Mr. Dudley 9pc. Spice Grinder Set

Here is a handy tool that serves more than one purpose. Itnot only stores spices in attractive little containers (as any good spice rack should do), but each of the nine containers is also agrinder. It's the perfect device for storing your most frequently used whole spices in small quantities (small quantities are best because large quantities will lose their potency by the time you finish them, remember?) ready to be freshly ground into your soup, sauce, or batter. I tested it with red pepper flakes, whole cloves,and fennel seeds, and it did a fine job of grinding each of them to a semi-fine texture, and a quick flip of the cap gives you easy access to the whole spices when your recipe calls for them. I think it's very cool and I hope you'll check it out.

Lid & Spoon Rest
This is one of those forehead-slapping why-didn't-I-think-of-this sort of things. I have always had a spoon rest of some sort on or next to my stove, and I know you have too. I have used just about anything at hand, from purpose-built spoon rests to ashtrays, saucers, empty tin cans, and even paper napkins, and as a
result, there has always been an appropriate place to place my spoons and other utensils while not in use. The opposite is true with pot lids because there never seems to be room on the stove or counter top to place them while you stir the pot. Plus, the lids always drip the contents of the pot and condensed water all over the stove, making a mess and... you know what I mean. The clever Lid and Spoon Rest solves that problem, and it's a heavy duty, stainless steel, no
nonsense piece of equipment that most cooks will want to have. Take alook at it at

8" Furi Pro Chef Knife

I got the Furi Pro Chef's knife and was immediately struck by its unique one-piece design which makes it a cinch to clean and maintain.  It is comfortable to hold and balanced so that it feels almost weightless in my hand, and I can't wait until I have a bunch of onions to chop.

Mr. Dudley Salt & Pepper Mills & 4pc. Mini Mills

I also got a pair of Mr. Dudley salt and pepper mills for my kitchen, and a set of four mini salt and pepper mills for my dining room table.  These are made of crystal clear lucite and give the impression of much more expensive (and breakable) glass mills, and their sleek design fits in great with any style table setting.

Mortar & Pestle

The compact Progressive mortar and pestle set is small enough to stay on the counter without taking up too much space, yet big enough to grind enough spices for any dish I'm likely to ever cook. Its unusual design make it easy to use, and the special ceramic material it is made of is dishwasher safe.

Drip-Less Baster
The coolest thing I got is the dripless baster. Let me tell you, ladies and gentlemen, it's time to throw away all those ancient basters you've been collecting over the years and replace them with this one. The unique design keeps the barrel of the baster horizontal so that it doesn't drip on your counter when you lay it down, and this same design makes sure that it stays put and doesn't roll off the counter. It is also calibrated in both English and metric measurements and is ideal for measuring small quantities of liquid ingredients. You can see what I'm talking about at

Gastroflex Baking & Confectionary Molds

My friend chef Ron Askew at Culinary Cultures knows that I won't tell my readers anything that isn't true, so he is in the habit of sending me some of his products once in a while so that I can evaluate them and then tell you what I think about them. When he asked me to test his Gastroflex non-stick baking molds, I agreed provided that I had enough time to check them out before commenting on them. As a result, this special weekend edition is coming to you a week later than originally planned, but I have had a chance to play with these newesttoys of mine and I think you'll find the results interesting.

The Gastroflex molds are made of 100 percent food-grade silicone and come in a variety of shapes and sizes. I evaluated the "Briochette" or mini-brioche pan and the standard, six-cup muffin pan. I made some blueberry muffins from a packaged mix I bought for this experiment, and the first batch came out just fine. Once they had cooled I had absolutely no problem removing them from the molds, and the molds needed no more than a rinse with warm water to restore them to a pristine state.

The second batch of muffins didn't come out so great because I burned them intentionally, and they were even smoking slightly when I removed them from the oven. The bottoms and sides of the muffins had turned almost black, but the muffins still slid easily out of the molds and the molds cleaned up with just a rinse. So far, so good.

Then I decided to give the molds a little more extreme test. I placed a thin layer of grated Parmesan cheese in the bottoms of the molds and placed them in a 400F (200C) oven. Note that I didn't grease the molds or add anything other than grated cheese. Once again I allowed the goods to over cook and removed smoking melted cheese wafers from the oven after about 15 minutes. 15 minutes later the molds had cooled and the crispy cheese cinders slipped easily out of their molds, unfit for human consumption, but demonstrating no inclination to stick to the pans.

For the final extreme test I baked a few eggs in the muffin pans. I placed the eggs in the ungreased muffin pan and baked them an a 350F (180C) oven. After about 10 minutes the eggs were cooked perfectly - firm around the edges and still slightly runny in the center with liquid yolks, just the way I like my coddled eggs. But the object of this exercise wasn't to make perfectly cooked coddled eggs, so I let them bake an additional 30 minutes. I was rewarded with three small, hard, hockey puck type objects that, if not for their remarkable resemblance to real eggs, might have been taken for rubber paper weights. These were also unfit for human consumption, and Cooky is glad that he doesn't share my high standards for edibility. And once again the eggs slid out of the molds without a struggle and left the molds so clean that only a rinse was required. After three extreme tests and several ordinary tests, my Gastroflex molds are as good as new, with absolutely no visible evidence of their use and abuse. I am impressed.

Dear Chef,
About a month ago, when you first mentioned Chef Ron's "Gastroflex" muffin pans and your usual unbiased (and brutal!) testing, I order two of them. Not only was Chef Ron prompt in his shipping, but the Gastroflex muffin pans worked amazingly well!
I had a recipe for "Jumbo Corn Meal Muffins" which said to "grease each muffin cavity with butter or shortening to prevent sticking." Well, I decided I'd put the Gastroflex pans to an ultimate test! I eliminated the greasing step, poured the batter in, put them in the oven (on a baking sheet in case of spillage), and the muffins came out P-E-R-F-E-C-T! With just a slight twist of the wrist, those muffins tumbled out into my bread basket in fine shape with no sticking whatsoever!
I've since given away my metal "non-stick" muffin tins to neighbors -- I figure I'll let them do the greasing step or suffer the consequences. I've also told them about the Gastroflex pans, so Chef Ron may get some more orders.
Karl K.
McKinney, Texas

Quantum East/West Chef Knife

Recently I became the proud owner of a Quantum-Furi 8" East/West knife thanks to Chef Ron Askew whose web site, CulinaryCultures.com, happens to be one of today's sponsors. My initial reaction was one of surprise at how light the knife was, even though it has a much larger blade than most other eight-inch knives. This one is shaped more or less like a cross between a French chef's knife and a Chinese cleaver, and according to the manufacturer, it "combines the design performance of a traditional vegetable chopper and a cook's knife."

I have been using this knife exclusively for about a week now, and I must say that it lives up to the manufacturer's claims. It has stayed sharp (although, admittedly, it hasn't been in service very long), and it is as easy to cut a whole stalk of celery or head of lettuce as it is to slice a single radish or chop a sprig of parsley, thanks to the unique shape of the blade. The handle is ergonomically shaped and is a pleasure to use and easy to clean, and at the introductory price of only $30, this knife gets your beloved Chef's certificate of approval.