Collander Strainer Sieve Scoop!

I never know what to call this, but it’s a collander, strainer, sieve and scoop all in one – and is the perfect kitchen gadget to use as a collander to strain small quantities of vegetables, or to lift items safely from the slow cooker.  If I’m cooking, say, a whole brisket joint, or a turkey joint or chicken joint in the slow cooker, then this is a nifty gadget to easily lift the whole thing out of the slow cooker in one piece.

Again, it’s in a “cheery colour” – and I make sure none of my kitchen gadgets match so they bring splashes of different colour into the kitchen, but I’m not then “stuck” trying to get everything to match!

Dimensions:

The length of the scoop part is about 6″, 16cm – and will easily lift a 1Kg joint from the slow cooker; I don’t cook joints larger than that but I bet it’d be able to cope with something double the size.

How It Works: 

With these you can scoop and drain food straight from a hot saucepan or casserole dish.  Simply scoop carefully under the food and lift it up – the holes in the collander scoop then allow any cooking juices to drip away, so you are just lifting your joint from the slow cooker.

It can, of course, also be used to scoop out the meat and vegetables if you’ve made a stew – perhaps you want to see what you’ve got to portion the chunks out before topping up the portions with just gravy.

If you’re cooking with a small saucepan, or cooking small amounts, you can use it as a collander over the sink – and if you’re using larger saucepans you can scoop and drain cooked food straight from the saucepan.

It’s perfect if you’re cack-handed, like me, or struggling a bit with grip and coordination 🙂

Where to Buy a Collander Scoop: 

I can’t remember where I got mine from, sorry – but you can find this type of scoop online, on sites such as Amazon UK where there are a variety of colours and styles to be discovered.  You only need one and it’ll last a lifetime… sitting until that perfect moment when it’s “just the thing!”