What's The Best Kitchen Gadget You've Discovered?
Decorating By Cookie4 Updated 20 Mar 2007 , 8:11pm by Jenn123
What's the best kitchen gadget you've discovered?
Recently at a Cake Club meeting someone who owns a bakery mentioned using a scooper for everything from Crisco to brown sugar to flour. After a trip to my local restaurant supply store I purchased a #8 ice cream scooper which holds exactly 4 oz (1/2 c) of dry or wet material. This is truly a lifesaver, I just love how it quickly releases the crisco not to mention brown sugar and flour. 
Do any of you have favorite kitchen gadgets for baking that you just can't live without?
Bake even strips work for me, so I really like 'em
I have been wanting to pick some up...but always forget grrr.
Oh and my fav is whoever wants to clean up for me after I am done, sometimes my mom is nice and does some dishes..so can I pick her?
PS Hello from Houston to you ! Nice to see someone else from H town, though I hail from Tomball myself!
2 things:
my microwave for cleaning all my tips, bags and couplers. Nope, never had an explosion yet.
AND what I bought today. It's big, red and has lots of drawers. Yep, it's a craftsman tool box!!!!! I live in a 1200 sq. ft. apt. so not much room. However I do have a roomy walk in closet and wheels on my giant tool box so I can wheel it into my kitchen. No more stacking boxes in my sons closet. I even rolled yes rolled it up a flight of stairs and put it together myself. It was $68.00 at Wal Mart. I'm sooo happy I finally have something to organize my stuff!!!!!!!!
Hi Aliwis000 - Tomball is our favorite place to go for Bar-B-Q at the Rib Tickler. Hope to see you there someday. Do you shop at the large Hobby Lobby in Tomball where there's a great supply of cake decorating items and books too?
Oh now you have gone and done it...I will be having a stuffed baked potato Saturday for sure now lol Rib Tickler is so good! Honestly as far as I know in Tomball there is only Hobby Lobby and then the usual Michael's and such in the surrounding areas etc. I am still a newbie so the basics are all I need. As far as books the ones I have gotten have been off Ebay or overstock.com. PS WalMart carries a few wilton cake things..I know I use disposable bags and they are cheaper there. If you do find a good neat cake store please let me know, I would love to go and salivate at all the cool cake stuff.
keonicakes - Good for you!!!! I've looked at those large roll around tool boxes at Sams and Costco and have been trying to get my husband to knock out all my lower cabinets and replace them all with roll arounds lol! I love the shallow drawers (perfect for tools of all sizes) and the way the rollers feel (very smooth pulling). Do you think one tool box will really be enough for you????????
I love those strips but unfortunately need some in every size. A woman in a recent Gum Paste class mentioned that someone purchased a set for her that had velcro instead of those awful pins. Does anyone know where to find strips with velcro?
You can actually make your own using towling but I have never tried the real ones so I can't exactly compare. I just know layers of terrycloth works. The velcro sounds like a neat way to fasten it though.
For me it's my Electrolux Assistent mixer. It comes with two bowls - one with a whisk and a large one with a roller and pin. I can make my cake mix in the whisked bowl and then take that off and use the bigger bowl and beater for the frosting and they clean up SUPER easy.
I'll have to look at that cookie spatula or another wide/big spatula to lift cakes. I broke my 11x15 cake in 4 pieces a couple weeks back - reparable, yes, but STILL...
melsisa
I have two things I couldn't decorate a cake or cookies without. The first; cheap plastic palette knives are great for filling in a divot or spreading icing into the corners of a cookie. Most of the time i don't even outline frosting on a cookie; just use the knife. And the second is a aluminum strip left over from a linoleum job. It is a little over a foot long and has a nice beveled edge. One swipe over the top of a cake and it is perfectly smooth.
I can't live without my paper towels. I use them to dry my bowls and utensils because to me they leave the least amount of lint. I love using my ice cream scooper for when I make muffins or cupcakes....it's hold exactly 1/4 cup of batter. No more messes trying to scoop up batter with a measuring cup or (how I did it back in the day) a spoon. 
I too own those bake even strips but I mine are the ones you have to pin together and needless to say, I was having some issues trying to get the strips to stay pinned together. The Baker's Catalogue have the velcro ones so I'm going to order them.
Oh yes, and I can't live without my mom's KA mixer! I told her that when I move out, I'm stealing it from her (and I was the one who bought it for her for Mother's Day!) 
hmm...let's see
can't live without parchment paper (I know, not a gadget but still good for soooo many things!)
or this giant bench scraper/peel/lifter thing I picked up at Bob's Red Mill. It's like those big cookie spatulas but it's stainless steel so doesn't bend at all. It's awesome for tiered cakes and so helpful for pie dough.
My Pampered Chef measuring cups that pop out so the shortening or peanutbutter doesn't stick to the sides.
cookie scoops. I love them!
spackling knife thing for the smoothing of the sides of cakes.
My little shot glass measuring cup. It's great for small amounts of liquid measure
I just love gadgets. I could go on and on forever! 
oh, and here are my newest "gadgets" very large :
http://share.shutterfly.com/action/welcome?sid=8AaM2zlq5ZOWPr¬ag=1
I like the idea of the craftsman tool box! hehe
krazykakes - I actually asked for a Play Dough Fun Factory for Christmas but all my kids and husband thought I was over the edge with this cake decorating thing as they call it. Where did you find it for $4.99? I can't find it anywhere in town.
I bought mine at k mart...i have also seen them in alot of those bigs stores like target ect. HTH 
I LOVE MY MICROPLANE ITS SO EASY TO ZEST A LEMON OR GARLIC. I USE IT EVERYDAY.
I'd have to say my cheap wilton turntable. Because I can NOT function without it.
Also my KA.
My bench scraper (I use it to smooth the sides of the cakes and then use it to clean up afterwards too!
Clorox/ Lysol wipes.
My giant, oversized cutting board.
My trash compactor installed in my kitchen island. I do all my work on that island and so as I finish a project, I can use my bench scraper to scrape my left overs right into the compactor. Then I just close and compact.
Medicine dropper for measuring teaspoons
Electronic scale to weigh dry ingredients
Large metal cups for measuring pounds of liquid ingredients
non-slip mat
Dog nail clipper for cutting dowel
Rolling rack for sheet pans
Digital Camera (OK not exactly a kitchen gadget but necessary)
Big buckets for storage
Rol'Pat
Plastic fondant smoother
Pasta Roller
AIRBRUSH!!
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