay to end up with a reliable cheese grater tool in your kitchen.

Pepper is one of the most common spices in all the world. It’s been in uses for thousands of years. But many Americans don’t get to experience it’s true power, because they buy ground pepper. That is why I think every American kitchen need to trade in their pepper shaker for a pepper mill. Whole peppercorns that you crack yourself will provide you will flavor that is far beyond what you get out of a container of pre-ground stuff. The reason is when pepper is ground, oils are released that in time will dissipate, leaving you with a less desirable product.

When shopping for a pepper mill there is a couple things you need to look for. You want it to be easy to put pepper in. It shouldn’t take you a half hour to load the thing up. Next, you want to be able to grind the pepper without too much force. If you have to do all the work for the pepper mill, then you need to be looking for a different one. Lastly, you need to have one with an adjustable setting, so that you can get coarse, medium, and fine grinds.

Alton Brown of Good Eats fame recommends the Unicorn Magnum Pepper Mill. It does everything you need, plus it does it fast and holds a lot of pepper. What I don’t recommend is an electric model. They just don’t work well. If you have a good non-electric model, your not going to tire yourself out from grinding.

Let pepper be the “King of Spices” in your kitchen with your own pepper mill. It’s an investment in flavor.
To read my post on peppercorns, click here.

Frying pans are an essential kitchen tool. It’s one of those tools that you use often, so you want to make a wise investment. Cheap frying pans won’t do the job well and they won’t last. Most of the time when using a frying pan you want to use it over high heat, so you want it really hot. If your frying pan does not have a heavy bottom it won’t be able to conduct and even distribute the heat. With these things in mind, there are three types of frying pans I would recommend having on hand: nonstick, stainless steel, and cast iron.

Non-Stick

These pans are you want when you are concerned about cleaning the pan when you are done. I always use a nonstick frying pan whenever I am making scrambled eggs. I also steam broccoli in mine.

Stainless Steel

There are times you want a pan where things will stick to the bottom. If you are browing a piece of meat in a pan and want to make a sauce for said meat, then you will want to de-glaze, which is using a liquid to get everything that stuck to the bottom of the pan off. That stuff on the bottom is full of flavor, so you don’t want to waste it. But if you have a non-stick pan you won’t have those flavorful bits on the bottom.

Cast Iron

Cast Iron is a great choice when you want your pan really hot, like when browing a chunk of meat for a pot roast. The nice thing about cast iron is when you introduce something cold to it, it doesn’t lose much in the way of temperature. I have seen people use these pans for making cornbread in, which brings me to another advantage of cast iron, it can take any heat your oven can dish out.

So whatever you choose make sure you are getting a quality pan. Also think about your needs, what are you going to cook in it? There are times when it’s nice to have multiple sized pan around. You may not want a huge pan if you are going scrambled eggs for one person. A good frying pan equals a happy cook.

Americans love to deep fried food. We love deep frying potatoes, shrimp, onions rings, and other sorts of things. You can do some serious deep frying at home. For those that are looking for a easier way to deep fry, try out an electric deep fryer. One of the biggest issues in deep frying food is keeping a constant temperature, an electric deep fryer is the best thing to do that. All you have to do is set the temperature and wait for the light to indicate your oil is ready. Most models are cool touch, so you won’t burn your hand if you touch the outside of the fryer during cooking.

The deep fryer I own is made by Rival. My exact model is not offered anymore, but I have had mine for over 5 years and it is still working just fine. So unless you have the bucks to spend, I would recommend going with a Rival model. They give you the bang for your buck. The only thing I didn’t like about mine is that the basket is not easy to put back together once you clean it (the handle comes over and is hard to put on). But that’s really the only negative about it. I enjoy deep frying breaded shrimp in mine (click here for my recipe). If you haven’t deep fried at home before, why not give it a try, you will enjoy it!

The cutting board – the best friend of the knife (or it’s worst enemy?) is an essential tool that every kitchen needs. But not just any cutting board will do. There are numerous cutting boards available today. I think only two materials should be considered when buying a cutting boards : wood and plastic. You should stay far far away from glass cutting boards. Although they may be pretty and easy to clean, they will do a number on your knives. The surface of glass will cause your knives to dull and dull knives means you need to put more pressure to use them and that can lead to some serious injuries. Metal, granite, and marble also are pretty, but will dull your knives.

So that leaves us with plastic and wood. I would recommend having both. Why? Wood really is the best surface to cut on. However, the problem with wood is that when dealing with raw meat it’s easy for the wood to pick up bacteria that you will not enjoy along with your food. So for raw meat I use plastic, but for everything else it’s wood all the way. On an episode of Good Eats, Alton Brown mentioned that his favorite type of wood cutting board is made of rock maple. It’s not cheap, but it’s a good investment that with the proper care, will be with you for a long time.

Once you have your cutting board it’s important to take good care of it. Clean your boards with soap and water after every use. Once and a while it’s good to take some white distilled vinegar and rub down your board (whether it’s plastic or wood). Rinse the vinegar off and let the board air dry. You can also put plastic boards into your dishwasher. Never do that with wooden boards, it will ruin them.

Over time your boards will get cuts in them. With wood you can use some sand paper and smooth out the surface. Make sure you sand it with the grain. Then apply a coat of mineral oil that you can find at any neighborhood pharmacy. Never use oils meant for cooking. They could possibly go rancid. Never use furniture oils, because they are poisonous. The downfall with plastic boards is that when they get cuts in them, you can’t sand them, and you really have to buy a new one, as it’s important to get them perfectly clean and free of bacteria.

So stop using a plate, your counter top, or whatever you are using to cut things on and get yourself a plastic and wooden cutting board. It will make the job you are doing easier and keep your knives sharper longer.

This is part of a series of posts on tools that have made my life in the kitchen easier and more productive.

Cast Iron cookware isn’t anything new, it’s been around for hundreds of years. The Lodge company, makes of cast iron cookware, have aren’t new either. They have been around since 1896, making them one of the oldest companies in the United States. If you are looking for classic, all-American cast iron cookware that is reliable and won’t empty your wallet, then Lodge is the way to go. But first, why would you even want some cast iron? It’s not easy to clean and if you don’t take care of it, it can rust up on you. Well my reasons are that cast iron is excellent at heat rention as well as diffusing that heat. I can grill a steak on cast iron and have it taste almost like one grilled on a grill. I can cook some soup and it will stay warm in the pot for a long time. I also like cast iron in that I can go from stovetop to oven without a second thought. One more advantage to cast iron is that it actually adds iron to your food which can be beneficial for those that are in need of more iron in their diet.

Below are the pieces of cast iron that I own from the Lodge company:

1. Dutch Oven

I use my dutch oven to make soups, salisbury steaks, and pot roast. I like that I can brown my meat in that same thing that I am going to use to cook it in (save time on washing dishes).

2. Grill Pan

I use my grill pan to grill anything from steaks to chicken, to even asparagus. I also have used my grill pan inside my oven with the broiler setting on to grill up some eye of round steaks (see my post on how to cook an eye of round steak).

3. Griddle

I use my griddle to cook hamburgers, make tortillas, and english muffins. The griddle has really short edges, making it easy to flip what I am cooking with a spatula.

These are only a few of the cast iron products from Lodge. They also make many other type of dutch ovens, different size and shaped grill pans and griddles, skillets of various sizes, and more!

Christmas is fast approaching and you may find yourself still looking for that perfect gift for someone. In this entry, I will give you some great ideas for small appliances (or fun gadgets with plugs) that would make excellent gifts this year.

1. Ice Cream Maker

They say that we all scream for ice cream, so why not give a gift that will keep the receipent screaming all year long. This ice cream maker from Cuisinart works really well and it won’t break the bank. Keep the Ben and Jerry’s at the store, and churn your own premium ice cream.

2. Electric Coffee/Spice Grinder

If you have a coffee lover in your family, then give them the ability to grind up their own beans. Not only is a coffee ginder good for doing the obvious, it is also good for grinding up whole spices (thank you Alton Brown for that idea!), so that you can get the most flavor out of them by grinding them yourself.

3. Electric Kettle

For someone who makes a lot of tea and coffee, this would make a great gift. Electric kettles heat up water, a lot quicker and safer than any other method. They are also good if you need hot water on hand at a moment’s notice such as making homemade chicken stock and you need to add more water now and then.

4. Immerison (Stick) Blender

These types of blender are convient when you need to puree somethign that is already in a pot and you don’t want to have to move it to your regular blender. I use mine all the time for soups, pureeing fruit for ice cream or sorbet, and making baby food when our daughter was younger.

5. Electric Griddle

For someone with a big family this electric griddle may be a lifesaver. This griddle allows you plenty of space to cook and flip pancakes and hamburgers.

You want to make your Thanksgiving cooking experience an easier and more flavorful one? I would suggest having the following kitchen tools at your disposal.

1. Probe Therometer

The number one thing you need to have a moist turkey on Thanksgiving Day is a probe therometer. The best way to tell if your bird is done is to check it’s temperature. Ignore those pop-up therometers that come in some birds,  I would never trust those. Also ignore what it says on the package for how long to cook per pound. There are too many factors that figure into play to make that an accurate method. A therometer is the only way and a prop one gives you the ability to follow the temperature without letting heat out of your oven by openning the door.

2. Roasting Pan w/Rack

You will need something to cook that turkey in and the best thing for the job is a roasting pan that comes with a rack that has handles. This will enable you to remove the turkey from the pan and to the cutting board without any trouble. The last thing you want to do is try to move the turkey to it’s carving place directly from pan and accidentally send it to the floor

3. Electric Knife

No one wants to spend all day carving their turkey, so reaching for an electric knife is an obvious choice. No Thanksgiving dinner should be without one.

4. Stock Pot

Once all that remains of your turkey is bones, you might be tempted to just throw them away. That would surely be a waste. Those bones with a little help can be turned into a great tasting turkey stock. What I did last year, is I cooked a turkey breast before Thanksgiving Day and turned those books into a stock that I used as the basis for the best testing gravy around. In order to do this your going to need a stock pot. A stock pot can also be used for preparing a brine to add flavor to your Thanksgiving bird.

5. Heating Pad

No, this isn’t for the person that hurt their arm, by using it too much to stuff too much food down their gullet. One of the biggest problems Thanksgiving Day is trying to keep all those dishes warm while waiting for the turkey to finish and guests to arrive. By placing a heating pad underneath your food, you will be able to keep it warm so that it can be at its best when everyone is ready to dig it.