Do You Need a Kitchen Brick
Bricks are not something you can buy at Williams-Sonoma or Sur La Table, but perhaps they should be, as they are extremely useful in the kitchen. In fact, scratch it. Both retailers are extremely adept at making the once affordable unaffordable, and will likely end up selling “locally sourced weights wrapped in food grade silicone” or something. (Wait. They already sell ” grill presses ” for $ 35, which are just fancy bricks with handles. In my opinion!)
Anyway. Bricks come in handy in the kitchen, especially if you wrap them in sturdy aluminum foil a couple of times. If the foil gets dirty, just replace it. This is the perfect system. What do you do with the brick after you’ve wrapped it? You, of course, put him on top and hit things with him.
First, you can make the chicken under a brick (or two bricks), but once you’re done, I think you’ll find that a little pressure from above is beneficial for many meats. Bacon, for example. The brick keeps your strips of jerky pork flat during frying, preventing the portions from curling in the pan, leaving behind burnt and soggy bacon. It can also help you get a quicker and more even browning of a steak, chop, or thick burger, although I wouldn’t try this with a thin burger that sticks well to the pan after the first press.
Foil-wrapped bricks also come in handy if you need to squeeze out tofu, sandwiches, or anything that requires a little draining or hardening overnight. If the recipe says “weight the soup with cans,” you can use a handy brick. You can also use it as a meat tenderizer or understudy, which seems powerful. Try. Just shake the shit out of something (food) with foil-wrapped bricks. Neither your chicken breast nor your pie dough will stand a chance.
What would you do with kitchen bricks? Do you have a fancy grill press? Is the extra charge worth it? How much can one brick cost? Ten dollars?