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.
I have an old coffee grinder that I use as a spice mill—then one day I put a piece of bread in it–it makes the best bread crumbs —it’s my favorite thing to do.
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My favorite kitchen tool is my food processor.
So many, but my favorite right now (completely obsessed) is my 5.5 qt enameled cast iron dutch oven by Le Crueset. I really wish I could buy one for Pesach, but I just splurged on a new food processor since I managed to break my old one. I’ve learned my lesson and only buy quality!
My great-grandmother’s wooden rolling pin. It’s the best rolling pin out there AND I feel great using it.
My very favorite kitchen tools are my knives. I keep them sharp and ready-to-go and they never fail me. I can even prepare food when the electricity has gone out!
I love my immersion blender because I am a huge fan of soups and it makes them so creamy!
a very sharp knife does the job!
My favorite kitchen tools during Pesach, and year round, are my knives. I think it is so important to have good, sharp knives. My friends always joke when they come to my house and help in the kitchen, that they better be careful with Abby’s knives.
i love my swiss peeler, it makes everything much easier to peel, from sweet potatoes to apples and everything in-between!
My favorite kitchen tool for Pesach is my Pesach Kitchen! Its so great to just open it up and an entire Pesach-dic kitchen is all set up and I’m ready to roll!
My favorite Passover tools are not the most modern ones but the ones I have from my grandmothers. Like my antique wooden spoons and pots. When I use them I feel like they are cooking with me in the kitchen. Oh and there old giant soup pots. And how can I forget the white enameled one handled egg pot.
Sadly my favourite kitchen tool is my can opener. Cooking is still a work in progress for me. 🙂
So many great tools! Maybe this list should have been top 25 . . 😉 But I think the tools handed down from parents and grandparents are just fantastic. Cooking and baking for holidays always reminds me of holiday meals spent with my family and it must mean a lot to have items in your kitchen that connect you with family and the past.
My favorite kitchen tools are my silicone spatulas. I use them every single time I cook. I love that they are heat resistant and I don’t have to worry about them melting. I honestly don’t think that I could cook without them!
I love my kitchen scale! I use it for so many things, I wonder how I managed without one for so many years. Thanks for hosting the contest!
Carol
I have 2 favorite kitchen tools that I use every Passover. I cherish my Bubbie’s 12 quart aluminum soup pot. It is used with love each Peasch for chicken soup. For mixing bowls, I use a yellow Nelson-McCoy bowl which also belonged to my grandmother. Without them, knaidel might not come out as light as feathers!
I can’t live without my bosch mixer! From challah dough to cakes and cookies, it’s the best! And for meringues, it is so fast. It stays on my counter all year. I have a sunbeam mixer for pesach, and it gets quite a workout with cakes and lots of meringues.
For speeding up recipes that require boiling water, from soup to boiling water for potatoes, I absolutely love my electric instant water pot….in less than 2 minutes you have 2- 7 cups of boiling water…gotta love it, gotta have it, can’t live without it!
One of my favorite Passover tools is my mini cuisinart. Without it I would not be able to grind my nuts to make various desserts. The other are my loaf pans that make wonderful Passover mandelbread without having to shape the dough into loaves!!
my favorite pesach kitchen item is my mouli grater. whether grating chocolate or pistachios, any kind of nut!
My favorites are my stand mixer and my zester. The mixer lets me work on other preparations while it does the work. The zester of course isn’t just for lemons. I love it for chocolate and other goodies.
My slow cooker(s). It cleans up easily and frees up oven and stovetop space. Love it!
Love, love my microplane – makes mincing/grating so much easier!! [email protected]
My favorite thing in the kitchen is my daughter, I am so excited that she will be home for Pesach and will also be able to help me
For Pesach I cannot live without my food processor. I have many of my mother in law’s recipes for which it comes in handy. Without the processor making her mandlebrot would be near impossible.
There are so many good options – but I’m going to say my mini chopper. If I’m cooking somewhere else it’s what I most often miss.
I like my food processer.
for passover specifically my 2 small woks! i have one for meat and one for dairy. they barely leave my stove. they are the best to cook, steam, whisk in and make anything fast without having to pull out other pots and pans for this non stop cooking week.
My mixer, hands down! Especially for all those egg whites!
My favorite kitchen tool is my vegetable brush. I can take any of my organgic vegetables or fruits, give them a good wash and brush and eat, no peeling required most of the time! I feel healthy and germ free!
My favorite tool is an egg slicer. It is fun to use but also brings back lots of great memories from when I was little, I love helping get ready for our big family seders and I remember the fun we had at the kids table slicing our hard boiled eggs during the seder
Its definitely a tie between my microplane zester(I can’t cook without yummy citrus) and my immersion blender (I love making all kinds of soups to serve hot or cold).
Two of my favorite Pesach kitchen tools are my special “soft-peel” peeler–since our Minhag is not to eat any fruits or vegetables we can’t peel, this has added peaches, plums and tomatoes to my menus! I also love my mini-spatulas from Pampered Chef–they make serving any plattered food so elegant and easy.
my favorite kitchen tool are my color coded cutting boards for dairy, meat and pareve preparation.
my flower shaped cupcake pans!
My Zyliss peeler! We peel all our Pessach fruits and vegetables, and it can be hard on the wrist. The Zyliss makes it easy and smooth. No other peelers I’ve tried compare. I just bought a bunch of them because they’re always in demand — no one wants to use a different brand!
Hands down, my favorite is my Stand Mixer! It saves me so much time, plus whatever I make in there is usually something that “requires” me to lick the batter! I always look forward to using it. (And I love that it’s pink)
I LOVE and use my COOKIE SHEET(s) for everything! Homemade fries, peanut butter cookies, roasted chicken and garlic sweet potatoes. You just can’t make em’ right using a deep pan
THE FOOD-PROCCESSOR IS MY FAVE! FROM CHAROSET TO KNEIDELACH TO LATKES, PESACH NOODLES, VEGGIES & QUICK BAKED GOODS THIS FANTASTIC MACHINE DOES IT ALL!
Even though I mostly use it on Shabbos my favorite kitchen tool is my crockpot. I love the smell of the chulent simmering, especially in the winter!
blender – to make sauces and smoothies
tvollowitz at aol dot com
My favorite kitchen tool is my peeler. There’s nothing like a good sturdy peeler that gets you through all those veggies.
My favorite tool is my pineapple corer . I always love fresh pineapple, but hated cutting it. With a few twists I can lift the pineapple out of the shell and have perfect rings as well. They can then be cut and the “shell” can be used to serve the pineapple.
my food processor…. special memories because for the past 7 years a good friend of mine who doesn’t have a pesach processor comes over and we make our haroset & horseradish together. in fact we just set our date for next week. thanks!
Hi Jamie,
My favorite kitchen tool is a Microwave. They make re-heating foods quick and easy.
Chaviva
mine would be a tie between the food processor and the mandoline… Makes all that chopping and slicing a breeze!
My favorite passover tool is my hand chopper and bowel. I use it to chop apples and walnuts for charoset. Now that my daughter is ols enough, she likes to make the charoset and uses the chopper herself.
The kitchen tool that has made the biggest difference for me is my knife sharpener. It is very compact and fits in my utensil drawer so it is very easy to keep my knives sharp.
My mango splitter. I don’t have to excise the pit anymore! Now we have mangoes much more often.
I can’t function without my mini food processor. I make my own dressings, mayo, pesto – plus anything that needs chopping. That and a good timer. I’d forget to take everything out of the oven without it!