Julia Child Swore By This Old-School Kitchen Tool

Julia Child was a pioneer of kitchen technology, hailing the food processor's skillset long before it became the household staple that it is today. She even had strong opinions on which knife material was superior, and her knowledge proved evident in her recipes, beloved still today. But there was one gadget that hasn't quite stood the test of time, but rather remains a kitchen relic — the buffalo iron.

The buffalo iron was a long metal rod that reached extreme heat and was submerged into an already-boiled pot of hot water. The method was as follows: Boil the water, insert your vegetables, and dunk the buffalo iron in to bring that water back to a boil. The iron was then removed, and the veggies blanched as normal. The point was to flash-cook vegetables in a way that retained their flavor and vibrant color as much as possible. It's worth noting that with this technique, the water boils so rapidly that it can splash out onto the stove and immediate surroundings, so keep a safe distance if you pick up one yourself.

If you're wondering about its name, it was actually a term coined by Child herself. The chef first saw this tool used by a French culinary teacher. Intrigued, she commissioned it from a friend who owned a ranch, whom Child affectionately called "Old Buffalo;" hence, the "Buffalo Iron" was born.

The Buffalo Iron was a bit of a wildcard as far as kitchen tools go, and it's not commercially made. Still, hopes of replicating Julia Child's iconic kitchen are not yet dashed, as the boiling rod was only the beginning. Rolling pins were a hot topic, and not all are created equal. Child's advice was to find a heavy pin made from good quality wood — not the meek plastic ones so widely available today. Moving on technologically, the Crock Pot was introduced to the commercial scene in the 1970s, and Child bought two, one from France and one locally from the U.S., to see what it could do.

The gist of Child's favorite tools was that they made everyday cooking a little easier and food a little tastier. As such, the omelet pan was important to her, and she loved a good non-stick like the rest of us to avoid sticky eggs that tore apart and caused a scrambled rescue mission. And who can forget the asbestos tile, a kitchen staple recommended by professionals like Child herself until the world caught on that there were perhaps safer materials to utilize. Her DIY pizza oven featuring bricks was equally speculative, even if the method behind the madness was genius.