Dig Ins Dinosaur Cookie Cutters

Dinosaur Cookie Cutters by Fred.

I will admit that I have a rather ... humongous ... cookie cutter collection. But that doesn't stop me from wanting to add to my collection. These days, though, I'm not looking for another star or flower.

I was particularly smitten with the Dig Ins dinosaur-themed cookie cutters from a whimsical company called Fred.

What I was most amused by was that they aren't just dinosaur outlines, but they impress the cookies with dinosaur bone designs. So the cookies are like you just dug up some dinosaurs. Neat, right?

I have a few cutters that work like this. Some are a single piece, but these cutters are each two pieces, with the cutter separate from the part that makes the impressions, so it's a little more versatile. You could, for example, impress the bone pattern into dough that you're not cutting into cookies.

At the moment, I'm not sure why I'd do that, but I'm sure there could be a reason.

Dinosaur ice cream sandwiches.

Or ... impress the bone design into bread before making toast or a grilled cheese sandwich? That might be interesting, yes?

While it's not exactly cookie-baking weather here, I used the cutters for making cookies that I used for making ice cream sandwiches for a magazine article I was writing. I liked the way they came out, and I think kids would totally love them.

The one problem I had - and it's a me-problem and not a cookie cutter problem - was that I decided to cheat and buy a premade cookie icing in a tube. When I cut the tip, I made the hole a little too large, so I had a little trouble piping the finer lines on the cookies.

If I was making a lot of cookies using these cutters, rather than just a few as an example of one possible shape for the article, I would have used my own icing and I would have used my smallest piping tip, and everything would have been perfect.

Who's it for: People who like quirky cookie cutters. Or people with kids who love dinosaurs.

Pros: Easy to use, easy to clean.

Cons: The cookies are a bit on the large side. That means the portions are larger, but on the other hand, smaller cookies wouldn't be able to have as much bone detail.

Wishes: I totally love this set - I could see doing a second set with different dinosaurs.

Source: I received this from the manufacturer for the purpose of a review.

EatSmart Precision Elite Scale

I'm a big fan of weighing cooking ingredients, particularly for baking. It's more precise, and when you get used to it, it's easier, too. And you don't have to wash as many measuring cups.

I use mine a lot for weighing flour and sugar when baking, but it also comes in handy when I want to precisely divide a box of pasta in half.

It's also handy when I need 3 or 4 ounces of chocolate and the bars I have don't divide naturally into those amounts. Or when I have bits and pieces of different chocolate bars, or I'm using chips.

If you ever decide to do any canning, most recipes tell you how many pounds of different fruits or vegetables that you need. It's important to have the right amounts, or your food can go bad because the balance of food and acid and salt needs to be right. Three medium tomatoes is fine for a salad recipe, but not when you're planning on canning.

Kitchen scales are much more popular in Europe than in the US, but I know a lot of avid cooks who love their scales. Fortunately, they're not a huge investment if you want to try one out. Not like buying a food processor.

When I got a chance to test the EatSmart Precision Elite Scale, I figured I might as well give it a shot.

On first inspection, the scale seemed sturdy, which makes sense considering it will weigh up to 15 pounds. That's a lot of food. Probably more than I'd ever need, but there have been a few times when I've needed to weigh a bit more than 10 pounds. So it's possible I might some day want to check the weight of a roast.

The scale weighs in three different modes: metric, ounces, and pounds.

Yup. It treats ounces and pounds differently.

While ounces and pounds are the same measurement system, there's a difference in how this scale reports the weights. If you choose ounces and put something on the scale that weighs 8 ounces, it says 8 ounces. Once the weight is over 1 pound, it continues to to weigh in pounds plus ounces.

If you switch to pounds, it would tell you that your 8 ounces is .5 pounds, and when it goes over a pound, it continues to show the decimals.

I do a fine job knowing that 8 ounces is 1/2 pound, but if I needed 1/3 pound - like if I was dividing a recipe, it's handy to have a scale that would read .333 pounds. On the other hand, if I needed 3 ounces, I want a scale that would tell me it's 3 ounces and not some decimal that would require me to do math.

Most of the time, I need ounces or pounds and ounces, but I really like the fact that I can switch if I need to. I do have a few cookbooks (and I've seen recipes online) that use decimals rather than ounces.

I guess the only other possible way it could show the weight is if it showed fractions, but that's something I very seldom see unless it's something like 1/4 pound, but that's easy enough to know it's .25 pounds or 4 ounces. I doubt I'd ever see a recipe that would ask for something like 4/7 of a pound. And if I did, I'd find a different recipe.

I weighed a few things that I knew the weight of, and this scale is accurate. It reports pounds to 3 decimals (1.502 pounds, for example) and ounces to 2 decimals (3.45 ounces, for example) so it's more accurate than I normally need. But that's fine.

The scale has a tare feature - which means you can put a bowl on the scale and get rid of the bowl weight. You can add an ingredient and then zero out that weight of that ingredient to add the next. Most scales do this, but it's worth mentioning.

If you're looking for a scale, this one is a good choice. The price is reasonable and it has all the functions you need. I've only had it a short time, so I can't say how long it will last, but it seems solidly built.

Who's it for: Cooks who want to weigh ingredients.

Pros: Three different measuring modes. It's small, so it should be easy to store. Turns itself off automatically if you stop using it, so it saves battery life.

Cons: I'm not sure if this is a con or a pro, but there are only 2 buttons for all the functions. If you seldom use it, you might forget that one button is the on-off and the tare function.

Wishes: The shiny look is nice, but a lot of kitchen gadgets these days are opting for color. People who want their gadgets color coordinated might want a few choices.

Source: I received this from the manufacturer for the purpose of a review.

3D Printed Cookie Cutters

A few years ago, I was on a mission to find a pi cookie cutter.

Not a cutter to cut pie cookies, or cookie pies. Or even pie-shaped cookies. I wanted a cookie cutter in the shape of the Greek letter pi.

I wanted it for pi day (March 17) and I wanted it just because I'm goofy and geeky. I looked for hours online and couldn't find one for sale anywhere.

Eventually, I found an obscure website where a guy would make cookie cutters from copper by hand. No doubt quenched in the tears of virgin unicorns. They were that expensive.

I let the idea rest. It wasn't that important.

Recently, I saw a mention of a guy who was making 3D printed custom cookie cutters ... well, you know I had to contact him. In no time at all, I got a reply:

So, to get started, you can send me an image of something that you'd like to make. I make cookie cutters and cookie stamps (the latter having detail on the inside in addition to the cutting edge). Cutters are $8 and stamps are $10. As far as the designing goes, the less detail the better. I ask customers to keep in mind that when baking, some of the detail will be lost.

Turnaround time is generally 1-2 weeks. It is possible that I can get them done sooner but, since I'm also Assistant Manager, it's unlikely. The 1-2 weeks is also a cushion in case I experience some error with the printer (the hardware and software can both throw me curveballs every once in a while).

Well, that's reasonable.

I emailed him a pretty version of the letter Pi, and he asked me if I wanted red, green, or orange cookie cutter, and what size I wanted. In no time at all I had a brand new cookie cutter. Easy peasy.

I haven't actually tested the cookie cutter yet, but ... seriously ... it's a cookie cutter. It's not like there are moving parts or anything. The cutting edge is plenty sharp to get through cookie dough, and the shape is exactly what I wanted.

Who's it for: People who want a cookie cutter shape that might not be commercially available. Like for company or school logos.

Pros: You get exactly what you want.

Cons: You need to have a drawing or a shape they can follow, so you can't just ask for a three-horned dinosaur with a spiked tail and long eyelashes. Not that anyone would ask for that, but you know what I mean - they won't design your logo for you.

Wishes: I wouldn't mind if the cutting depth was just a little bit deeper. This is fine for cookies, but sometimes I use cookie cutters for other purposes.

Source: I received this from the manufacturer for the purpose of a review.