Good Cooking Tweezers?

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HumbleHomeCook

HumbleHomeCook

Embrace your knifesculinity!
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You all have any cooking style (not plating) tweezers you like? I want a a bare metal pair but bonus points for covered tips too as the wife could use those.

I guess I could always get a lab pair.
 
I have like six or seven pairs from various places and they're all basically the same. I have several pair of the JB Prince ones, but I got them on an order where shipping was free. Pretty much any pair of forceps from Bezos.com will do the job. I wouldn't pay more than about $10.

Also consider getting a pair of Korean-style BBQ tweezer tongs, which have a built in stand.
 
I vote for 10-12" surgical tweezers, surgical stuff for lower abdominal surgery...try medical surplus sites...the chinese copies are usually too soft and skew easily. Some versions like the surgical tweezers have teeth which may come in handy.
 
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stringer said:
A nice small pair of needle nose pliers is pretty handy to have around too for precision pin boning.
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My fave tool for that are needle pliers after Mathieu

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mengwong said:
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I would honestly love to get better with chopsticks. I use a single chopstick all the time for things. The trouble is, I shattered my arm as a kid and during the reconstruction (things were far less sophisticated then) the tendon to my pinky finger was sliced. So it barely moves and the finger next to it is sorta glued to it. What little my pinky does move, it takes the ring finger with it so my fine motor skills with anything involving those two fingers suck. It's mostly because my pinky gets in the way. I have to focus to straighten the fingers as at rest they are always about half curled.
 
I did not know, I am sorry to hear that! On second thought, chopsticks are usually held with the ring and pinky kind of curled and glued together anyway so maybe it could work? But on third thought I guess it’s easier to pick up the habit as a kid in Asia forced to use chopsticks all day everyday.

Not chopsticks, but adjacent:

 
mengwong said:
I did not know, I am sorry to hear that! On second thought, chopsticks are usually held with the ring and pinky kind of curled and glued together anyway so maybe it could work? But on third thought I guess it’s easier to pick up the habit as a kid in Asia forced to use chopsticks all day everyday.

Not chopsticks, but adjacent:

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I've easily watched that video a half dozen times over the last couple years. So cool!
 
HumbleHomeCook said:
I would honestly love to get better with chopsticks. I use a single chopstick all the time for things. The trouble is, I shattered my arm as a kid and during the reconstruction (things were far less sophisticated then) the tendon to my pinky finger was sliced. So it barely moves and the finger next to it is sorta glued to it. What little my pinky does move, it takes the ring finger with it so my fine motor skills with anything involving those two fingers suck. It's mostly because my pinky gets in the way. I have to focus to straighten the fingers as at rest they are always about half curled.
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If it's any consolation, I never had any tendon injuries and have fully functional digits, yet I still can't use chopsticks worth a damn.
Would be an interesting weight-loss diet for many westerners who share this inability: you can eat whatever you want, but only with chopsticks.
 
Hard to beat a nice pair of aquarium tweezers for the line and my plating Bain. They typically come with slightly rounded and grip marked tips and the good ones have light resistance in the grip and are built like tanks. They can come in at 150mm long all the way up to 300mm if you look hard enough

My go to for plating garnishes, ect are jewelers tweezers. Typically they have the lightest resistance so you can literally feel the grip on you fingertips. Sharp points with some kind of grip pattern are what I go for, you can also easily find them in titanium.
 
Every Chinese cook will tell you that chopsticks are the most useful utensils...of course same person can probably prep and cook three hundred different dishes with a chopsticks, a wok, a spatula and a cleaver.

I can offer insight on a few tweezers I have.
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Left to Right are: Gestusa 10" Stando, 12" generic stainless, Taribe BBQ Clever Tongs and the Rosle Fine Tongs
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My thoughts:
Gestura Stando ($30):
Save your money. They're too small, don't open wide enough and the swell, where one should grip, is too close to the tips. These feel more like plating tweezers. I want to like their products, but I don't. I also feel like they got the standing tongs idea from the yakiniku joint around the corner from Ando-san’s workshop in Niigata where they make their stuff…

Good Quality Generic 12 ($10)"
These are sturdy, well designed and work fine. Lab tweezers will do the job if they well made. The ribbed, swelled grip makes these very ergonomic. These made me appreciate tweezers but have migrated to my travel kit after getting the Rosle and Todai.

Todai Clever BBQ Tongs ($10):
@btbyrd mentioned Korean BBQ tongs. Japanese got yakiniku from Korea but the Japanese might have invented the "Clever" BBQ Tong. The ubiquitous brand in Japan is Todai and they're really fun to use. Very efficient design. They are a touch light and flimsy but very ergonomic and effective. Highly recommended!

Rosle Fing Tongs:
These are the Cadillac of tweezers. The wide grip portion is great when flipping larger proteins. Long grips also allow you to choke up if desired. The ability to hang them on the wall is nice, but makes the overall length a bit long. Overkill at home, like a 270mm gyuto!

Side note: None of these tweezer's tips touch the table when laying down, so the standing thing might be over rated.
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Awesome @parbaked. Thank you!

KKF never ceases to amaze. No matter how mundane I think a kitchen item might be, I still like to ask about it here as you all almost always have very good insight.
 
HumbleHomeCook said:
I would honestly love to get better with chopsticks. I use a single chopstick all the time for things. The trouble is, I shattered my arm as a kid and during the reconstruction (things were far less sophisticated then) the tendon to my pinky finger was sliced. So it barely moves and the finger next to it is sorta glued to it. What little my pinky does move, it takes the ring finger with it so my fine motor skills with anything involving those two fingers suck. It's mostly because my pinky gets in the way. I have to focus to straighten the fingers as at rest they are always about half curled.
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May sound weird. But try practicing with your other hand. You are probably already more used to doing the kind of motions you need to do from compensating from your other challenges.
 
@mengwong and others, if I wanted to really focus on learning to use chop sticks, but understanding I may be limited in success, is there a brand or type you'd recommend? Obviously I'd be looking at inexpensive but not all warped and splintery.

Length and thickness you prefer for cooking tasks?
 
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