Keep All Your Favorite Kitchen Tools In A Countertop Bain For Easy Access

Are you a haphazard cook who's prone to running around in circles in the kitchen searching for a missing spatula? Then you need this tip in your life: Select your favorite kitchen tools and put them in a bain that sits on your countertop instead of keeping them in a disorganized drawer. But what is a bain anyway? It's simply a canister, jar, or container (like the little metal pot that goes in the base of a professional bain-marie) that chefs and line cooks use to place all their tools in while they work. 

They keep it beside their cooking station, along with key ingredients like herbs and seasonings, as part of their mise en place. Mindfully selecting your most-used tools and placing them in a separate easy-access container has two great benefits. Firstly, it means you can grab your key utensils at speed and avoid wasting time searching for your favorite paring knife or slotted spoon. This results in speedier meals and snacks because you're using your time more efficiently. 

Secondly, this useful system helps to keep your kitchen über-organized. Everything you need is in one crock and you don't need to open a drawer to put things back where they belong. It also means you can take washed items straight out of the dishwasher and plonk them into one canister in an upright position instead of storing them flat in a drawer where they can easily get jumbled up.

To make your bain, you must first liberate your kitchen tools from the messy drawer that they're currently residing in and place them on your countertop. Then, take a good hard look at them and consider which ones you use daily. For example, items like wooden spoons, fish slices, or vegetable peelers may be something you use more often than a specialist micrograter, balloon whisk, or spider wok strainer. 

On the other hand, you might be someone who favors a pair of chopsticks over a spoon or employs a rolling pin on the daily to make your own chapatis and tortillas. Simply select the items you use regularly and place them in your caddy to create a customized container of culinary tools. Place it beside your cooker for fast and easy access, allowing you to grab whatever you need in an instant.

During the first week of using your personalized bain, you may find that some items are missing and others haven't been used as often as you'd imagined. This is where you can change things up and swap the tools around until you feel satisfied with your choices. If you find that you're rarely opening your utensil drawer anymore, it may be time to get rid of the extra tools inside to make space for other useful items.