Contd. from the Most Essential Tools for Food Styling: Part 1, let's take a look at the remaining most essential tools to gear up for your next project.
9. Strainers
Strainers of assorted mesh sizes are used to dust powdered sugar over a dessert or onto a plate, creating a stunning dessert. Strainers also help you create an even textured, neat, tall pile when you have to place a heap of a spice powder in a small plate or bowl.
10. Spray Bottle
A spray bottle with a fine mist is used to make salads, fruit and vegetables glisten and look fresh and picture perfect before your shot. The spray adds a subtle sheen that catches the light and makes the food look very appetizing.
11. Vaseline / Oil / Glycerin
Vaseline petroleum jelly is applied to drink glasses so that they get a frosty, cold look. Vaseline will hold water droplets sprayed on it and it will look like water condensation. Oil is applied with a brush on food items to make them glisten adding shine and making them look moist and appetizing. Glycerin is applied to cut fruits and vegetables to ensure they don’t change color and dry out.
12. Knife / Paring Knife / Peeler / Palette knife
A good, sharp knife and a paring knife is of course, a must have to chop, slice and cut your vegetables, fruits and other food items. Peelers with plain and julienne blades are essential for peeling vegetables and fruits, and also for making decorative garnishes. A palette knife can be used to spread frosting on cake or spreads on sandwiches.
13. Citrus zester / Channel Knife / Melon Baller
These tools help you make decorative garnishes. A channel knife is used most often to make citrus peels and twirls which are used to decorate cocktails. A citrus zester makes it easy to get zest from lemons, oranges and grapefruit to decorate cakes and other desserts. A melon baller comes in a few different sizes and is used to scoop fruit into perfect spheres which look very attractive in a fruit salad.
14. Piping bags and Piping tips
Piping bags are used mainly to decorate cakes with decorative frosting along with piping tips which come in various different patterns. In Food Styling, we also use piping bags to fill up dip bowls with sauce, dressings – anything that needs to look neat. We can create a nice swirl for foods like hung curd, dips, shrikhand for an attractive look.
15. Syringes / Droppers
Syringes are used to remove excess liquids from precise spots in a finished dish, They can also be used to place very small amounts of liquids exactly where you want them or to inject sauces into a dessert like a molten lava cake which is dripping/oozing. Droppers are used to place small dots of sauce on a plate in a controlled manner.
So, go ahead and complete your food styling tool kit right away.