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Whether you have a junior chef in the family, or simply want to encourage the toddlers in your life to spend more time in the kitchen, you’ll want some kid-friendly tools on hand. Ahead, five Canadian food experts recommend products that can make cooking and baking easier and more fun for littles.
The kid-friendly chef’s knife
Craig Wong, chef and owner of Patois Toronto and Bar Mignonette, bought this Opinel knife for his eldest son years ago, long before he was born. “The knife is the embodiment of a chef’s identity,” says Wong. “What I love about this one is not only does it come with a finger guard for their lead index finger, but it also has a finger guard for their holding hand.” The guards help protect and position small fingers, and this pint-sized knife features a 10-centimetre stainless steel blade and durable beech wood handle. It’s recommended for use, under adult supervision, by kids ages 7 and up. Opinel Le Petit Chef knife and finger guard, $59, cookery-store.ca
Calgary-based food writer Julie Van Rosendaal, author of “Cookies I Have Loved,” started hosting free Zoom cooking and baking classes for kids of all ages in January. They’ve been so popular that she would sometimes offer two sessions per recipe, and upload recordings on her website for those who could not attend live. For kids who want to help out in the kitchen, Rosendaal recommends this dishwasher-safe, stainless steel potato masher with an easy-to-grip, rubber-coated handle. “Beyond potatoes, I use it to mash bananas for banana bread, simmered beans for tacos, and avocados for guacamole,” says Rosendaal. “You’ll be amazed at how much mashing you do in the kitchen — and kids are great at it!” Kitchen Innovations Perfect Masher potato masher, $25, leevalley.com
The stylish (and practical) accessory
“There’s something about putting on a ‘uniform’ that really gets my kids excited about cooking,” says Devin Connell, Toronto-based author of the cookbook “Conveniently Delicious” and founder of the website Crumb. “It makes them feel like what they are doing is an important task.” She recommends these striped, yarn-dyed cotton aprons from Williams Sonoma, which feature adjustable neckbands and two front pockets. “These matching kid-parent aprons are cute and practical, and make flour explosions a little more manageable,” says Connell. And if things do get messy, they’re machine washable. Williams Sonoma Bay Stripe adult and kid apron bundle in claret red, $75, williams-sonoma.ca
An Tran, “Toronto’s bread whisperer,” says his young kids can be picky eaters, but they’ll enjoy foods they helped make and are just old enough to put ingredients into bowls and mix. “Anything in muffin form is great for that, so I always have a muffin tin lying around so they can help make them,” says the founder of the micro-bakery Ba Noi, suggesting this affordable, non-stick one by Betty Crocker. Beyond muffins, Tran suggests putting tortilla shells in the tin and adding stuffing, or lining the tin with melted chocolate and adding fruit once the chocolate has cooled and hardened. Betty Crocker My Kitchen non-stick muffin pan, $9, homehardware.ca
A digital scale can be useful if you’re baking with kids, says Brendan Platts, executive pastry chef for Toronto’s Bisha Hotel and its dining spots Kost and French Made. “It’s never too early to get kids started on building proper foundations for pastry, and the most essential tools in most kits would be a digital scale and a digital thermometer,” says Platts. “In baking especially, the precision required for many recipes makes these tools crucial.” Plus, a scale can be fairly inexpensive. “I would recommend any 1g/1Kg model, which can range from $15 to $400, depending on budget and use case,” says Platts. “But for the purposes of baking with kids, this one is more than sufficient.”
Louisware digital kitchen scale, $20, amazon.ca
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