#Kitchen Tool School: The Indispensable Stainless Steel Locking Tongs

Behind many professional stoves, tongs are pooh-poohed as bad technique, a lazy and even disrespectful way of cooking. But the truth is that tongs are advantageous for just about anything you'd do in a home kitchen.

Turn to tongs for stir-frying noodles, dressing salads, flipping steaks without puncturing them, pulling hot dogs out of a beer bath, roasting vegetables over a flame, even coaxing out bread that's been stuck in a toaster. Note that all kitchen tongs are not created equal, though. If you're looking for a new pair, OXO is a great place to start, particularly with its Good Grips 9-inch tongs. which cost $12. They're solidly constructed, with non-slip grips, a pull-tab lock, scalloped edges, and even thumb rests, so you're comfortable holding onto them for long periods of time. The lock has a hole in it for hanging (or try storing them in a drawer this way for maximum space). The shorter 9-inch length allows for the most controlled movement, so they're a great starter pair, although you may want to invest in longer 12-inch or 16-inch tongs if you spend a lot of time, say, flipping food in front of a hot grill.

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