buying guide: kitchen tools

Whether it's a simple pastry brush or a food processor with all the bells and whistles, the kitchen tools you choose should reflect your cooking style and culinary goals. If you're looking to take your meals to the next level, it's important to learn about all the kitchen tools you need as well as the many kitchen gadgets that come in handy.

• Tongs come in stainless steel, plastic, and bamboo. Some have silicone tips for gripping hot foods more securely.
• You’ll need a nylon flexible turner to use with nonstick cookware. This is preferable to a metal utensil, which could scratch the coating.
• Wooden spoons, which come in real wood, faux wood, or bamboo, stay cool to the touch even when you’re stirring boiling liquid. It’s good to have a set of wooden spoons so that you always have a clean one ready.
• A ladle is a must for serving sauces, stew, chili, and everything else that is part liquid, part solid. These deep spoon serving tools come in nylon, stainless steel, and even glass for the punch bowl at your fancy party.
• When you want to remove solid food from a liquid, you need a slotted spoon with cutouts. Since slotted spoons come in all types of materials, you can get a few different types to meet your cooking and serving needs.
• Silicone spatulas are a must in any baker’s arsenal, and they’re great for meal prep too. Heat-resistant silicone is a chef’s favorite for many culinary tasks.
• A whisk is a handheld whipping tool that works equally well for eggs, custards, and cake mixes; it will add a bit of air. Choose from plastic, stainless steel, or silicone whisks, and be sure to get at least two.
• Use a cutting board to chop your ingredients and avoid countertop damage. Choose a cutting board that is durable, self-healing, and looks nice in your kitchen.
• A fine mesh strainer is better than a colander for straining food with small pieces like rice and lentils. The fine mesh lets out the liquid while retaining the solids.
• Use a colander for rinsing larger-sized morsels like pasta and fresh veggies. If you’re tight on space, choose a collapsible colander that folds flat like a telescope.
• Everyone needs a reliable can opener in the kitchen. Get a manual opener that has fat, grippy handles, or an electric can opener for ultimate convenience.
• Measuring cups and spoons are essential to a working kitchen. They come in measuring cup sets, measuring spoons sets, or all together as a package.
• Add a box grater to your collection of kitchen tool essentials. Shredding cheese, grating hash browns, zesting lemon, and grating chocolate are just some of the tasks you can do with a box grater.

pro tip:

Invest in a mini grater for recipes that call for small amounts of zest or shredded ingredients. It is easier to clean and store.

• Every cook’s kitchen should have a pepper mill. Freshly ground peppercorns are more flavorful than the pepper in the shaker.
• A mandoline makes perfectly uniform slices in record time. The mandoline slicer comes with interchangeable blades for slicing both hard and soft veggies and a holding tool that protects your fingers.
• A digital kitchen scale is quite useful if you're dividing up dough for bagels, cookies, or muffins. It is also indispensable if you want to convert those metric recipes from "The Great British Baking Show."
• A meat thermometer is your partner in roasting beef, pork, and poultry to a turn. Manual or digital technology tells you when the food reaches the ideal degree of doneness.
• Make less expensive cuts of meat more delicious with a meat tenderizer This useful gadget features multiple prongs that press into the meat to break down tougher fibers for better texture and flavor.
• Kitchen shears are another essential yet often overlooked tool. From opening food packaging to cubing chicken, they're always useful.
• A garlic press helps you easily process fresh garlic. Your Italian dishes will taste more authentic with fresh-pressed garlic.
• Squeeze flavorful juices right from the fruit with your citrus press. It’s great for dressing baked fish fresh from the oven.
• When a recipe calls for fresh lemon juice, a lemon squeezer saves time and wear-and-tear on your hands.
• A cherry pitter is a handy kitchen gadget that streamlines processing time for your homemade cherry pies and cobblers.
• If you’re a fan of Italian food, a pizza cutter is a given. Choose one with a non-slip grip for safety’s sake.
• When you want to slice up a nice, ripe fruit without a mushy mess, an avocado slicer takes care of the job in one swipe. It produces picture-perfect slices for your toast or quesadillas.
• Ensure crispy, clean salad greens time after time with a salad spinner. It only takes a moment to give your greens a whirl so you can savor the salad spinner difference.
• Check out our Microplane products for all your grating, slicing, zesting, and shredding tasks. Our Microplane collection features contemporary profiles, ultimate utility, and high-quality materials.

pro tip:

Purchase a good-quality electric knife sharpener and use it regularly. Sharp knives make food prep more efficient and more fun.

Your choice of kitchen tools should reflect your cooking style. How often will you use a kitchen stand mixer, for example, or do you need a rolling pin? The materials that your tools are made of also matter as do cost and durability. Below are some common materials plus their pros and cons:

• Stainless steel tools, such as an offset spatula, are durable and relatively inexpensive. However, they will scratch non-stick cookware.
• Nylon is a coating for handles of items like corkscrews and the stirring surfaces of slotted spoons. It is inexpensive yet saves your non-sticks from damage. They may melt in very high temperatures.
• Wood/bamboo are strong, natural materials you can use for a variety of cooking tasks. Everyday wood or bamboo tools are moderately priced. They will scorch, though, if you leave them on hot surfaces.
• Silicone, a synthetic rubber polymer is a great material for the kitchen. It is non-stick, and it withstands temperature extremes, so it works as well as an ice tray as it does as a muffin pan. One downside is the flexibility, which makes baking pans seem flimsy.
• Ceramic is a durable, traditional material for lots of cooking items, from a spoon holder to a set of mixing bowls. Because this material is finished at high temperatures, it is ideal for baking and stovetop use. It does tend to be more expensive than other materials, however.

pro tip:

If you want to add some artful touches to your kitchenware, decorative ceramics in vibrant colors are eye-catching as well as useful.

Once you have stocked up on the gadgets you need to fully utilize your culinary talents, it’s time to brush up on how to choose the best kitchen tools for the job. The following gadgets help make your time in the kitchen more efficient and more fun.

• A box grater is your go-to kitchen tool for shredding cheese. If you have a lot of cheese to process at one go, a rotary cheese grater or your food processor will get the job done.
• When you’re baking biscuits or scones, use your pastry blender to thoroughly blend fat and flour for a light, fluffy result.
• Use a liquid measuring cup set when you are adding milk, water, or another liquid to a recipe. With a liquid measuring cup, you'll get precise amounts of wet ingredients.
• Get the best of the zest from your lemons with a lemon zester. It is like a handheld mini grater.
• An apple corer separates the flesh from the core of your apples with minimal fuss. If you like baking with apples, consider purchasing a gadget that peels, cores, and slices.
• An herb stripper is a great little gadget to have on hand. It removes the flavorful leaves from fresh herb sprigs, leaving the stems behind.

pro tip:

Dedicate a space in your cupboard just for stacked food storage containers with a rack to hold the lids. That way, you can grab the right-sized container and lid without digging.

Some ideas for how to organize your kitchen gadgets include:

Counter organizers

Drawer organizers

Utensil holders

Crock jars

Hanging racks

Spoon rests

pro tip:

Store dried goods like beans and rice in Ball mason jars. They add a nice vintage vibe to your kitchen plus airtight storage when you use mason jar lids.

use and care

Virtually all of the kitchen tools you buy should be dishwasher safe. If you have to hand-wash, be sure to use a mild detergent and a soft cloth to avoid marring the surfaces. Store your tools in appropriate racks, shelves, and organizers to keep them in like-new condition.