Monday, November 06, 2006

Cooking essentials- pastry blender


I LOVE LOVE LOVE my pastry blender!!!! When Mr. U and I first married, I tried and tried to make biscuits like my mother does (she can do EVERYTHING!!!!), but I kept failing. I just cannot cut the butter into the flour with two knives like she does. Sigh.



Enter the pastry blender! My life saver!! No more chunks of butter or shortening in the biscuits! Now, it's all perfectly blended together! Hoorah!!

What IS a pastry blender exactly? It is a tool that helps cut the fat (in my case it was butter or shortening) into the flour when making dough (biscuit dough or pie crust, usually for me). It should have a sturdy handle which anchors several rows of steel wires formed into a U-shape.

While it does work marvelously, it is kind of a pain to clean. The mixture will get in between the wires and it makes it a smidge difficult to clean BUT it is WELL worth it- just ask Mr. U.

14 comments:

Melissa said...

I didn't know that a pastry blender was used for that! I wonder what else it's commonly used for....

Kelli said...

I can't do the two knives thing like my mom either! I love my pastry blender too!
Kelli

Kelley said...

I love my pastry blender too!
I can't believe how easy it makes things!
Have a blessed day!

Julieann said...

Mrs. U--I have one of those, I love mine--BUT, I didn't know it was called a pastry blender...LOL.

Julieann:)

Margaret in VA said...

I love mine too, though we call it a pastry cutter. As in "cut the butter into the flour..."
I prefer the kind with blades( as you have pictured) to the one with wires.
It also makes short work of eggs for egg salad!

Cherish the Home said...

I have been needing one of those!

Kelli said...

I never thought to use it for egg salad, what a great idea!!
Kelli

Lean Not said...

I use mine to mash potatoes sometimes.

Tammy said...

I never thought of using two knives! I love my pastry blender too! I got mine at Ikea.

Dorothy Aichele Conway said...

I used to bake a lot and really made use of mine. My kids said they could tell when I made from scratch and when I used a mix. Home made tasted better, I guess.

Nancy said...

I always used my hands for biscuits...maybe I need to get a pastry blender. I bet they are fluffier and flakier. Thanks for the tip.

Dani said...

we love our pastry blender here!

Susan P. said...

I have my Grammy's pastry blender that is "umpteen" years old and I wouldn't trade it for the world:)

Susan said...

Am I the only person in the world who uses a fork to cut the butter or shortening into the flour??? I do have a pastry blender, but I learned to make biscuits and pie crusts using a fork, so I never remember to use the pastry blender!

Now, I do remember to use it to make egg salad! LOL

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