Poultry Tools Reviews

No more wrestling a hot chicken off of an equally hot beer can! The 18/10 stainless steel construction is sturdy, and the tube is just the right size which makes taking the chicken off a breeze. The beer roaster is a one piece unit with a base that provides ample support for the bird to rest on.

I am not knocking the beer can method, but this roaster is even better. The roaster comes with a few sample recipes if you want to put something other than beer in the base. The possibilities are endless.

I like this pounder because it's simple, elegant, easy to wash, and does it's job well. This one is a few dollars cheaper than others of it's kind, so that is a plus. It is also a little lighter. It's 1.4 lbs and other are 1.8 and up. I actually prefer the heavier ones. A bit more heft in the tool means less force you need to exert for the same amount of force. Most people put too much force into pounding meat though, so this may be a good thing for a lot of people.

A meat pounder does not have to just pound meat. I use it to pound anything. In the old days, a cook would just grab a heavy pot and use the underside of the pot to pound out things. I like to think that we've now evolved from using a pot to using something nice and simple like this meat pounder.

It's very useful. You can pound meat, you can pound/crunch croutons to make bread crumbs, crush graham crackers for crumbs, breaking up chocolate, crushing tortilla chips, crushing eggshells for the garden, and I even use mine to pound cloves of garlic.

Why do you want to crush your garlic? Allicin is the potent antimicrobial (substance that kills bacteria and other pathogens) that is formed when you crush garlic. Allicin is also responsible for the fresh clean smell of newly crushed garlic. Garlic does not contain allicin. It contains the precursor, alliin and the enzyme allinase in different cells. When garlic is crushed the two come together in a moist environment to form allicin. Crushing your garlic will yield a different taste as well to your dishes. I like cooking with crushed garlic for the taste and the allicin for the antimicrobial properties. Yes, a lot of people use the flat of a knife to "crush" their garlic, but when they're doing this, it's mostly just to ease the removal of the skin. The garlic is not truely crushed...unless if you use the flat of the knife several times. Yes, this is an option...but not that great of an option for me. I find that true crushing of the garlic can be better attained by using this meat pounder, and then there's no danger of cutting yourself in the process.

So as a conclusion, there are plenty of applications for a meat pounder like this. I like the heavier weight to aid in crushing. I like the simple design for ease of cleaning, I like the material it's made out of and it looks elegant. I like the handle that makes it non-slip even when wet. I like this design of meat pounder over the ones that look like a hammer because it offers more control. Swinging a hammer-like object is just less accurate than this design. Not only that, but when you're pounding meat, you don't want to be smashing it indiscriminately. You want to go in a nice, controlled downward and then outward motion. Encouraging the meat to spread down and out - not smash it into oblivion. Exercizing precision and care is necessary to not tear your meat.

Additional tips for meat pounding:
1. Start with a heavyweight wood cutting board, at least an inch thick, I prefer thicker - this will absorb excess force/energy. Remember, energy is never destoyed, it travels, it get absorbs, it changes forms. If you apply to much energy into meat pounding and there are no "shock absorbers", that energy reverberates back into the meat and your arm - tearing the meat and jarring to you.
2. Lay down a sheet of Saran wrap, spray that with a thin layer of water. Lay down your meat. Spray some water. Lay down another sheet of Saran wrap. The purpose of all this is once again, getting rid of friction resulting from excess energy that can tear your meat. It also aids cleaning and catches any meat splatters from going all over the place.
3. Pound in a down and out motion. So pound from the center and end that pounding motion out to the edge of the meat. Down and out. You're not "pounding" the meat, you're encouraging it to flatten and directing that meat to go outwards. Too much "encouragement" can lead to your meat disintegrating and tearing, so don't go crazy.

I would recommend this item.

I've used it to break up chocolate, crush tortilla chips, and pulverize eggshells (for the garden). In fact, for everything except pounding meat. But I'm sure it will do a great job at that when I get around to trying it.
It's got plenty of heft, a comfortable handle, and just feels well-balanced.
Another OXO triumph.

I have to say, I have been needing a meat pounder for a long time and this one is great. I used it on chicken and it did a great job with very little effort on my part. Plus is was very easy to clean, just some soap and water. I am very pleased with this item!

I wanted to add a second pair of kitchen shears to my life as I use them for so much (my first pair is a Henckel's). What a disappointment! This is actually the first item I have returned to Amazon (and I've been ordering from them for years). The place to put your fingers in handle is so big that is was very uncomfortable to use and the blades seemed 'to go too far' (hope you know what I mean). Anyway, totally unusable to me.

Pro: The shears do a great job cutting through everything I've needed (plastic & paper bags, cardboard, etc.). They're definitely razor sharp, and come with a nice blade guard which I think is important.

Con: The handles are flimsy...very soft rubber. They certainly are comfortable; big holes for the fingers, and of course very soft and plyable. However, they don't hold up under any sort of pressure (because of being too soft), and therefore probably will not be used much unless I can fashon some replacement handles.

I have had such good luck with the Kitchenaid handtools, I decided to try the shears. They look great, have a blade gaurd and are really sharp! They are the only scissors I use, no matter what task I am doing. They go right in the dishwasher and come out for round two.

The Fryer's Friend Grease Keeper is the best I have found. I have had mine for about 5 years. It looks like new. It is easy to clean and keeps your bacon grease handy and ready to use in your recipes.

If you are after the egg rings, forget it. Your eggs leave their edges in the rings.

As for the bacon press, good grief, how can you mess up a flat piece of iron with a handle?

Works as advertised. Couldn't be any happier with the egg rings and bacon press.

if you like bacon and eggs, especially together on an english muffin, this is the thing to get. The egg rings are easy to use, and the bacon press makes thin straight crunchy bacon which is exactly how I like it. My only suggestion is get a square pan. The bacon press does work around the edges of a curved pan so you don't have much space to work with.

I have both this and its 'big brother' that came with the Calphalon Contemporary roaster.

This rack gets the most work since I rarely get to cook for large parties or family gatherings. It is sturdy but it is no joy to clean. That is why I have rated it 4-stars. This is the type of item, because of its sharp, fixed, hard-to-reach angles that begs to be dishwasher safe. I wonder when companies like Calphalon will get a clue???

Was looking for something to fit in my medium kamodoo style bbq grill, this fit perfectly. Have used a dozen times, seems durable. Couldnt give 5 stars because meat will stick to it- more stick resistant than non-stick.

Elevating your roast while cooking it is essential for even-cooking and keeping it out of the fat-ladened drippings. This rack accomplishes that nicely when used in a small size roasting pan (we have the "Calphalon Professional 14" Small Commercial Roaster").

Typical of the Calphalon quality that most people expect from their products, this rack will not disappoint. When they say "non-stick", they mean it! We use this rack over and over and it is still as easy to clean as the day we first used it. Excellent price for an excellent product! If you have a small roaster (or like to use the store-bought disposeables), then this is the perfect addition to your kitchen.

As a brief after-thought, this would make a good little "bonus", along with a set of lifters and maybe a flavor injector, if you are giving someone a roaster as a gift. :)

This is a great product, and you can get it, along with any other products on Amazon up to $500 Free! Participate in this special promotion and get a free $500 Amazon Gift Card at this web site: reallyfree2u.com/amazon

Agree with the other reviewers, can't go wrong with this baster. clean look, high quality. easy to clean. can't mess with the stainless look. will stay in your top 10 tools for years to come.
Though, it is a little heavier than I expected.

I did not expect this product to function as well as it does. I knew that it would not lose any bristles and that it would be easy clean. However, I expected those results to come at the price of efficiency. I was wrong.

This product works as well as a standard basting brush. It effectively applies the thickest glaze (Garlic, Honey and Balsamic) as well as my "standard" brushes. I like this one so much that I intend to throw away my other brushes once I procure a second one of these.

I highly recommend this product.

I was thrilled when I first began to use this project - it's very sharp & very strong, crunching through small bones with ease. However, the safety lock is in a bad place - it's small & easily engaged, and on quite a few occasions now, the mere action of cutting - when the lock gets sideswiped by the chicken itself - will engage the lock, and then I have to manually open it up again. It's EXTREMELY irritating - I would call it a major design flaw. If it weren't for that lock, I'd reccomend these shears to anyone - but I'd hesitate to recommend them now. I will deal with them, and I'm sure there's a way to learn to live with them well (after all, they do cut beautifully, so long as you can avoid activating that lock) - but I don't feel there should need to be a "break-in" period for a new pair of poultry shears!