Feeling comfortable in your kitchen produces amazing food. Having trustworthy and reliable gadgets makes a big difference in how your food turns out. These are the 10 Must-Have Kitchen Gadgets You Didn’t Know You Needed.
*this post contains affiliate links, read my disclosure here.*
When I first started my blog, the main thing I wanted to accomplish with my readers was to help them gain confidence to be able to execute the recipes on my blog. I also wanted to give readers all of the tips and tricks I’ve learned as a professional chef. One thing that I have felt that I needed to address was kitchen tools. Cooking amazing food doesn’t necessarily mean spending a ton of money on the best appliances and tools. But it does mean using some must-have kitchen gadgets to get cooking done efficiently and as stress-free as possible.
There is a huge market out there for kitchen tools. Some of which, I deem, totally unnecessary and complete money wasters. I’m talking to you, one-purpose kitchen tools. Of course, it makes your life a whole lot easier if you have a KitchenAid stand mixer or a food processor. I use those appliances almost daily. Properly equipping your kitchen with the right tools will not only save you money but valuable space in your kitchen as well!
MIU Silicone Mat
In culinary school, I loved using the silpats in the bakeshop to bake cookies and what not on. The silicone mat is nonstick and reusable, making it almost unnecessary to use parchment paper (I still can’t give it up completely). But a traditional Silpat, made in France, is almost $70 a mat! Yikes! However, a fantastic alternative product for a fraction of the price is MIU Silicone Mats. They do the same thing as Silpat. They’re nonstick, reusable and affordable! The same caution for Silpats should be exercised with MIU Silicone mats: ie, no cutting on them, only hand wash, and bake only up to 450 degrees. I love these things. This comes in a pack of 3 with one being slightly smaller!
Kuhn Rikon Vegetable Peeler
We all know that devil veggie peeler from back in the 80’s that was all metal, super uncomfortable, and would cut you without thinking twice. Yeah, my family had one and I had one in college. I hated this thing, for the reasons mentioned above. Plus the blade would spin around halfway through peeling and it was just a huge mess. Not anymore! The best peeler I’ve ever worked with is a Kuhn Rikon vegetable peeler. It’s sleek, comfortable, and the blade is fixated in place, so no random spinning around. For just a couple of bucks, this is the last peeler you’ll ever buy in your life!
Taylor Swivel Head Thermometer
Everyone should have a thermometer in their kitchen! It is a super handy tool. Especially if you’re just starting out with cooking. I still use mine all the time for stuffed meats and rolled bread. Undercooking an item can lead to disaster. What I love about this swivel head is that sometimes life can be a little crazy and maybe you’re juggling a lot at the same time, you can just swivel this thermometer head to the angle that your head is at and you’ll be able to read it! I love it and it comes with a sheath so you don’t stab yourself with the thermometer. Safety first, kids.
Spider Strainer
I can’t count how many times my spider strainer has saved my cooking! It really is an awesome little tool to have around. You can scoop items out of boiling water or hot oil without having to dump the liquid. Absolutely love this tool!
Microplane
I will totally admit that box graters have their place in the kitchen, I use mine pretty often. But for a quick zest or what have you, a Microplane zester is the way to go! I love that you can get this tool in different “ thicknesses” they have ones for citrus zest, chocolate, and even cheese. I love the citrus one because I use that the most but whatever gets the job done for you, a Microplane can do it. It’s also super compact, so you can store it away in an awesome utensil holder.
Mandoline
This little devil can be intimidating at first but this baby is a time saver in a kitchen. Why can’t I just use a knife??? One word my friend, consistency. With an adjustable blade, you can control the thickness of your cuts. It also comes with strip attachments so you can cut the different thickness of strips of food. I use this to make my own potato chips, zucchini noodles, shred beets and anything else you can think of. It does come with a guard, for the faint of heart (I totally use it when I do the strip attachments, no worries). I love this tool and recommend it to everyone!
Bamboo Salt Box
In most professional kitchens, there will always be some kinda of container that the cooks can store their salt in. It makes it super convenient for the salt to be right there where you need it. I especially love the lid so that no creepy stuff gets into my salt. It’s lightweight and pretty compact with a magnet to keep the lid in a closed position. One of the coolest gifts my hubby has ever given me!
Plastic Cutting Sheets
Ok, I know you’re looking at me right now and saying what?! Hear me out though! These are not for-real cutting surfaces, you can’t get all Gordon-Ramsay on these things and not have them slip around. I use these as a barrier between a meat and my cutting board. I want to keep as much weird and grimy stuff found in uncooked meat away from my cutting board. But sometimes I still need to trim or cut up meat. These plastic cutting sheets really help me out a ton to help keep my food safe to eat!
Melamine Mixing Bowls
Out of all the kitchen wedding gifts we received, when we got married, I probably got the most excited about my melamine mixing bowl set! They’re a hardened plastic which helps to insulate heat, perfect for bread making. And they came with lids! Hello. I love this set for the reasons mentioned above. They stack perfectly inside each other and the lids fit in a compact way.
Rubber Bowl Scraper
The last restaurant I worked at gave me a list of a few things I was expected to come to work with every day. One was this awesome tool. I used this rubber bowl scraper every day for nearly 2 years. It’s perfect for scraping things together and leaves very little on the cutting board. If you need to get minced herbs or garlic, for example, from your cutting board to your pan, this scraper will get it all together in a nice and neat manner. You can also use it to scrape out your mixing bowls; it leaves a bowl virtually clean!
Pizza Stone
So I know that this isn’t as ambiguous as the other items but baking on a pizza stone is really a game changer! I have mentioned it before in my pizza making post, it crisps up your pizza crust like no other. I also like to bake my bread directly on this stone, as well as my cookies. A pizza stone helps create an even bake for the items based on it, so you don’t have random cookies that are underdone and those that are overdone. I love cooking with my pizza stone and you need to have one!
As you can see, none of these must-have gadgets are pricey at all but they will make a huge difference in how your kitchen runs and how your foods cook. Let me know of any other gadgets that I’ve missed, that you can’t live without!
For other items that I live by in my kitchen, be sure to visit my Affiliate Store with this link.
Happy cooking!
Such an awesome list Marlee! I’m looking to restock my kitchen now we’ve moved!
I’m so glad you found this list useful! Thank you, Betty!