The Accidental Locavore laughed when I saw some of the new GIR products. Okay, that’s probably not the reaction they expected, but you’ll understand when I explain. We use their spatulas, spoons, and lids all the time and love them! If you don’t know about GIR, they started out with a well-designed, one-piece silicone spatula in a dozen colors. Since then, they’ve come out with different sizes of spatulas, spoons, flippers, a scraper and lids — all in great colors!
The first generation of lids are round and they go everywhere — microwave, fridge, probably oven although I haven’t tried that yet, they are heatproof to well over 400°. Since I’ve been using them, my roll of Saran Wrap has been languishing in the drawer and might last me into the next decade, if not the next century.
You can use them for everything — from covering dishes in the refrigerator to warming up leftovers in the microwave. They cover pots when I’m brining meat or making sauerkraut. A great “off label” use for them is when you need to peel lots of garlic cloves (think garlic confit). Just put the cloves between two lids and roll them around until all the garlic is peeled.
The new products they sent me (and thanks to GIR!) included a set of rectangular lids. There are three of them and they range in size from 9″x6″ to 9×9 and a whopping 9×13! It was the largest one that made me laugh. Obviously no one from GIR has ever seen the interior of my refrigerator! Sadly, even on the best of days there is no way I could fit a container (like a roasting pan) that was 9×13. The fridge has never recovered from co-mingling with the contents of our city refrigerator and it’s just a mess!
The other item that made me laugh was the little flipper (spatula). Called “flip,” the tag says it’s “nearly indestructible” — key word: indestructible. I don’t know how it happened, but Frank managed to cut a hunk out of one of the previous flippers. Certainly not GIR’s fault, and it does go to show that we do use all the products (and our knives are sharp)! The largest flipper is great for the grill and I just used the new little one to flip perfect grilled cheese sandwiches.
There are two new spoons, a smaller one and a regular-sized one with holes in it. What makes the spoons unique is that you can use them to scoop the contents out of a pan and scrape down the sides. The little one will be great for smaller pots, while I can’t wait to use the perforated one on my next batch of ricotta! If this seems like a lot of stuff that you may or may not have room for, my advice would be to start out small. Grab one of their great spatulas, or the spoon that doubles as a bowl scraper and a couple of the smaller round lids and see how much you use them. If you’re anything like me, their bright colors will be all over your kitchen before you know it!
Added bonus: The Container Store has started to carry the 4″ GIR lids. Perfect for covering mugs, or as I did using as a drain stopper to thaw some pork. Click here, and see the great deal for you!
The Saran Wrap discovery was pretty interesting — THX!!!