Making your own homemade baby food can be overwhelming and time consuming especially if you don’t have the essential tools to get the job done. A simple fork and ingredients can leave you confused not to mention they won’t give you the desired results. Below are some common but very essential kitchen tools that you need to prepare homemade baby food at any given time.
1. Pots and pans: The pots and pans come in different sizes and materials and you will find small ones perfect for preparing baby food. The best material will be stainless steel utensils o help you cook and bake your baby’s food in a hygienic way.
2. Potato masher: This kitchen tool is made to look like a long-handled spoon but comes with holes or slots on the head. It is used for crushing soft baby foods such as potatoes and pumpkins among others to make them lump-free and smooth ready for baby consumption.
3. Vegetable steamer: This kitchen tool is ideal for cooking vegetables such as carrots, spinach and cauliflower among other things without adding any cooking oils. They leave the vegetables with a pure taste without losing their natural color. The tender vegetables cooked using steamers are always nutritious and healthy for the baby.
4. Steam basket: Baby food should contain more vegetables than any other ingredient for a healthy diet. Steamer baskets are useful as they help steam vegetables easily and healthily. Steaming vegetables makes them tender and easy to crumble.
5. Baby food processor: There are different brands of baby food processors each with some amazing features for pureeing food to your desired consistency. However, the best food processor should allow you to prepare baby food and cool and then defrost or reheat in the same kitchen appliance whenever needed. There are suitable compact baby processors that are easy to operate and easy to wash dishes.
6. Strainer/colander: The bowl-shaped kitchen tool is used to drain baby food after cooking. The best strainers or colanders are made of stainless steel and plastic material and help you separate liquids from solids during your cooking and baby food preparations.
7. Measuring spoons: These tools come in different sizes and capacities and are helpful in measuring different amounts of ingredients needed to make quality homemade baby food. You can use them to measure both liquids and solid ingredients. They are available in different materials including plastic and stainless steel and some come with markers for accuracy.
8. Ice cube trays: After preparing baby food, ice cube trays come in handy as they help freeze pureed food for future use. Cube trays come in different sizes and you should consider one that can easily hold about an ounce of pureed food. Once the food has been frozen, you just need to transfer the cubes to the freezer bags before storing them in the freezer.
9. Freezer bags: These kitchen tools are necessary for easier storage of your baby’s food. Once the food is cooled, crumbled and frozen into cubes, it is transferred to freezer bags before being stored in the freezer. Using freezer bags is convenient and saves time not to mention it is also hygienic.
10. Sharpie Marker: Sharpies are suitable and especially when storing different types of food in the freezer of the refrigerator. You can use the markers to label different freezer bags and containers indicating the storage date along with the type of food for easier identification. This helps to avoid mistaking different foods that are similar to each other when frozen and thus saves time and improves convenience in the homemade preparation of baby food.
Finally, there are many other kitchen tools but these 10 described above guarantee convenience and help save time in the preparation of homemade baby food.
Merina is a passionate cook and blogger and provides information on a number of food processors. There is a food processor right for your needs!
