One of the most important pieces of kitchen equipment to have on hand during the summer - excluding a working refrigerator/freezer - is probablyt an ice cream scoop. That may be a big of an exaggeration, but when the weather is really hot, ice cream is a fantastic way to cool down quickly. A few months ago, Cook’s Illustrated ran a review of ice cream scoops to see which did the best job of delivering nice-looking scoops with the minimum of fuss.

They tested seven different brands for ease of use, comfort and appearance of the resulting ice cream scoop. They actually had to eliminate a lot of models based on the last category, either because the shape of the scoop was off or because the ice cream stuck so badly that there was little chance of getting a round scoop. Three brands emerged with high marks: the Rösle Ice Cream Scoop was the top finisher, easy to use and with camera-ready scoops, followed by the Zeroll Original Ice Cream Scoop (which I have and have always had great results with) and the Fantes Stainless Portion Scoop #16 (also known as a 1/4 cup scoop). The OXO i-Series Ice Cream Scoop and the KitchenAid Ice Cream Scoop were recommended with reservations, as the OXO made oblong scoops instead of round and the KitchenAid was very bulky. Not recommended were the Van Vacter Ice Cream Knife and the Tovolo Standz Ice Cream Scoop.

Although not inluded in the CI review, I still really like the ice cream scoop & stack from Cuisipro, which creates cylindrical “scoops” that are easy to pile into a cone. The shape of the ice cream has a little bit of a nostalgic feel for me, and it works qell after being dipped in hot water to ensure that the plunger will easily be able to push out the ice cream from the scoop.

Grilling is a great way to feed a crowd. It’s done outdoors, so it’s easy to be social while you work, and you can fit a lot more food onto a barbecue than you can fit into a frying pan on the stove. The hardest part about grilling is getting the timing down. This isn’t a big deal for chicken, which really needs to be well-done no matter what, or for long-cooking items like ribs, but it can be a big deal for burgers when people want their meat cooked to different levels of “doneness.” Hand-shaped burgers are different sizes, different thicknesses, and need vastly different cooking times. It’s frustrating for the griller and the diner when the burgers are under or over cooked.

The only way to minimize the problem is to standardize the burger patty sizes so that you will know exactly how long they need to cook. There are lots of cookie cutter-like gadgets that do this, but the Kitchenart Adjust-A-Burger lets you control the size and weight of your burger a little more easily. It works just like the Adjust-A-Cup measuring cups, where you press your meat into the cup after setting it at the size you want, then push up on the plunger to eject the burger. The meat shouldn’t be packed in too tightly, as that can have a negative impact on the texture of the burger, but it’s pretty easy to avoid this issue with this gadget, since you really don’t have to handle the meat all that much. The Adjust-a-Burger makes 1/4, 1/3 and 1/2-lb burgers. There is a mini version that makes 1, 2 and 3-oz sliders, as well.

Is bigger better when cookies are concerned? As long as the cookie is a good one, it doesn’t really matter how big it is. That being said, there is nothing better - and few things more indulgent - than a giant chocolate chip cookie fresh out of the oven. Just imagine the drisp edges, chewy center and lots of oozing chocolate melting into your mouth as you devour the cookie bite by bite. Hungry yet? These are the thoughts that ran through my head when I saw this I You Jumbo Cookie Cutter Set. The trio of cookie cutters makes for some gigantic cookies, as well as providing a more reliable shape than trying to form letters and heart-shapes by hand with cookie dough.

The cookie cutters can also be used to cut shapes out of trays of brownies or blondies, pizza and other flatbreads, and even out of sheet cakes (although you may get some icing on your fingers if you frost the cake before cutting it). It goes without saying that the message made by the cookies is sweet, and not just because of the chocolate and sugar content of the cookies. Any treats made with these cutters would be a cute addition to a date night, birthday or anniversary celebration, as well as to any “just because” occasion.

If you’re baking a cake or bread, and you know that you’re going to need to remove it from the pan after baking, it’s a good idea to try and make the task as easy as possible. You can grease the pan well, which is effective, but it is best to line the pan with parchment paper that won’t stick to either the pan or the cake. To line a pan with parchment paper, you need to tear a sheet off of your roll that is larger than the base of your pan, then cut it down to fit. There is a technique to doing this that is not difficult, but it does result in a lot of wasted parchment paper and adds a few minutes of prep work. I don’t mind doing it, especially when I only have one or two cakes to do. But if you’re baking a lot of cakes or are otherwise short on time, you can buy Pre-Cut Parchment Paper Rounds in a variety of different sizes. They come out of the bag and ready to fit 8-in, 9-in and other size pans.

They’re inexpensive and cut down on wasted parchment. The only downside is that you can’t easily cut these into different pan sizes, so you’ll either have to have some parchment sheets on hand or a roll of parchment tucked away somewhere if you think that you’ll need to line any square or rectangular pans in the near future.

I was out shopping the other day when I came across Nordicware’s new Bug Pancake Pan. The pan was so cute, I almost couldn’t resist taking one home with me. The havy duty pan is nonstick and has silver dollar sized depressions for pancakes in each of seven designs: the dragonfly, snail, butterfly, ladybug, spider, bee, worm and beetle. The bugs are adorable and much closer to the big-eyed, plump Disney cartoon bugs than real ones. All you do is pour your pancake batter into the depressions, let the pancake set up, then flip them over to the other side to imprint them there, too. The design will come out much clearer on the first side of the pancake, but the nonstick pan gives a good release and it is easy to turn them over without any problems.

This pan would be great for making breakfast for kids. The cuteness of the bugs will appeal to some and the fact that they’re, well, bugs at all, will be great for other kids that aren’t into “cute” as much. Nordicware also makes a zoo animal pancake pan if you’re looking for another option.

One of the first places I saw the Adjust-A-Cup measuring cup was Alton Brown’s TV show, Good Eats. It caught my attention - and the attention of many other viewers because it was such a flexible tool. It can be used for dry ingredients, liquids and, most importantly, sticky ingredients that might otherwise be difficult to get out of a measuring cup, like peanut butter and honey, because the plunger design simply pushes everything out of the cup with no fuss. This Mini Adjust-A-Cup has the same design as its bigger brother, but is designed to work for smaller quantities. It measures from 1 teaspoon up to 6 teaspoons (or 2 tablespoons) and has measurements given for both wet and dry ingredients to ensure that you get the exact amount of whatever you’re measuring into your recipe. It gives measurements in teaspoons, tablespoons, milliliters and ounces.

I find these smaller measuring cups are handy when it comes to measuring out small amounts of oil, honey and other ingredients, things that I might otherwise be tempted to “eyeball” simply out of convenience.