An Important Kitchen Tool We Don’t Think About

Tongs are handy cooking devices meant to handle food (as well as kitchen instruments), therefore protecting human hands from potentially dangerous temperatures. They are useful for:

Using a grill to turn a piece of steak

Taking the noodles out of the boiling water

removing cookware lids and many more

As humans, we move through life learning new abilities and honing others, creating tidy little lives and identities for ourselves with a wide range of specific interests. But if you're a specific type of person, you may focus on one of those niche interests, such as cooking. And all of a sudden, you want to know all there is to know about it.

So you do your homework. You buy every book on the subject you can find. You begin watching YouTube videos on precise techniques to cut into various sorts of food, or you follow wild and exotic recipes that you would never have attempted before you totally committed to this specialized interest. Now you're all in.

Suddenly, it's not even about learning; it's about accumulating. You discover your kitchen's tools are terribly insufficient. So you begin stockpiling your kitchen arsenal. You buy better cookware. You research numerous sorts of knives and purchase a knife block set. You will receive a high-quality cutting board. You also receive a little meat thermometer.

Then you look at the fundamentals—the things you've basically been taking for granted your entire life without really thinking about them. You shift your gaze away from the flashier items and toward products that are supposed to make your life simpler but, due to their low cost and poor quality, have instead done the opposite.

Tongs are a wonderful illustration of these sorts of instruments, in my opinion. I've known them my whole life and have used them frequently since I began cooking. But I have no idea where I acquired mine. They're cracked and worn out, making them difficult to handle or move, ultimately making cooking a more unpleasant experience for me. But because they were "just tongs," I never gave them much attention.

It all comes down to perception. There is always room for development and improvement. So now we're taking a deeper look at our beloved tongs, determining how they operate, what to look for in a decent set of tongs, and which ones to buy. Let's get started.

Tongs of Various Types

Though tongs have a very simple appearance and function, there are minor variances that may make them more suited for specific activities. This implies that before purchasing them, you should think about what they will be used for.

If you want to pick up hefty chunks of meat, for example, you'll want something with a solid build. Pasta tongs are somewhat different in form and are designed to handle noodles. If you're going to be cooking on the grill, seek out a long, nonslip handle.

So, let's speak about the many varieties of tongs available and what they each specialize in.