Do you ever think about the pair of kitchen shears that you bought and never got to use? Then you’re not alone! It’s not uncommon for people to randomly buy specialized one-purpose kitchen tools—especially if you just moved into your new home.
Why should you bother with kitchen shears?
No one really thinks about kitchen shears when asked about daily-use kitchen utensils. But why do people forget about them despite how effective they are at what they do? We, firstly, people think that kitchen knives are all you need when it comes to cutting anything in the kitchen.
And that’s where a lot of people are wrong. The only reason that kitchen shears are considered an afterthought is because people haven’t figured out how to use them. A good pair of kitchen shears can make tasks easier to do than with just regular ol’ knives.
Common Ways To Utilize Your Kitchen Shears
One of the main ways to use kitchen shears is to be common knowledge. Examples of such would be: cutting herbs, opening food packaging, as well as processing chicken. People often refer to these uses as the main purpose for shears, which is apparent with how effective it is.
Knives can technically still help you with taking apart a whole chicken. However, why would you do that when you can get better control and power with the use of shears? Cutting through cartilage and joints is a breeze if you’re using the right tools!
When it comes to spatchcocking chicken—or any other bird for that matter, a good pair of kitchen shears is perfect. Cutting through and removing that backbone cleanly and thoroughly is the key to a good spatchcocked bird.
Something you might want to know is that spatchcocking cooks the bird more evenly while greatly decreasing the cook time. If you’re a chef and you’re processing chicken, or even turkey, on a daily basis, then you might wanna invest.
Using Kitchen Shears The Better Way
With all the common stuff out of the way, we can finally get into the more juicy stuff. If you’re into buying kitchen tools, then you’re bound to hit a wall. Where exactly do you draw the line when buying new tools?
Trouble With Jars And Bottles?
Luckily, kitchen shears are considered to be the modern kitchen’s pocket-utility knife (unironically). If you have trouble undoing the caps on jars or even bottle screw caps, then you’re in for a treat. Jars can be especially frustrating to take on , and can even get painful for many people.
Instead of ever buying any dedicated jar openers, you can just make use of the grippers found on shears. The inner portions on the handles of most modern kitchen shears have rubberized grippers that help with caps and lids.
Cracking Shells The Easier Way
Whether it be hard nuts or even crab shells, kitchen shears are the way to go. If you take a quick glance at the lid and cap grippers, you’ll notice that they’re shaped a certain way. The curvature is perfect for cracking walnuts as well as large crab claws.
You just need to firmly hold the nuts or crabs firmly but carefully press down into the handle.
What Else Can You Do?
Besides being a bottle opener, you can even use the edge of the blade as a flat screwdriver. This can be particularly useful when you have to screw something really quick without having to bust out the toolbox.
Cleaning the shears can be another issue, but you can just take it apart to clean it easier. But in the end, it’s all gonna be how you use the tool. So what’s stopping you from being efficient in the kitchen?