Vitamix. The Ultimate Kitchen Tool, No Home Should Be Without.

Use the right tool for the right job and you will find yourself doing a lot less work, this is a simple but true fact. Having the proper tools on hand when the time calls for them makes life that much more fulfilling in a sense. You had the thought before hand that in life you may need something, so you went out and bought it and sure enough it was called upon to join you in battle one day.

For instance, your having a party and you run out of food or drinks and need a quick way to whip something up, but don’t want to dirty up the house or go overboard at the moment, so what do you do? 

Well if you had a Vitamix blender, you would easily be able to CREATE something from scratch with a few flicks of a switch, turns of a dial and of course some carefully selected ingredients.

Not too often in the kitchen can entire meals be made with one machine from start to finish, but such is not the case in regards to the powerhouse of a machine labeled the Vitamix Professional Series 300. (click Read More, for the entire review)

How To Clean Your Cutting Board Properly

Keeping a clean and sanitary kitchen is a must. The chances of coming down with a food born illness run much higher as the seasons change and peoples cleaning habits go from poor to worse. Let's face it expensive cleaning solutions become a last thought when people are faced with not being able to feed their families.

Last week, I had received an email from someone asking me how to properly clean and maintain their cutting boards, without using harmful chemicals or expensive solutions.

With this quick & easy 4 step method to help keep your kitchen work station sanitary and smooth you should feel comfortable cutting anything at anytime on your cutting boards.
(Click Read More 4 The Entire Recipe / Review)

Le Creuset - Revolution Silicone Tools

When the word Revolution is thrown into a sentence it can enhance the sound of things dramatically. What once was a fight between neighboring cities became “The Revolution” Doesn’t it sound much cooler that way?  Apply that same thought process to a tool or utensil that gets used more often than a pencil and it could potentially become life changing.

Everyone needs a tool to make life easier, whether it be a fine hair paint brush used to bring out the most intricate of details in a painting or a Silicone spatula that is virtually resistant to stains, sticking and warping. Tools make life easier.

Le Creuset needs no introduction on this site and hopefully not in your home either. We recently got our hands on the Revolution Silicone Tool Set and found out that our trusty wooden spoon had some hefty competition headed its way.

We busted the tools out, washed em off and got to work. Making a few soups and stews and a huge pot of Spaghetti sauce we were able to put almost every tool to use right away.

The Revolution Silicone Tool set comes with 6 tools and a really sturdy base, which is heat resistant as well, so having to move it away from burners on a stove or a hot pot has become a thing of the past.

(Click on Read More for the entire review)

Ladies & Gentlemen, No More Banging Jars On Your Counters. Introducing The Strongboy2

Everyone has suffered from a moment of weakness in the kitchen. No I am not talking about waking up in the middle of the night and devouring the a few brownies or tub of ice cream just because it felt good. I am talking about having that moment in life, where someone hands you a jar after making numerous unsuccessful attempts at trying to open it, with failure written all over their face, only to not be able to open it yourself. Then both of you are forced to beat the jar on the counter, find something to dry your supposedly wet hands that cant grip the jar tight enough and eventually give up.

 I laugh when that happens because some people really get their feelings hurt that they can't open a jar with their own physical strength. I don't even feel bad when I can't open a jar on the first few attempts anymore because I look at it like this, a machine put the lid on, so it should be incredibly tight.

You know how we do things around here, our thought is with the right tools anything is possible and in this case with the Strongboy 2, built by Zyliss the innovative people known for making quality products for just about every use in the home, opening a jar of anything from pickles to whoop ass isn't out of the realm of possibility anymore. 

Le Creuset, Bold Colored Products Built To Last A Lifetime

When your wish is to create some form of a masterpiece in the kitchen, you really need to have the right tools, a little bit of knowledge as to what, where, why and how your doing what your doing and a few key skills when using your tools and equipment.

To own an item that can multi task for you as well as eliminate the always annoying amount of dishes one may have to clean is a blessing. Le Creuset, a brand who since 1925 has built a reputation for uncompromised quality, creates products that are workhorses in the kitchen. From the newfound novice to the old pro, putting dishes together that will literally melt in your mouth has never been more consistently convenient.

To-Go Ware. A Brand Inspired By Saving Our Planet.

Current day dilemmas such as the lack of space for safe landfills, little to no uplifting employment, and even less resources and or money are causing people to be forced to rethink their approach to each and every meal they wish to digest.

But what about the people who have to eat on the go daily, with meals they have prepared at home? Not everyone can afford to eat out daily when they are barely making enough to cover their bills right? But then lets face it, no one wants to the guy or girl who is seen shuffling in multiple plastic wrapped plates with a bag of clanging silverware daily into the office every single day. 

And do we really need to speak about how the responsible adult in all of us, should not continue to allow ourselves to throw away millions of pounds of plastic cups, silverware and paper plates daily?

This Isn't Your Mothers Blender (But It Should Be Yours.)

Blenders these days are available in an abundance and are being built to serve a multitude of functions. Some are meant to merely chop and erase the hard work it takes to slice and dice a few items, while others are built to perform a wide range of culinary tricks that help enhance every single dish, drink and dessert they touch.

Creating perfect emulsifications, soups and smooth purees for one of the billions of dishes being made today in homes and restaurants around the globe, requires a solid piece of equipment that can perform time after time (without fail.)

Chef’s and bartenders alike know the name Vitamix^® and now so should you.

For those of you who watch Iron Chef or any one of the other million or so cooking shows you may have noticed that 9 times out of 10 the Chefs are relying on this brand, simply because they work EVERYTIME.

Before now Vitamix^® were a bit expensive for the average household to own because let’s face it how often does the typical household use a blender?

From the innovating leader in professional-grade blenders, the new Vitamix^® Professional Series 500 enables you to dial up hundreds of healthy and delicious culinary masterpieces. 

This is the first Vitamix^® model with three preprogrammed settings – Smoothies, Frozen Desserts and Hot Soups – to help home chefs make gourmet meals like the pros.

Time Saving Tools "Kuhn Rikon Kulu Herb & Vegetable Knife"

Kuhn Rikon is known worldwide for their innovative and creative kitchen tools that are synonymous with quality and nothing less. We recently came across their  “Nonstick Kulu Herb & Vegetable Knife”  From the looks of this thing alone we had to put it to use instantly. 

The rocking motion it looks to offer is similar to a lot of the techniques practiced in our test kitchens and it would be nice to see if a new product was to be released that mimicked the actual motion of a Chef’s knife.

Cutlery That Could Change Your Life

The cleaver. No we are not talking about some outdated family sitcom from the days of black and white TV, we are talking about the mighty piece of steel used to hack through chicken and fish bones in the kitchen. These often times king sized, overly menacing looking tools are great to have when the time comes for breaking down some rather large sized cuts of meat. Unless you are truly skilled with the use of a knife, you would never want to chance damaging your Chefs knife when trying to scythe a chicken or massive catfish full of bones.

The only problem with a lot of the cleavers on the market is that they have no versatility, they are overly heavy, clunker type pieces of metal that constantly need honing because of the cheap methods used to create them. Typical cleavers do not go from chomping through bones like a wild animal to finely mincing up herbs, dicing onions or performing intricate cuts on delicate items like garlic without doing some damage. A little known fact, when overly minced, Garlic’s flavor becomes drastically changed for the worse due to the excessive amounts of carbon dioxide it receives.

If you were up on the site when we did some of our previous knife reviews, you would know that the Mac Knives passed with flying colors in every single test we put them through. After over using their tools in our kitchen for a month, they are still holding up true to form like they did the day we received them. This time around we ran through a myriad of tests with their SD-65, Cleaver Knife.

Check the rest of the story for how amazed we were at what this knife could do when put to the test.

Spring / Summer Tools For The Kitchen & BBQ

As we grow and mature, our methods of making these delicious meals we love to consume must grow as well. Of course we love to cook over fire, but who wants to chance losing some of our delicious faire to the  hands of fire down below just because we didn't take a few minutes to properly equip ourselves? Even worse is when you have taken time to nurture what you are cooking, locking in its moisture and maintaining every bit of seasoning, only to have it mishandled when being transfered to plates by some unsuspecting helper in the kitchen. Well have no fear, a few of these tools will help even the most novice of cooks get through the roughest of days and the others will help you keep your goods safe to be eaten another day (sometimes the tin foil covered plate just doesn't do your food justice the following morning.)

GELPRO Quality Anti-Fatigue Flooring

Time well spent making anything of quality has to take its toll on you somehow, isn’t that how life goes?  Spending a lot of time in the kitchen has a tremendous effect on the knees and lower back (we wont get into the arms, wrists, shoulders and so on.)

Anyone who has spent some serious hours on the line or working in any aspect of the kitchen brigade knows that a good pair of shoes and some quality flooring are crucial when pulling double shifts day after day. But to have some soft floors, you must be prepared for having to work twice as hard to clean the stains and messes created throughout the day. What a conundrum to overcome.

Kitchen Tools That Everyone Should Own

Having libations is truly fun. Well that is true as long as those that you are sharing your time with can handle their alcohol like and adult and no one starts throwing lawn furniture or worse fists over a few misunderstood words. When the time is right and the bottles begin to get popped everyone needs to have a few items in their home to help keep things flowing smoothly.
Unless your Major Payne and possess the skill of opening cans and bottles with one finger, the first thing you should consider purchasing is a corkscrew and sturdy bottle opener.

We're not talking one of those bottle openers on the bottom of your lighter, pieces of plastic that could potentially stab someone openers. I am talking about having some heavy steel to do the right job at the right moment.

The Knuckle Duster Corkscrew, is something to behold and should be owned by every bad ass in the kitchen as well as anyone that needs to provide themselves with some added cool points.
Although it does take a bit of skill and know how to open a bottle it is worth its price of $12.99. Available on ThinkGeek.Com 

And please don't think that we would ever leave out those in need of a good old fashioned bottle opener.
This crowbar styled bottle opener is as equally vicious looking as it is effective in getting the job done. Made of stainless steel with a baked enamel coating, this bad boy would be great for cracking bottles open or making short work of some King Crab Legs at the weekend BBQ.

Also available at ThinkGeek.com  for a limited time at the cheap price of $19.99 get yours today & do some serious damage, to some bottles that is.

Mac Knives MTH-80 Chef Knife Review (Revisited)

To some people cutting vegetables into fine dices and breaking big sides of various proteins down into serving size portions is just impossible. Well then again in this day and age some people probably think cows just fall into the cuts of steak we eat when they magically pass away. 

When taking into consideration the amount of skill needed to pull off fine dining plating skills, one must consider the tools used and how much of an important roll they really play. 

True many of us know some great cooks (in their houses) who perform night after night, creating amazing dishes that could stand up against any top rated chef in the nation. But when your paying top dollar for something, to put it bluntly it better look good damn it.

I love being able to check the mailbox and finding some brand new products just yearning to be tested out. Yesterday I walked in to find a package from the good guys over at Mac Knife Inc. After checking out some of our reviews they offered to throw their products into the arena, against some of the other high ends brands you have seen and will be seeing over the next few days. To make the story simple and sweet, Mac came in and cleaned the kitchen out.