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The Pioneer Woman's favorite kitchen tool can really do it all

When in doubt, Ree Drummond reaches for this tool to make any cooking task easier.
Ree Drummond
AP
/ Source: TODAY

The Pioneer Woman, Ree Drummond, is an expert cook, but she wouldn't be able to whip up her wonderful recipes without her favorite kitchen tools.

The blogger and cookbook author told TODAY Food that she can’t live without one specific gadget, but she uses it in all the "wrong" ways.

"The tool I reach for the most is technically a fish spatula," Drummond said. "It’s angled, it has a very sharp edge. But I use it for pretty much anything because of how sharp and precise it is."

Victorinox Slotted Fish Turner, $17, Amazon

A fish spatula has gently curved, thinner, longer, more widely spaced tines than a standard spatula. Its unique design helps the spatula slip underneath and cradle a fragile fish fillet. But Drummond uses the device for far more than just fish.

"I can scoop up an egg or you know something that requires a little bit of gentleness, without worrying about tearing it up," Drummond told TODAY. "I love it because you can pick up meats and let the oils drain.

"I don’t use it for fish at all."

The Pioneer Woman even uses her friendly fish spatula to make her Rosemary Garlic Fried Potatoes. Rather than dropping potatoes into a pot of boiling oil, she lowers the cooked potatoes into the super-hot pot with the slotted spatula, to avoid splashing. And once they’re fully cooked, she fishes the taters back out with the special spatula, too.

Besides her number-one favorite tool, Drummond has a special place in her heart for another multi-purpose device.

"A flat whisk would be my second choice," the mother-of-four said. "That’s a whisk that you can press against the bottom of the pan and it flattens. So it’s great for deglazing, great for making gravies and things like that."

Deglazing is a cooking technique for removing and thinning browned food residue from a pan to flavor sauces, soups and gravies. Drummond makes her turkey gravy on a roasting pan and uses a flat whisk to expertly mix each ingredient: flour, fat, chicken broth, turkey drippings and black pepper.

OXO Good Grips Better Flat Wire Whisk, $8, Amazon

She needs the flat whisk to whip up her creamy pasta primavera sauce, her bacon and cheese strata and her vanilla cream puffs.

With her whisk and her spatula, Drummond can dish up a feast. But, like many busy parents, she’s "hooked" on her good old Instant Pot, too.

Pioneer Woman Vintage Floral Instant Pot 6-in-1 Multicooker, $79, Walmart

Last September, Drummond teamed up with Instant Pot to launch her own line of the all-in-one pot. When she’s not up to spending much time in the kitchen, the Pioneer Woman just throws a lot of love into her multi-use pressure cooker.

"You can use it as a rice cooker, bake in it, I mean you can make dessert and so much else," she said. "There's really not much I haven't been able to make in it. I'm definitely a believer!"