TINY BUT MIGHTY
Small kitchen equipment that's always ready to give a hand
Daniel Hiller, executive chef at Jumeirah Beach Hotel, Dubai
The egg topper, is the one small piece of kitchen equipment I cannot live without. Removing the top off a soft-boiled egg with a butter knife is an admirable skill that requires practice. Not yet that adept? The Rösle Egg Topper neatly cracks open both soft and hard-boiled eggs, leaving no shell fragments behind. Simply position the handle, release and the top of the eggshell easily lifts. Recently, I have discovered The Sous Vide Professional Classic Series Immersion Circulator, which is the legendary machine that has changed my kitchens forever. The breakthrough innovation of this immersion circulator helped pioneer the realm of sous vide cooking. It is the standard behind many cookbooks and groundbreaking recipes. This thermal circulator offers maximum flexibility and clamps onto any tank with round or flat walls that can hold up to 30 liters. With its one-touch control it enables you to quickly set or adjust the cooking temperature. Also, its simple selectable high and low pump speeds provide precise liquid circulation control.
Uwe Micheel, director of kitchens, Radisson Blu Hotel, Dubai
The one small kitchen equipment I cannot live without has to be the knife (or knife set). I continue to believe, with all the great inventions from Molecular to Sauvit cooking, a knife set remains the most important. Lately, I bought a Thermomix, the latest form Vorwerk; great piece of equipment especially when it comes to smaller volume.
Colin Campbell, corporate chef for
As a corporate chef I spend 90 percent of my day in an office, working on a laptop and in meetings. My one indispensable piece of equipment today would be the laptop and smart phone. However, the one piece of equipment that has come to my attention is the autoclave oven (retort) 3,200kg per cycle. This is new technology (regionally to some extent) and is of interest. It has been some time since I worked in a conventional kitchen so, apart from good knives and a salt and pepper shaker, I cannot think of much else.
Farid Chehab, CEO and executive chef, Kitchen Central, Beirut
I am very tempted to say a knife, because no chef can work without one. But, I will say my Japanese mandolin. It perfectly complements the knives and allows me to carve a perfect presentation whenever I am plating a dish. The new kitchen equipment that I have discovered lately is the Jet Air baker. An innovative oven, which bakes 50 percent faster than standard bakery ovens, and much more evenly. I also love all the latest vent-less cooking systems; they allow great economies on hoods and air extraction works.