Compact Tools for Small Kitchens

I thought I'd take a moment to show you some of the space saving things we've done here aboard Floating Empire that might work in your small kitchen.

First of all, when not using the hearth, we use one of these single burner catering stoves.

The units are inexpensive (I found ours on the web for all of $10 apiece), compact, self lighting, will take a full sized stockpot or cast iron frying pan securely, and the butane burns quite a bit hotter than propane, so you can get a better sear, faster boils, etc.  The only downside is that the fuel can be a bit tricky to find at times.  Fuel is cheap on the web (as low as $1.50 a can) but we've been charged as much as $7 at marinas when we could find no other source.  Just keep your stock up and you're fine.

For grinding coffee (well, ya gotta) and fresh pepper and spices (well, ya should), we use one of these little Kitchen Aid grinders with removable containers.  It works well and provides us with a way of NOT mixing, say, the flavor of deep roast columbian with the flavor of tandoori spicing.

The most useful toy we've found was the addition of a stick blender in place of a regular bar blender.

They'll do about anything a bar blender will do, from smoothies to iced drinks to blending  cream soups, take up very little room, and are easy to clean.

See?   They break down into a really compact space, and only the blade section needs to be cleaned.  They can do wonderful stuff like making smooth soups out of your leftover cooked vegetables:

Not to mention their utility at turning ice, fruit and rum into some really interesting mixed drinks.

More recipes and ideas shortly, so stay tuned.  And, hey, comment and subscribe, we'd love to hear ideas from you, and we promise to respond.

M