The Truth About Coolers…
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I am going to keep today’s lessons short. I have just spent about an hour reading every cooler review I can find. The best coolers are the standard looking hard-sided boxes with the tight fitting lid. It doesn’t really matter the brand, they all made the cut.
The soft sided coolers are good, but only for short time spans and are less cool (literally speaking).
Here is a couple online cooler options:
The Truth About Peelers…
Peelers are sometimes called vegetable peelers or potato peelers. They do have alternative uses beyond peeling, including shaving chocolate for a garnish, shaving cheese, and thinly slicing vegetables. Peelers are best at there job though with fruits and vegetables that aren’t to soft or juicy.
You should first look at how the peeler is connected to the handle much like you when shopping for knives. A wooden handle is considered less quality because the wood is so porous and can be home for bacteria. You should consider a plastic handle for comfort and sanitary reasons.
The specifics of the peelers design should be based largely on your personal preferences and hand sizes. The comfort in your hand is the most important element.
There are 3 different designs of peelers generally. The Lancashire peelers are generally the most commonly used with this style you hold the fruit and move the peeler towards yourself as you slice off the peel by digging into the fruit body.
The Y-peeler is like a razor for fruit and is used much the same way as you would go about shaving your legs. You generally push the peeler away from your body as you rub the “blade” across the fruit.
The third peeler type doesn’t really have a style name, but is becoming known as the Australian Peeler. This peeler is a plastic handle that supports the top and bottom of the blade and can rotate partially. This peeler has the cutting blade on the inside of the blade which makes it harder to cut yourself. However, if you are outside of Australia this style maybe hard to find and more expensive.
You should consider peelers based on your needs as well, most will offer some sort of element that will make it easy to clean out the eyes of the potatoes.
Do you want a straight blade or a serrated? There are both available.
Peelers are generally dishwasher safe, but pay attention to this. There are places that will still slip by one that is not. I suggest getting a dishwasher safe version even if you don’t use a dishwasher.
Your new peeler should come with at least a 1 year guarantee as well.
There is nothing like the ease of peeling with a properly sharp and comfortable in your hand peeler, so check your kitchen and make sure yours fits this description. If not consider getting something more appropriate.
For me, my peeler is the Australian style which I paid more for, but I love a great sweet potato which has a harder body and harder to peel skin. This style fits my needs best.
Here is a small variety of the peelers available:
The Truth About Pepper Mills…
Pepper mills are really rather simple devices. They use durable hardened steel grinders with the more high quality grinders having two levels of grinding. The first just splits the peppercorns and the second grinds it more finely. These style mills generally come with a lifetime guarantee.
To fill the mill, remove the top nut and fill then replace the nut. Turn the mill upside down and turn in a clockwise motion to grind.
Your mill will never need washed, but you can place a drop of mineral oil on the top nut and rub it down into the wood of the sides.
You should frequently use your mill to ensure your peppercorns stay fresh. If you rarely use the mill, you shouldn’t put many peppercorns it at a time. The peppercorn should be stored in airtight container away from sunlight and in the freezer is actually ideal.
Never put salt in a pepper mill, salt mills are made with a different grinding device and salt is very corrosive on your pepper mill.
Here are a few mills for your consideration:
The Truth About Skewers…
With Father’s Day just around the corner here, I thought I would tell you about one of the most manly tools out there. LOL…
Yeah, grill skewers.
Some are very basic being wooden/bamboo sticks, however, some are very complex multi-pronged pieces of metal.
Here are two examples of skewers, that will work for any project you are planning.
 circle kabob skewers - set of 8Price: $18.00 |
 cast iron twig skewers set of 8Price: $30.00 |
How to properly use skewers is often a mystery to even some great grillers, so I will break it down into steps here.
- If your using wooden skewers, you should soak them in water for at least 30 minutes to help eliminate the risk of them burning.
- Prepare your food for skewering, small is good, but consider the size it will be when finished cooking. Meat for example will shrink by about 1/3 sometimes more. I think pieces about an inch by and inch will generally cook to a good size for bites. Also consider cooking times for your food pieces as they all need to complete cooking at approximately the same time, so for example cherry tomatoes cook very fast, so the other veggies will have to be small enough to cook in that same time window.
- Make your skewers, yeah…this is the fun part. If you are using items that are particularly thin consider using multiple skewers.
- Cook it up… Use medium to medium low heat and have the ends of the skewers hanging off the edge of the grill area. Move the skewers as little as possible after it is cooking, this helps make sure the food stays tight onto the skewer.
- Eat, but make sure it has cooled enough to eat comfortably.
Wooden skewers should be tossed after a single use. If you grill frequently, consider getting some flat metal skewers which will last for years and will keep your food more secure because of the flat surface guarding against rotating food.
Here are a couple more skewer options: