We use a magnetic knife bar too and LOVE it. I just couldn't face what kind of gunk was hiding in the slots of my wooden knife block anymore.
Seven Simple Solutions for the Lazy Gourmet
Photo: Moriza
Love to cook? Looking to take your gourmet kitchen to the next level affordably? Here are six simple solutions for lazy gourmet cooks.
Deglazing.
Don't feel like scrubbing the sauté pan after cooking those chicken breasts? Take advantage of the flavor opportunity by adding some butter, lemon juice or white wine and a tad of corn starch and water whisked together. Include a few secret ingredients, and use a flat edged spoon or spatula to loosen the crunchy bits while the sauce starts bubbling and thickening over the heat. Presto, a restaurant quality sauce without dirtying any extra pans. Here's some further info.
Bar Spouts.
I love these. Not only are they great for cooking wine, or having the rum on tap for various flaming fruit desserts, but having them tucked in the tops of your various oil and vinegar bottles makes cooking on the fly a breeze. Available at Amazon.
Towel Bars.
As I mentioned in the small space survival strategies piece, the space between the top cupboards and the countertop is chronically underutilized. Mounting bars away from the wall space is a great way to have a place to hang items with handles. Items like measuring cups, apple corers and hand-held sifters to name a few. I got mine at Ikea. They're black wrought iron, but I've seen them in brushed steel as well.
Canning Jars.
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I love canning jars. I love them in every size they come in. I love the regular width. I love the wide mouth width. I. Love them. They work for storing bulk gourmet ingredients, drinking out of, and mixing corn starch and water for sauce thickening. They also work well as a blender hack, as I've mentioned before. Just screw them onto the blade base instead of the carafe and blend away with dips, spice blends, etc. Then, remove the base and turn the jar upside right with the base still attached. Unscrew the blade base and add the jar lid. This saves a ton of blender clean up time, and has the dish already in place to store the extras of whatever you're cooking in the fridge or cupboard.
S-Hooks.
Hang 'em on the towel bars above the countertop, off thepot rack or even off the sides of your industrial shelving. They are great for tools, baskets, pans, hard to store items with handles, garlic ropes, pepper wreaths, whatever.
P-Touch.
Need to label a bunch of jars? Not wanting the ragged look of torn masking tape and fine tipped marker scribbled in a hurry? P-Touch labels keep the DIY affordable, but offer a more unified look. Also available through Amazon.
Magnetic Knife Bars.
We have two. They are great for cooking and steak knife storage, and keep them from getting nicked in the drawer. They also take up absolutely no counter space like those bulky wooden knife blocks. If you have an Ikea, great. If not, they are available online.
For other ideas on frugal food and kitchen organizing, check out our posts on bulk buying, freezer savings, assembly cooking and meat money. Got another simple solution for lazy gourmets? Sound off below.
Best of Wise Bread
a much better idea for labeling are dry erase markers
labeling systems are expensive to use, and when you change containers you have to replace the labels and tit takes effort to remove them. dry erase markers last as long as the container is filled - when its empty you wash the writing off and start over.
* Pre-chop green onions, and store it in a plastic container.
* Cook extra rice, and put it into a plastic bag and freeze it. Next time you need rice, microwave the bag.
* Save the stale bread ends, and learn to make homemade stuffing.
* Stale fancy breads are good for croutons or for soaking in soups.
* A cast iron pan.
How would you use towel bars to hang measuring cups? The towel bars I've seen are closed on both ends, so the hole in the measuring cup handle couldn't be threaded onto the bar. Are you using some additional hook or loop or something?
Any suggestions would be appreciated! I've been looking for a bar to hang my measuring cups on for a while now. I was thinking of something like the rods you can get for cork board, but I'm not about to put cork board up in my kitchen. :)
~just run by Lowe's and pick up a teeny bag of "S" hooks so you can hang measuring cups/measuring spoons/sifters/seives from a sturdy chrome towel bar.
Yes, you use an additional hook per item. I use s-hooks. It works great. I have them attached repeatedly under each cupboard, so I have an extra "rim" so to speak around the whole kitchen to hang difficult to store items.
I was hoping for some kind of long rod that could hold a few sets of measuring spoons all in one, but that seems to be a fool's question. This seems like a good compromise, especially considering it can also hold a lot of other stuff, like you said.
Thanks a lot, Myscha! My countertop is about to get a lot more organized! :)
Hi Chris. One more thing to think about is that if you get the black metal ones from Ikea, they also sell medium sized buckets with holes in the bottom for air flow (if you choose to let your utensils air dry in them) and have a back hook. I have 2 or 3 of these to hold some wooden spoons and such and keep them off the counter. Of course, I have so many others that I still need a crock or two for the rest, but they do help.
If you really wanted to cheap it out, you could maybe take some sturdy wire and wrap it around a wide mouth canning jar with a loop in the back for an s-hook. Then the jar could be the place where you put your spoons. If done correctly, you could pull off a rustic look that was DIY without looking DIY, you know?
Great tips-- BTW any kitchen always seems too small-- we all work with small spaces at one time or another . . .
Thanks for the additional ideas! I think I'll stick with a bar to hang the hooks from rather than a wire. It fits the look of the rest of our kitchen better. Actually, we've got a great room, so it fits the look of the living room better, too. :)
I think I'll look for some very low profile bars, so they aren't too visible beyond the lip of my cupboards. I have a feeling I'm going to end up buying some wood dowels and making my own to get the "stealth" look I'd like best.
Again, thanks for all the suggestions! This article really got my mind back in gear on this dilemma!
http://www.amazon.com/12-Utensil-Rack-Stainless-Steel/dp/B0002Z12NM/ref=...
We have three of these...one larger for pots, two for spoons and other things.
