Roullier White's Top 5 Kitchen Gadgets

The internet is awash with tips tricks, hacks and hints aimed at saving you time in the kitchen, and not a day goes by without some new gizmo being cooked up with the aim of saving you valuable minutes usually spent peeling spuds or dicing carrots. From ergonomic egg slicers to mechanical twizzling spaghetti forks, we've all got unused pieces of kitchen kit languishing at back of a cupboard somewhere. However, some kitchen gadgets have not only proven infinitely useful to the committed home cook, they've even been adopted by chefs in kitchens all around the world. Here's our pick of the five kitchen gadgets that have stood the test of time:


1. Mechanical Apple Peeler & Corer
Anyone who's tried to core and peel a fresh batch of apples by hand will have found themselves wishing there was a solution to the monotonous task. Thankfully however, one has been in existence for longer than people realise! Since the late 18th century, people have been coming up with ingenious contraptions made up of cogs and gears to take the stress out of harvest time, when a single apple tree could yield up to two tonnes of apples that had to be peeled, cored, and sliced. Nowadays the design has been refined to perfection, and this handy peeler will sit unobtrusively on your counter top until needed, anchored in place with its innovative suction base.







2. Hamburger Press
Pressing patties by hand is all well and good, but if you want uniform burgers with the perfect consistency and desired thickness, it's a good idea to reach for the humble hamburger press. With grooves that cut into the meat allowing for slightly uneven distribution of heat across the patty's surface, you can be sure of a perfect burger every time with a deliciously caramelised crust and moist, medium rare middle. Remember, only flip your burgers once!







3. Garlic Roaster
A staple of French kitchens for decades, the humble garlic roaster lets you achieve irresistible results with the bare minimum of effort. Simply pop your garlic cloves into the ceramic dish and leave it in the oven until your garlic is soft and spreadable, with a deliciously mellow flavour and wonderful golden colour. What's more, the large size allows you to roast shallots and other onions to perfection as a fantastic accompaniment to grilled meats and fish.









4. Blackbird Pie Vent
To ensure your pie maintains its structure and the pastry avoids getting soggy, it's a good idea to find yourself one of these fantastic contraptions! In use up and down the country since Victorian times, the humble pie funnel has been a fixture of British cooking for generations. Allowing steam to escape during cooking, the funnel prevents excess moisture leaking out of the crust during cooking and ruining the look and texture of your pie, while placing it in the middle will also stop the pastry from sagging.





           



5. Rubaway
Known to chefs for years, this handy trick is absolutely ideal for the home cook juggling multiple tasks at once. The odour-neutralising properties of stainless steel are well documented, and chefs will rub their fingers along the side of a knife after chopping onions, garlic or fish to remove stickiness and eliminate the lingering smell, which is next to impossible to remove with just soap and water alone. The Rubaway's ergonomic design ensures your hands will be completely cleaned, with nowhere left for the odour to become trapped; truly a god send when you dont want everything you touch to smell of garlic for the rest of the week!