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As summer comes to a close, we checked in with Milk Street founder and chef Christopher Kimball—our go-to guy for the best new kitchen tools and gadgets—to see what he and his team have been using and loving lately. Chris recommended five kitchen gadgets perfect for the end of summer and beyond, including a high-tech (and super effective!) ice cream scoop and a two-in-one salad spinner/strainer.
"Transform a colander into an in-sink salad spinner with a flip of the handle. Just flip the handle and you can dry your greens and more in less than a minute. It worked wonderfully on fresh herbs (what we use a salad spinner for most in the kitchen). It also includes a non-slip foot so it grips in the wet and spins safely in place. And it's easy to wash up and store."
"The secret of the best-of-class Zeroll ice cream scoops is the heat-conductive fluid sealed within the handle. We liked the easy to hold scoop and the finished scoops were well formed, a good size and released easily. It also easily cut through hard, high-fat ice cream."
Plus, as Milk Street's site points out, "the Zeroll also doesn't compress the ice cream like others can, so the texture is fluffy and the scoop is 20% larger than a typical one formed from a lesser scooper." A bigger scoop of ice cream always sounds better to us!
"These cute pot lid lifters (a set of three farm animal shapes) sit on the edge of the pot so that the cover does not fully close. This prevents water from boiling over and increases air circulation. They can also be used for a nice cup of tea by preventing the string of the tea bag from falling in the tea."
"This inexpensive but ingenious drying rack fits over your sink and can be rolled up for storage. It can also be used for washing fruit and vegetables, defrosting frozen food, as a cooling rack or as a mat under hot pots and pans."
"This 4-piece barbecue grilling brick block cleaner cleans more than just the grill. Each pumice brick can be used on grills, sinks, tough stains—in or outside of the kitchen—on bathtubs, toilets, pools and more. The bricks are easy to use and work better when dry."