5 Tools That Will Change the Way You Cook

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Milk Street: Közmatik

The effortless tool for indoor grilled vegetables

When a recipe calls for charring vegetables, what do you do? Well, you can fire up the grill but that is a lot of work for just one eggplant or two bell peppers. In Turkey, however, they have a better solution called the Közmatik, a metal disk that fits perfectly over the burner of a gas stove. Evenly spaced holes allow heat to circulate around the vegetables, so you are truly roasting, rather than searing as you would on a skillet. The holes are close enough to hold even small veggies, like slender spring onions, and the disk is large enough to keep several bulbous eggplants from rolling off. It’s also less messy than charring directly on the burner: The Közmatik catches nearly all of the bits of charred vegetable skin and juices that would leak onto the surface of the stove. And, once cooled, it can be thrown in the dishwasher for easy cleanup. For use on gas burners or grills only.

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Milk Street: Precision Peeler

Peel even the toughest vegetables like butter.

Most peelers do a lousy job. The blades are made of inferior steel so they do not peel easily and the peel itself is often too thick. The blades dull over time so you have to throw it out. Many designs have uncomfortable handles or the handles are awkward since they are not aligned properly with the blade. And when it comes to thick, tough skins such as butternut squash, you might as well give up before you start. That is why we just redesigned the peeler, using top-grade 420 stainless steel for the replaceable blade (why don’t all peelers have replaceable blades?) and a handle that is big enough for a firm, easy grip. Try it just once and you will find that it peels like cutting through butter. It’s that good!

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Milk Street: Garlic Pro

This dishwasher-safe mini mandoline grates, slices or crushes multiple cloves in seconds.

There are few foods more annoying to prepare than garlic. It’s a pain to peel, tricky to slice and grating can be as risky to your fingers as the garlic clove. And garlic presses are an utter nuisance to clean, much less extract all the flavor that give garlic its reputation as an aromatic powerhouse. Introducing the Milk Street Garlic Pro, a one-stop solution for easy garlic prep. The intuitive design functions like a mini mandoline but is much safer, thanks to the hopper that keeps your fingers safe and sound. Simply choose the cutting attachment for sliced, pressed or grated garlic; load the garlic cloves into the large, grippy hopper then press down and slide back and forth to effortlessly process the garlic. The odor-proof polycarbonate base holds over a whole head of prepared garlic, which can be transferred to the mixing bowl or skillet without ever having to touch it. The sturdy steel, silicone and polycarbonate construction is precisely built for long-term durability. The three snap-in blade attachments lock securely into the bottom of the lid, so you’ll never lose them in the bottom of your utility drawer.

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Milk Street: Kitchin-kiji

Speed up your prep with Milk Street’s power paring knife

The one kind of knife missing from most Western kitchens is one of the most used in Japan—a midsized, multipurpose utility knife bigger and stronger than a paring knife but smaller and more manageable than a chef’s knife. Why Western cooks typically don’t have such a knife is beyond us, so we took months to design our own. The result is the Kitchin-kiji—the ultimate all-purpose utility knife that will speed up your prep. It’s perfect for all the “in-between” jobs, small enough for detailed handwork like slicing garlic and shallots, trimming mushrooms or cutting fruit. Plus, we designed it with a broad blade to be large enough that it won’t twist, and the larger handle fills the hand for a confident grip.

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Milk Street: 3-Piece 10.5-Inch Small Hammered Carbon Steel Wok

A 10.5-inch hammered carbon steel wok that's just the right size.

The typical wok is lousy for home cooking. With a round bottom that doesn’t heat on a flat American burner, poorly conductive steel and low-quality construction, most woks don’t perform well enough to be worth the storage space.

That is why we introduced the Milk Street Hammered Wok. The broad 13-inch diameter wok is designed for big batches, ideally for four or more main-course servings. But what about smaller batches, side dishes and sauces, or when cooking for one or two? Then smaller is better.

Meet Milk Street’s tried-and-true wok design in a new compact version. Its 10.5-inch diameter provides just enough real estate for smaller jobs in an easy-to-store package. It’s perfect for cooking smaller batches or cooking for just one or two.

With high-quality carbon steel construction, an oversized handle for better control, a special dimpled surface for nonstick cooking and a tight-fitting tempered glass lid, it will last a lifetime, and it’s guaranteed to improve your day-to-day cooking.