Kitchen Gadgets and Gizmos

Smashing cans is good therapy, canuck! :lol

Luvsginger, the Silpats are meant to be placed on top of a regular cookie sheet, not used alone (if I read your post right!). I don't like those silicone "pans" you mentioned, they're too floppy for me. But the Silpats are awesome for anything sticky - I use them for cookies, making candy, caramel apples, rolling out pie crusts....it all just slides right off. No more flour mess on the countertops.

waywrd - Thanks! I was imagining the wrong thing. I guess I was thinking of those silicone pans in a cookie sheet version and they just seem so wobbly to me. I didn't realize it was something completely different. But, I have seen them before at Target, I'll have to pick a couple up for this season's holiday baking.

silpat mats are brilliant - they are really good for lace cookies.

two utensils i absolutely love are a wooden sppon that is made from bamboo - it cleans up so easily and can go into the dishwasher with out drying out and cracking. i also love and use a lot one of those dough cutters - they usually have a wooden handle and a broad flat blade. as their name implies, they do cut dough but they are also good at scraping up anything sticky or separating ingredients.

OK, I guess I'm dense and didn't realize I could use my silpat in the oven. I use it now for rolling out doughs and pie crusts. It requires little flour and the dough doesn't usually stick.

So, I can take it and put it on a cookie sheet and bake cookies on it?

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Originally Posted by Yardgnome;3191413;

OK, I guess I'm dense and didn't realize I could use my silpat in the oven. I use it now for rolling out doughs and pie crusts. It requires little flour and the dough doesn't usually stick.

So, I can take it and put it on a cookie sheet and bake cookies on it?

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YEP!

Linens 'n Things - Silpat Nonstick Baking Mat

I made homemade pasta tonight and a Silpat would have come in handy! And, I definitely used my dough cutter to cut the pasta dough and clean up the board I used! What did our parents do without all these great gizmos and gadgets? I mentioned before that my mother is Japanese and when she would make sushi when I was young, she would use a hand fan to cool the rice, but even in those days she cooked her rice in a rice cooker! Only, in those days the rice cookers had to be purchased in from Japan or in Japantown.

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Originally Posted by luvsginger;3191569;

I made homemade pasta tonight and a Silpat would have come in handy! And, I definitely used my dough cutter to cut the pasta dough and clean up the board I used! What did our parents do without all these great gizmos and gadgets? I mentioned before that my mother is Japanese and when she would make sushi when I was young, she would use a hand fan to cool the rice, but even in those days she cooked her rice in a rice cooker! Only, in those days the rice cookers had to be purchased in from Japan or in Japantown.

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My MIL is from Hawaii and she still refuses to use a rice cooker. Her sister (hubbys favorite auntie) gave hubby and I one for our wedding 23+ yrs ago and we use it all the time.

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Originally Posted by luvsginger;3191110;

And, I use Henckel Knives I do wish however that I had a better method of sharpening them. Our local Farmers Market has a man that sharpens your knives while you wait but it's quite expensive so I've never used him. Any ideas?

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We have Henckel knives too and we bought a Henckel knife sharpener a few years ago (I think at Macy's). It looks a lot like the one in the link below, and is easy to use. I think it's probably a good idea to have them sharpened "professionally" every once in awhile, but this thing does a great job! :hiya

TWINSHARP® Select Knife Sharpener - Sharpeners | J.A. Henckels Official Web Site

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Originally Posted by waywyrd;3191381;

Smashing cans is good therapy, canuck! :lol

Luvsginger, the Silpats are meant to be placed on top of a regular cookie sheet, not used alone (if I read your post right!). I don't like those silicone "pans" you mentioned, they're too floppy for me. But the Silpats are awesome for anything sticky - I use them for cookies, making candy, caramel apples, rolling out pie crusts....it all just slides right off. No more flour mess on the countertops.

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:lol You guys have got me going, so I was at my favourite cooking store yesterday, and the guy working there says he uses the silpats for cooking pork chops, chicken breasts, etc., in the oven and doesn't have to use oil (less calories) and no worries about the sticking. I hadn't even thought to do that.

Does the food come out crispy if cooked on the mats?