Prep
A couple of weeks ago I was at Kitchen Window in Minneapolis and saw for the first time that Epicurean, which is normally associated with cutting boards, is now producing kitchen utensils. They have a series of spoons, ladles, turner spatulas, pasta servers, and saute tools that come in two lines and colors. The Kitchen Series is completely made out of their trademark composite wood and comes in natural and slate, just like their cutting boards. The Gourmet Series also comes in natural and slate but incorporates a high-temperature nylon head.
I ended up purchasing the Gourmet Series slate-colored spoon and large spatula to try them out (shown above), and though I haven’t used them that much, so far I like them a lot. The handles are very comfortable, the construction is stiff and sturdy, and the nylon heads seem to be firmly attached. The utensils do feel as if they will be durable – though it is hard to tell at this point. As for heat resistance, the wood handle can manage up to 350 degrees and the nylon head up to 400 degrees, and they are also dishwasher safe.
Additionally, I think they look better than other plastic utensils, and the spoon has measuring ridges on the interior for 1 tbs, 1/8 cup, and 1/4 cup. It isn’t something that you would use for precise measuring as you need to have the spoon very steady and level to get exact amounts, but this feature may come in handy for a quick-and-dirty measure if you need it. I could see myself using this feature when adding olive oil to a dish, broth to some risotto, or if you need to add some pasta water back into a dish.
The price is also reasonable at about $9.50 per utensil from the Epicurean website, or you can buy selected items at Amazon
Dave Benson, one of the founders and the CEO of Epicurean Cutting Boards Inc., has been coming on strong with knife friendly and ecologically friendly cutting surfaces in the last few years. His cutting boards are now sold worldwide in over 4,000 stores, but the lineage of this kitchen product comes not from chefs or restaurateurs but from skate boarders. Greg Benson, Dave Benson and Tony Ciardelli, the founders of Epicurean Cutting Boards Inc., based out of Duluth, Minnesota started off by producing innovative skateboard ramps and parks throughout the US under the name TrueRide, but as of 2007, they have been focusing on Epicurean cutting boards and their outdoor furniture under the Loll brand, which has been featured in Dwell magazine.
Loll Design Chair
Dave Benson and gang started off making skate parks out of composite wood and after having scraps left over (as the story goes), they offered squares of the ‘leftover’ board surface to family and friends as cutting boards. And the rest is history I guess. Now they are one of the major cutting board makers in the country, and they are in every major kitchen store to include Williams-Sonoma, Sur La Table, Bed Bath & Beyond and more.
So here is my take on their boards: I absolutely love them, and when I have a knife in hand and look through all of my cutting boards, 7 times out of 10 I go for an Epicurean. They are light, easy to clean, friendly on your knives and good for the environment.
Recently, I did a post on cutting boards and listed some criticisms of the boards that have been raised on Amazon.com and the various cooking forums. Some have complained about an odd smell from the sealant or resin, yet others complained that they scarred too easily, and some said that the slate boards left ‘dark bits’ in the food.
A review of the company’s website gave the following responses to these issues:
About the scarring they say: “Yes, it is normal for your knives to score your surface. Because our surfaces are knife-friendly (unlike glass or stone), it means they are soft enough that they will not bend the edges of your knives, but knives will score the surface.”
I must admit that the critics that mentioned the scoring of the surface are a bit odd to me. I have used light-colored boards and you can’t see the scoring as much with light as with dark boards, and yes, softer boards will score more than harder woods, but harder woods are also harder on knives — especially if you use expensive Japanese knives. And just today I used a brand new board from their line of recycled cutting surfaces, and I found that there was actually something very satisfying about scoring it. Just as you need to season a cast iron skillet, you need to cut up a cutting board.
About the smell they say: “Our cutting surfaces can have a ‘newly manufactured’ odor when they are used for the first time. We recommend washing your Epicurean® cutting surfaces in the dishwasher or with hot soapy water. The odor will dissipate after approximately 3-4 washings.”
I have to say that I have almost never smelled any foul odor when using these cutting boards. I am sure there is some smell at first, but I have never noticed it.
About wood particles coming off in food they say: “Over time, you may find that tiny particles from your cutting surface are appearing on food being prepared. This can occur due to the nature of the product and is more noticeable with our slate surface color. Your Epicurean® cutting surface is certified by the National Sanitary Foundation to be non-toxic and will not cause harm if particles are ingested. You may use a fine grit sandpaper to smooth and resurface your board, giving it a new and smooth finish. This will decrease the likelihood of particles appearing in your food and give you a fresh, smooth surface for your food preparation.”
Once again, I have never noticed this happening, but I have always used lighter colored boards. The new recycled boards are described (in color) as toasted nutmeg, and they are definitely darker, so I will let you know if ‘nutmeg-colored’ debris comes off in my food.
There was another criticism that seemed to come up fairly often on Amazon.com and that was that the boards slipped around a lot while cutting. This is true if you use the boards without the grippers or any other ad hoc item such as a wet paper towel to prevent slipping, but as the company has been focusing on their cutting boards in the last couple of years, there are many more options for those worried about boards slipping. There are light colored boards, professional boards, gripper boards, grooved boards, recycled boards and many other designs too.
In terms of cutting boards, I think this company is as good as it gets. Yes, they are from Minnesota, and I am too but I just learned that they were based out of Duluth last week. I used their boards long before I migrated up north. I am also not part of the company nor do I get any compensation from them. I just like their boards. Happy cutting.
You can buy Epicurean boards at Amazon
I am not one for celebrity chef cookware and gadgets, but yesterday at Sur La Table I picked up something that I like and think will be useful. Mario Batali has come out with a prep/measuring bowl set
The set of five comes in enough combinations to give a lot of flexibility, and the most common measures such as 1 cup, 1/2 cup, and 1/4 cup are doubled up so you can use them in different bowls. The only problem with the set is that there is no 2/3 and 1/3 cup measure. I am not sure why this is, but you can’t do away with your old measuring cups completely with this set. It is my guess that the 2/3 and 1/3 bowls didn’t fit nicely into the set, which nestle neatly together on top of each other.
One more point, this measuring set is made out of melamine as many bowls sets are so don’t try putting them in the microwave. In other words, don’t use them as regular bowls; they are for measuring and prep not eating out of.
This video of Hung Huynh, the season three winner of Top Chef, is interesting. It isn’t that great of an instructional, but it is always interesting to see chef’s with great knife skills. He also uses the Misono UX10 knife, and you can see this entire knife series at japanesechefsknife.com.
I tried searching for good instructional videos on knife skills and wasn’t too successful going through Amazon.com. There were some offerings, but they seemed to get mixed reviews. One source I did find was the Culinary Institute of America (CIA). They offer over 2 hours of instruction on knife skills on DVD. I haven’t seen the video myself, but the sample video appears to be well made. The cost is $99.95.
For free, there are some good videos at Rouxbe, an online cooking school associated with the Northwest Culinary Academy in Vancouver. Just click on the hyperlink above and then click on the tab for ‘tips and techniques’.
Another good free source comes from eGullet contributer, Marsha Lynch, who has put together a tutorial (with pictures) on the eGullet forum. It provides useful information on basic knife skills and cuts.
After buying some nicer Japanese knives recently, I thought I would look into good cutting boards to accompany the cutlery. I certainly don’t want to be too hard on my new blades and dull them prematurely. Here is what I found browsing the cooking forums and reading product reviews.
eGullet by far has the most extensive discussion on cutting boards, and at the end of all the posting, it boiled down to a gush-fest over the cutting boards made by David Smith at boardsmith.com. The picture above is an example of his beautifully made, handcrafted cutting boards. And after all my reading on the subject, I must admit that I want one too.
In terms of other cutting boards, the brands that kept coming up in the discussion and were generally recommended were: Boos, Epicurean, Totally Bamboo, and Sani-TUFF.
I personally own Epicurean and Totally Bamboo, and I like both brands. I have noticed some premature scarring on them, but I have seen nothing related to the more negative comments on Amazon.com. It probably helps though that I have several different types and sizes of cutting boards, and I rotate them and use them for different purposes. Essentially I spread the wear across all the boards and use some only for specific purposes.
With that said, after reviewing Amazon.com and the forums I will list some of the concerns about different boards.
- John Boos/Boardsmith (butcher block end-grain boards)
Pros: Easy on knives, beautiful and high quality, and weight prevents slipping. Cons: Expensive, need to care for them more gently, can’t go in dishwasher, and they are heavy and cumbersome if you get a big size.
- Sani-TUFF (rubber cutting board)
Pros: Easy on knives, durable, doesn’t slide, can go in dishwasher, and supposedly doesn’t absorb liquids or odors. Cons: Really heavy, doesn’t give you that cutting block feel with a knife (it’s grabby).
- Totally Bamboo (bamboo cutting board)
Pros: Sustainable material, relatively light weight, affordable, bonding agent for bamboo is food safe with this brand (others may not be). Cons: Bamboo is a hardwood/grass so it is also hard on knife blades, some people have reported problems with warping, and the surface may scar too easily.
- Epicurean (composite cutting board)
Pros: Dishwasher safe, knife friendly, and very light weight. Cons: Some models slide around too much, some say coating comes off in food, and surface can scar easily.
Of course reviews on Amazon.com can be rather one sided, especially if someone received a defective product. And cutting boards are dependent upon the user. Do you use one board for everything or have multiple boards and different sizes? Do you have really sharp knives or dull knives? Do you have expensive knives that you want to be gentle on?
A person also needs to consider countertop space, sink size, and the weight of the board for handling. I wouldn’t give my Grandmother and end-grain board or the heavy rubber Sani-Tuff. But a foodie with good knives may want to consider these options. In the end, the sign of a good cutting board is one that is used a lot and feels good when cutting.
With that said, here is some points from the cooking forums and Amazon product reviews that might be useful.
(1) Try not to use butcher-block, end-grain boards for poultry or raw meat if you find it difficult to clean. And if possible, try isolate one board for raw meats and use it only for that purpose.
(2) With Epicurean, you might want to avoid the black-colored (slate) boards as any board shards that come off may be visible in your food.
(3) Plastic boards and really hard woods (including bamboo) are harder on knives. If you have expensive cutlery and care about knife sharpness, you may want to consider more knife friendly boards.
(4) There is a heated debate about plastic versus wooden cutting boards. I will not get into this debate here, but there is a good post on KnifeForum that summarizes the issues pretty well. The bottom line: know your boards, use them appropriately, and clean them very well.
Lastly, here are some cutting board options and sites I think a person might want to check out . Happy cutting.
Totally Bamboo Hana Cutting Board
Sani-TUFF Cutting board 12in x 18in x 75in
Catskill Craftsmen Cutting Boards
Michigan Maple Block Cutting Boards
Japanese Knife Sharpening Store (very expensive but nice)
The MoMA Shop always has unique design items for the kitchen, but they also have some good deals too. This set of melamine prep bowls adds some color to an already useful item and is selling for $20.
I bought a very similar set at Williams-Sonoma a year ago and love the bowls. The non-skid bottom, solid construction, and functional design make these prep bowls one of the most used items in my kitchen. At Williams-Sonoma the cost is $38, almost double the asking at MoMA.
Of course, the construction may be different, so I will have to report back once I have tested them out. I have seen prep bowls at Bed Bath & Beyond that are also similar, but the construction is a lot more flimsy than the Williams-Sonoma product. The three-bowl set at Bed Bath & Beyond cost $15.
Regardless, these type of prep bowls are extremely useful, and I highly recommend the Williams-Sonoma bowls, but you also may want to consider the more colorful MoMA set. More on this product later.
