PLAYING FAVORITES

Pastry chefs and ACF members share their favorite tools and ingredients in the kitchen

By Robert Wemischner

How often have you found yourself in this very scenario: You are ready to lay on a skim coat on the first of many cakes for a special order and your favorite 9-inch straight spatula has gone missing. What makes it your favorite, different from any of a number of other spatulas residing in your toolbox or bin? Years of use, perhaps? The perfect ergonomic fit to your hand? The weight of it compared to others? The perfect degree of flexibility (or lack thereof) of its metal blade? The slightly worn-down feel of its wooden handle? Here’s a look at some of the tools preferred by these ACF chefs and why.

“I absolutely love my 7-inch straight spatula for many jobs in my gluten-free bakery. It has one side sharpened like a knife and so is doubly useful in the kitchen. And if I had to name one other small tool, it would be my palette knife with a handle that exactly matches the size of my palm. I’d be lost if that one went missing.” –Chef Chrissy Jensen, CEPC, owner, The Dotted Lime, Columbia, Tennessee

“I can’t do without my bowl knife. It is a dull-edged, round-ended metal spatula shaped to cleanly remove the contents of a bowl.” –Chef John Griffin, CEC, CEPC, Griffin Culinary Consultants, New York

“My toolbox contains many useful items, from a small digital scale to weigh out those crucial amounts of leavening, salt or thickening powders, to plating tweezers.” –Chef Stephanie Charns, CEC, CWPC, food marketing and product innovation consultant

“My immersion blenders, both industrial-sized and small handheld versions, are my best friends in the kitchen. Whether I’m completing a fruit coulis, emulsifying a ganache or cremeux, or even aerating eggs for a cake batter, I reach for an immersion blender every time. They’re put through their paces in my kitchen.”–ACF Chef Lasheeda Perry, founder/owner, Queen of Flavor