84 Part I: Eating Right with Every Bite
the inside of the pan, but make sure your plastic spatula is heat resistant
so it won’t melt.
✓ Wire whisk: Use this tool to incorporate air into batters or liquids to
make them lighter. You can find plastic whisks, but they don’t work as
well as metal. Whisks come in different sizes, and you’ll find it handy to
have a small, medium, and large in your kitchen.
✓ Mixing spoons: You need a lot of these because they’re such a handy
tool, but you won’t mind since they’re inexpensive. We recommend you
have ten. Wooden spoons are perfect for the mixing jobs you have and
won’t scratch your nonstick cookware. To keep them in good condition,
hand-wash these to clean ’em up.
✓ Dry and liquid measuring cups: Dry measuring cups are used for
measuring dry or solid ingredients like flour, mayonnaise, fruits, and
vegetables. They typically come in sets ranging in volume from^1 ⁄ 4 cup to
1 cup. Liquid measuring cups measure differently than dry ones, so both
types are needed. Liquid measuring cups have a small spout for pouring
liquids and usually come in sizes ranging from 1 cup to 4 cups.
✓ Measuring spoons: These come in metal or plastic. Measuring spoons
are needed for measuring out small amounts of ingredients. Unlike mea-
suring cups, measuring spoons are used for both dry and liquid measure.
✓ Food scale: Weighing ingredients to get the right amount is important
in some recipes. Scales also help in determining serving sizes. They
come in a wide range of prices and features. Small scales, under $10, can
give you a weight of a food up to 16 ounces. Some digital scales have
computer chips in them that provide you with nutrition information for
the food you are eating. You can put your grapes on the scale platform,
program the code for the grapes, and the scale gives you a reading for
calories, fat, protein, and carbohydrates. Some of these scales have a
memory built in so you can tally your intake for the day.
✓ Meat thermometer: A meat thermometer measures the degree of
doneness of meats, poultry, fish, and seafood. Most meat thermometers
are not oven-safe, but you can spend a little extra money and get one
that can stay in your protein while it cooks.
✓ Quick-read thermometer: This simple thermometer is used to measure
the internal temperature of any food, cold or hot. They’re not oven-proof.
✓ Oven thermometer: These thermometers are used to make sure the
oven is calibrated to correct temperature. Older ovens can be 20
degrees under or over their setting and cause your dish to over- or
undercook. If your oven temperature is way off, you can call an
appliance repair man to come and adjust it.
✓ Mixing bowls: When you’re preparing multiple dishes or complicated
recipes, the more mixing bowls you have, the better. We recommend
having three small, three medium, three large, and one really big.
