Old School Tools

By Katie Barreira

As Woody Allen points out in his most recent film, Midnight in Paris, it simply isn’t healthy to pine away for the past, while eschewing the marvels of the present. When applied to kitchen tools, this theory holds only somewhat true.

I certainly wouldn't want to live in a world in which it was necessary to cream butter and sugar without an electric mixer. And while it’s clear that many newfangled gadgets (the asparagus peeler comes to mind) were invented with the sole purpose of having something else to sell, the modernization of kitchen tools has, on the whole, been hugely beneficial to the cook.

What I can’t grasp is why perfectly useful, albeit old-fashioned, tools have to go out with the bathwater. Maybe it’s the curmudgeonly spirit of Andy Rooney stirring in me, but it seems pretty obvious that in kitchenware, as in life, newer isn’t always better.

Here are three old-school tools, without modern equivalent, which every cook should have.

Hand Crank Mixer:
Whether it’s beating egg whites to stiff peaks, emulsifying a small batch of mayo or whipping fresh cream, there are some mixing jobs that don’t require the heavy artillery of electric, but are vigorous enough to wear out your whisking wrist. For these tasks, I always turn to my mechanical beater. It has just enough torque to get the job done fast and it’s ready to use right outta the drawer; none of this searching for the missing beater or dispatching the proper attachment.

Today, hand operated mixers are sold as “Rotary Egg Beaters” (a title with which I take exceptions; first, the pigeonholing of a multi-use tool and second, improper usage – for many applications, like omelets, the best way to beat eggs is with a fork in order to avoid frothing, which does not cook nicely.) But regardless of the misnomer, this tool is a must-have.

Serrated Nut Chopper:
Chopping nuts on a cutting board is a fiasco – the round ones skittering off in all directions and those that do make it under the knife being shot across the room. This archaic-looking tool is a nut chopper’s dream. No plugging in and no parts to assemble, disassemble, wash and reassemble. Just place the nuts in a bowl or shallow, flat-bottomed dish (the sides will keep in those shooters) and crunch away! The teeth of the chopper will evenly break up the nuts, resulting in a lovely coarse chop, rather than a bunch of halved nuts and handful of nut powder.

Wooden Citrus Reamer:
If you want fresh squeezed orange juice every morning, invest in an electric juicer, but for most jobs the good old reamer is your go-to. The wood part is important here; whereas modern materials like glass, metal or plastic simply slide over the flesh, the grain of a wooden reamer will tear open the pulp sacs enabling you to easily extract every last drop of juice. And don’t even get me started on those color-coded enamel presses…art deco at best.

Tomorrow, Lori shares her favorite tools.

Just in time for holiday cooking, Special Fork is featuring Tool Week. For the entire week Special Fork Bloggers will be blogging about their favorite kitchen tools.

Those of you who are our fans on Facebook will be eligible for a drawing of some cool kitchen tools especially selected by Special Fork (value: $75). And don't forget to tell us about your favorite tools.

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1. Tooling Around
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4. Fall for Stew