Kuhn Rikon: Help from Switzerland in the Kitchen
In a day and age where everything we use is plugged in, battery operated, controlled by infra-red or Bluetooth it’s rare to find human powered tools that are useful and pleasing to operate. In some respects it feels like the kitchen might actually be the last frontier for manual tools. (Don’t take away our stand mixer though, we’d be lost without it!)
The Kuhn Rikon vase spice grinder is a delightfully manual tool we tried out recently. It came with three spice containers, which twist in and out of the grinder with little affair. We look forward to seasoning our foods, just so we have an excuse to use this grinder. It can be set from fine to coarse, and the CrushGrind system uses a ceramic wheel that is stronger than steel. The vase grinder is easy to handle, easy to use (even with very hard spices), and is attractive enough that we don’t mind leaving it out on the counter. The vase grinder can be found at many kitchen stores, or can be ordered online, and will run $30-35.
The next item we tried out from Kuhn Rikon is the Mini-Pro Knife Sharpener. Recently we wrote about choosing knives. Even with proper care a knife needs to be sharpened occasionally, so we went in search of a tool that will help make that task less tedious. The mini-pro sharpener really fits the bill. It has ceramic stone, and sets your knife at the perfect angle. It’s foolproof, really. It also has the benefit of being quite compact, so it takes up far less room in your kitchen than a traditional stone. The mini-pro knife sharpener can be found at almost any kitchen store, or can be ordered online for $20.
