Every time I work in my kitchen zone I try to reduce the amount of cooking “stuff” I own. Everyone has certain gadgets that they love and use frequently but sometimes we just hold on to things because they were expensive, or we used them more frequently at one time in our lives, or just because we think we might want to use them one day.
Take my food processer – please! That food processer with its gadgets (several of which have never been used), takes up almost a whole shelf in one of my cupboards. I maybe use it once a year. It’s cumbersome to set up. The main container has a small crack. It’s hard to clean. A good knife works as well as anything for chopping. A good mixer or immersion blender will take care of about anything else I would want to do.
Many kitchen gadgets that promise to make food prep easier or more gourmet like just end up in the back of the kitchen drawer or back of the cupboard. I find it better to use basic tools that can do multiple things than to have multiple things that can only do one thing. Some good quality knives are important to me, but do I need a whole fancy set with matching handles? I tend to use 3 or 4 over and over while the others just get neglected.
My cast iron Dutch oven with lid and my cast iron skillets ( two sizes) get used weekly. I have a few other skillets that do get used fairly often. But I have way too many sauce pans. I have a huge mixing bowl that I used to use every year to make big batches of fruitcake. I have not made fruitcake for at least 10 years. I guess I have been holding on to it because I just “might make it again someday.” Who am I kidding?
As I organize my kitchen this year, I am seriously paying attention to how I am really cooking now and getting rid of some of this unneeded “stuff”. I feel that the open spaces will make finding what I do use easier to locate and that kitchen maintenance will be more streamlined.
Jonda S. Beattie Professional Organizer