What are your favorite and disliked kitchen utensils?

[Taskisla]

Hi! I am a product design student at Istanbul Technical University. I am assigned to design a 3-piece kitchen utensils kit. Now, I am on a research, asking people about their tasks and tools they used for these tasks. I have some questions for you, if you give answers I will be appreciated.

1.Which tasks do you complete mostly while food preparation process?
Example: Washing, peeling, cutting, mixing, grating etc.

2.Which tasks are time wasting and difficult to you?

3.Which methods do you generally use for cooking?
Example: Boiling, frying, grilling etc.

4.Which utensils do you use mostly for preparation and cooking process? Which materials do you prefer for these utensils?

5.Do you have disliked utensils? What is the problem with it?

You can post images to show your useless or disfunctioning products if you have any.

 

[Rocklobster]

One thing that can happen with cooking is the food sticking to the pans. I find that most utensils are not sharp enough to dislodge the food from the pan without leaving the flavorful, crispy and desireble coating stuck to the pan. For years I have been using a paint scraper from the hardware store to slowly scrape things that are pan fried or oven roasted. Naturally you can't use this on non stick pans, so I rarely use them. I have never found a plastic or nylon utensil that is firm and thin/sharp enough to perform this function with not stick cook wear.

 

[no mayonnaise]

1) Washing and knife work (cutting, chopping, dicing, mincing, etc.)

2) Washing and drying food such as bundles of herbs or large amounts of foods that need to be dry to cook properly.

3) Searing, sauteing, baking,roasting, broiling, braising, steaming, boiling, stir frying. I rarely grill or fry things.

4) Knife and cutting board, pans, silicone spatula, mortar & pestle, pepper grinder/salt boat

5) I don't really dislike anything I own, but one time I got suckered into this herb mill POS that worked like a hand-crank wood chipper. It was the worst cooking utensil I've ever used.

 

[Snip 13]

Hi! I am a product design student at Istanbul Technical University. I am assigned to design a 3-piece kitchen utensils kit. Now, I am on a research, asking people about their tasks and tools they used for these tasks. I have some questions for you, if you give answers I will be appreciated.

1.Which tasks do you complete mostly while food preparation process?
Example: Washing, peeling, cutting, mixing, grating etc.

Washing, cutting and grating.

2.Which tasks are time wasting and difficult to you?

I hate peeling and grating things.


3.Which methods do you generally use for cooking?
Example: Boiling, frying, grilling etc.

Grilling, baking and steaming. Hardly ever fry or boil anything.

4.Which utensils do you use mostly for preparation and cooking process? Which materials do you prefer for these utensils?

I love my chopping knife the most and I use an egg lifter often. Tongs and my hammer I nicked from hubby to tenderise meat!

5.Do you have disliked utensils? What is the problem with it?

Can openers drive me nuts, they don't always work properly and some peelers don't do a good job either.

You can post images to show your useless or disfunctioning products if you have any.

Hope this helps!

 

[Taskisla]

Thanks for feedback, these comments really helped me! Hope, more people answer these questions

 

[CWS4322]

I'm left handed. I hate can openers (there are only a couple that I can use and they work everytime) and veggie peelers--again, there are only a couple that work reliably for me. A friend's 10-yr old son is a lefty. She has had the same comment--that watching him use the can opener and a veggie peeler is painful. Make products that are are righty and lefty friendly.

 

[justplainbill]

I have a love - hate relationship with my Braun food processor. It can be a pain to clean but for 1 + litre batches it's worth the pain.

 

[New Englander]

What are your favorite and disliked kitchen utensils?

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1.Which tasks do you complete mostly while food preparation process?
Example: Washing, peeling, cutting, mixing, grating etc.

I make omlets, stews and chili with ten to 20 ingredients and spices.
I like to time medium long cook items at 5 minutes initial cooking and then add faster cook items 3 minutes and them add spices like chives or fresh basil, parsley. And heat the plates for 60 seconds in microwave. A computer program that shows you a video or the cooking and tells you when to add things would be nice for special recipes.


2.Which tasks are time wasting and difficult to you?
Finely chopped or minced items take time and a sharp knife. – time
Organizing the refrigerator with clear see-thru plastic bags/wrap and Tupperware containers for preservation, easy viewing and simple access while maintaining the freshness. Dating when items are open and dates when prepared for freshness and food safety.


3.Which methods do you generally use for cooking?
Example: Boiling, frying, grilling etc.
Frying pan with clear light-weight glass cover with steam release vent mostly.
Some baking, some boiling, and lots of microwaving of left overs. And a toaster oven for crispness of pizza and casadias flour tortilla with chicken, guacamole, cheese and vegetables.

4.Which utensils do you use mostly for preparation and cooking process? Which materials do you prefer for these utensils?
Knife which holds an edge and is very comfortable for hours or chopping/slicing,
Spatula
cooking spoon no slots so it picks up juice/liquid,


5.Do you have disliked utensils? What is the problem with it?

spatula plastic for non-stick – the one I have is terrible, it should have a sturdier handle and the front edge should have a sharper edge to flip and pick up omlets and such things.

- Chris