This is a new series we’re going to visit from time to time – you know how when you went vegan, you had to learn some new kitchen techniques?  What about the old stuff you knew from your animal-product days, and specifically, the equipment?

Don’t throw it all out yet, because it turns out there are vegan-friendly uses for most of it.  Here’s what to do with your (formerly) cheese grater:

By the way, Amazon tells me that I’m using a Progressive International Folding Grater and they’ve got it for 11 bucks or so [affiliate link]. It folds flat for storage but stands like a triangle when you use it – way better than the box-style grater I used to use that would rip my knuckles apart when I cleaned it.

I’ve got other segments planned, but feel free to add spoilers in the comments: what kitchen gadget have you managed to repurpose from a previous animal-product use, and how?

Here’s a pop quiz for you, as inspired by The Happy Herbivore: what one kitchen gadget, tool, accessory or appliance would you hate to do without? And more importantly, why? Here’s mine:

Let me know yours in the comments – I want to read this in a few days and have at least one “oooh, I wish I thought of that” and maybe a “wow, that’s what that’s for? I have to try that!” and I hope the same thing happens to you.

Teflex sheets are those things we talked about in the “how to make kale chips” episode that prevent sauces and crumbs from falling through the trays of your dehydrator. They are easy to clean and a pain to dry. At least they were, until I had an attack of the obvious:

As I said in the video, I don’t think they sell the dehydrator I have any more, but most of my friends who have them use the Excalibur brand – there’s a 9 tray machine on Amazon
for $219 right now [affiliate link], and don’t think 9 is too big – the counter footprint is basically the same as a smaller one, and trust me on this, if you get into dehydrating you’ll wish you had more than 4 trays.  If you’re in Canada, I haven’t purchased anything from the folks at Green Health but they seem nice and offer free shipping (we make no money off of sales from the GH link, just promoting a Canadian business, is all.)

If you don’t luck out at thrift stores, eBay, or Craigslist, getting started in juicing can be a serious investment.  One easy practice to start with can be adding fresh lemon and water to your morning routine.

Method 1: your hands

The cheapest and messiest way to do this is to cut a lemon in half and squeeze it over a glass with your bare hands while making Hulk sounds.  The Hulk sounds are not optional.

Pros: Cheap, hands readily available, get to sound like the Hulk.
Cons: Messy, doesn’t get as much juice as other methods.

Method 2: citrus reamer

Next up is the simple citrus reamer, which is basically a roundish grindy thing on a stick and looks like this:

I’ll confess, I’ve never used one of these (I skipped right to method 3,) but it seems just about as messy as the bare hands method, and I don’t think you get to make Hulk sounds.

Pros: You can feel superior for using simple tools.
Cons: Still messy, no Hulk sounds.

Method 3:  citrus juicer

There are a lot of variants to this one, but here’s what I grew up with:

You can get handheld squeezer versions, motorized versions, and even attachments for your food processor, but I always liked the manual style as shown.  They can be a little hard to find if you don’t want the motorized type (I think those are overpriced for what they do and take up too much space) so Amazon’s a good friend here.  Here’s a link to a bunch of them because I had a search open while writing this (and yes, it’s an affiliate link so if you buy something through it we get a kickback.)

Pros: Simple to use, efficient.
Cons: Does not look like R2D2.

Method 4: The Juice Press

This brings us to where we’re at now in our home, with a full-on juice press:

Come on, am I the only one who sees the R2D2 resemblance? The one we use at home is a vintage Juice King model from the ’50s or so (I think,) which is a little battered but works great. I think of it as R2 during the Battle of Yavin, and the one pictured above is the polished version for the medal ceremony at the end, but I’m a bit of a geek.

Like I said, ours is really really old and it still works great.  Sure, you can use the same massive juicer that you use for your apple carrot juice etc., but the cleanup time is way higher – we basically just run the removable cup under the sink when we’re done.  Sorry to be all commercial and stuff, but the one pictured is only $5o at the time of this post on Amazon, and it’s a darned pretty way to get started juicing.

Pros: Easy to use, fast cleanup, looks like R2D2.
Cons: Takes up counter space.

No matter what method you end up using, fresh lemon juice and water is an incredibly healthy addition to your routine.  Your tastes will vary, but here we typically mix 1 litre (or quart) of water per lemon in a pitcher, or if I’m in a hurry I’ll have half a lemon in a pint glass of water.

I’ve heard recommendations to add cayenne pepper to the mix, but haven’t gotten into that yet.  Limes also juice well with these techniques, though they’re smaller so you may need more of them.