Kitchen Skills 101

An old plastic strainer the wife threw out when it got cracked. A piece of duct tape on the crack, and it became a good sorter for nuts, bolts, and washers buried in sawdust!

The other is a battery powered sawzall to slice frozen meat - just don't tell the wife! _{She kept muttering something about germs - hey, I used a new blade!}

Reminds me of the old tech I used to work with. He was an avid hunter and would bag a half dozen deer in a season. One of his tools for butchering them was a gnarly looking sawzall blade about a foot long with a tooth pitch somewhere around 4 or 5 teeth per inch. Not something I wanted to see in use!

Some are easy, like the small torch for caramelizing sugars.

Others not so much. We like to eat crabs, like snow, king, etc. The common tools are poor compared to a good strong stainless steel scissors. Zip right through the shells.

Deep fryer oil temp? Easy with an IR thermometer.

Need to pull the hot oven rack out? Try a pair of Vice-Grips.

(Did you consider a water-jet for that bread)?

(Did you consider a water-jet for that bread)?
I use a laser cutter, to provide a nice toast effect.

I get all my epoxy mixing cups from Kroger. 8 oz plastic coctkail glasses work well.

For small amounts of epoxy, I use a kitchen measuring spoon set.

For black walnuts, a 16 ounce hammer works well, and a small nail is helpful for picking the meat from the shell. A vice is handy for use on hard-shelled nuts too.

My dad was using his circular saw with the guard tied back to make wood chips for his smoker. Kicked back and went right through a big chunk of his leg. Not recommended.

For small amounts of epoxy, I use the cupped bottom of a cola can.

I don't bother to cut the top off.

Use a beer can with the top cut off for roasting a chicken.

That chicken standing just looks sooooo wrong Night of the zombie chickens

Del

It actually looks like the chicken is flipping us off?!?!?!?!

Would you be happy if someone shoved a beer can up your....................

Lyn,

You have a point!

...so long as there isn't a point on said beer can.....

For small epoxy mixes, I grab the plastic top of a spray can. When needed, I have used 2x2 post it pads also.

Why not use a roast chicken instead?

When stuffing a foul, do you use the electric stapler to close the bird?

Can't some things just remain a secret?

We use a 1/2" drill and paint mixer for all our bread/cake/perogi batters.(it's cheaper than buying a kitchen-aid)

Del nice way to get extra fiber in your diet and clean the teeth of the blade at the same time.

Band saw cutting deep frozen meat was common practice in my days in the army. There was no other way to cut a 150kg frosen beef quarter (or half?). I remember we used to call it Godzilla. S.M.

Back in the sixty's, my dad had a band saw in his butcher shop for cutting larger bones. It was quick, and is still used in most larger butcher shops. It has the bad side effect of leaving bone chips imbedded in the edge of the cut. A slower, but cleaner method is to cut as far as possible with a sharp knife, and then use a hand saw to finish. Followed by a scraping of the sawn bone area to remove the chips.

What about the kitchen oven? Does anyone else have a wife that thinks the oven is for her use alone, and for food only?

And, if we can airbrush a cake to make it look good, why can't I airbrush that grey steak from the microwave?

Those are dangerous questions for a forum full of Engineers...

Somehwere on CR4 was a link to a video (it googles easy enough) for some fun with making plasma in a microwave oven. I've yet to pluck up the courage to try it.

I once mixed up a small batch of plaster in a washing up bowl, with the help of a hand-held blender. Might have got away with it if I'd promptly done some tidying up .

Also for frozen meat ....

and if you don't have a bandsaw a hacksaw works nicely.....

In my family pictures, is one of my Dad with carpenter hand saw poised over a turkey my youngest brother is holding on the kitchen counter, yes he did cut into the counter edge.

My ex was a very good cook, learned some from her about the oven.

Also learned some at the salmon fishing pier, fresh salmon in tin foil on a BBQ grill.

I once ate a hamburger and bit down on a small cylinder of bone that had wedged in my molar, needless to say the molar split, a abcess grew under the tooth and before the surgery was done the bill was over $2500.US

Hopefully this is worth a GA.

Here's some things I bet all of you have done.

Turkey baster for all kinds of fluids in the garage or car.

Kitchen scissors for cutting anything from thin plastic and metal to rubber hoses, etc.

Baking sheet for soldering near 2X4's (as a heat shield).

Hemostats for holding small parts or clamping.

Old business cards for mixing epoxy on (the shiny ones work better).

Coffee cans for storage.

Zip lock bags for parts, screws, etc.

Toaster oven to heat things up before assembly (when it's cold outside).

Been there. Done it. Secondhand T-shirt now on e-Bay oops, sorry. Other on-line auction sites are available.

Don't forget the Steam Iron Chef from last week.

Heat sheet PVC in oven to form it.

Ovens work well for curing wrinkle paint, but this should only be done when the wife will be gone for at least an hour.

Urban legend has it that a motel trouser preass has been used to re-heat pizza. Probably the same source that reported Pot-Noodle in a kettle.

Kris:

I'm in the US (OK, OK, The COLONIES, if you MUST!), so what in the world is "Pot-Noodle in a kettle"? Speak English, would ya?

rofl ! I know things are tough over there, but there are a whole assortment available .Those are electric ones, but a big pot on top of an open fire works just as well .

Pot Noodle tastes much better if you chuck in a few extras. Get the Curry flavour, add some nice hot sauce and a few kidney beans, and you have the snack of champions. Not Champion the wonder horse, just a bloke in a hurry !

Ah, "Ramen Style" is the give-away. Now I've got it. But I usually just add water and nuke them. Or nuke the water and add it to the cup, if it's "Cup Noodle" (Just a throwaway version of the Pot in "Pot Noodle", I imagine.)

Yep, you're right. Got lots of varieties here. Too many, in fact. And THAT from a guy who not only doesn't know how to cook, but swears the food is just "something to keep the fires lit".

Just don't let mrs cat see you doing that. (the oily residue on the bread will be hard to explain!)

Chop sticks stuck in foam to hold up parts for painting.

A syringe for precision lubrication or gluing.

A metal pasta strainer in my solvent tank.

A slotted spoon to get other parts out of the solvent tank.

Turkey baster also in the solvent tank.

Non stick baking spray as a mold release.

Muffin pans for keeping parts sorted from a tear down.

Baking sheets to hold different projects.

Tupperware to keep dry goods clean and safe in the shop.

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To everyone that has posted on this.....

THANK YOU!! For putting a smile on my face!!

Original MacGyver-

Another good use for the turkey baster is for replacing the refill (float) valve or the flapper valve in a toilet tank. That last inch or 2 of water left in the tank usually requires a pan strategically placed to catch the last of the water or a sponge. Hold the flapper valve open and use the turkey baster to suck up the water and place it down the drain through the flapper valve opening and into the drain. Also helps alleviate having to sponge it out and into a bucket.

Good Luck, Old Salt

I can't believe no one has mentioned this.

Or maybe my wife was just an unusually inattentive cook.

-- I knew when dinner was ready when the smoke detector went off..!!!

That's just sooooo Bob Monkhouse! Ah, the old ones are the best.

Your wife must've taken the same home ec classes as mine!

I am surprised no one has said this one yet. Boil the car radiator thermostat in a pot of water to check the operation and use the kitchen thermometer to determine the opening temperature.

I have been known to use a pressure washer to get the really baked on stuff off of pots and pans.

That is way too messy. My preference has always been die grinder with scotch bright pads. (Fine grit only for finish work.)

How about a sandblasting chamber?

Oh wow I could have had a V8. Better plan than mine.

I use a wire brush in my electric drill fror when I forget the rice and it burns in the pan.

I don't have a pressure washer, figured they are just a solution looking for a problem or an expensive way to get wet. Mind if I had a farm I coud spray cr4p everywhere with one of them.
Del

I thought that wire brushes in drills were tools designed to pick up dirty items and throw them into inaccessible locations.....

Tying down the pots and pans so they don't gallop off down the garden must be a real challenge...

Take a heavy power hack saw blade, (12" or 14" long, 8-12 tpi, as thick as available), wrap about 3-4" of one end with friction tape or electrical tape as a handle. Next grind the smooth back to a knife edge wile also keeping it cool by dipping it in water. Now you have a combination knife and saw.

Blade works great on Styrofoam, Cal silicate insulation, string, rubber, small carpet, plastic wraps, plastic bags, etc.. Tooth side works great on Styrofoam, Cal Silicate insulation, or most anything the knife side can't cut.

Good Luck, Old Salt

Back when I first started to turn wrenches, it was always a used hack saw blade that was there for the night shift to use as a knife. I had not thought about that in years. Thanks for the thought.

Reminds me of another. An electric knife is ideal for cutting foam rubber.

Yes and those "kung fu atomic "cut everything including frozen cement" knives, advertised at 2am on TV, that have the overgrown serrations are excellent for cutting calcium silicate insulation, fiberglass insulation, sometimes Styrofoam, some foam rubbers among other things. On hardship occasions even fileting a blue fish (when the mate dropped the nice Chicago Fileting knife overboard) although it tends to tear the meat some.

Good Luck, Old Salt

And yet another variation on that. When I was re-roofing my house, I bought 100 blades for the razor knife, because they go dull so fast cutting the shingles. then the roofer friend helping showed me how he cuts shingles, Thats right, the Ginzu knife.

Can't quite reach that small part in the corner of a drawer, box, etc. because your fingers are too big, fat, arthritic or similar? Take a piece of electrical or duct tape and wrap it around the end of your finger and "stick" it. Pull the hand out with the nut. Works best if you begin wrapping the tape glue side to the finger and then twist it to get the glued surface on the outside.

Same thing for holding that nut that you can't quite seem to get threaded on the back of a surface that you can't get two fingers or your whole hand behind. Stick the nut flat onto the tape on the finger and reach in with your hand flat. When the nut tightens enough on the bolt that it twists off the tape slide use an open end or other type wrench to hold the nut.

Got an old piece of railroad rail? Makes a great anvil!

Can't get into something such as a gas water heater to light the pilot. With the screw on an alligator clip connect a piece of solid wire, preferable steel or stiff enough not to bend, to make a alligator clip extension handle. Clip a match in the clip jaws. Light the match and stick this in by the pilot to light it.

Can't quite get your head around enough to see the back side of something? Use the wife's (or significant other's) mirror to see it. If it is too small to see clearly use the concave side. (convex ?)

Ivory soap, the solid type not the liquid, makes a great thread lubricant for wood screws. Works better than bees wax especially on long screws or lags. Take a 3" screw and screw it into the side of a 2 x 4. Next wipe the threads of another screw with the dry soap and screw it in. You will love the Ivory. Besides Ivory is much cheaper than Bee's Wax.

Need to mark the spot of a deep hole on one surface to a piece under it. Use spray paint down the hole onto the lower surface. Not too much, just enough to mark the edges. Also rotate the can around the hole to get the paint all around the hole marking.

Need to remove some lacquer paint from something? Use the wife's nail polish remover (acetone).

Having trouble seeing the timing marks on the crankshaft pulley of an engine? Rub some chalk (preferably white) over them and then wipe the excess chalk off the pulley but not the grooves. Also works with "white out".

Having trouble locating the spot for the picture hanger to be used with a picture frame hung from wire? Take a wire clothes hanger and make a double "L" shaped fixture (top and bottom) that extends past the frame outer edge. Mark some crayon on the lower clip and hang the picture from this. Hold the picture where you want it. Gently push the picture up against the wall at the crayon rubbed location of the fixture. That is where you want to nail the hanger into the wall.

Need a spray booth for spray paint? Take a cheap 20"x20" utility floor fan and tape a 20"x20"x 1" or 2" fiberglass furnace filter onto the suction side of the fan. Put the piece to be painted in front of this. Turn fan on and spray! Test drive it to see what the useable locations are and where best to locate the piece to be painted.

Need something to rotate the object to be painted? Borrow the wife's cheapest lazy susan. Also a good idea to cover all parts with aluminum foil or taped plastic to avoid word war 3 when you return it, if you return it!

Good Luck, Old Salt