OK, deep breath: kitchen tools. We know this is a rabbit hole, but it’s a rabbit hole we’re VERY excited to go down with all of you. The tools, equipment, appliances, and kitchen gadgets we use say a lot (or at least something) about who we are as cooks. So today our question is simple: What are your favorites and why? Whether you can’t imagine life without your sous vide machine, or just want to be buried with your great-great grandmother’s wooden spoon, we want to talk about it. To join the conversation, just type a comment below.
P.S. 1. We want to say sorry to our West Coast members who told us that our last few 9 a.m. ET threads were WAY too early in the morning. We hear you (hence the later start today), and will continue to try to nail down the timing that works best for everyone.
2. Since today’s thread is open to everyone, we want to say welcome to all of you who are maybe new to these community conversations. We do them every Friday with our members, so if you like the vibe and want to be a part of them going forward, you can sign up for a membership.
Daniel’s gadget drawer (try not to be too jealous of how organized it is).
No gas where I live in Florida. I LOVE my induction range. But no one seems to know about induction. I asked the appliance sales person at Home Depot and she said only 2-3 % of electric sales are induction. Don’t hate me, but I have come to like it better than gas.
My heavy Chinese cleaver. Sharp enough to thinly slice almost anything, easily smash garlic and the mince it, and then turn in on its side to pound chicken a chicken breast evenly thin. I love it’s weight. But it is not for everyone. Purchased it 40 years ago in a Hong Kong street market.
I Love my ancient granny fork, with two long skinny tines for piercing potatoes, testing fish, roasted squash, grabbing toast, etc etc. Can't find another one just like it. Japanese I think. Slim profile, no curve, and always at hand on my magnetic knife holder. My immersion blender for soup and salad dressing in a trice...just keeps going despite its age. My Dad's iron skillet.
ceramic soup spoons. They quickly cool down whatever hot liquid you are trying to taste. I always imagine they are an ancient tool and I think about ingenuity through the ages.
a dough whisk, sharp knives (can one have too many?), veg. peeler, graters (medium-ish for cheese usually, but very large for butter when making pastry) and I have an older all metal grater that has different grater cylinder which I think is the best for Parmesan, and numerous silicon spatulas of different sizes, shapes and stiffness.
The only thing I will add to this exhaustive list is a Brod and Taylor folding proofer, especially for you bakers. Our house is cold, so this has become the most essential gadget for me. It also gets warm enough to make yogurt, and it also (supposedly) can get warm enough to double as a slow cooker.
My favourite kitchen tool(s)- not including the standard items like knives - are probably my little stainless steel sauce cups - ramekins - not 100 percent sure what they are called, but I use them for all kinds of different tasks. Measuring (my big ones are 2 oz), melting a bit of butter, mise for spices etc, molds for IP egg bites. My least favourite kitchen tool, on the other hand is one that does only one thing - kitchen real estate is limited.
My essentials, in no particular order: much loved/used cast iron skillet and dutch oven, Shun knives (chef, paring, serrated), honing rod, Kyocera nakiri knife and without doubt my well-worn wooden cooking spoon. My TOP picks over all the other cooking gear because I could take them with me anywhere, in and/or outdoors in order to prepare/cook meals for me and family.
I am not sure if leftover containers fit here but just in case...does it drive you crazy filling drawers with containers and then not being able to find matching tops? Amazingly few manufacturers make them with hinged attached lids but our set from Mr. Lid is fantastic as they next and the top is always there.
And we have found that the Yobbai (or similar Comtiss or Sacron) Pet Food Can lids are great for any can going in the refrigerator as they make a secure fit for three different size cans.
Cast iron skillets, fist and foremost. I use them a lot. Like a lot a lot. Japanese bamboo steamer baskets... those stacked trays. I have collected a nice pile of metal bowls over the years, those are essential. Tongs!! Kitchen string and cheesecloth. Bamboo skewers. A slow cooker. Trivets.
My danish dough whisk. My cast iron griddle and a good thin metal spatula (most recently found at ikea) thin pop up toaster tongs and also my toaster oven. Good short and sharp strait edge paring knives but strangely those cheap serrated “laser” knives are indispensable for cheese. If I use strait edge sharp paring knives I have injured myself as I always cut towards my thumb!
Two things. First, the immersion blender. I make a lot of soups and especially love pureed vegetable soups. Being able to just stick the blender in the soup pot makes it super-easy and is safer than transferring hot soup to a standard blender. Second, and this is fairly new to me, the OXO brand Herb Saver. It's a plastic container with a perforation insert. You place the herbs (or greens — I live in Chicago and have been fortunate to get some ramps, and this gadget keeps them perfectly too) in the insert, add water to the container so the stems stay hydrated, and it keeps the product farm-fresh for days. I am not going to hesitate buying lots of herbs during the market season knowing I won't have to use them immediately or risk wasting them.
My Polyscience Sous Vide Professional. Use it several times a week for almost everything (when it is practical and the right tool to use). I am a little old-fashioned and some things are just better cooked on top of the stove or in the oven but my sous vide is something I would never be without. Also my toaster oven. There are just the two of us seniors and it is so practical for preparing lunches and other small portions.
Not essential but gives me great pleasure is an egg slicer I inherited from my mother. Arms like tongs with one that cradles the egg vertically, the other brings a circle with wires down. Magic = Perfect *sixths*. Nothing I could ever do with a knife.
I recently bought 2 inexpensive plastic bench scrapers and I love them. They are perfect for scooping up chopped vegetables from the cutting board . Since the are plastic they have just enough flexibility to get every last bit without spilling a thing. It’s the best $10 I’ve spent in a long time !
My handmade wooden spoon and my chefs knife are perhaps the most important; I love them so much I have both immortalized in a tattoo on my right arm (yes, seriously).
After that, my Le Creuset dutch oven (it's affectionately known as the "big blue pot" in our house). And my instant pot - we're vegan and eat a lot of beans; being able to cook a bag of dried beans in an hour makes meals soooo much easier.
What is the name of the large rectangular knife-like tool that you are intended to use to scrape say vegetables off the cutting board instead of your knife. I recall it saves the blade of your knife and I believe it is French.
We got a GE Electric carving knife as a wedding gift. After 45 years it finally gave out and the replacement is not as good as it does not have a good gripping area and slips in my hand. We only use it a few times a year but it still makes slicing a turkey a lot easier.
We need a new bagel slicer or guillotine. What do you like?
One of our most used items is the Oxo Good Grips Jar Opener. There are several kinds but this really opens everything and works even better since we found out the rubber disc on top was to be put under a jar so it doesn't slip on our counter.
No one has mentioned the OXO jar opener. A miracle tool, it will open anything. But I guess you are all big, brawny jar-opening types and don’t need it.
For years I struggled with fresh herbs flying all over the kitchen when I tried to dice them. I finally discovered a wooden Boos block about 4" thick with the centered hollowed out in the shape of a bowl. Only took me several decades to discover what I imagine most people already knew. Not a day goes by that I don't use it.
Chopsticks! I use them to cook and eat. I have multiple of them. Wooden ones are most convenient. Can also be used to arrange presentation on your dish. Quick to wash by hand and doesn't take a lot of space in dishwasher. I can cook in various pan shapes and sizes but there is not a single day I don't touch a pair of chopsticks!
I have had to struggle for years with often nothing but plastic utensils, a hotplate, and a dream. Now that I have the right equipment, it's nice, but I am still able to make excellent food with those hacky methods.
The one thing I don't want to give up, ever, now that I have it, is my wooden spoon. From a long line of italian grandmas, our wooden spoons take the flavor of everything you cook in your life and put it in every dish, and they become your friend in the kitchen. Stir it, leave it in the pot, stir it again later, and when you come back you'll find that the wooden spoon you love using is making you put love into the food.-
I'm assuming not the basics, like sharp good knives or a quality cutting board and side towels,. apart from other basics like carbon steel and all clad pans and Enameled Dutch oven or pressure cooker, I would say fish spatula, tongs, mandoline, box grater and microplane { no need for a garlic press), citrus juicer,high heat spatula, food processor, blender, foodmill, salad spinner , digital scale, baking steel, rice maker, y peeler etc. It seem obvious that measuring cups, bowls, cake/bread/quiche/muffin pans, sheet pans and racks, whisks, strainers are almost required by every one who doesn't bake..I even have a unused sous vide machine that I got half off 2.5 years ago, just haven't seen a good enough reason to use it...just lazy though
I don’t use it every day but when I do need it I absolutely love my potato ricer. It produces perfectly textured mashed potatoes while at the same time providing great hand exercise. Then all I have to do is add butter à la Joël Robuchon and I’m in potato heaven.
French press, coffee grinder, kettle. Because without my morning dose every other tool and gadget is just a safety hazard. And an odd one I don’t use daily but is a new favorite, I don’t even know what it’s called- a plastic clip-on spout/strainer for my stockpot. I make a lot of soups and stews through winter and that cheap gadget makes straining a million times easier and less messy.
Thank you @Daniel Meyer for the later start time! I was THRILLED to see that I could contribute in real time, not after everyone on the east coast was finished and I'm getting out of bed and heading for my coffee. 6am is a tad early so THANK YOU! !
Prep bowls - have them in glass, metal, and plastic/rubber?; from pinch size upwards. Use them for premeasuring spices, getting ingredients prepped, setting out supplements each am/pm, and keeping half a lemon/lime fresh - among many other uses. Haven't always used them - discovered them when I started cooking Indian food.
My favorites: A 50-year old French garlic press, glass juicer - it's perfect because it's all in one piece and easy to clean, microplane, Wusthof knives, Peugeot salt and pepper mills and Lodge cast iron skillets.
At the top of my list is my dutch oven that we inherited from my wife's great grandmother. It rarely gets back into the cabinet. It has produced some amazing crusts on sourdough, braised pork for carnitas, not to mention stews. Tons of stews.
My stockpot. I can't make a meal anymore without a little stock to bring out bottom-end flavors in just about anything. A little chicken stock in green beans is the kind of vegetable I could eat all day long.
I can't do stir-fries for large groups or saute anything without a large, non-stick saute pan. Oh yeah, it's perfect for pastas too.
I need a blender, a tin loaf pan for sandwich bread, and a good roasting pan for large things like turkeys. I could go on but I think those are the most essential. I have way too many tools I am told but they all get used at one time or another!
Honestly, the Paprika app on my iPad (and phone). I’m not much of a creative cook (which is bizarre considering how artistic and creative I am otherwise), but I am a fantastic curator of recipes. The app:
• stores all of your recipes, whether found online or lovingly typed in
• can be searched by ingredient (sooooo helpful when I’ve received yet another batch of kohlrabi in my CSA box and I’m left scratching my head what to do with it)
• meals can be scheduled so you can do weekly/regular meal planning
• menus can be created and repeated (especially helpful for holidays like Thanksgiving, where your food traditions may not change much)
• items from recipes can be added to a grocery list
• can build a “pantry” so you know what spices you already have so you don’t buy another bottle of cumin or what have you
I’m not evangelical about much, but I’ve sung the praises of this app to many an unsuspecting listener.
My handheld mandoline that has 3 thickness settings and can slice or julienne. Putting salads and stir fry's together has never been quicker. Plus I'm using and buying more vegetables and fruit than ever, and never let anything molder in the back of the crisper.
My new love is a shredded blend of red cabbage, red onion, carrot and radishes, lightly salted with a splash of red wine vinegar to pile on sandwiches or wraps. Use a spread of neufchatel on a low carb wrap and press this shred into it with a bunch of fresh cracked pepper for a delicious base for a protein or leftover beans or just as is.
Here's an unusual tool I couldn't live without. My husband gifted me with a rubber mallet that he used to use in his shop. It's great for flattening chicken breasts, getting garlic cloves out of their skins, and all sorts of other jobs. Much better than the usual kitchen mallet. Also, the long, narrow three tined fork is a favorite. I inherited one from my mom; found a set of five on Ebay and now I always have one.
My Pampered Chef Garlic Press. I use it on the daily and I love it so much I would be DEVASTATED if I somehow lost it.
You don’t have to peel the garlic and it cleans like a dream! It is my absolute go to kitchen tool because I don’t understand when a recipe says one clove of garlic. The minimum for anything is 3 and then at that point you might as well put in 6.
I couldn't live without my microplane, my OXO salad spinner, and my thermopen, for cooking pork, lamb, or beef. I use citrus zest A LOT. I also use a vegetable peeler to get nice long ribbons of parmesan and/or romano cheese.
be considered essential i my kitchen, a tool has to do something that, without it, I couldn't do. For me, that too is an immersion blender. I make a lot of soups, and it allows me to get thget precise consistency I want, from absolute puree to chunky. It accomplishes this in the saucepan, with no need to transfer the soup to another container.
This is not to say that I don't like tools and gadgets. I am not allowed in Williams-Sonoma unless I am accompanied by a responsible adult. But a sharp knife can d anything a food processor can do,and a large bowl and spoon can replace a stand mixer. O course, I HAVE thos tools, but they are not truly essential.
My Kuhn Rikon potato peeler (a life changer - always sharp), microplane, cast iron fry pan, Zylex garlic press and my lemon squeezer (the long handle press between type)
My vintage Moulinex all-purpose kitchen gadget - it’s a microplane, it’s a grater, it’s a shredder, it’s a mandolin! 100% linen dish towels - superabsorbent. And my grandmother’s cast iron frying pan with a hollow handle that stays cool enough to grab hold of without a potholder even when the pan is blazing hot
Join the Conversation: What Kitchen Tools Can You Not Live Without?
No gas where I live in Florida. I LOVE my induction range. But no one seems to know about induction. I asked the appliance sales person at Home Depot and she said only 2-3 % of electric sales are induction. Don’t hate me, but I have come to like it better than gas.
My heavy Chinese cleaver. Sharp enough to thinly slice almost anything, easily smash garlic and the mince it, and then turn in on its side to pound chicken a chicken breast evenly thin. I love it’s weight. But it is not for everyone. Purchased it 40 years ago in a Hong Kong street market.
Sandra B
I Love my ancient granny fork, with two long skinny tines for piercing potatoes, testing fish, roasted squash, grabbing toast, etc etc. Can't find another one just like it. Japanese I think. Slim profile, no curve, and always at hand on my magnetic knife holder. My immersion blender for soup and salad dressing in a trice...just keeps going despite its age. My Dad's iron skillet.
My 3.5” paring knife- an extension of my hand- can’t live without
ceramic soup spoons. They quickly cool down whatever hot liquid you are trying to taste. I always imagine they are an ancient tool and I think about ingenuity through the ages.
a dough whisk, sharp knives (can one have too many?), veg. peeler, graters (medium-ish for cheese usually, but very large for butter when making pastry) and I have an older all metal grater that has different grater cylinder which I think is the best for Parmesan, and numerous silicon spatulas of different sizes, shapes and stiffness.
The only thing I will add to this exhaustive list is a Brod and Taylor folding proofer, especially for you bakers. Our house is cold, so this has become the most essential gadget for me. It also gets warm enough to make yogurt, and it also (supposedly) can get warm enough to double as a slow cooker.
My favourite kitchen tool(s)- not including the standard items like knives - are probably my little stainless steel sauce cups - ramekins - not 100 percent sure what they are called, but I use them for all kinds of different tasks. Measuring (my big ones are 2 oz), melting a bit of butter, mise for spices etc, molds for IP egg bites. My least favourite kitchen tool, on the other hand is one that does only one thing - kitchen real estate is limited.
My essentials, in no particular order: much loved/used cast iron skillet and dutch oven, Shun knives (chef, paring, serrated), honing rod, Kyocera nakiri knife and without doubt my well-worn wooden cooking spoon. My TOP picks over all the other cooking gear because I could take them with me anywhere, in and/or outdoors in order to prepare/cook meals for me and family.
I make a LOT of egg salad. I love egg salad. I use a pastry cutter to chop up the hard-boiled eggs and cannot imagine a better tool for doing so.
Immersion blender! (A little blitz upgrades every soup!)
My Le Crueset Pot!!! I use it all the time!
I have to day my micro plane zester, silicone spoon!scraper and my chef’s knife are at the top of my list.
I am not sure if leftover containers fit here but just in case...does it drive you crazy filling drawers with containers and then not being able to find matching tops? Amazingly few manufacturers make them with hinged attached lids but our set from Mr. Lid is fantastic as they next and the top is always there.
And we have found that the Yobbai (or similar Comtiss or Sacron) Pet Food Can lids are great for any can going in the refrigerator as they make a secure fit for three different size cans.
Cast iron skillets, fist and foremost. I use them a lot. Like a lot a lot. Japanese bamboo steamer baskets... those stacked trays. I have collected a nice pile of metal bowls over the years, those are essential. Tongs!! Kitchen string and cheesecloth. Bamboo skewers. A slow cooker. Trivets.
My danish dough whisk. My cast iron griddle and a good thin metal spatula (most recently found at ikea) thin pop up toaster tongs and also my toaster oven. Good short and sharp strait edge paring knives but strangely those cheap serrated “laser” knives are indispensable for cheese. If I use strait edge sharp paring knives I have injured myself as I always cut towards my thumb!
Two things. First, the immersion blender. I make a lot of soups and especially love pureed vegetable soups. Being able to just stick the blender in the soup pot makes it super-easy and is safer than transferring hot soup to a standard blender. Second, and this is fairly new to me, the OXO brand Herb Saver. It's a plastic container with a perforation insert. You place the herbs (or greens — I live in Chicago and have been fortunate to get some ramps, and this gadget keeps them perfectly too) in the insert, add water to the container so the stems stay hydrated, and it keeps the product farm-fresh for days. I am not going to hesitate buying lots of herbs during the market season knowing I won't have to use them immediately or risk wasting them.
My Polyscience Sous Vide Professional. Use it several times a week for almost everything (when it is practical and the right tool to use). I am a little old-fashioned and some things are just better cooked on top of the stove or in the oven but my sous vide is something I would never be without. Also my toaster oven. There are just the two of us seniors and it is so practical for preparing lunches and other small portions.
Not essential but gives me great pleasure is an egg slicer I inherited from my mother. Arms like tongs with one that cradles the egg vertically, the other brings a circle with wires down. Magic = Perfect *sixths*. Nothing I could ever do with a knife.
I recently bought 2 inexpensive plastic bench scrapers and I love them. They are perfect for scooping up chopped vegetables from the cutting board . Since the are plastic they have just enough flexibility to get every last bit without spilling a thing. It’s the best $10 I’ve spent in a long time !
My Viking knife and Kitchen Aid immersion blender--I use the latter every day to make a green elixir for myself and mother.m
My handmade wooden spoon and my chefs knife are perhaps the most important; I love them so much I have both immortalized in a tattoo on my right arm (yes, seriously).
After that, my Le Creuset dutch oven (it's affectionately known as the "big blue pot" in our house). And my instant pot - we're vegan and eat a lot of beans; being able to cook a bag of dried beans in an hour makes meals soooo much easier.
Sorry to be late to the party, but my Danish partner (metric) and I (imperial) really give our kitchen scale a workout.
What is the name of the large rectangular knife-like tool that you are intended to use to scrape say vegetables off the cutting board instead of your knife. I recall it saves the blade of your knife and I believe it is French.
We got a GE Electric carving knife as a wedding gift. After 45 years it finally gave out and the replacement is not as good as it does not have a good gripping area and slips in my hand. We only use it a few times a year but it still makes slicing a turkey a lot easier.
We need a new bagel slicer or guillotine. What do you like?
One of our most used items is the Oxo Good Grips Jar Opener. There are several kinds but this really opens everything and works even better since we found out the rubber disc on top was to be put under a jar so it doesn't slip on our counter.
No one has mentioned the OXO jar opener. A miracle tool, it will open anything. But I guess you are all big, brawny jar-opening types and don’t need it.
For years I struggled with fresh herbs flying all over the kitchen when I tried to dice them. I finally discovered a wooden Boos block about 4" thick with the centered hollowed out in the shape of a bowl. Only took me several decades to discover what I imagine most people already knew. Not a day goes by that I don't use it.
Chopsticks! I use them to cook and eat. I have multiple of them. Wooden ones are most convenient. Can also be used to arrange presentation on your dish. Quick to wash by hand and doesn't take a lot of space in dishwasher. I can cook in various pan shapes and sizes but there is not a single day I don't touch a pair of chopsticks!
I have had to struggle for years with often nothing but plastic utensils, a hotplate, and a dream. Now that I have the right equipment, it's nice, but I am still able to make excellent food with those hacky methods.
The one thing I don't want to give up, ever, now that I have it, is my wooden spoon. From a long line of italian grandmas, our wooden spoons take the flavor of everything you cook in your life and put it in every dish, and they become your friend in the kitchen. Stir it, leave it in the pot, stir it again later, and when you come back you'll find that the wooden spoon you love using is making you put love into the food.-
I'm assuming not the basics, like sharp good knives or a quality cutting board and side towels,. apart from other basics like carbon steel and all clad pans and Enameled Dutch oven or pressure cooker, I would say fish spatula, tongs, mandoline, box grater and microplane { no need for a garlic press), citrus juicer,high heat spatula, food processor, blender, foodmill, salad spinner , digital scale, baking steel, rice maker, y peeler etc. It seem obvious that measuring cups, bowls, cake/bread/quiche/muffin pans, sheet pans and racks, whisks, strainers are almost required by every one who doesn't bake..I even have a unused sous vide machine that I got half off 2.5 years ago, just haven't seen a good enough reason to use it...just lazy though
I don’t use it every day but when I do need it I absolutely love my potato ricer. It produces perfectly textured mashed potatoes while at the same time providing great hand exercise. Then all I have to do is add butter à la Joël Robuchon and I’m in potato heaven.
French press, coffee grinder, kettle. Because without my morning dose every other tool and gadget is just a safety hazard. And an odd one I don’t use daily but is a new favorite, I don’t even know what it’s called- a plastic clip-on spout/strainer for my stockpot. I make a lot of soups and stews through winter and that cheap gadget makes straining a million times easier and less messy.
Thank you @Daniel Meyer for the later start time! I was THRILLED to see that I could contribute in real time, not after everyone on the east coast was finished and I'm getting out of bed and heading for my coffee. 6am is a tad early so THANK YOU! !
Prep bowls - have them in glass, metal, and plastic/rubber?; from pinch size upwards. Use them for premeasuring spices, getting ingredients prepped, setting out supplements each am/pm, and keeping half a lemon/lime fresh - among many other uses. Haven't always used them - discovered them when I started cooking Indian food.
My favorites: A 50-year old French garlic press, glass juicer - it's perfect because it's all in one piece and easy to clean, microplane, Wusthof knives, Peugeot salt and pepper mills and Lodge cast iron skillets.
At the top of my list is my dutch oven that we inherited from my wife's great grandmother. It rarely gets back into the cabinet. It has produced some amazing crusts on sourdough, braised pork for carnitas, not to mention stews. Tons of stews.
My stockpot. I can't make a meal anymore without a little stock to bring out bottom-end flavors in just about anything. A little chicken stock in green beans is the kind of vegetable I could eat all day long.
I can't do stir-fries for large groups or saute anything without a large, non-stick saute pan. Oh yeah, it's perfect for pastas too.
I need a blender, a tin loaf pan for sandwich bread, and a good roasting pan for large things like turkeys. I could go on but I think those are the most essential. I have way too many tools I am told but they all get used at one time or another!
Honestly, the Paprika app on my iPad (and phone). I’m not much of a creative cook (which is bizarre considering how artistic and creative I am otherwise), but I am a fantastic curator of recipes. The app:
• stores all of your recipes, whether found online or lovingly typed in
• can be searched by ingredient (sooooo helpful when I’ve received yet another batch of kohlrabi in my CSA box and I’m left scratching my head what to do with it)
• meals can be scheduled so you can do weekly/regular meal planning
• menus can be created and repeated (especially helpful for holidays like Thanksgiving, where your food traditions may not change much)
• items from recipes can be added to a grocery list
• can build a “pantry” so you know what spices you already have so you don’t buy another bottle of cumin or what have you
I’m not evangelical about much, but I’ve sung the praises of this app to many an unsuspecting listener.
My handheld mandoline that has 3 thickness settings and can slice or julienne. Putting salads and stir fry's together has never been quicker. Plus I'm using and buying more vegetables and fruit than ever, and never let anything molder in the back of the crisper.
My new love is a shredded blend of red cabbage, red onion, carrot and radishes, lightly salted with a splash of red wine vinegar to pile on sandwiches or wraps. Use a spread of neufchatel on a low carb wrap and press this shred into it with a bunch of fresh cracked pepper for a delicious base for a protein or leftover beans or just as is.
Here's an unusual tool I couldn't live without. My husband gifted me with a rubber mallet that he used to use in his shop. It's great for flattening chicken breasts, getting garlic cloves out of their skins, and all sorts of other jobs. Much better than the usual kitchen mallet. Also, the long, narrow three tined fork is a favorite. I inherited one from my mom; found a set of five on Ebay and now I always have one.
My Pampered Chef Garlic Press. I use it on the daily and I love it so much I would be DEVASTATED if I somehow lost it.
You don’t have to peel the garlic and it cleans like a dream! It is my absolute go to kitchen tool because I don’t understand when a recipe says one clove of garlic. The minimum for anything is 3 and then at that point you might as well put in 6.
I couldn't live without my microplane, my OXO salad spinner, and my thermopen, for cooking pork, lamb, or beef. I use citrus zest A LOT. I also use a vegetable peeler to get nice long ribbons of parmesan and/or romano cheese.
Plastic canning funnel. It has proved invaluable for transferring wet and dry foods into various containers.
Tongs, silicone spatulas, flat whisk, microplane, citrus juicer (geared press), Shun chef knife, wood butcher block, stainless steel nesting prep bowls with silicon non-slip bottoms, Cuisinart food processor, electric hand mixer.
be considered essential i my kitchen, a tool has to do something that, without it, I couldn't do. For me, that too is an immersion blender. I make a lot of soups, and it allows me to get thget precise consistency I want, from absolute puree to chunky. It accomplishes this in the saucepan, with no need to transfer the soup to another container.
This is not to say that I don't like tools and gadgets. I am not allowed in Williams-Sonoma unless I am accompanied by a responsible adult. But a sharp knife can d anything a food processor can do,and a large bowl and spoon can replace a stand mixer. O course, I HAVE thos tools, but they are not truly essential.
Now about my collection of spatulas . . .
I'm using and loving the timer on my iPhone. Hey, Siri, set a timer for 11 minutes. Done.
My Kuhn Rikon potato peeler (a life changer - always sharp), microplane, cast iron fry pan, Zylex garlic press and my lemon squeezer (the long handle press between type)
Most used: a good spatula, like from Williams Sonoma; a long wooden spoon, and a good spreading knife (butter spreader).
My vintage Moulinex all-purpose kitchen gadget - it’s a microplane, it’s a grater, it’s a shredder, it’s a mandolin! 100% linen dish towels - superabsorbent. And my grandmother’s cast iron frying pan with a hollow handle that stays cool enough to grab hold of without a potholder even when the pan is blazing hot
Microplane graters. I have two and need a couple more. Grating parmigiano reggiano, zesting citrus, mincing garlic, mincing ginger, etc, etc.