I’m a Chef: Here’s the Kitchen Item Every Frugal Person Should Own
Written by
Heather Altamirano
Edited by
Cory Dudak
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Eating out or ordering food can be pricey, especially with inflation and rising labor costs. Even fast food is becoming too much, and people are scaling back on drive-thrus due to sticker shock. According to a recent LendingTree survey, “78% of consumers view fast food as a luxury because it’s become increasingly expensive, and half of Americans say they view fast food as a luxury because they’re struggling financially.”
The survey also found that 67% of people believe fast food should be cheaper than eating at home; however, 75% of consumers say this isn’t the case. “Further, nearly half (46%) say fast-food restaurants cost similarly to their local sit-down restaurants, while 22% say fast food is more expensive.”
With more people cooking at home to save money, buying the tools needed to whip up a mouthwatering meal can be costly. While there’s an endless array of fancy kitchen gadgets, your cupboards don’t need to be filled with high-end tools. Cooking at home doesn’t have to be expensive or require high-ticketed kitchen supplies to prepare a good meal. GOBankingRates spoke with Michelin-trained Chef Andrew Owens, a private chef who does catering in Joshua Tree, California, who revealed his secrets to cheap items that every frugal person should buy.
China Cap/Chinois Strainer
- Price: $5.59
“A China cap or chinois strainer is a must-have, and they come in all sizes,” Chef Owens stated. Ideal for straining soups or sauces, the China cap can also be used for several other things, making it an even better value for budget-friendly shoppers.
“I also use this to make my amazing potato purée and gnocchi,” Chef Owens said. “It can be used to make sauces and purées that have starchy chunks that need to be broken down, and it is the best tool for that.”
He added, “I also use it as a pasta strainer. If you need to dump something down the sink and it needs to be strained, it’s perfect for that because only the liquid can get through.”
Cotton T-Shirt
- Price: $6.30
A T-shirt isn’t on the typical list of kitchen items needed to cook a good meal, but Chef Owens says it can be handy and used instead of anything you’d need a cheesecloth for and, in his case, making milk.
“One thing I like to do is make homemade milk from oats or any kind of nuts, and I use a fresh clean tee shirt that is set aside for this process,” he explained.
“I lay the shirt over a large salad bowl and dump the pulp and liquid into the shirt while making sure the shirt doesn’t fall inwards,” he explained. “It’s important to ensure that the pulp stays in the center of the shirt.”
Next, Chef Owens grabs the ends of the shirt and slowly brings them together, making a twist knot above the pulp. Then he squeezes it over and over for several minutes.
“When all the main liquid is out, do a hard twist squeeze on the remaining pulp several times for several minutes,” he explained. “The last part of the squeeze extracts the fat nutrients encapsulated inside the pulp!”
Chef Owens stated, “It actually works better than cheesecloth. Nothing gets through it, and it will last longer than cheesecloth!”
Ninja Bullet
- Price: $22.49
Another affordable kitchen item Chef Owens uses is a ninja bullet. “It’s cheaper than a blender and a lifesaver,” he said. “It can help you in a tight spot. If you’re making a cheese or a custard sauce and you’re whisking away to make it come together, but the cheese separated or the eggs in the custard curdled, don’t stress. Blend it in the ninja bullet for 30 seconds, and it will be fixed! It’s great for making béchamel or sauces that have slurry in them, such as corn starch. The ninja will smooth it out!”
He added, “What’s great about it is that you don’t have to pull out a giant blender to fix the sauce.”
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