Umami Tool Watch: Spice Toaster

The product that gets the most questions in our shop is the Spice Toaster. We have customers come up with one in hand asking, "What is this?" on a weekly, sometimes daily, basis. While we'd really love to tell them it's a miniature Jiffy Pop maker, we usually explain that these mesh-covered pans are a godsend for those who cook with freshly toasted spices and seeds.

If you've ever dry roasted sesame, fennel, or cumin seeds, you know toasting them gives them a deep, intense flavor. You also know those little guys will torpedo off a hot pan, making a mess and wasting precious seed. Well, you can say goodbye to seeds getting into the crevices of the stove top with this spice toaster. And it's really easy to use, too. In the words of Montell Jordan, this is how we do it:

1. Flip the screen up and place spices inside.

2. Close the screen.

3. Place over a gas or electric stove top.

4. Shake or move the spices over the heat until spices give off a toasty aroma.

5. Remove the spices and use.

Once you use a Spice Toaster you'll never go back to BST (Before Spice Toaster) days again. And you'll definitely want to give your new Spice Toaster a test drive with this Garlicky Gomadare recipe (you'll want to bathe in this stuff).