Kitchenware

Les élastiques

[Rubber bands]

I’ve been having a bit of a rubber band moment. You see I’ve always used them in the kitchen, in one way or another, but these past few weeks, I’ve found myself reaching for the bundle we keep in – what used to be – an ice-cream tub more and more often.

So I thought I’d share how I use rubber bands in my kitchen. And as always, please do add your own little tips in the comments!

– to keep flour bags closed; I simply roll the top of the bag, then tie the band around.

– to avoid using clingfilm; I’ve been cutting the edges of a freezer bag to form a large square which I place on top of the bowl I want to cover and secure it with a rubber band. Voilà, reusable clingfilm! This is perfect when proofing bread dough as it provides an airtight environment.
I also love this to secure a kitchen towel or a piece of mousseline to “close” my starter jar or my kombucha.

– to drain off the excess chocolate when making dipped bonbons; I place a rubber band across the bowl into which I have my tempered chocolate, and after dipping my intérieur (be it a ganache or some candied fruit or marzipan), I first drain them by doing up and down movements to create some suction which will get rid of most the excess, and then I scrape my bonbon on the elastic which removes the last bit of chocolate; finally, I place my coated bonbon onto a sheet of feuille guitare or acetate, and leave it to crystallise.

– to assess of how much my starter proofs. After its feed, I simply place the rubber band around my jar – at the same level my starter lies at. A few hours later, it’s super easy to notice how much it’s proofed.

– to keep my silpats and baking paper scraps neatly rolled. You know, most pastry shops reuse their baking paper; something I wish we did more often at home!

– to have my notebook open at all time during baking; no more butter finger-prints (no matter how romantic we make it seem). I just slide two elastics on my notebook, one of each side of the page I want to keep open. This way, I can easily jot down notes as I work on recipes.

3 Comments

  • Martin
    April 12, 2015 at 10:57 PM

    Great tip about the sourdough. Thanks.

    Have you tried using those free shower caps given away by hotels etc? They are great as a clingfilm replacement when proofing bread. An elastic band and plastic sheet all-in-one! Perfect. I have five constantly on rotation. Plus friends and family bring me fresh supplies.

    Reply
    • fanny
      April 14, 2015 at 11:19 AM

      Hi Martin, I’ve never tried using shower caps. It always sounded great but somehow there is a part in me that refuses :p x

      Reply
  • Aisha
    August 1, 2015 at 11:17 PM

    Oh my! The rubber bands around the notebook trick reminded me of my high-school-English literature teacher, Mrs Lynch. A formidable woman, she had a way of taking us with her on journeys through these books… Her words and her voice are still with me to this day. And she did all that with nothing more than a piece of chalk, her resounding voice and her books, scribbled all over in pen and pencil with notes on every blank space and between lines, some touches of highlighter (better remember those lines for the essays !) and… a rubber band that served as a bookmark and as a book opener (not that she really needed the second function anymore, as the books had been opened and reopened hundreds of times on those pages, the book spines so wrinkled you could barely make out the titles). But that trick freed her hands to take off her glasses, emphasize her points, point at us and hold her chin while listening to our attempts at deciphering the works she was leading us through.
    Thanks for the “madeleine” moment…

    Reply

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