Every career has tools that make it easier to navigate their job. Writers can’t go far without laptops or thesauruses, athletes need their bats, cleats, and muscles to excel at their sports. And cooks? Every kitchen is filled with the tools of their trade, and we at BLT Kitchens were just thinking about how much easier it is to be in the food prep business with the tools we use every day! This guide to the top five most useful small hand tools for your shared kitchen tools will show just how far we have come, and if you’re new to the food business, may help you make your new business in our shared kitchens more successful than you ever dreamed possible!
Sharp Knives
We honestly can’t think of a food industry business that doesn’t have the need for the sharpest of knives, and although we provide many of the small hand tools on this list, knives are a more personal choice that we believe you should choose for yourself. And because sharpness matters, we are adding an asterisk to this item and adding that a knife sharpener is of equal importance! Check out the top 5 knives you can get when you start meal prepping!
Meat Thermometer
By now you have probably read all the codes and rules involving food businesses, and you probably have a thorough understanding of how vital it is to cook your foods to the proper temperatures. No one wants sick customers and a meat thermometer ensures that you get it right every time, without using the old standby of pressing a finger against the meat and judging how it bounces back!
Hand Mixers
As a cook, you will spend your days chopping, stirring, tasting, and repeating the process over and over again, and because stirring can be hard on the arms and hands, a small hand mixer can save you a lot of unnecessary exertion! Obviously, the food processors offered in our shared kitchens will come in handy, but the new cordless hand mixers allow you to take the mixing show on the road and not be forced to stay within reach of a cord.
Mandolins
This hand tool is perhaps even more useful than the sharp knife and can be used to cut your foods in all shapes—julienned, diced, even sliced thinner than you could manage with your own knife. Portable and easily contained, most mandolins come with their own box to keep all the blades in one place.
Kitchen Scale
Helping chefs from all over the world keep costs in line as they build precisely designed meals, the kitchen scale is perhaps the most useful of all tools! There will be no worries about giving customers more than they paid for if you weigh the meats before preparing, and because today’s customers are more calorie conscious than ever, you will be able to know to the ounce exactly what the calorie count is of the item you have created.
Ask for a Tour and Explore Other Useful Small Hand Tools Today!
These are just an example of the tips we provide to help you build a successful food industry business. Feeling like you’re missing something? Check out our guide to commercial kitchen equipment!
Give us a call today and set up a tour to discover what your next step should be!