These are the tools we find ourselves reaching for the most as we develop our dysphagia-friendly recipes!
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Appliances
I cannot overstate how much I love my 6-quart Instant Pot for dysphagia!
The Instant Pot’s pressure-cooking feature is absolutely amazing for Level 6: Soft & Bite-Sized recipes.
It cooks meat thoroughly without creating any hard crusts or drying out large or small pieces of meat.
I was worried about making this purchase initially because we are very thrifty in my household, but we marked each use with a tally and were down to less than $1/use in just about a year!
–Sara
I recently purchased this 8-cup Cuisinart food processor from Bed Bath and Beyond on sale and I love it!
So far I have sliced cucumbers, ground chicken, minced frozen hashbrowns, and shredded cheese.
Because I cook for modified diets, this appliance will live on my counter, eliminating the common complaint that food processors are annoying to pull out of the cupboard.
If you’re on the fence about a medium food processor, I cannot more highly recommend this one!
–Sara
This Cuisinart immersion blender set is what I use to blend purees that are too stiff for my blender, or I don’t want to hassle with the dishes.
Additionally, I find myself reaching for the food processor component for any dry, crumbly ingredients.
I do notice the plastic measuring cup is getting a little beat-up with use, but I use it frequently just as a measuring cup as it has both metric and standard units.
–Sara
This is not the exact Oster blender that I own personally, I believe this model is a few years newer.
However, my Oster has served me well over many years. For the price, it’s a good blender brand for general use.
It will never get food completely pulverized the way Louisa’s Vitamix will, but if you pair your Oster with a fine mesh strainer, you’ll end up in a similar spot!
–Sara
Hand Tools
For Level 5: Minced & Moist recipes, this OXO Smooth Potato Masher is a time-saver!
I trust OXO brand hand tools pretty implicitly, but when I discovered this potato masher my mind was blown.
It cuts mashing time down by about half for things like our Sweet Potato Bowls and Mashed Potato Salad, leaving very few large lumps without working too hard!
–Sara
The humble hamburger chopper is another Level 5: Minced & Moist hero.
I hate hate hate smashing ground meat in the pan. I don’t know why it makes me so annoyed.
With this amazing tool, I no longer have to beg someone else to smash ground meat for me, I can do it for myself with a smile!
That sounded pretty dumb but I really do love this thing.
–Sara
Kitchen Drawer Basics
If you’re going to cook, you need a good, sharp chef’s knife.
This is my favorite knife in our kitchen, we also own a large Asian-style vegetable cleaver and a Winco chopper.
As with any knife, keep your knives sharp for safety!
–Sara
These are the only paring knives you need!
I love that they each have a cover, and they come with serrated and non-serrated knifes.
Personally, I do not own a bread knife, I just use this serrated knife and hope no one judges me.
We take the green knife with us when we go camping for cooking our camp meals, that’s how much I love them.
–Sara
Keep your knives sharp!
–Sara
This OXO citrus squeezer has legitimately changed my life.
I was out here being mad at my hand strength every time I had to squeeze something, and then I decided I was over it!
Ever since I bought our lime squeezer, I am truly happy when I get the opportunity to use it. That may say more about me than the squeezer.
–Sara
Peeling garlic is another unending kitchen annoyance.
This delightful green tubular garlic peeler saves me from time-wasting and that terrible garlic finger smell.
OXO you’ve done it again!
–Sara