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New Item! In this vid Michele tests the new Cuisipro Decorating Pen. Fill it with your favorite sauce and decorate plates, pastries, etc. as easily as writing with a thick pen. We tested it with ketchup...but I'd rather see it full of chocolate sauce! First person to bring a cupcake into the store gets a decorating pen to take home and test themselves. Watch the video for details! $9.95, not (yet) in our web store.
And we have a winner! Patrice from the Fenway brought us an ear of corn this morning, so we immediately made her run the new Kuhn Rikon Corn Zipper over it. Check the video and see! Patrice got hers for free, the rest of y'all will have to fork over $11.95 if you want one.
Imp't knives #2 and #3: paring knives and serrated knives. These two knives (plus a chef knife) will do 95% of your food prep. Other knives are for very specific purposes: boning, carving, etc. So the answer to the "Do I need a set of knives?" question is: No. Not a "full" set anyway.
A good general purpose paring knife has a 3.5" blade. My faves are the Wusthof Classic ($39.99) and the red handled Forschner ($5.95). My favorite serrated knife is also a Forschner: #40547 goes for $29.95. Wusthof makes these knives in a few sizes. The 8" (as seen in the video) is really too short and narrow. Get the 9" or 10" instead.
Coming up next: The difference (besides $$) between forged and stamped knives. Is the $$ worth it? What makes a knife good anyway?
The #1 most important knife to have is an 8" chef knife. Not a 6", and definitely not a slicer with a narrow blade. Watch this video and find out why. The #2 most important knife is a paring knife. More on that later.
Our favorite 8" chef knife remains the Wusthof Classic. It's been our favorite ever since we opened in 1980. This knife is the benchmark, the gold standard. $119.99 in our web store (and in our real store too!) A less expensive alternative is the Forschner Fibrox for $29.95. I'll get into the differences in a day or two. What's your favorite chef knife? Drop a comment and let me know!
Here at KitchenArts people often want our opinion on knives, as in "What are the most important knives to have?" and "Do I need a set of knives?" or perhaps "I only have $50, what should I get?" and then there's "This chef knife is $120, this one's $29. What's the difference?"
Over the next couple of days I'll answer these questions, with the knives above as examples: The three knives on top are Forschner Fibrox, the ones below are Wusthof Classics. Stay tuned! And leave a comment if you have a question.
We're kicking off our monthly event series with a knife sharpening event. Come by our new location between 6:30 and 8:30 on Thurday, June 18th and learn how to keep your knives sharp. Bring your dull knives and your sharpening gear; we'll be focusing on what works for you (and what doesn't), improving your technique and making recommendations. Wine and cheese will be served!
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I just came across Bruce Tretter's site Gotta Eat, Can't Cook. He's a self-taught cook out in Westborough Mass. who has started up a cooking basics channel including video demonstrations and tips. In the vid above he talks about hand held or "draw through" knife sharpening. Good advice,and good chopping technique! The white sharpener in his vid is an EZ-Sharp, one of my favorites because ANYBODY can make almost any knife sharp in moments...but Bruce rightly warns against overuse of carbide sharpeners like the EZ-Sharp. They'll wear your knife down quickly if you're not sparing! Regardless, it's the best selling sharpener here at KitchenArts. We carry them in black only, $14.95.
My friend Neal writes the Turkey Sandwich Report, a blog about (wait for it...) turkey sandwiches. He's a real pro, and as you might imagine, this is his favorite time of year. In the above vid he demos the preferred technique for dealing with Thanksgiving leftovers. (PS Neal is the head marketing poo-bah at Flying Dog Ales. If you want a good beer to go with that sandwich, ya might drink a Flying Dog).
Nespresso machines have been our favorite for a few years. But don't just take our word for it! Here's George Clooney:
A demo of the Nespresso D90 Essenza--love it. The D90 does not offer milk frothing (Nespresso's Aerocino is a great solution to that problem--it heats and foams the milk) but uses the same high quality 19 bar pump that's in all Nespresso machines. This machine has a small footprint (great for urban dwellers with limited counter space) and the capsule loading system is very cool. Why can't all kitchen electrics be this nice? The D90 is not programmable for cup size, you turn it off when your cup is full. $179.95 in our web store, silver or red. The C100 has the same footprint and specs, plus is programmable for cup size. $229.95 in our web store. These machines run exclusively on Nespresso's pods. They make great espresso quickly, consistently, and easily...with no mess to clean up.
People always want to know the difference between Cherry Pitters and Olive Pitters. This vid should help a bit (despite our use of a fake cherry!) Yes, a cherry pitter will pit olives--if you're careful. But if you want to do a bunch of olives fast, the olive pitter is much easier to use. An olive pitter will not, however, pit cherries--they usually smoosh. At last! Enlightenment. Olive pitter available online: $7.95
Ahh, the Benriner. Yet another example of cheap is good. The Benriner does not have all the functionality of more expensive mandolines (no french fry blade, no waffle cuts) and the finger guard is worthless, but if what you need is veryfine ("superfine") to medium slices and/or fine juliennes, this is the thing. We sell more of these than all other mandoline styles combined. $29.95 in our online shop.
Knife sharpening is a tough subject--there are so many sharpeners on the market and so many opinions on what works and what doesn't that it's hard to give an answer that will satisfy everyone. Having said that, here's my answer: Knife sharpening can be considered a 2 (or 3) part process.
1) Honing. This is what a steel does (see video above). Honing does not remove metal from the edge of the knife, but rather aligns and maintains the thin edge that is there. If there is in fact not a thin edge on your knife (due to wear, dishwashers, or damage) no amount of steeling will make the knife sharp. Steels don't wear out! (Unless perhaps you work in a commercial kitchen... ) If 15 or 20 passes over the steel doesn't work, it's time to grind on a new thin edge.
My favorite steel for the money (and the one I'm using in the video) is Forschner's 12" medium model, available for $27.95 from our web store.
2a) Home Grinding. All the sharpening machines and gadgets out there are for grinding a new edge; some are aggressive, some are not. Aggressive gadgets (usually with carbide steel components) sharpen quickly but remove a lot of metal, mild gadgets (usually ceramic or diamond) leave a cleaner edge but take forever to work if the knife is really dull. All require a bit of elbow grease, and all of them will eventually deform the knife by changing the shape of the blade. This is particularly a problem with chef knives.
2b) Professional Grinding. Saves you the elbow grease, and also maintains the proper shape (curve) of the blade.
So...I recommend using a steel in combination with some cheap and simple home sharpener. My own favorite is the EZ Sharp ($14.95 in our online shop). When those stop working, or start deforming your blades, or become too labor intensive for you, then get them professionally ground. Pro grinding will put a thin edge back on the knife that you can then maintain yourself for awhile. (We also reshape blades and fix nicks and bent/broken tips).
If you'd like us to grind your knives, bring them in or ship them to us with a note including your name, address and phone number. Once your knives have been received we will turn them around overnight (unless I'm on vacation...) and call you for credit card payment.
Happy sharpening!
$3 short knives (under 5.5")
$4 long knives (over 5.5")
$5 serrated knives (all sizes)
$6 scissors
$3-$8 repairs (bent/broken tips, gouges and dings, etc)
Send them to:
KitchenArts
215 Newbury Street
Boston, MA 02116
617-266-8701
