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Category Archives: Kitchen Tools
Give the Gift of Sous Vide
Cooking sous vide, wrapped food submerged in warm to hot water, is a relatively new form of cooking now available to home cooks. The method truly does allow for transforming food in ways previously not possible with such precision. The best example of what it can do is short ribs. Short ribs cooked at 140˚ F. for 48 hours results in medium rare to medium meat, still pink, but completely tender. Pork belly cooked for that same time, then chilled is ready to be seared crispy when you’re ready to serve it. Chicken thighs and duck legs the same.
Not only does sous vide give you precise control of the internal temperature of meat and fish, it gives you the convenience of preparing food in advance, ...
Also posted in Books, Elements of Cooking, food science, Holiday, Kitchen Technology, Technique Tagged gifts, holiday, kitchen technology, polyscience, sous vide at home, sous vide supreme 17 Comments
Gift Week: Affordable, Useful Gifts
When it comes to small great gifts, kitchen tools can’t be beat. Items like the above Benriner mandoline, a tool you’ll find in just about every professional cook’s knife kit, is perfect.
But there are many many ridiculous small brightly colored kitchen items out there tempting those who don’t cook with promises of ease and convenience . Last year my mom got me these pink silicone trussing bands —I do not recommend! This is the kind of stupid product that makes me crazy.
But a great pepper mill, that’s something truly valuable—there are good ones and bad ones. Pugeot’s are excellent. This one from opensky is top of the line with an adjustable grind.
The side towels I offer at opensky ...
Also posted in Holiday Tagged handblender, holiday, Kitchen Tools, mandoline, microplane, mortar and pestle, scales, shopping, side towels 18 Comments
Gift Week: The Big Guns
This week’s posts will be devoted my personal kitchen tool gift guide, starting with the big guns.
I got my first KitchenAid stand mixer 20 years ago as a Christmas gift from my mom’s boyfriend, Hap, and it was one of the best gifts I ever got. It’s the most used appliance in my kitchen. I’ve beaten the hell out of it, even flipped it off the countertop while trying to grind something particularly difficult. And it still runs.
When Donna and I began doing photography for Twenty, we wanted something a little better to look at and so now use the above “Artisan” 5-quart model (linked to above). If you’re looking for that over-the-top gift for the one in your family who loves to cook, this can’t be beat. It’s what we tested all the ...
OpenSky Giveaway: Kitchen Essentials!

The giveaway from OpenSky includes all of the above: a signed copy of my new book, an awesome boos cutting board, all of our wood paddles and offset spoons, the most important knives you can own, and the most awesome and useful pot on the market.
Also posted in Books, Giveaway, ruhlman products Tagged giveaway, Michael Ruhlman kitchen tool line, Opensky, Ruhlman's Twenty, spanky Comments closed
The Birth of a Product—Bamboo Scrubber
This one was all Mac. Mac Dalton who, at a New Years All Day Eat and Drink party at our house, arrived early and shoveled the walk, dry-humped guests at random ("Cut it out, Mac" was the typical response), helped me cook and feed thirty people laughing the entire time, dropped trou to show us his favorite Christmas gift (Scooby Doo boxers), and single handedly did every dish and glass in the house at the end of the night (and at parties like that you use every single glass available). That's Mac.
He did one other thing that day. He said, "Hey, Michael. I gotta show you what I do. I make things. I can make anything, what do you want to make?" I picked up the offset spoon, one ...Also posted in ruhlman products, Video Tagged bamboo scrubber, cleaning, Michael Ruhlman kitchen tool line, Michael Ruhlman product line, scrubbing, video Comments closed
The Trio Spanker Bundle
One of the amazing and gratifying facets of internet e-commerce and communication, is that when I and my business partner Mac Dalton created the coolest wood paddles around we were told loud and clear that we hadn’t done enough. We had a small one and a humongous one, the awesome Spanker, but there was nothing in between. Now there is, thanks to you: The Spankette, created for readers who asked for it. You were right, and we got it right, we hope: the Spankette is the perfect all-purpose flat-edged wooden spoon for daily cooking, stirring that bolognese sauce, that mushroom risotto, gently scraping the bottom of the pan as you stir to prevent scorching and sticking. And they’re beautiful, as Donna’s photo below shows.
The paddle trio: The Spanker, The Spankette, and The Spankie.
Click to Continue Reading
Also posted in ruhlman products Tagged Mac Dalton, Michael Ruhlman kitchen tool line, Opensky, spanker, spankette, spanky Comments closed
The Importance of Sharp Knives
OpenSky's knife sharpener offer to people who follow me there forced me to think about sharp knives (I had to write the copy). Normally, I only think about sharp knives when they aren't.
Here's the fact: the biggest problem in home kitchens is dull knives. There is no greater hindrance to the person in the house who does the cooking than dull knives. Almost without fail, every friend's kitchen I go to, there is not a sharp knife to be found. The only kitchens I've been in where there are sharp knives, are the big fancy ones where no one cooks. And my mom's. Because she only uses those crappy ceramic knives, so her nice Wusthofs, used on my once- or twice-a-year visits remain pristine. (OpenSky has ...
Also posted in Technique, Tools, Video Tagged How to Sharpen a Knife, How to Steel a Knife, knives, Opensky, sharpening stone, technique, video Comments closed
Lessons of Guacamole
This is not just a guacamole recipe and preparation, it's a broader lesson about aromatics and acid and using seasonal foods. It's avocado season, so they're really good now! And they will be all summer long. Avocados are one of my favorite fruits; they're kind of like butter, a ready made sauce—all you have to do is adjust texture and add flavors.
I recently offered this mortar and pestle to followers on OpenSky (more on OpenSky here), and it makes a gorgeous service piece in addition to being a practical cooking tool. I mash garlic and salt to a paste, then add minced shallot (yes shallots!). Then I add lime ...
Also posted in Appetizers, aromatics, Donna Turner Ruhlman Photography, Ethnic Cuisine Tagged avocado, guacamole, guacamole recipe, motar and pestle Comments closed
Get a Handle on Knives
Also posted in Article Tagged asian knives, chicago tribune, european knives, shun, what style knife are you, Wusthof, Zwilling J.A. Henckels Comments closed
Introducing Ruhlman.com Kitchen Tools!
Who would have thought I'd have a future with the man showing off his new Scooby Doo underwear in my kitchen at a New Year's Day celebration? Yet here we are! Mac Dalton and I have conspired to create a small number of cooking tools that were either hard to find, non-existent or that we simply love.
Also posted in Tools Tagged acacia wood paddles, all-strain kitchen cloths, cheese cloth, easy clean knife grabber, Kitchen Tools, Mac Dalton, magnet knife holder, Michael Ruhlman kitchen tool line, Michael Ruhlman product line, Opensky, spanker, spanky Comments closed
















