Tools For Juicing

Hand Juicer

For the simplest juices this is all that you will need. A small stainless steel manual juicer or a plastic one with collection cup can be found for $15 or less. Combined with a good knife and cutting board, this tool will be all you need for occasional juicing.

Optional Utensils

A citrus squeezer is handy for quickly juicing lemons and limes. A wheat grass juicer is a hand cranked extractor for recipes using wheat grass and other soft leaves. A mango corer is a handy tool to have when using fresh mango in your juices. Oxo makes one that sells in many grocery stores for about $12.

Electric Juice Extractor

When you want to make juicing part of your lifestyle or go on a juice diet, you will more successful if you have an electric juice extractor. Breville, Black & Decker, Hamilton Beach and Jack Lalanne are some of the most popular brands. The heavy duty juicers have a feed tube, much like a food processor, and a mesh filter that separates the pulp from the juice. Most fruits can be fed whole into the extractor, making juice preparation quick and easy. These units yield much more juice than a manual juicer, and the pulp can be composted or used in many recipes.

Blender

A high quality blender is a nice addition because it allows you to expand your recipes to frozen fruit juices, smoothies and blended soups. Black & Decker, Hamilton Beach, Cuisinart, KitchenAid and Oster are the most common brands. Always purchase a professional series blender with the most power you can afford. You really only need two-speeds and preferably a glass or durable polycarbonate container. Vitamix makes one of the best high performance blenders available. They cost more but last much longer than other brands, and they are so powerful you can actually make steaming hot soup in them in just minutes. It's a good investment if you will be using your blender daily.

Article Source: http://EzineArticles.com/?expert=Maruko_Ito

READMORE - Tools For Juicing

8 Essential kitchen tools

We all have kitchens full of pots, pans, knives and that collection of kitchen tools you've used once - or only a few times - to make a particular recipe. You really don't need every available kitchen gadget to create delicious meals, but there are a few essential tools every aspiring - and even seasoned - chef should have

Knives
A knife is one of the most important tools you will ever use in the kitchen. There are three knives every chef and home cook should own that will cut everything you need.

Vegetable Peeler
A good sturdy vegetable peeler can be used for everything from peeling the skin off of carrots, apples, and cucumbers, to making thin strips of cheese and chocolate. A good peeler is hands-down an essential kitchen tool.

Tongs
A good pair of tongs is something everyone should have in their kitchen. They can be used for tossing a salad or pasta or flipping meat and fish on the grill. Soft-tipped tongs won’t peel the skin or peel off of any foods you are flipping, and tongs with teeth on them help with gripping.

Box Grater
A good box grater with four sides of different size grates is probably one of the best options for a grater. It can be used for grating cheese, veggies, firm fruits, chocolate, and many other foods. You can even use the smallest side to grate fresh nutmeg, ginger and various other herbs and spices.

Rubber Spatula
Every kitchen needs at least one rubber spatula to mix cake batters and sauces, and to scrape down the sides of bowls. Make sure to use a heat-proof spatula so you can use it for hot items as well as cold.


Whisk
A good whisk is needed to make eggs, pancakes, whipped cream, sauces, vinaigrettes, and to get the lumps out of any batter. A heat-proof silicone whisk is a good bet so it won’t scratch the bottom of a pot or bowl.

Strainer
Two kinds of strainers should be in every kitchen. A fine mesh strainer to strain sauces, sift flour, or drain small pasta. A large colander can be used for cleaning vegetables and fruit or draining pasta. If you only have room for one, then a mesh strainer is the better choice, look for a large one so you can use it to drain pasta as well.

Measuring Spoons and Cups
You will need measuring spoons and cups (wet and dry) for just about every recipe, especially baking. For precise cooking, every good cook needs a couple sets of measuring spoons and cups.


Author: Diana De Cicco
Article source: http://www.sheknows.com/food-and-recipes/articles/808347/essential-kitchen-tools

READMORE - 8 Essential kitchen tools