To meal prep successfully, you need the right gear. Hannah and Lisa dive into their top recommended tools and tips to make meal prepping easy.
Pre-Order Our Book: “Kitchen Gear: The Ultimate Owner’s Manual: Boost Your Equipment IQ with 500+ Expert Tips, Optimize Your Kitchen with 400+ Recommended Tools”:
Hannah’s Picks:
Instant Pot 6QT Pro Pressure Cooker:
Nordicware Baker’s Half Sheet:
Oxo Salad Dressing Shaker:
Tablecraft Widemouth Squeeze Bottle:
Lisa’s Picks:
Oxo Smart Seal Glass containers:
Rubbermaid Plastic containers:
Oxo 11lb Digital scale:
Ozeri Pronto Digital Scale:
Follow Lisa on Instagram:
Follow Hannah on Instagram:
ABOUT US: Located in Boston’s Seaport District in the historic Innovation and Design Building, America’s Test Kitchen features 15,000 square feet of kitchen space including multiple photography and video studios. It is the home of Cook’s Illustrated magazine and Cook’s Country magazine and is the workday destination for more than 60 test cooks, editors, and cookware specialists. Our mission is to test recipes over and over again until we understand how and why they work and until we arrive at the best version.
If you like us, follow us:
47 Comments
Leave a Reply
You must be logged in to post a comment.
Hannah, what do you do with all of the cooked veg, chicken and tofu throughout the week? Do you have different recipes that call for these foods pre-cooked, or do you simply reheat and eat?
I have the Instant Pot Max. Well, actually I have 2, lol. The pressure release is a function button on the front. Nothing near the steam release.
"BPA free" == "contains BPS" just, you know, let's be honest here, I was born in communist yugoslavia, I can teach you all about how these ppl use language to trick you into thinking they're doing stuff for you, when all they do is do stuff for the bottom line, you can never trust corporations
To me, the important bit of containers is that they have the same dang lids, IKEA's 365+ line is amazing for this, they have four sizes of lids that fit on both glass and plastic containers. They are all over the place in my kitchen. The gasket is also very easy to take out and clean.
I do still love my deli containers though.
I loved the rubbermaid plastic containers at first but sound that they often cracked when i used them to heat things in the microwave.
The absolutely most important implement I have found for meal prep that I cannot do without is thankfully directly connected to my arms and I was born with them. I have relatives who would NEVER use their hands to directly come in contact with food they are preparing – they use gloves over them. Nonsense.
Love this channel, great advice and so far everything spot on. I will be buying some of the storage containers, thank you!
We had the Rubbermaid ones, but they cracked with use. We now have glass containers, although not OXO, and they have lasted much better.
I have the model,10 qt made bean soup with dried 15 beans beginning to on table 21/2 hours it was really tasty.
No more Hannah please.
Thanks for great advice.😊
Parchment paper! It will cut out all the clean-up.
NGL I just had that opening reaction to my instant pot last night. Pressure is scary.
disappointed to hear the meaningless "ingredients i cant pronounce" scaremongering here. would not have thought atk would engage in that
Pyrex is still made out of borosilicate, just look for the ones manufactured in France.
Great information…now can you come over and organize my kitchen. ☺
I really appreciate the work you’ve put in to this.
I own the scale, sheet pan and the pressure cooker you recommend and I have a designated cooking oil dispenser. Thanks!
I don't know if you will see this months later, but I keep my Oxo scale in a zip lock gallon bag. Now I am sure that does effect the read out slightly, but it does keep it very clean. I have had mine for years!! All you have to do to pull out the read out bar, is unzip the bag. I keep it stored on it's side. I love it!!
Can the scales be stored vertically to save space?
Squeeze bottles are a way to go bc they're perfect for thick a$$ dressings 🥑🥑🥑
You’re the only place I trust for gear testing 😉
Love the glass storage except that my family members stack the glass when storing. 3 x I’ve found slivers of glass from the rounded edge chip off into the drawer which really concerned me.
I gotta stop watching these videos. My wallet is becoming so much lighter 😅
Rubbermaid premier with good seal are VERY a difficult to open after the good seal.
Can you test vegetable choppers?
The ozeri scale was the first recommendation I bought because of ATK, it's still going strong!
"There are a lot of ingredients in those dressings that I can't pronounce."
Ask Lan Lam. She can help you. You will learn that almost all of them are harmless and there for good reasons.
I like the shelves behind you, what the brand?
Can you please add the Horl 2 knife sharpener to your next test/review? It looks promising, but I've never had a good experience with anything advertised on Instagram.
I'm surprised they didn't mention the Rubbermaid Brilliance glass containers. They're the same sizes as the plastic ones, so they're oven safe, and the really great thing is the lids are interchangeable between the glass and plastic lines. I'm not sure how durable they are compared to the Oxo borosilicate, but I've yet to break one.
I have several of the OXO Smart Seal containers and I like them better than my older Pyrex because they seal better and the lids don't crack around the edges like the Pyrex lids either. I also have several of the Rubbermaid Brilliance containers, but I have the glass version. They are a bit more expensive a slightly heavier, but I much prefer glass over plastic. The only drawback with both is they don't nest, so they take up quite a bit of storage space.
This is a great series. I always learn something new. I love to talk about plastic and glass containers. And I laughed with Hannah’s reviews because so much of it had to do with not having to clean
Sometimes I see you review something I already have and I'm always like "YES! I chose the best one!"
Dollar Tree Squeeze Bottles are a life saver….TWO for $1.25. If they get nasty just toss them
She really pushes those sheets but I was always raise that "You don't sheet where you eat"
I’ve been using OXO glass containers for years and I adore them! Being able to remove the rubber gasket completely has saved my life multiple times. Considering I haven’t found replacement lids alone, this really makes a difference so you’re not a lid short since their containers at very pricey.
Best of luck with your new book! 🍀🍀🍀
Honest question, is making stock in a pressure cooker that much faster? You have to wait for it to get up to pressure and then when it’s done vent it. During this is no faster than making stock on the stove.
I bought the Rubbermaid clear containers (hand washed only) and a bunch cracked on the bottom where the plastic was poured.
The best part about making your own dressing is customizing the flavor! Yum!
I'd beware about "can't pronounce it = shouldn't consume it" because it doesn't go far. Dihydrogen monoxide may be hard to pronounce the first time you see it, but it doesn't mean you shouldn't drink water. Yes, it's picky, but I hold ATK to a high standard
I use the successive weighing method for any recipe. I can convert most recipes using the extensive catalog of volume to weight conversions that King Arthur Baking has put together. I hardly ever run into an ingredient that isn’t in their alphabetized list.
I use parchment paper when roasting veggies, doing sheet pan meals or other particularly for marinated ingredients. This makes clean up so much easier.
@8:37 lol ray gun sound
I put all ingredients for salad dressing in a mason jar. I put a reusable lid and simply shake it up. Reduces cleanup. Store it in the fridge.
Ikea 365 has amazing food storage containers. They are modular in EVERY WAY.
The same lid can fit on 5 different containers. There are two main sizes, the large and small ones. There are two main materials for both sizes, plastic and glass. The plastic can store slightly more. There is also a metal small container.
And the lids. THE LIDS! There are different options. There is a square silicone one, which i use to microwave food, a plastic snap, and a bamboo one with a gasket.
The best part is that you can buy the lids separately, so if something does happen, you can simply replace the container or lid without having to buy a complete new set, and for me, I love having just one lid for them all.
They also don't leak.
I bought one of those OXO scales. It was a rare miss for them. It's a solid, well-built piece and it worked well, but it ate batteries like that was its job. Even rechargeable batteries fell to its might. Finally decided enough was enough and gave it away in favor of a no name Chinese made scale that, so far, is a better performer. Additionally, the top of mine assuredly did not come off. I would have broken it if I had tried. Maybe they altered that feature between when ATK bought theirs and I bought mine, but be careful!
Unable to locate tablecraft squeeze bottle shown. There are others by tablecraft, but not that one. Suggestions?