Heimerdinger Cutlery will once again be at the Huntin' the Beast Expo. As before, it will be held at the Breckenridge County Fairgrounds in Hardinsburg, Kentucky. It's coming up soon, this weekend in fact-- August 29th from 8:00 am to 6:00 pm (that's Central time).
They'll have all sorts of things going on, with special guests (did you even know that the University of Louisville has a Bass Fishing Team?).
Go out and see them!
Wednesday, August 26, 2009
Tuesday, August 18, 2009
A fully stocked kitchen
According to The Nest, sister website to The Knot, a kitchen is not complete without this list of kitchen tools. They say
Here's what I have to say about that.
The two big categories on that list that I'm looking at are knives and utensils. Here's all they had under knives:
KNIVES
Other than the point that kitchen shears (or scissors) aren't exactly knives, this is a pretty good list. Except for "Knife sharpener." That, my friends, is a potentially dangerous phrase. The quick explanation is that you would be far better off getting yourself a steel (sometimes called a sharpening steel or a butcher's steel) than you would getting a knife sharpener. A steel will help maintain a knife's edge and then you can get it professionally sharpened. No, that's not just a plug for our knife sharpening services. Most of you reading this probably don't live near enough for that, anyway. A "knife sharpener" will indeed sharpen your knives, but with no regard to angle or blade shape. It's imprecise and you can actually damage your edge instead of sharpening it.
If you want more info, check out this post I did before about sharpening knives. Please excuse the broken images, I'm trying to go back and replace them with ones from our new website.
Your registry items have been safely stashed. Now use our checklist to make sure you haven't missed any of the essentials -- because no kitchen is complete without these handy gadgets.
Here's what I have to say about that.
The two big categories on that list that I'm looking at are knives and utensils. Here's all they had under knives:
KNIVES
- Bread knife
- Chef's knife
- Kitchen shears
- Knife sharpener
- Knives
- Paring knife
- Steak knives
- Utility knife
Other than the point that kitchen shears (or scissors) aren't exactly knives, this is a pretty good list. Except for "Knife sharpener." That, my friends, is a potentially dangerous phrase. The quick explanation is that you would be far better off getting yourself a steel (sometimes called a sharpening steel or a butcher's steel) than you would getting a knife sharpener. A steel will help maintain a knife's edge and then you can get it professionally sharpened. No, that's not just a plug for our knife sharpening services. Most of you reading this probably don't live near enough for that, anyway. A "knife sharpener" will indeed sharpen your knives, but with no regard to angle or blade shape. It's imprecise and you can actually damage your edge instead of sharpening it.
If you want more info, check out this post I did before about sharpening knives. Please excuse the broken images, I'm trying to go back and replace them with ones from our new website.
Saturday, August 8, 2009
Back to school ideas
It's that time of year again. Time to pack the little darlings off and set up the ironing board in their bedroom.
However, it's good to send them off prepared. This means buying sheets and towels, packing up crates and suitcases, digging out extra hangars and other necessities. One thing you don't want to neglect is food prep. College students (or anyone starting off on their own for the first time) are very food-centric, so it's important that they're prepared.
I have two categories of advice for you today: Dorms and Apartments. Most items will work for both, I'll let you know.
The problem with living in a dorm is that there are restrictions on what a person can and cannot have (example: candles and hotplates). Some of this changes from school to school, so I'd check your rules out.
Since dorm cooking can be very limited, you'd only need a few basic things past a can opener. If knives are permitted, I'd go with a good utility knife, but not an expensive one. Forschner has a whole bunch of good options, but I like the non-serrated one with a red handle best. It has a 4 inch blade, making it long enough to use for a lot of things, but still short enough to store easily. It has a hygienic nylon handle, in either red or black. It is also under $10, which is great for dorm living because things do have a tendency to walk off.
An essential for any place to live is a good pair of kitchen scissors. The Tricky is an excellent example. My favorite feature is that they come apart, which makes them very easy to clean. While some of our other kitchen scissors come apart, the Trickies can also be used as cap lifters, jar grippers, and wire cutters, and they have this great bone cutting notch which is perfect for chicken wings and flower stems. I have red ones, because those are easier to find, but you might prefer black.
A Swiss Army knife or Leatherman tool (the latter of which isn't up on the website yet, please call for information). For a Swiss Army knife, I'd recommend the Spartan or the Compact knife. Why? They both have a bottle opener and a corkscrew; the former has a can opener and the latter has scissors. The bottle opener is important; it is really hard (but possible!) to get a cork out of a bottle with a screwdriver.
If you're preparing someone for apartment living, I'd add three things to what I mentioned above, though the first is more of an elaboration on the utility knife above.
1) Knives.
My sunday gaming group has started having real food for dinner instead of just ordering out or getting fast food. The problem with this? The guy who hosts the games at his apartment doesn't even have a paring knife. Do you know how hard it is to chop up an onion with a butter knife?
If you only get one, get a utility knife. It's good for everything. If you're going for two, I'd say a paring knife and a chef's knife. The chef's knife is very useful for things like slicing up a whole chicken (if you catch them on sale it's the most economical thing, you can even make broth from the bones).
There are a lot of inexpensive options, which to be frank are better to get people who don't spend a lot of time cooking and are prone to putting knives in the dishwaster. Forschner (owned by the Swiss Army knife people) has a great line of inexpensive paring and utility knives, some with . Dexter Russell is a good choice for a durable chef's knife; the brand the oldest and one of the largest manufacturers of professional cutlery in the USA. Dexter Russell kitchen implements are used in commercial kitchens all over. They aren't the prettiest of knives, but they're affordable and tough. If you think these knives will be used by . The white Sanisafe handles are also good for people with big hands because they're a little larger.
2) Something to store knives in.
A knife block is great if you have a very well supplied kitchen (or inherited some older knives like I did), but it's a bit excessive for one or two knives. Not to mention taking up a large chunk of highly valuable counter space. There's The Swinger, or the Magnabar. Both are compact and space efficient, with The Swinger fitting up under a cabinet. Magnabars are also popular. You might feel a little leery about using nothing more than a magnet to hold sharp knives, but these are very strong magnets. We use them in the store (as you can see in the top picture on the right of the About Us page).
Or, if you don't want to put holes in your walls or counters, get some Edgeguards so that you can reach into drawers without slicing your fingers. They are a few dollars apiece and you can get them to suit any size knife. I'd definitely recommend these to college students as well.
3) A cutting board.
I'm bad to say it, but we're probably not the best place to get a cutting board for your average person starting out on their own. All of ours are handcrafted locally. These functional works of art would be better as a gift to someone with a new house, rather than a new apartment.
However, here are a couple of tips to use when looking for a cutting board. Look for a wooden or bamboo cutting board, not glass or plastic. Plastic might seem more hygienic, but scored plastic can trap bacteria. Some studies have shown that wooden cutting boards have natural anti-microbial qualities. Still, be sure to wash them after every use (particularly after chopping meat/poultry). Do not let your cutting board soak in the sink; that can cause warping and encourage slime. Using a wooden cutting board is also more forgiving to the edges of knives; glass and hard plastics can quickly dull a knife.
Well, that's all I have for now. Do you have any suggestions?
However, it's good to send them off prepared. This means buying sheets and towels, packing up crates and suitcases, digging out extra hangars and other necessities. One thing you don't want to neglect is food prep. College students (or anyone starting off on their own for the first time) are very food-centric, so it's important that they're prepared.
I have two categories of advice for you today: Dorms and Apartments. Most items will work for both, I'll let you know.
The problem with living in a dorm is that there are restrictions on what a person can and cannot have (example: candles and hotplates). Some of this changes from school to school, so I'd check your rules out.
Since dorm cooking can be very limited, you'd only need a few basic things past a can opener. If knives are permitted, I'd go with a good utility knife, but not an expensive one. Forschner has a whole bunch of good options, but I like the non-serrated one with a red handle best. It has a 4 inch blade, making it long enough to use for a lot of things, but still short enough to store easily. It has a hygienic nylon handle, in either red or black. It is also under $10, which is great for dorm living because things do have a tendency to walk off.
An essential for any place to live is a good pair of kitchen scissors. The Tricky is an excellent example. My favorite feature is that they come apart, which makes them very easy to clean. While some of our other kitchen scissors come apart, the Trickies can also be used as cap lifters, jar grippers, and wire cutters, and they have this great bone cutting notch which is perfect for chicken wings and flower stems. I have red ones, because those are easier to find, but you might prefer black.
A Swiss Army knife or Leatherman tool (the latter of which isn't up on the website yet, please call for information). For a Swiss Army knife, I'd recommend the Spartan or the Compact knife. Why? They both have a bottle opener and a corkscrew; the former has a can opener and the latter has scissors. The bottle opener is important; it is really hard (but possible!) to get a cork out of a bottle with a screwdriver.
If you're preparing someone for apartment living, I'd add three things to what I mentioned above, though the first is more of an elaboration on the utility knife above.
1) Knives.
My sunday gaming group has started having real food for dinner instead of just ordering out or getting fast food. The problem with this? The guy who hosts the games at his apartment doesn't even have a paring knife. Do you know how hard it is to chop up an onion with a butter knife?
If you only get one, get a utility knife. It's good for everything. If you're going for two, I'd say a paring knife and a chef's knife. The chef's knife is very useful for things like slicing up a whole chicken (if you catch them on sale it's the most economical thing, you can even make broth from the bones).
There are a lot of inexpensive options, which to be frank are better to get people who don't spend a lot of time cooking and are prone to putting knives in the dishwaster. Forschner (owned by the Swiss Army knife people) has a great line of inexpensive paring and utility knives, some with . Dexter Russell is a good choice for a durable chef's knife; the brand the oldest and one of the largest manufacturers of professional cutlery in the USA. Dexter Russell kitchen implements are used in commercial kitchens all over. They aren't the prettiest of knives, but they're affordable and tough. If you think these knives will be used by . The white Sanisafe handles are also good for people with big hands because they're a little larger.
2) Something to store knives in.
A knife block is great if you have a very well supplied kitchen (or inherited some older knives like I did), but it's a bit excessive for one or two knives. Not to mention taking up a large chunk of highly valuable counter space. There's The Swinger, or the Magnabar. Both are compact and space efficient, with The Swinger fitting up under a cabinet. Magnabars are also popular. You might feel a little leery about using nothing more than a magnet to hold sharp knives, but these are very strong magnets. We use them in the store (as you can see in the top picture on the right of the About Us page).
Or, if you don't want to put holes in your walls or counters, get some Edgeguards so that you can reach into drawers without slicing your fingers. They are a few dollars apiece and you can get them to suit any size knife. I'd definitely recommend these to college students as well.
3) A cutting board.
I'm bad to say it, but we're probably not the best place to get a cutting board for your average person starting out on their own. All of ours are handcrafted locally. These functional works of art would be better as a gift to someone with a new house, rather than a new apartment.
However, here are a couple of tips to use when looking for a cutting board. Look for a wooden or bamboo cutting board, not glass or plastic. Plastic might seem more hygienic, but scored plastic can trap bacteria. Some studies have shown that wooden cutting boards have natural anti-microbial qualities. Still, be sure to wash them after every use (particularly after chopping meat/poultry). Do not let your cutting board soak in the sink; that can cause warping and encourage slime. Using a wooden cutting board is also more forgiving to the edges of knives; glass and hard plastics can quickly dull a knife.
Well, that's all I have for now. Do you have any suggestions?
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