Quick Trick: Steady that Bowl

[HeadChef]

While whipping up a storm in the kitchen, avoid messy spills and dangerous slips by placing a folded damp hand towel or a piece of nonslip cabinet liner under the mixing bowl. This trick also comes in handy when you're working with your chopping board, mortar and pestle, or salad spinner.

 

[Mama Mangia]

been doing that for decades............

 

[chubbyalaskagriz]

While whipping up a storm in the kitchen, avoid messy spills and dangerous slips by placing a folded damp hand towel or a piece of nonslip cabinet liner under the mixing bowl. This trick also comes in handy when you're working with your chopping board, mortar and pestle, or salad spinner.

That IS a great tip for folks, HC! And to take it even a step further. If you find yourself using a large, rounded-bottom bowl and it wobbles around like hell when whisking super-hard, as in the case of an extra-large batch of hollandaise, place the damp towel in another very shallow bowl- or in the case of commercial kitchens, in a metal plate cover like some fancy places use- and it'll help you secure and steady that huge bowl that's heavy w/ a big 'ol load!

Another added bonus to using the damp cloth under your cutting board is it quiets the chopping noise- helps with the noise load a lot! In a kitchen with a dozen cooks chopping up a storm, this minimizes noise TONS!

 

[Mama Mangia]

Kev -

I do a lot with my stainless bowls as well and they are quite rounded on the bottom - so a good cure for that is grabbing the ring from my wok - holds it in place - no problem.

 

[Dilbert]

for round bottom bowls I spin the towel into a rat tail and make a loop on the counter.

 

[HeadChef]

yeah it minimizes that noise as well..

 

[jglass]

While whipping up a storm in the kitchen, avoid messy spills and dangerous slips by placing a folded damp hand towel or a piece of nonslip cabinet liner under the mixing bowl. This trick also comes in handy when you're working with your chopping board, mortar and pestle, or salad spinner.

I can remember learning that trick from watching my Gran in the kitchen years ago. Good tip for beginner cooks. Thinking about it Im not sure there are any cooks on here who are just starting out in the kitchen. The majority of the members here are pretty adept in the kitchen.

 

[Mama Mangia]

It's also nice to put a damp towel under a cutting board for certain tasks to stop it from sliding.

I've got a couple large bowls (OLD) that have handles for pouring and a pour spout with a grip-type bottom - they don't move at all!

 

[The Ironic Chef]

I use the towel trick when mixing a moist dough in the KA. With the high speed and sticky dough the machine will walk right off the counter. The damp towel prevents that.

 

[chubbyalaskagriz]

Speaking of DOUGH, IC... here's another helpful hint for any who may not know... when washing mixing bowls, dough hooks, etc. that have difficult-to-remove bread dough on them, place them in COLD soapy water versus HOT soapy water.

The chemical make-up of gluten- an ingredient in flour- causes it to immediately expand, cling and stick the moment it's introduced to warmth. Placing these tricky soiled items into COLD water causes it to stay put, even harden up and makes it MUCH EASIER to scrub off. Plus it's less pasty, less sticky and much easier to rinse out of your green/yellow scrubbie-sponges and scouring pads!

Try it- you'll be amazed!

 

[Mama Mangia]

it's true - I've done it!