Holiday Meal Prep Essentials: The Bulb Baster
Whether you're hosting a crowd for the holidays or just love to make a special Sunday roast, you'll find that a bulb baster to be an essential addition to your collection of food prep tool. Basters are one of those specialty kitchen items that you won't need every night, but when a recipe calls for basting a roast, nothing else will really suffice. A baster is quite easy to use--you simply squeeze the bulb before placing the tip into the roasting pan, release to suction up the savory liquids and squeeze again to moisten your roast. Williams Sonoma has several baster options in their collection of chef's tools, so you'll have no trouble finding one that will help take a little bit of the stress out of holiday cooking.
The Details
Bulb basters are commonly referred to as turkey basters, so it's no surprise that sales of this handy tool go up in the weeks leading up to Thanksgiving. While a baster is essential for your big turkey dinner, that's certainly not the only time you'll use it. After all, turkeys aren't the only food that benefits from basting--steaks and other roasts can all be improved with a quick drizzle of the cooking juices or melted butter. A baster might also be used to suction a layer of fat off of a pot of simmering stock or to transfer hot gravy from the pan to a gravy boat. Basters offer more control than a ladle or spoon, allowing you to direct the suctioned liquid exactly where you want it. Even more importantly, they allow you to keep your hands a safe distance from the hot roasting pan and bubbling liquid. Read on for more about just a few of the basters available at Williams Sonoma.
- Tovolo Bulb Baster - Featuring a silicone bulb and heat-resistant Tritan-plastic barrel, this baster can withstand extremely high temperatures. The narrow nozzle has an angled tip that allows for maximum control and precision, and the flat bulb design ensures that the Tovolo baster won't roll off your counter and will fit easily in kitchen drawers.
- Glass Bulb Baster - This Williams Sonoma exclusive boasts a barrel made of heat-resistant glass, so it won't stain or retain grease and food odors. The angled band on the rubber bulb keeps the baster steady on the counter when not in use. The barrel is marked with measurements in ounces for added precision.
- Cuisipro Baster with Brush and 4-Cup Fat Separator - Perfect for Thanksgiving, this handy set includes a baster and brush for ensuring that your turkey comes out deliciously moist with perfectly crisped skin as well as a fat separator that makes it easy to skim off the fat before transferring all of those flavorful cooking juices to your gravy pan.
More Thanksgiving Meal Prep Tools
Naturally, special meals require special kitchen utensils, so you'll want to inventory your kitchen a few weeks before the holiday cooking and baking season begins to make sure you have everything you need. Of course, you'll want to make sure that you have a full collection of frequently used food prep tools like measuring cups and spoons, a peeler, a whisk and knives, but you'll also need a few more specialized tools, like a baster, a roasting pan and turkey lifters at the ready ahead of the big day. Here are a few other kitchen essentials that will help make preparing your family's feast just a little bit easier:
- Potato masher
- Fat separator
- Digital thermometer
- Poultry shears
- Apple slicer and corer