Tips for the Kitchen

I have been thinking about all the wonderful kitchen items out there in the world and tried to decide what I feel are the most important ones to have in your kitchen. Well, as you can imagine it is not a short list but I finally narrowed it down to two items. An Oven Thermometer and a Kitchen Timer. Both of these items are extremely important if you want your food to always (well, usually) turn out correctly.

America's Test Kitchen recommends the Cooper-Atkins Oven Thermometer. I do not have this exact one but one very similar. I don't think I could survive without it. My oven cooks 25 degrees hotter than I set it at and I learned this by putting an oven thermometer in it one day while cooking. It not only is great for letting me know how hot the oven is but also lets me know when the oven is at the temperature I need for cooking. Which is important when you have a really old, worn out oven.

Now, America's Test Kitchen recommends using a digital kitchen timer (usually one with a feature letting you know how much time has elapsed since the timer went off.) This timer is on my Amazon wishlist. As of right now I have a trusty Lux Mechanical Classic Timer. This timer works great for all my needs whether I am cooking or washing clothes (we have to wash them in the basement of our apartment complex). You just set it and rather than try to remember when you started something and how long it has until it is done, the timer does all the work.

If you are looking to stock up your kitchen with great and useful items these are two that you need. I hope this helps some of you and your cooking because I know it has mine.

Happy cooking/baking, my friends!