They Don’t Make Them Like They Used To.

This is a theme that I’ll return to again and again, I fear. Namely, how important is the equipment you use in the kitchen? Hang on, that’s not quite right. The equipment is super-important – try cooking without even the most rudimentary gear. What I mean by that is when one asks the age-old question:

“If I buy this piece of gear, will it make me a better cook, or should I stay with what I have?

The answer, of course, is ‘yes’. Because shiny new things are great. We all know, however, that being a better cook is more about cooking than what you use to cook with.

In my other life I work as a photographer. And the siren song of new cameras, compelling me to buy new gear is incessant and almost impossible to ignore.

But struggle against it I must – for any number of reasons:

• It’s expensive.
• It makes you a better cook right up until it doesn’t, which for me happens nearly immediately.
• It is prettier, but popularity contests don’t do much to get dinner on the table.
• It sometimes doesn’t work as well as the original piece of equipment.

I had a 9-inch French knife that my mom bought me when I was married. For 20 years I used it practically every day – didn’t give it any thought… Until it got to the point that it had been sharpened so many times the blade no longer reliably chopped. The hilt of the blade was proud of the edge of the knife and it made for some awful chopping.

So I bought a new knife, a cool one. Different shape.

I hate it. Well, I don’t hate it – it’s a great knife, but I don’t love it like the old one. I mean, my mom didn’t give me the new one, but I don’t think that’s why. I thought I would like the new technology and I found I didn’t really care for the upgrade. I’m searching for a new knife, or maybe I’ll just grind the old one down and see how that goes.

As for these beaters, the ones in the photo. As far as I know, they’re still going strong at my mother-in-law’s house… And they’re a far sight better than the new set she has. They have better speed control, they’re better balanced and you can’t beat that retro styling.

They do make a ton of noise and I fear they might not last forever, but I’ll use them until they die.

They certainly don’t make them like they used to. In some cases that’s a good thing, like in the case of automobiles. But when it comes to kitchen implements, I’m more of a traditionalist, even if ‘tradition’ is a set of beaters or a knife from a few decades ago.