Kitchen shears are one of those household tools that a lot of people own, but may not pull out of their kitchen drawers very often. But I hope the tips I have to share with you today will change that!
From making breakfast to prepping for pizza night, there are plenty of great ways to put your kitchen shears to good use. Read below to learn some lesser-known uses for your kitchen shears, and find out why they just might be the most underrated kitchen tool of them all!
7 Practical Uses For Kitchen Shears
1. Cutting Strips Of Bacon
Trying to cut raw bacon can be a slippery nightmare! Uniform slices with a knife? Forget about it. Avoid disappointment by grabbing your shears to cut strips of bacon into smaller pieces or perfectly portioned bits.
2. Snipping Through Breads
If you don’t have a pizza cutter, don’t despair—you can use kitchen shears to cut anything you’d use a pizza cutter for, including cutting pizza or quesadillas into slices, or cutting flatbreads, focaccia, and other breads into wedges, squares, or any other shapes your heart desires.
Related: 14 Ways To Get More Use Out Of The Stuff In Your Kitchen
3. Slicing Herbs
Rosemary, cilantro, parsley, chives… whatever fresh herbs your recipe calls for, use your shears to remove the stems and cut them up in a jiffy. For larger leaves like basil and mint, try stacking a few leaves, rolling them up, then snipping the tubes into thin ribbons. In French cooking, this is known as “chiffonade” and makes an easy and beautiful garnish for any dish.
4. Chopping Canned Tomatoes
Need to chop up a can of whole tomatoes? Just insert the blades of your kitchen shears into the can and snip until you’ve achieved the size you want. (This also works great with canned pineapple rings, if you want a few bits to use on pizza or in a fruit salad.)
5. Miniaturizing Food For Small Mouths
If you have kiddos or grandchildren under the age of 5, then you know how important it is to give them appropriately-sized bites of food. Use your shears to cut everything down into small pieces that won’t pose a choking hazard.
6. Trimming Pie Dough
Kitchen shears are ideal for trimming pie dough, whether you’re cutting it into decorative shapes, slicing it into strips to create a lattice top, or trimming the edges off a baked crust. I suggest keeping your kitchen shears handy whenever you’re handling doughs, whether pie, phyllo, puff pastry, or any other.
7. Using Their Bonus Features
Many pairs of kitchen shears have extra bells and whistles that can come in handy. The most common is a bumpy section between the handles, which can be used to crack nuts or seafood shells. (Check out this pair of kitchen shears to see what I mean.)
If the area between the handles of your kitchen shears look like a few gentle waves instead of several small bumps, those small teeth are likely designed for stripping herbs rather than cracking things.
Other features to look for include a bottle opener along the side of the blades, blades you can unlock and separate for easier cleaning, or curved blades designed for trimming poultry. These helpful additions can make your kitchen shears even more useful, so take advantage of them!
What do you use your kitchen shears for?
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