There’s nothing that annoys me more than not having the right tools for the task at hand. There are enough stresses and headaches cooking for Passover that I make sure my kitchen is equipped with everything I need. Here is a list of the tools I must have in my kitchen. To some they may be superfluous but for me each item is very important. The one thing I haven’t listed here that is probably the most important thing to have in your kitchen is a good set of knives. Without good, well-sharpened knives it’s hard to do anything.
1. Potato Ricer
If you haven’t used or seen one, a potato ricer is like a giant garlic press – you just place cooked (boiled or baked) potatoes into the ‘bowl’ of the potato ricer and press the handle down, squeezing the potato through the small holes that line the bottom of the press. Out comes smooth, lump-free potato. It’s perfect for mashed potatoes, making filling for potato blintzes or topping Shepherd’s Pie or Chicken Pot Pie – two of my favourite meals for Chol Hamoed.
2. Microplane/Rasp
I love my rasp. Use it for zesting citrus, finely grating ginger and ‘crushing’ garlic.
3. Small (8-inch) Non-Stick Frying Pan
I have one 8-inch non-stick frying pan that I use for blintz wrappers (bletlach) and nothing else. Non-stick is important because it releases the wrappers every time. The size is important because it makes the perfect round for a blintz.
4. 10-12 Quart heavy Dutch Oven/ Pot
Important for braising briskets, cooking meatballs and in a pinch it can be used for chicken (or other) soup.
5. Box-Grater
I know that some people use a food processor for shredding vegetables, but unless I’m making 20 dozen or more latkes at once, I’d rather use a box-grater. For latkes (which I’ll often make for Pesach), kugels, soups and salads, use a box greater for shredding vegetables. If you don’t have my #2 favourite item (microplane), in a pinch you can also use the side with tiny holes for zesting citrus and finely shredding ginger.
6. Food-Processor
A perfect kitchen has sets of bowls and blades for pareve, dairy and meat. Then use the processor for chopped liver, blintz fillings, crusts, chopping nuts, making mayonnaise, grinding fish for gefilte fish and so much more.
7. Ice-Cream Scoops
I have a few ice-cream scoops that I pull out each year. The large scoops get used for portioning blintz filling and dough for Passover rolls. The smaller scoops get used to portion meatballs, macaroons and almond cookies. They’re perfect for ensuring every little meatball is the same size.
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8. Stand Mixer
For me, it’s not Passover unless I’ve made several batches of meringue cookies. For whipping egg whites, making icings and mousse or cake and cookie batters, the stand mixer is a workhorse in my kitchen.
9. Immersion (stick) Blender
This is one of my favourite tools. It’s great for pureeing soup right in the pot it’s been cooked in (quick and easy vegetable soups are great at Pesach) and it can be used for sauces or liquefying fruits for drinks.
10. Digital Scale
I use my scale for everything in my Passover kitchen. For baking, weighing out vegetables or meat — weight measurements are more accurate than volume. It’s also easy and quick to use a scale.
My favorite kitchen tool is my whisk – what is not to love about freshly whipped cream? mmmmmmm.
My favorite kitchen tool is my Kitchen Aid mixer. I cook alot! I love to cook many different ethnic foods, & many different types of dishes. From Thai Soup, to Cheesecake. I have a professional model with all the attachments. I have used it to make sausage; from grinding the meat, to mixing it up with spices, & finishing with stuffing the casings. I have used it to can fresh apples sauce & pie filling. If I have to evacuate my house, the Kitchen Aid goes with me! ;-P
My favorite tool is my Victorinex 3″ paring knife. Pessach is all about cutting up vegetables and potatoes forever! This knife gets me through the task of cutting these up in no time whatsoever. I believe it’s made in Switzerland and is part of the Forschner Knife Collection.
For Pesach it would have to be my mini processor. I love it for all the raw vegetable prep work that I need for kugels, stuffing and charoset. I like it better than hauling out the big one for this kind of work. BTW love the new web site
My favorite kitchen tool is my breadmaker. It saves me hours in the kitchen every week and it makes delicious bread.
Love my vidalia onion chopper – chops vegetables in small or medium dice quickly. It’s great for when there is a LOT of chopping to do for Yom Tov and Shabbos!!
My stand mixer is a big help with preparing thick batters and so much more.
I have so many “favorties” that it’s hard to pick just one. But for Pesah, hands down it’s my Cuisinart food processor. I used to have a cheapie food processor and after several years of making harosets (I usually make between 6-10 varieties from recipes from around the world) I burned out the motor. My Pesah food processor has to be a real workhorse and this Cuisinart is terrific for the pounds of nuts that have to be ground.
the color-coded pairing knives by Williams and Sonoma!
Avery good set of knives. I couldn’t do without them.
My passover food processor is a must. It’s better than the one that I use during the year.
My knives. I couldn’t get trough Pesach without them.
I like my wine bottle opener. Much easier to use than my old corkscrew.
My handy egg slicer – nothing like it to make quick work of eggs for the Shabbos day Seuda!
My favorite cooking tool is our slow cooker. We make everything in it. We love the way it keeps the food warm and how dinner is ready when we come home from work! Ah…the joy of multitasking!
I love my immersion blender. Makes cooking soup so much easier when you don’t have to empty the boiling hot contents of the pot into a blender/processor, and then transfer it back!
My food processor is definitely a favorite. I use it for grating, slicing and mixing. Another great kitchen gadget is the progressive onion chopper. In addition to chopping onions, I use it to make Israeli salad. I chop cukes, tomatoes and peppers in a nice even dice. I’ve used it for guacamole too.
I love my Progressive Fruit & Vegetable Chopper. It makes chopping onions and other things SO easy and fun. It contains the vapors from the onion so I don’t cry. Easiest Israeli salad on the planet!
Tongs. I use them for kashering.
My favourite kitchen tool is my hands… I wouldn;t get very far without them on Peaach or not on Pesach 🙂
p.s. Pam, I LOVE your soups cookbook. I just had the cauliflower and sheese soup for dinner and it is SOOOOOOOOOOOO good
I agree that a heavy duty stand mixer is a must have in the Pesach kitchen. Make meringues, macaroons, base for chocolate or apricot roll, filling for lemon squares and on and on!
My pressure cooker would have to be my all time favorite in the kitchen. I can cook beans, vegetables and meats in less than half the time it would normally take. It’s great!!!
my very favorite kitchen tool is one of my sons in the kitchen with a sharp knife as another cleans up the mess while i read recipes & enter contests!!
I love my silpat sheet pan liners! Not so sure you’d consider it a “tool” in the kitchen, but I can’t live without it! It makes every pan NON STICK! I love my Silpat! Really I love EVERY silicone pan I have in addition to the pan liners. (I have silicone muffin cups just for Pesach. I have the liners for when I make “rolls” or macaroons.)
I love my large covered casserole dish for baking tsimmes. I also like my wooden bowl and hand chopping knife for chopping apples for charoset – the food processor just doesn’t produce the same result.
My favorite kitchen tool is my cast iron skillet. Makes great corn bread and frittatas, and cleans up like a charm!
My stand mixer–it frees me to do more than one kitchen task at a time (like whip eggs while also stirring a bowl of melted chocolate.
My favorite tool is my 5 quart non-stick chef’s pan. It is extremely versatile and I have used it to do everything from stir frying and sauteing, to making delicious sauces, coucous, quinoa, rice and even chili. I own two of them, one for milk and one for meat and I would not do without them.
Definitely my Cuisinart. That food chopper saves me so much time…it’s a total workhorse!
My favorite is the magic bullet. It purees anything and everything in 10 -15 sec! Awesome for smoothies, homemade baby food and omelette’s. I recommend it to all my friends 🙂
My favorite Pesach kitchen item is my mixer. I couldn’t make any of my famous (at least in my family) frozen lemon mousse cake without it.
My favorite kitchen tool is my Kitchenaid mix master given to my husband and me as a wedding present from my grandmother. It not only reminds me of all of the years spent making challah and chocolate cake with her, but allows me to make make these recipes with my 3 year old son.
It is a tie between my digital scale and my chef’s knife. I’m a stickler for accurate measurements when baking, so the scale is invaluable. And, nothing cuts like my Mac knife!
I love my immersion blender. I can make smoothies and creamy soups. I also love to use it to blend tofu into a paste that I use instead of cheese in lasagna and baked ziti as well as tofu quiche. It’s great for everything.
My chef’s knife is my favorite kitchen tool because it easily chops and dices veggies.
One of my favorite and most useful tools is my peeler. My son likes apples and cucumbers without skin, so that peeler is used daily!
So many tools to love (knives, pressure cooker, Le Creuset pots) but the one I use everyday are my plastic cutting boards. I have different colors for vegetables/fruits and meats. The best thing is- dishwasher safe for thorough cleaning. Thanks
One of my favorite tools in the kitchen is my Mandolin Slicer, I am not very good using a knife to slice, so I’m happy that my slicer does a good job. vickers_73460 at yahoo dot com Have a Blessed Day!
My favorite kitchen tool is my chef knife I use this all the time! calvad at aol dot com
My favorite kitchen tool is a good pair of chicken scissors – need it to cut through all those tough meats and chickens.
My favorite kitchen tool is my cake breaker. It is a special item designed for slicing sponge cake and angel food cake with crushing or crumbling. It belonged to my mom and whenever I take it out and use it, I’m reminded of the days spent in my mother’s steamy, fragrant kitchen .
My potato peeler and my garlic press are tied!
My food processor! Couldn’t live without it!
my potato peeler
My favorite indispensible kitchen tool is my food processor. I had a major injury to my right hand several years ago and gripping a knife is one of the hardest things for me to do. My food processor makes chopping and grating so much easier.
My hand held rubber scraper, it works to get every last drop of anything out of a bowl or mixer!
My family always complains that I never leave anything for them to taste!
LOL!
My favorite year-round utensil is my Kuhn Rikon peeler.
Simple, yet so necessary. I keep a bunch on hand because they tend to “hide” and/or get thrown out with the potato peels 😉
My favorite PESACH utensil is my vintage red pyrex bowl, which was handed down to me from my mother. It is chock full of nostalgic memories of my mother melting chocolate in it for “chocolate matzah”, I tradition that I continue to this day.
Thanks for running this contest !
I have 2 old wire utensils that were my grandmother’s–estimated age of utensils 75 years. One is long and flat and I have seen similar utensils cosidered a spatula. It is great for mixing the broken matzoh and eggs for a matzoh brie. The other is long with a small conical end. I thought it was some kind of whisk but have since discovered it is an egg separator. That has become my most favorite Passover utensil, and a link to my past.
My favorite kitchen tool is my mini food processor. It’s great for grating a single onion or any vegetable in small quantities. My other fave is the blender. Smoothies!!
my cutco knife is definitely my favorite. it makes cutting veggies so easy and is used multiple times each day.