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I know people are freaking out about the holidays coming - I can hear it now, “Oh my god, I need to buy like $400 worth of kitchen equipment to put this thing together…” I would say stop right there, put down the car keys or back away from your keyboard. Don’t spend a ton of money on things you may or may not use ever again. Here are a few suggestions for tools that you will reuse and will treasure for years to come.
1. Instant Read Thermometer - An instant read thermometer can mean the difference between having a little dry turkey with a cup of gravy and having a delicious moist bird. Everyone who spends a lot of time in the kitchen can use one of these great little thermometers. The great news is this little baby is cheap - $7.00 over at amazon.com. One other suggestion for a moist bird is to let the meat rest when it comes out of the oven. You would be surprised how much that helps with moisture in meats.
2. Pyrex Pie Plate - Go ahead and call me old fashioned, believe me you won’t be the first, but I love a good old fashioned glass pie plate. At a mere $8.00 per plate you can’t go wrong. If it worked for your grandmother, then why not you. I make pies all the time and this little plate is a wonder. I have to say I am pretty big fan of Pyrex and this plate is no exception. The measuring cups are also great and relatively inexpensive, so I would suggest picking up a large (4 cup or more) and a small one (1 cup).
3. Glass Mixing Bowls - You are going to need some mixing bowls for the big feast. Mixing bowls are fabulous to have and I personally love the sets. I purchased a duralex set from William-Sonoma and I love them. They were relatively inexpensive around $30. I have seen other sets cheaper - as low as $14.95. I guarantee even with one full set you will never have enough bowls on hand - that’s how much you will use them.
4. Roasting Pan - Okay roasting pans can be absolutely ridiculously overpriced and they can send you into a $400 budget for holiday cooking tools. I have a couple of suggestions on these. Try retailers like TJ Maxx who carry quality products, but at a discount. I have seen great pans for $60 and under there. If you know that you will be using a pan for the next 100 years and it’s going to be passed down to your grandchildren, then go ahead and splurge on an All-Clad or something. If you know this is the one and only party you will ever host, then you have my permission and the rest of America’s for that matter to purchase a disposable. The only thing to be careful of with this is getting them in and out of the oven. They are not designed to hold a lot of weight and without careful removal your turkey could easily wind up on the kitchen floor instead of the platter.
5. Miscellaneous - You will probably want to have at least a few mixing tools on hand. I would suggest a decent whisk, a couple of inexpensive spoonulas and a wooden spoon or two. There are, of course, a million other little gadgets you can have. I am assuming you have cutting boards, knives, and maybe a pan or two. I am hoping you have at least those basics…If so, then you can put together a nice holiday meal without a lot of fuss. Cheap in mind you don’t need to buy a bunch of serviceware that you won’t use again. Use the things you have around the house and again check the discount stores for deals.
Click on any of the links above to find these products at Amazon.com.