The Only Missing Ingredient In Your Kitchen Is the New Merillat Kitchen Helper App

ANN ARBOR, Mich., Nov. 9, 2010 /PRNewswire/ -- Out of milk and covered in flour? Everyone knows how frustrating it is to be mid-recipe and realize you are missing a key ingredient. Luckily, Merillat® continues to offer consumers innovative solutions to make life in the kitchen easier with the launch of the new Merillat Kitchen Helper App, now available on iTunes®.

"From a chef's perspective, and from a home cook's perspective, a functional space coupled with smart and innovative solutions are the secrets to a great kitchen experience," says renowned chef, Curtis Stone. "The new Merillat Kitchen Helper App is not only clever, but practical, and makes the whole cooking experience much more relaxed – and more fun."

How does the Kitchen Helper App work?

Designed to make cooking easier, the Merillat Kitchen Helper App allows consumers to find ingredient substitutions for those commonly used items, without ever having to leave the kitchen.  The Kitchen Helper App includes:

• A friendly Search by Category interface allows consumers to find substitutions
• A built-in quantity adjuster makes it easier to scale recipes to serve any crowd size
• Commonly used items can be saved as favorites for future reference

What's the missing ingredient in your kitchen?

In a recent study conducted by Merillat, 1000 consumers were asked what ingredient they are most likely to run out of when cooking in the kitchen.  The top five answers included:

• Milk
  • Substitute with dry milk and water, evaporated milk and water or fruit juice and potato water.
• Butter
  • Substitute with shortening, peanut oil, vegetable oil, sesame oil, lard and salt, hydrogenated fat and salt or margarine.
• Olive Oil
  • Substitute with shortening, melted.
• Eggs
  • Substitute with corn starch*, potato starch*, tofu* or dry egg powder sifted.
• Salt
  • Substitute with powdered kelp or sesame salt.

In addition to the top five ingredients listed above, consumers also provided some other interesting items that might be worth stocking up on.

• Yogurt
  • Substitute with buttermilk, cottage cheese, sour milk or sour cream.
• Garlic
  • Substitute with garlic powder or garlic chives.
• Onions
  • Substitute with instant minced onion, shallots or green onions.
• Peanut Butter
  • Substitute with soy nut butter*, almond butter*, hemp seed butter* or sunflower seed butter*.
• Worchester Sauce
  • Substitute with bottled steak sauce.

"Merillat has always provided homeowners with cabinetry that is both beautiful and functional.  It's our goal to help make cooking, prepping and organizing easier," said Theresa Vitta, Vice President of the Merillat brand. "This is why we created the new Kitchen Helper App; it's just one example of how Merillat continues to provide innovative solutions to help make the kitchen the favorite room in the house."

For more information on the new Merillat Kitchen Helper App, visit merillat.com.

*Ingredient substitutions coming soon

About Merillat. Based in Ann Arbor, Michigan, and part of Masco Cabinetry, the Merillat® brand has been providing quality cabinetry since 1946. With manufacturing plants located throughout the United States, Merillat has grown to become one of the nation's largest cabinet manufacturers and the number one builder preferred cabinetry brand. Merillat offers the best selection of stylish, quality products at a variety of price levels, and all Merillat products carry the seal of the Kitchen Cabinet Manufacturer Association (KCMA). Merillat is leading the industry in consumer research to better understand what new home shoppers are looking for when purchasing a home. Merillat is proud to be a Diamond Sponsor of the National Association of Home Builders, Professional Women in Building, a member of the NAHB National Council of the Housing Industry, Color Marketing Institute and the National Kitchen and Bath Association. A leader in environmental stewardship, Masco Cabinetry has been certified ISO 14001 and granted an Environmental Stewardship Program certificate by the KCMA. www.merillat.com

SOURCE Merillat