Quick fish cleaner
Sure, you can scale a fish with the back of your knife blade. I did for years — until I drove my thumb into the dorsal spike of a striped bass. After having surgery, I picked up this little device at the tackle shop. It offers more than self-defense. It’s just absolutely good at what it does, and costs less than ten bucks. Show it to your friends and make them guess what it’s for; they’ll be stumped. What would make you design a fish scaler with what looks like plastic hex-head bits loosely attached to the underside of a circular disc? It doesn’t make sense. But it works! It defends your thumb (thank you) and prevents scales from scattering all over and flying up into your face. Only a little pressure is needed, and the fish is completely clean in seconds. — Jay Allison
Essential pot and pan scraper
Norpro Comfort Grip Deluxe Scraper
I am the kitchen staff in our household: cook, dish- and pot-washer. We are suspicious of non-stick cooking surfaces, so all of our pots and pans are steel, enameled iron or cast iron. No matter how much care I take in seasoning pans or paying attention to my cooking, I invariably end up with something stuck to the bottom of something at least once a week. Witnessing my frustration at having to soak, wipe, and then scrape with tools designed to do other things besides remove cooked-on food, my wife said, “Why don’t you get one of those plastic scrapers like my mom used to have?” I scoffed at first, never having heard of this kind of thing (growing up as I did surrounded by Teflon).
We found a scraper at an upscale kitchen store and gave it a try. This first scraper (Norpro 239) was cheap and flimsy and visibly wore down over a month of vigorous scraping, but it was still a revelation. Then I found this thicker scraper and I am quite impressed by its simple, sturdy functionality. After almost a year, it’s just starting to wear, and it kicks potwashing butt on almost a daily basis. It also comes in fun colors!
Unlike other, similar products, this scraper is significantly thicker in the middle than at the edges, making it rigid in use with a little bit of flexibility where the edge meets the pot or pan; it also has a rounded handle along the top edge (mimicking the handle of a European dough scraper) that fits securely along the inside of your index finger. These two features give it a really nice hand-feel, which is something I appreciate in any tool, even a mundane pot scraper. Its best feature, though, is the gradual curve on one scraper edge and the sharp curve on the other, making it useful for saucepans with rounded bottoms as well as square-bottomed pots or brownie pans.
We bought a bunch of these (they are pretty inexpensive) and will often give one to friends, house guests, and family members who express even the slightest curiosity. The gift is invariably met with a quizzical look, but almost every one we give one to contacts us later to tell us how amazed they are that they lived this long without it. —Jeff Morrison
Dough Scraper
Although it was designed specifically for bakers, this low-tech tool is absolutely indispensable in the kitchen. Beyond scraping bread dough off the counter, we use ours to transport all types of chopped foods from counter to bowl, counter to skillet, etc.
There are other dough scrapers out there, but Dexter-Russell’s S496 features a wide wooden handle that helps make it the best. Don’t want to take my word for it? I was in a local Sur la Table recently. They had various bins filled with dough scrapers; the Dexter bin was empty! — Mark Esswein
Evenly floured surfaces
This flour duster allows for remarkably light and even dusting of dough or a work surface. You simply squeeze the wire handle, which expands the spring bulb so that the wires have space between them. Stick it in a bag of flour, stop squeezing and the spring bulb closes around a golf-ball-sized wad of flour. Then, shake it over a work surface squeezing gently — I tap it over my free hand ala David Byrne’s “Once in a Lifetime” — and voilà: A very even dusting is achieved. I’ve used this flour duster for five years, and have found nothing else that can compete. — Robert Narracci
Portable pepper mill
Vic Firth Pump and Grind Pepper Mill
I never go anywhere without my portable pepper mill. I have one stashed in my desk and another in the glove box, and still another couple in the kitchen. Trader Joe’s sells an outstanding disposable model for a couple bucks, but by far my favorite is the thumb-operated pump mill made by Vic Firth.
The sleek designed cylindrical metal and glass device stands 5-1/2-inches tall, and you can tell from its weight that it’s a serious tool. Fill the tube with peppercorns, push the plunger, and presto! Delicious, calorie-free pepper. — Andee Beck Althoff
Better banana protection
Most parents would agree that the venerable banana is a staple of the toddler diet. Unfortunately, they tend to not to fare very well when tossed into a diaper bag filled with wipes, water bottles, and the other dizzying array of items that have to be hauled around everywhere with your little ones. The Banana Guard makes this problem go away completely.
We were given one of these shortly after our daughter was born, and two years later, it goes everywhere with us. The sturdy, BPA-free container protects bananas in even the most overstuffed of diaper bags, and there’s something particularly ingenious about the size and shape: I’ve yet to encounter a banana that didn’t fit.
The ventilation holes help keep the banana fresh, and while the locks can be opened fairly easily, they won’t accidentally pop open if the bag is tossed about, or if the guard is discovered by a curious toddler.
Of course, this isn’t just for kids. When I eat bananas on the go the Banana Guard is the answer. The $15 price tag is perhaps a little steep, but the guard is definitely built to last and in the long run probably costs less than all the bananas you might lose otherwise. — Darin Wilson
Once a week we’ll send out a page from Cool Tools: A Catalog of Possibilities. The tools might be outdated or obsolete, and the links to them may or may not work. We present these vintage recommendations as is because the possibilities they inspire are new. Sign up here to get Tools for Possibilities a week early in your inbox.
