5 Essential Summer Cooking Gadgets

Summer cooking and dining is about simplicity: Enjoying the hot weather's garden bounty and cool, sweet desserts, grilling every chance you get before the Weber freezes shut and sipping continuously on a light, refreshing drink while doing so. Be sure to follow these 4 food tips to help you stay cool and also avoid these foods when the mercury starts pushing triple digits.

When it comes to gadgets which will help you cook in the summer, we normally eschew newfangled one-trick ponies that take up precious space in our kitchens, but agree hands-down that there is no summer cooking without these five essentials.

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Flavor injector

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It may look cruel, but immunizing your meat against blandness is actually the kindest thing you could do. This more direct approach to marinating results in tender, flavorful steaks and poultry that tastes like it's been basted from the inside out. Not all flavor injectors are the same, however, so we vaccinated anything that would stand still long enough (is this metaphor getting weird yet?) with our favorite marinades to see what stuck.

Check out our flavor injector picks.

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It may look cruel, but immunizing your meat against blandness is actually the kindest thing you could do. This more direct approach to marinating results in tender, flavorful steaks and poultry that tastes like it's been basted from the inside out. Not all flavor injectors are the same, however, so we vaccinated anything that would stand still long enough (is this metaphor getting weird yet?) with our favorite marinades to see what stuck.



Check out our flavor injector picks.

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Comments

[MohtashamQadri]

01:58 AM on 09/18/2011

its a pleasure reading all these informative things. I really appreciate your mindset man, please tell me how can i contact you, because your articles are always informative and cool for learning, they always increase my knowledge winrar free download

[Casa-Giardino]

08:47 PM on 07/24/2011

None of those gadgets needed to cook for the summer or all year long. Just a set of decent knives.
http://casa-giardino.blogspot.com/2011/07/hot-weather-meal.html

[JScott]

10:44 AM on 07/25/2011

A relative of mine who is into cooking says the same (aka ignore all that kitchen crap in informercials)

[playsindirt]

06:54 PM on 07/24/2011

Happy to say I have all of these and then some. Love my yogurt maker, too.

[colonelsun68]

09:04 AM on 07/24/2011

I would venture to say that none of these gadgets is "essential" any time of the year!

[crom14]

04:00 AM on 07/24/2011

The juicer is fantastic, you get every drop of juice.

[westbygoddoug]

11:36 PM on 07/23/2011

It's summer...you need fire.

[plazma]

06:00 AM on 07/24/2011

thats not a gadget, unless you live in the stoneage

[westbygoddoug]

12:30 PM on 07/24/2011

Not a gadget, but it is all you need for summer.

[Comicoffee]

11:33 PM on 07/23/2011

What about a cherry/olive pitter? It's definitely one of my go-to gadgets in the summer, and makes pies a cinch!

[plazma]

06:00 AM on 07/24/2011

just use a chopstick, works the same and doesnt cost you anything.

[Comicoffee]

11:47 AM on 07/24/2011

Good idea--I wish I had thought of that before getting the cherry pitter! Nevertheless, I do like the satisfying click mine makes. :)

[GraceNotes]

03:15 PM on 07/25/2011

Thanks for this! I just bought some cherries and was not looking forward to pitting them without a pitter. I do own chopsticks.

[lbcyclist]

10:24 PM on 07/23/2011

None of these is really necessary. All you really need is a good knife, a cutting board, a skillet with a cover and saucepan. I cooked every day for three months using these basic tools and had excellent food.

[plazma]

05:55 AM on 07/24/2011

You must cook very basic food then.. cause a Microplane is essential on so many levels... a juicer is also important, I have used mine almost every day for the past few weeks.

[JScott]

10:45 AM on 07/25/2011

Isn't that better known as a rasp that you can get at the hardware store?

[playsindirt]

06:52 PM on 07/24/2011

I would be lost without my mandoline, microplaners, blenders, cuisinart, wok, etc., etc. I think when you limit your tools, you limit what you're able to cook. You cannot grill, roast, or bake in a skillet or a saucepan. Did you eat out of cans and eat a lot of pan fried meat?

[c-tom]

08:58 PM on 07/24/2011

I'm thinking about getting a micro-planer and a mandolin would occasionally be handy. But if you have cast iron frying pans you can easily roast and bake in them. I invariably use them for coq-au-vin and biscuits.

[kareemachan]

11:58 AM on 07/23/2011

One thing I find essential for summer cooking is my barbecue.

[plazma]

06:00 AM on 07/24/2011

thats not a gadget though

[shilohsharps]

11:55 PM on 07/22/2011

Whynter ice cream maker: Out of Stock until Aug 31st

[plazma]

06:01 AM on 07/24/2011

Just order the cuisinart ice cream maker, works great.

[mlaiuppa]

10:37 PM on 07/22/2011

I already have a grater and a blender so I'll pass on the added expense and clutter of #3 and #5.

[elcerritan]

11:58 PM on 07/23/2011

But if you try a Microplane, you'll never look back!

[honeybear64]

05:45 PM on 07/24/2011

You're right about that, and I can't see going without an immersion blender, either.

(Of course, if I bought every kitchen gadget I drool over, I'd need a kitchen half the size of my house.)

OT, but I think it's funny how Gordon Ramsay and his wife each have their own separate kitchens - his filled with everything imagineable, and hers with just enough stuff to make shepherd's pie. He's so mean: he says it's "embarassing" to watch his wife chop an onion!

[playsindirt]

06:53 PM on 07/24/2011

Completely agree. I love kitchen gadgets and tools. I would rather have new kitchen stuff for gifts than jewelry.