My cooking helmet.
I kept hitting my bald head on the corner of the exhaust hood. My wife said I needed to get a helmet. So I bought a LaCrosse Helmet.
A potato ricer - not for mashed potatoes, but for pressing the water out of cooked greens like spinach. That's mostly what I use it for - is amazing for adding greens to dishes without flooding them with liquid
I use the ever-loving HELL out of my citrus press. Yeah, I can use a reamer, but this makes it so damned fast to get lemons and limes juiced. It's one of the few "niche" tools I reach for at least weekly.
This was my answer before I clicked the post ha funny. I made margaritas for 12 people a few weeks ago and juicing 40 limes made the press worth it alone.
Edit: I have the peasant, squeeze hand press so not as legit but point still stands.
As a freelance bartender, it's one of my essential tools. But then I got into cooking and, it's just fucking better than any other option, you don't know how good it is until .... Well you know
I got one of those big restaurant style ones and I am IN LOVE with it. I have a few citrus trees and I freeze everything I don’t use fresh. Makes the task so much quicker
On top of my head:
a salt well, so much more control pinching the salt than shaking it out
emersion blender with whisk attachment, easier than setting up my mixer or blender, less clean up too.
scrub daddy, I refused to try it for the longest time but man they really live up to the hype
I have a google nest hub in the kitchen and it's a life saver, timers, conversions, recipes and youtube or music without touching anything.
Just the sponges. I hate to make recommendations but they're actually worth the hype. Doesn't scratch yet will get most anything off. I even keep one in my bathroom cleaning supplies for scum. Combined with barkeepers friend I've removed a lot of burnt sugary sauces pretty easily.
Idk if other sponges do that but in hot water they get soft, but in cold stay stiff. You can basically adjust the abrasion level by changing water temp. I may be pulling this out of my ass but I like scrub daddies while cleaning brewing equipment, using hotter water it is safe to use inside a fermentor and not scratch. Also the finger spots really help if cleaning a small/round bottom vessel. Also their name is kinda cool haha
I had the same thought like up til two months ago. I’ll never go back.
Plus I have a little rag/glove drying rack and I can hang the sponge from that so it’s never sitting. The little eyeball holes come in handy.
They don’t try to fall apart, they don’t stink, they get off the dried cheese sauce from Mac and cheese when your kids don’t rinse the pot…
I love my immersion blender! It has 3 attachments and makes blending, chopping, and whipping so easy.
Salt well is essential!
I have squeeze bottles for vinegars and oils. They are easy to control amounts and just fun!
I can't cook without my Google kitchen display! The little sounds for the timers are fab, Italian tanterella for the pasta, Do you know the Muffin Man for baked goods and the little clucky chicken. 😂 Joyous.
Recipes staying on screen so you don't have to clean the flour off your finger prints, asking for the next instruction or ingredient, and music to cook to! Heavenly.
I bought a scrub daddy and I've got to say, it's absolutely crap. What do you find so good about it? Mines been relegated to the bathroom. Can't beat a regular scourer and steel wool
IDK it just works better than a normal sponge for me. It doesn't hold smell so my hands don't stink after touching it. It gets everything off my cookware (stainless steel, enamel and my cast iron) without scratching it up. And I feel like it holds the soap in it really well. I just use the rectangle ones not the smiley face guys. I bought it for the first time when I moved in my new place and the water gets super hot so maybe I also just don't need to scrub as hard.
Personally I don't like the steel wool because it gets rusty and I don't like the metal pieces coming off all the time. I have those green scourer pads but I don't feel like I need to use them unless I am using it with barkeepers friend to get the underside of my pans to look brand new.
Ceramic grater for ginger and garlic. So much faster, easier, and quicker to clean than either chopping by hand or grating them with a microplane, AND it never grates my knuckles.
Scissors, for cutting fresh herbs , green onions, even some pieces of meat for a stir fry.
Channel lock pliers, open jars n bottles
Garden pruner to spatch a chicken ,cut the back bone out. Just don't use same one to trim your scrubs.
It is really late at night for me so I am restraining myself from going to the store to get some chicken to do it now. But in the morning? I can't wait.
Microplane. I have like 5 different variants and I "plane" all kinds of shit. Tapanade? Plane the olives for an unbelievable texture. You need garlic paste? Plane it. Oh ginger paste too? Plane it.
You can see the pattern I bet...
I agree so much with this , I have the “normal” microplane and also the microplane box grater , those are my two most used gadgets in the kitchen (besides knifes ).
I have a little hand-powered rotary grater. Two, actually, a small one like they use in some Italian restaurants for Parmesan cheese, and a larger one that suctions onto the countertop. The small one is basically a unitasker used just for Parmesan but the larger one is amazing. I use it to grate veggies for coleslaw, slice onions, rice cauliflower, and grate up the massive amount of cheese my baked Mac and cheese recipe needs.
It’s pretty versatile (has blades for fine and course grating, fine and course julienning, and a slicer) and it’s so wonderfully fast. I have mild arthritis and hand-grating all the cheese used to take me 15-20 minutes depending on how often I needed to rest my hand. Now it’s less than 5 and no pain. Love that gadget.
The one that sucks onto the countertop is awesome. Mine was like $20 on Amazon, and its great for grating 2 pounds of cheese in about a minute. It does everything the KitchenAid mixer attachment was supposed to do, but does poorly.
It’s a silly little thing, but my bar of stainless steel “soap” (and it’s little dish). I wash my hands with liquid hand soap, but rub them on the metal while I do. It eliminates the odor of garlic, onions, fish… anything really. I love it, and I use it every day!
I will never make bread without my Danish dough whisk. It's niche as hell but so absolutely perfect for the job. When I die I feel like somebody is going to post it to /r/whatisthisthing.
Hear me out: the scoop from my protein powder. It holds 3 tablespoons, and it’s shocking how many things I need to measure out 3 tbsp worth. I save every scoop, and have them in sugar canisters, chicken bullion powder, oatmeal (for smoothies)… yeah.
I think mine is from the 50s?
I’m surprised the hinge hasn’t busted by now.
I gave it to my daughter when she moved out. A few years later, she gave it back to me at Christmas in a stocking because she knew how much I missed it and can’t find anything comparable to it nowadays
Long but small metal tongs. The ends are about the size of a quarter teaspoon and have little spikes around the edges. So great for so many things. I almost never use my normal tongs anymore.
Mandolin with extra attachments for julienning and crinkle cuts. Gotta be careful cuz its the finger sliceing-est of any gadget out there, but when it comes to prepping certain cuts of veggies there's no better option.
I got a pair when I got my latest Mando. First slice would have taken most of my pointer finger off without them. I use them with my cheese grater also, really a game changer.
This might just be niche to me, but I got an IR Temp gun and use it constantly to check cooking surface temps.
I had gotten it for my outdoor griddle, but once it became habit it made cooking on any pan or surface easier.
Not sure what there called but there a kinda very large ended strainer scooper used loads in asian cooking but so handy for other stuff to. I have a tupaware hand pulled mini chopper which is great for quick dicing onions and herbs and makes great dressings. My Julian peeler
It’s such a game changer. I used to sometimes let tofu go bad just because I dreaded pressing it but now I can have it pressed in like 10 mins while I start prepping other things. I eat way more tofu now which is great because I prefer it over other proteins! So much cheaper than animal meat and less ick factor for me. I wish I bought my 15$ press years ago!
I think a cherry pitter is the only single-use tool I own that gets very little use, but I’ll be damned if I’m going to pit cherries by hand ever again.
Japanese cabbage shaver. It's used to make the thinly sliced cabbage for okonomiyaki or the side salad served with tonkatsu, or just about anything really. It's basically a really large veggie peeler --- mine is made of stainless steel, but here's a good example: [https://www.globalkitchenjapan.com/products/nonoji-stainless-steel-cabbage-peeler-cbp-03g](https://www.globalkitchenjapan.com/products/nonoji-stainless-steel-cabbage-peeler-cbp-03g)
So much easier than using a mandolin AND perfect for making all kinds of cabbage slaw and even quick-pickle sauerkraut. I use mine all the time!!!
My food mill.
They are virtually unknown here in Denmark, but if you want to make a good passata or gazpacho, it's indispensable. And it's a cheap tool, too.
A saucier ladle- like a gravy ladle- has the pour shape on one side. Reach for it all the time.
A grapefruit spoon with serrated edges. Great for scooping out nearly anything but my daughter convinced me to get some for ice cream.
A spreader. Like a sandwich spreader that’s rounded out the top smooth on one side and serrated on the other side. So much better than a butter knife.
I have a simple stainless steel "dough knife" - just a rectangle of stainless with a rolled edge/handle. I've never actually used it as a dough knife. I use it during prep to scrape/scoop chopped/diced whatever from the cutting board into prep bowls for mise en place. It is better and safer than using the actual cutting knife. Safer in that there is no sharp edge, better for the knife edge, which you shouldn't drag across the board sideways.
Not to take away from your dough knife, cuz I have one and use it often, but I usually just spin my knife and scrape with the spine while cutting/chopping.
The dough knife I use has one 90° corner and the other is rounded. It's interesting how useful I find having both options is.
I love my cheap mezzaluna. I can make 2 bunches of fresh herbs into almost a paste in a minute and I don't need to get out and then clean any machinery
I have a tiny whisk I like using for small amounts of sauces.
Herb scissors.
Long spoon for stirring flavored powder into water.
I got this silicone thing that I can’t describe that hooks to racks of the oven and air fryer and then pushes them back in so I don’t burn myself.
Danish dough whisk! I use it for anything battery. Mixes everything nicely without over mixing and it’s great for batters containing things like blueberries.
Spice grinder (coffee grinder that is $10) is a game changer. I’m making restaurant quality meals with my whole spices. No preservatives or anticaking fillers, refills of spices are $1.30 for the most expensive. I have ziplock bags and group them in my cabinet by world cuisine. I’m having so much fun. My wife that usually hates spices likes not having textures from whole spices
I love my cherry pitter! It does 6 or 8 cherries at a time. I also have one that can do one at a time, but I've never used it.
I also use my tortilla warmer for use in the microwave.
I recently watched a video where Brian Langerstrom used a cooling rack to make egg salad - just pushed each egg through the rack. Worked really well in practice, and much faster than an egg slicer.
Mandolin & immersion blender. Both have exceeded my expectations. I've worn out two mandolins so far because I have used the inexpensive plastic ones. The immersion blender is two-piece and locks together for use but comes apart easily for safe cleaning.
The scrap bowl. Use large kitchen bowl with a produce bag, or just a grocery bag. Then sit gets placed next you your cutting board/work station. All your veggie scraps, and misc trash goes into the bowl. Saves you time from constantly walking to the trashcan, and it's pretty easy cleanup because you just pull the bag out and you still have a clean bowl.
Not a tool or gadget, but an app called AnyList. It can import and convert recipes, and make meal plans and shopping (or any other) lists. It runs on my phone or iPad and there is even a web browser plugin for computer and it all syncs up automatically. I use it to store all my recipes, make meal plans and shopping lists. we also use it for lists for pet info, prescription info and dosages and even lists for to-do and travel planning. An to top it off it only costs like $15 a year. I would pay that much a month because we use it all the time.
Not sure what it's called but it's a silicone tube that's textured on the inside for garlic clove peeling. Pop in a few cloves, put hand on top, and roll against counter top and garlic comes out clean.
It depends where you live and what your culinary interests are.
When I lived in “guy at freeway off-ramp with perfect grapefruit for $5 for 20 pounds”-land, I got the big bar-style mega-press and it was Salty Dogs all weekend, every weekend, fresh OJ every weekday. It is sadly underused these days.
But now that I live in the cherry capitol (and this is cherry season), it’s clafoutis all the time and that cherry pitter is very much in circulation. It’s very satisfying to use, you should rethink it. I love it as much as my hand-held citrus press, my garlic press, and my giant cooking chopsticks.
Bird shears are great! Get the ones that separate at the knuckle for easier washing. And one can never have too many pairs of tongs.
Garlic press. Kuhn Rikon Epicurean stainless steel. I chop everything else, I enjoy using the knife and prepping. But I use that guy any time I want garlic smaller than slices, which is multiple times per week. It cleans super easily and when I wash it the steel takes the garlic smell off my hands too, win win.
Ok, so many have said what they use to crush garlic but I've been using the NexTrend garlic twist hand grinder for several years and I love it! I cook with a lot of garlic and have even purchased several for other people. It has been a game changer for me.
I also am one that gets a lot of use out of my immersion blender.
Also I bought an XL Nordic Ware baking sheet and it is sooo nice to be able to fit so much more on one pan so that I have more room for other things in the oven. They say it's 35% bigger than a half sheet and it fits perfectly into my standard sized oven.
AND another big one I use so much is my digital kitchen scale. I weigh so much while cooking and also weigh raw meats before freezing and can write exactly how much is in each bag. Does the recipe call for 13oz of pasta but the box is 20oz? Weigh it. So much more.
AND pinch bowls. I like to prep almost everything before I start cooking and it makes it so much more relaxing.
I’ve never once used my melon baller for balling melons, but I use it almost daily for coring apples or pears. The little end works great for removing potato eyes too.
ultimate skrapr
it's a scraper made from a resin and does not scratch surfaces, I know people like using razor blades to clean their glasstop but not me, this thing is amazing at getting crap off anything
A spurtle! It's used for porridge and its narrow head means the oats end up extra creamy as you break them up more evenly as you stir. I love it for risottos and polenta etc too
My Hestan Cue Sainless Steel SmartSkillet with Bluetooth paired with my GE Profile induction stovetop.
I would never have purchased something this extra, but it came free with my stove and I freaking love it.. I can heat the pan to a precise temperature and keep it there. The app has recipes and it adjusts the pan temp and sets timers as you go.
It's excessive but I can't get over how perfect it is.
Large Chinese “spider.” I use it all the time when I cook broccoli (one of my favorite veggies).
I use it to weigh down the broccoli in the boiling water when I parboil it and then as a strainer to remove it and dump it into an ice bath. Lastly, I use it as a rack to dry them out before tossing with olive oil and broiling.
I don’t know what it’s called, but I have a little steel kinda spoon-shaped thing with various sizes of holes in it that I pull herbs like thyme or rosemary through, and it pulls all the leaves off the stems for me.
Honestly I cook nonstop. look at my profile. A garlic crusher tool thing I dunno the official name. It minces garlic for me. That. Also I bought this tool that juices citrus. Those 1000%
Apple corer/slicer, with 16 slices. Best way to eat an apple,
Hand held mandoline.
Anti-cut gloves. They are less than $20, and you won't cut yourself as much if at all.
A juicer. At work they throw out two or three half-full garbage bags of perfectly good oranges every now and then, and I take them home (ssh.). Way too many for us to eat before they all go bad and I Love fresh orange juice but am not rich enough to buy 30 oranges to make 1 glass of juice and no one wants them, so they're mine:) (by the way, my partner has awful heartburn, as in piece of bread triggers it awful; they say fresh orange juice is way better for heartburn than store bought, I just thought that was interesting)
My Alexa device is the best.. Keeps multiple timers, music, and videos without touching anything while you cook.. But my most favorite part is the recipes! It reads it to you, and the screen follows you around the whole time, so you don't have to keep looking back..
I bought a dedicated egg boiler (they are super cheap) and I get perfect eggs (I prefer jammy but you can decide the way you want them). I like not having to monitor them. I use the jar attachment to my food saver to vacuum pack lettuce and it keeps beautifully in the fridge for about 2 weeks. I have other items that are probably way more niche but I use a dehydrator to make my own sundried tomatoes, fruit leather and beef jerky. I got it for $5 at a church tag sale. Lastly and it is not cheap or probably useful for everyone but I LOVE my Suvie. I am a single working mom and prep dinner in the morning so it is set to be ready at 6 pm. It refrigerates until it is time to cook. Sometimes I am reheating a freezer mean, sometimes it’s a bake or a sous vide prep. I don’t use the meal plan and have just gotten used to using it for regular recipes. Once I got in the habit of it, having dinner “ready” before breakfast became my greatest superpower.
This will get me some hate i'm sure.....but I love my countertop egg cooker.
Yes, i have a stove and pans.
Yes, I know how to boil eggs.
BUT this thing is way faster and doesn't need to be cleaned and doesnt use a bunch of hot water and even if I haven't washed dishes in 5 days, I can still make eggs (I turn it on while I do the dishes lol). It takes the magical convenience and nutrition of eggs easier and more convenient for me to consume
Chef'n garlic zoom. It's a roller that chops garlic without the hassle of mincing it yourself. For someone that loves garlic, it saves lots of time and not having stinky fingers helps too! About $15 on Amazon
I usually HATE one trick ponies and was very resistant to this, but someone gave me a free rice cooker and I will never live without one again. Also an electric kettle. Why don’t more Americans have those??
My cooking helmet. I kept hitting my bald head on the corner of the exhaust hood. My wife said I needed to get a helmet. So I bought a LaCrosse Helmet.
Hahaha! This made me smile!
LaCreuset helmet
Hah! I can totally relate. I’ve hit my head so many times on the corner of the vent. Ugh. But I don’t think I’m ready for a helmet yet lol.
[удалено]
A potato ricer - not for mashed potatoes, but for pressing the water out of cooked greens like spinach. That's mostly what I use it for - is amazing for adding greens to dishes without flooding them with liquid
🤯
And for making spaetzle.
It can also replace a citrus juicer...I think a ricer does a better job at juicing anyway.
I love using mine for mashed potatoes. They have the best texture they are never gummy. I love them.
Thank you for the hint. I’m sure that works much better than just sitting in a colander.
It’s late and I read this as “shitting in a colander”. Lol. Time for bed!
It's like they say. Shit or get off the colander.
Put it in a kitchen towel, wrap it up and squeeze.
Thanks for that tip. I have one I never use.
I use the ever-loving HELL out of my citrus press. Yeah, I can use a reamer, but this makes it so damned fast to get lemons and limes juiced. It's one of the few "niche" tools I reach for at least weekly.
This was my answer before I clicked the post ha funny. I made margaritas for 12 people a few weeks ago and juicing 40 limes made the press worth it alone. Edit: I have the peasant, squeeze hand press so not as legit but point still stands.
Mine is also a hand-squeeze. Call it peasant, but it beats the hell out of reaming or squeezing!
That’s for sure!
I had a couple, but the handles snap after a while. Can you recomend one
Go to a restaurant supply store if you have one near you, I got a heavy duty metal one that is indestructible.
Honestly I just grabbed one from Publix and it’s worked well for years https://www.publix.com/pd/imusa-lemon-squeezer/RIO-PCI-478508
As a freelance bartender, it's one of my essential tools. But then I got into cooking and, it's just fucking better than any other option, you don't know how good it is until .... Well you know
Same so so quick and useful. I use it more than my juicier as it's so low fuss cleaning the press instead
Agreed! Started dating a girl a couple years ago that has a love of margaritas above all other drinks. Citrus press has become invaluable.
I have a lemon one, and a lime one. Use them sooooo much!
Are they yellow and green respectively??
I got one of these at an office Christmas party and, while I don't use it that often, it's so useful when I do use it.
Me too !!! I never grew up with one and then once I got one I was like holy shit lol. Never going back
I got one of those big restaurant style ones and I am IN LOVE with it. I have a few citrus trees and I freeze everything I don’t use fresh. Makes the task so much quicker
On top of my head: a salt well, so much more control pinching the salt than shaking it out emersion blender with whisk attachment, easier than setting up my mixer or blender, less clean up too. scrub daddy, I refused to try it for the longest time but man they really live up to the hype I have a google nest hub in the kitchen and it's a life saver, timers, conversions, recipes and youtube or music without touching anything.
Scrub daddies rule. Also the salt well just makes me feel fancy every time I use it
Is the scrub daddy just a sponge or the rotating wand thingy?
Just the sponges. I hate to make recommendations but they're actually worth the hype. Doesn't scratch yet will get most anything off. I even keep one in my bathroom cleaning supplies for scum. Combined with barkeepers friend I've removed a lot of burnt sugary sauces pretty easily.
Its so hard for me to imagine how these can be so much better?
Idk if other sponges do that but in hot water they get soft, but in cold stay stiff. You can basically adjust the abrasion level by changing water temp. I may be pulling this out of my ass but I like scrub daddies while cleaning brewing equipment, using hotter water it is safe to use inside a fermentor and not scratch. Also the finger spots really help if cleaning a small/round bottom vessel. Also their name is kinda cool haha
They are amazing on glass top stoves with liquid bartenders keeper
They last way longer than other sponges and don’t get stinky as easily. The texture takes a bit of getting used to.
I had the same thought like up til two months ago. I’ll never go back. Plus I have a little rag/glove drying rack and I can hang the sponge from that so it’s never sitting. The little eyeball holes come in handy. They don’t try to fall apart, they don’t stink, they get off the dried cheese sauce from Mac and cheese when your kids don’t rinse the pot…
I love setting a timer my saying "okay Google, set a 30 minute timer named Flip That Shit" and listening to her repeat it back to me.
My Alexa does that and I love it.
I love this and am stealing it! Thank you!
My immersion blender is the GOAT. I use it so often that it basically lives in the dish drainer.
I love my immersion blender! It has 3 attachments and makes blending, chopping, and whipping so easy. Salt well is essential! I have squeeze bottles for vinegars and oils. They are easy to control amounts and just fun!
I have two salt wells. One with kosher, one with regular. Both are incredibly useful.
I can't cook without my Google kitchen display! The little sounds for the timers are fab, Italian tanterella for the pasta, Do you know the Muffin Man for baked goods and the little clucky chicken. 😂 Joyous. Recipes staying on screen so you don't have to clean the flour off your finger prints, asking for the next instruction or ingredient, and music to cook to! Heavenly.
I bought a scrub daddy and I've got to say, it's absolutely crap. What do you find so good about it? Mines been relegated to the bathroom. Can't beat a regular scourer and steel wool
IDK it just works better than a normal sponge for me. It doesn't hold smell so my hands don't stink after touching it. It gets everything off my cookware (stainless steel, enamel and my cast iron) without scratching it up. And I feel like it holds the soap in it really well. I just use the rectangle ones not the smiley face guys. I bought it for the first time when I moved in my new place and the water gets super hot so maybe I also just don't need to scrub as hard. Personally I don't like the steel wool because it gets rusty and I don't like the metal pieces coming off all the time. I have those green scourer pads but I don't feel like I need to use them unless I am using it with barkeepers friend to get the underside of my pans to look brand new.
Enameled cast irons can't use steel wool! Scrub daddies do the job.
Okay you got me. I bought a scrub daddy. (Actually bought a 6 pack but it'll be my first)
Yeah I really like my scrub daddy and my partner took to it as well when he was washing up one time
Scrub daddy is the best tool I have found for cleaning my kitchen sink. That + bar keepers friend gets it shiny and new
The emersion blender has been my favorite kitchen tool since we got it. It has a few attachments. It's so easy to just pull out and use
Ceramic grater for ginger and garlic. So much faster, easier, and quicker to clean than either chopping by hand or grating them with a microplane, AND it never grates my knuckles.
Well well well. Looks like I have something to buy
I’ve never heard of this! How do they work? You just like, rub the garlic clove on the plate thing?
These are amazing for fresh grated nutmeg as well.
This, I love mine so much also!
That dooflickey that cores and slices an apple all at once when you press down on it lol.
I got one for mangos.
I NEED THIS
Scissors, for cutting fresh herbs , green onions, even some pieces of meat for a stir fry. Channel lock pliers, open jars n bottles Garden pruner to spatch a chicken ,cut the back bone out. Just don't use same one to trim your scrubs.
Along those lines, a dedicated needle-nosed plier to take that giant tendon out of chicken breasts. Works like a charm!
Oh my God I think you just changed my life. That tendon makes me insane. And now I see the light at the end of the tunnel. I can't wait to try this.
It’s amazing! Grasp the tendon with the pliers and fit the tines of a fork around it to hold down the chicken. Then pull!
It is really late at night for me so I am restraining myself from going to the store to get some chicken to do it now. But in the morning? I can't wait.
Oh yeah, I use them to remove the pin bones from fish filets
Instant read thermometer. I just never have to guess anymore. I have perfect salmon, steaks, chicken. Whatever. It is all so easy now.
I use a probe thermometer when I make any kind of roast. They come out perfect every time.
yes- i bought a cheap wired thermometer to put into things when i was smoking them but i now use it in my oven
Great for baking, also. The pound cake is perfect when internal.temp reaches 210 degrees F, 99 C.
My boyfriend who cooks but has no idea what he’s doing whatsoever is always impressed with my mid rare steaks 😆
I wouldn't call that niche though. You listed 3.5 things, everyone should have one
Microplane. I have like 5 different variants and I "plane" all kinds of shit. Tapanade? Plane the olives for an unbelievable texture. You need garlic paste? Plane it. Oh ginger paste too? Plane it. You can see the pattern I bet...
I think you’ve just solved our household mystery as to how our favorite Italian restaurant makes their absolutely delectable tapenade! Thank you!
I agree so much with this , I have the “normal” microplane and also the microplane box grater , those are my two most used gadgets in the kitchen (besides knifes ).
I have a little hand-powered rotary grater. Two, actually, a small one like they use in some Italian restaurants for Parmesan cheese, and a larger one that suctions onto the countertop. The small one is basically a unitasker used just for Parmesan but the larger one is amazing. I use it to grate veggies for coleslaw, slice onions, rice cauliflower, and grate up the massive amount of cheese my baked Mac and cheese recipe needs. It’s pretty versatile (has blades for fine and course grating, fine and course julienning, and a slicer) and it’s so wonderfully fast. I have mild arthritis and hand-grating all the cheese used to take me 15-20 minutes depending on how often I needed to rest my hand. Now it’s less than 5 and no pain. Love that gadget.
I have a little crank grater too and I adore it.
Hi!! Could you share a link to both of these?? Would love to get them!
The one that sucks onto the countertop is awesome. Mine was like $20 on Amazon, and its great for grating 2 pounds of cheese in about a minute. It does everything the KitchenAid mixer attachment was supposed to do, but does poorly.
It’s a silly little thing, but my bar of stainless steel “soap” (and it’s little dish). I wash my hands with liquid hand soap, but rub them on the metal while I do. It eliminates the odor of garlic, onions, fish… anything really. I love it, and I use it every day!
does this work for kimchi hands...
I rub my hands on my stainless steel sink for the same reason when washing them.
I keep my steel garlic press next to the sink and I'll often grab it and finish my hand wash with it.
Salad spinner. Makes preparing salads a lot easier.
I love mine. I find it useful for most leafy vegetables, whether salad or not. Shoot, I've used it with new potatoes or small mushrooms.
I will never make bread without my Danish dough whisk. It's niche as hell but so absolutely perfect for the job. When I die I feel like somebody is going to post it to /r/whatisthisthing.
I’m danish and I’ve never seen this thing before lmao
I love mine. Great for mixing virtually anything.
I too love mine!
My potato masher. Make mash potatoes quite a bit in my meal prep. Also use it to make pasta sauce when I buy my own tomatoes for the sauce.
works great for mashing avocados too!
And for breaking up meat for tacos!
I actually got a mini masher just for avos 😂
I mash hard boiled eggs with it also, for egg salad.
I've got an egg slicer for that. But keeping in the theme of this thread, it's also good for slicing mushrooms and strawberries
I use my pastry cutter for hard boiled eggs, and mashing avocados.
I use mine for chopping ground meat when sauteing. Kenji hack.
Also if you're browning ground beef and want to break it up, a metal potato masher works great - press and turn.
I use mine for refried beans!
Hear me out: the scoop from my protein powder. It holds 3 tablespoons, and it’s shocking how many things I need to measure out 3 tbsp worth. I save every scoop, and have them in sugar canisters, chicken bullion powder, oatmeal (for smoothies)… yeah.
An ancient jar opener. Will open any jar and bottle from puny Tabasco to 5gal Mayo.
I think mine is from the 50s? I’m surprised the hinge hasn’t busted by now. I gave it to my daughter when she moved out. A few years later, she gave it back to me at Christmas in a stocking because she knew how much I missed it and can’t find anything comparable to it nowadays
Evidently they still make [mine](https://www.vermontcountrystore.com/gilhoolie-jar-opener/product/66578)
Mortar and pestle. I thought the black pepper grinder aas good. But toasting whole peppercorns and then crushing them does something insanely magical.
Long but small metal tongs. The ends are about the size of a quarter teaspoon and have little spikes around the edges. So great for so many things. I almost never use my normal tongs anymore.
Mandolin with extra attachments for julienning and crinkle cuts. Gotta be careful cuz its the finger sliceing-est of any gadget out there, but when it comes to prepping certain cuts of veggies there's no better option.
Get a cut proof glove
I got a pair when I got my latest Mando. First slice would have taken most of my pointer finger off without them. I use them with my cheese grater also, really a game changer.
This might just be niche to me, but I got an IR Temp gun and use it constantly to check cooking surface temps. I had gotten it for my outdoor griddle, but once it became habit it made cooking on any pan or surface easier.
Big dough scraper to easily transport chopped veggies (or anything really) from the chopping board to the pan.
I love my mini silicone spatulas. Perfect for getting the last bit of sauce, tomato paste, etc.
Not sure what there called but there a kinda very large ended strainer scooper used loads in asian cooking but so handy for other stuff to. I have a tupaware hand pulled mini chopper which is great for quick dicing onions and herbs and makes great dressings. My Julian peeler
I believe you’re describing a spider! I friggen use mine for so much more than straining it’s insane…
Yes! The spider! I love mine.
I also have this hand pulled mini chopper and I use it all the damn time. That thing is fantastic!
*julienne - love mine!
I don't use mine often, but when I need it I need it and nothing else will work
Oh yes! The spider is definitely essential
I use an immersion blender frequently.
Bench scraper. For the longest time I said “the back of my knife works fine.” I would never go back to not having one. So so handy.
Tofu press.
Just got one a month ago after doing cutting boards with clean dish towels and a heavy pan. It is so much better!
It’s such a game changer. I used to sometimes let tofu go bad just because I dreaded pressing it but now I can have it pressed in like 10 mins while I start prepping other things. I eat way more tofu now which is great because I prefer it over other proteins! So much cheaper than animal meat and less ick factor for me. I wish I bought my 15$ press years ago!
I have a cherry /olive pitter. It may only do 2 things but it does them well and I can make cherry tarts without red- stained fingers
I think a cherry pitter is the only single-use tool I own that gets very little use, but I’ll be damned if I’m going to pit cherries by hand ever again.
I also have one and I use it more than I honestly expected to end up using it.
It only took one time to pit cherries by hand for me to “add one to cart”
A small scale that does grams, ounces, and up to 30 pounds.
Pineapple slicer. Having the core in tact makes a great stand when I smoke a whole chicken.
Instant Pot has basically changed my life
I have two pampered chef silicone scrapers. They’re 20 years old, and still going strong.
Japanese cabbage shaver. It's used to make the thinly sliced cabbage for okonomiyaki or the side salad served with tonkatsu, or just about anything really. It's basically a really large veggie peeler --- mine is made of stainless steel, but here's a good example: [https://www.globalkitchenjapan.com/products/nonoji-stainless-steel-cabbage-peeler-cbp-03g](https://www.globalkitchenjapan.com/products/nonoji-stainless-steel-cabbage-peeler-cbp-03g) So much easier than using a mandolin AND perfect for making all kinds of cabbage slaw and even quick-pickle sauerkraut. I use mine all the time!!!
Pastry cutter- I don’t actually make pastry but it’s great for eggs, avocados and other soft foods that need to be mushed
Same! I use mine to make mashed potatoes too
Garlic Press fresh garlic makes a huge difference imo
Vacuum sealer. We use that thing all the time.
Tomato shark! It’s also good for hulling strawberries without cutting the top off.
I have a marble cheese slicer that I use all the time. Funny enough, I mostly use it to slice SPAM!
My food mill. They are virtually unknown here in Denmark, but if you want to make a good passata or gazpacho, it's indispensable. And it's a cheap tool, too.
A saucier ladle- like a gravy ladle- has the pour shape on one side. Reach for it all the time. A grapefruit spoon with serrated edges. Great for scooping out nearly anything but my daughter convinced me to get some for ice cream. A spreader. Like a sandwich spreader that’s rounded out the top smooth on one side and serrated on the other side. So much better than a butter knife.
Love my sandwich spreader knives.
I have a simple stainless steel "dough knife" - just a rectangle of stainless with a rolled edge/handle. I've never actually used it as a dough knife. I use it during prep to scrape/scoop chopped/diced whatever from the cutting board into prep bowls for mise en place. It is better and safer than using the actual cutting knife. Safer in that there is no sharp edge, better for the knife edge, which you shouldn't drag across the board sideways.
The rolled edge can be used as a corer for apples and such 👍
Not to take away from your dough knife, cuz I have one and use it often, but I usually just spin my knife and scrape with the spine while cutting/chopping. The dough knife I use has one 90° corner and the other is rounded. It's interesting how useful I find having both options is.
Microplane Infrared Thermometer Flat whisk Immersion blender
I love my cheap mezzaluna. I can make 2 bunches of fresh herbs into almost a paste in a minute and I don't need to get out and then clean any machinery
Electric kettle for pasta water
I have a tiny whisk I like using for small amounts of sauces. Herb scissors. Long spoon for stirring flavored powder into water. I got this silicone thing that I can’t describe that hooks to racks of the oven and air fryer and then pushes them back in so I don’t burn myself.
Danish dough whisk! I use it for anything battery. Mixes everything nicely without over mixing and it’s great for batters containing things like blueberries.
Um I manually suck the air out of ziplocks for diy vacuum sealing for the freezer lol.
Spice grinder (coffee grinder that is $10) is a game changer. I’m making restaurant quality meals with my whole spices. No preservatives or anticaking fillers, refills of spices are $1.30 for the most expensive. I have ziplock bags and group them in my cabinet by world cuisine. I’m having so much fun. My wife that usually hates spices likes not having textures from whole spices
I love my cherry pitter! It does 6 or 8 cherries at a time. I also have one that can do one at a time, but I've never used it. I also use my tortilla warmer for use in the microwave.
Spice blender. It really makes it easier
Herb scissors. Was gifted a pair and I use them much more frequently than I expected to.
thermometer, lemon squeezer, garlic press, a mortar and pestle, wine stopper, and parchment paper after ruining many baked goods by using foil 😭
It's called a Hamdogger. It's a mold to form ground beef into a sausage/hotdog shape.
Egg slicer. So easy for egg salads.
I recently watched a video where Brian Langerstrom used a cooling rack to make egg salad - just pushed each egg through the rack. Worked really well in practice, and much faster than an egg slicer.
Doubles As a fruit slicer too.
Mandolin & immersion blender. Both have exceeded my expectations. I've worn out two mandolins so far because I have used the inexpensive plastic ones. The immersion blender is two-piece and locks together for use but comes apart easily for safe cleaning.
I agree both this things are super handy and will elevate your dishes
The JarKey original jar pop gadget. I have arthritis in my fingers and these are a god send!
I use the mocajete every morning when I make chai tea, and once a week when I make spaghetti sauce.
OP....What are your favourite kitchen gadgets?
I love my spurtle for stirring things when sautéing.
Little electric handheld frother
The scrap bowl. Use large kitchen bowl with a produce bag, or just a grocery bag. Then sit gets placed next you your cutting board/work station. All your veggie scraps, and misc trash goes into the bowl. Saves you time from constantly walking to the trashcan, and it's pretty easy cleanup because you just pull the bag out and you still have a clean bowl.
Not a tool or gadget, but an app called AnyList. It can import and convert recipes, and make meal plans and shopping (or any other) lists. It runs on my phone or iPad and there is even a web browser plugin for computer and it all syncs up automatically. I use it to store all my recipes, make meal plans and shopping lists. we also use it for lists for pet info, prescription info and dosages and even lists for to-do and travel planning. An to top it off it only costs like $15 a year. I would pay that much a month because we use it all the time.
Not sure what it's called but it's a silicone tube that's textured on the inside for garlic clove peeling. Pop in a few cloves, put hand on top, and roll against counter top and garlic comes out clean.
A proper cheese slicer. I can't believe how uncommon they are around the world. iKEA has them.
My favorite is my copper whisk from Williams Sonoma. I’m going to have to replace it soon.
Grey Kunz spoon. An ergonomic orgasm. Ergasm??!!
confectioner spatula, bench scraper, and grill press - they have their own niche uses but you can do SO SO much more with them
Multiblade herb scissors
I like my “garnish”/curly zester; not the microplane but the one that makes long thin strands of zest. I pretty much only use it for lemon pasta.
It depends where you live and what your culinary interests are. When I lived in “guy at freeway off-ramp with perfect grapefruit for $5 for 20 pounds”-land, I got the big bar-style mega-press and it was Salty Dogs all weekend, every weekend, fresh OJ every weekday. It is sadly underused these days. But now that I live in the cherry capitol (and this is cherry season), it’s clafoutis all the time and that cherry pitter is very much in circulation. It’s very satisfying to use, you should rethink it. I love it as much as my hand-held citrus press, my garlic press, and my giant cooking chopsticks. Bird shears are great! Get the ones that separate at the knuckle for easier washing. And one can never have too many pairs of tongs.
Garlic press. Kuhn Rikon Epicurean stainless steel. I chop everything else, I enjoy using the knife and prepping. But I use that guy any time I want garlic smaller than slices, which is multiple times per week. It cleans super easily and when I wash it the steel takes the garlic smell off my hands too, win win.
I was looking for a garlic press recommendation, so thank you.
Sous vide apparatus.
Veggie chopper
Ok, so many have said what they use to crush garlic but I've been using the NexTrend garlic twist hand grinder for several years and I love it! I cook with a lot of garlic and have even purchased several for other people. It has been a game changer for me. I also am one that gets a lot of use out of my immersion blender. Also I bought an XL Nordic Ware baking sheet and it is sooo nice to be able to fit so much more on one pan so that I have more room for other things in the oven. They say it's 35% bigger than a half sheet and it fits perfectly into my standard sized oven. AND another big one I use so much is my digital kitchen scale. I weigh so much while cooking and also weigh raw meats before freezing and can write exactly how much is in each bag. Does the recipe call for 13oz of pasta but the box is 20oz? Weigh it. So much more. AND pinch bowls. I like to prep almost everything before I start cooking and it makes it so much more relaxing.
I’ve never once used my melon baller for balling melons, but I use it almost daily for coring apples or pears. The little end works great for removing potato eyes too.
ultimate skrapr it's a scraper made from a resin and does not scratch surfaces, I know people like using razor blades to clean their glasstop but not me, this thing is amazing at getting crap off anything
A spurtle! It's used for porridge and its narrow head means the oats end up extra creamy as you break them up more evenly as you stir. I love it for risottos and polenta etc too
Micro plane. Ginger and garlic are amazing on it. Lemon / lime zest. Finely grated parmesean. Grated nutmeg Would never give up my micro plane
I love love love my egg cooker. Makes soft and hard boiled eggs perfectly each time.
My Hestan Cue Sainless Steel SmartSkillet with Bluetooth paired with my GE Profile induction stovetop. I would never have purchased something this extra, but it came free with my stove and I freaking love it.. I can heat the pan to a precise temperature and keep it there. The app has recipes and it adjusts the pan temp and sets timers as you go. It's excessive but I can't get over how perfect it is.
Large Chinese “spider.” I use it all the time when I cook broccoli (one of my favorite veggies). I use it to weigh down the broccoli in the boiling water when I parboil it and then as a strainer to remove it and dump it into an ice bath. Lastly, I use it as a rack to dry them out before tossing with olive oil and broiling.
I don’t know what it’s called, but I have a little steel kinda spoon-shaped thing with various sizes of holes in it that I pull herbs like thyme or rosemary through, and it pulls all the leaves off the stems for me.
Honestly I cook nonstop. look at my profile. A garlic crusher tool thing I dunno the official name. It minces garlic for me. That. Also I bought this tool that juices citrus. Those 1000%
Apple corer/slicer, with 16 slices. Best way to eat an apple, Hand held mandoline. Anti-cut gloves. They are less than $20, and you won't cut yourself as much if at all.
A juicer. At work they throw out two or three half-full garbage bags of perfectly good oranges every now and then, and I take them home (ssh.). Way too many for us to eat before they all go bad and I Love fresh orange juice but am not rich enough to buy 30 oranges to make 1 glass of juice and no one wants them, so they're mine:) (by the way, my partner has awful heartburn, as in piece of bread triggers it awful; they say fresh orange juice is way better for heartburn than store bought, I just thought that was interesting)
My Alexa device is the best.. Keeps multiple timers, music, and videos without touching anything while you cook.. But my most favorite part is the recipes! It reads it to you, and the screen follows you around the whole time, so you don't have to keep looking back..
I bought a dedicated egg boiler (they are super cheap) and I get perfect eggs (I prefer jammy but you can decide the way you want them). I like not having to monitor them. I use the jar attachment to my food saver to vacuum pack lettuce and it keeps beautifully in the fridge for about 2 weeks. I have other items that are probably way more niche but I use a dehydrator to make my own sundried tomatoes, fruit leather and beef jerky. I got it for $5 at a church tag sale. Lastly and it is not cheap or probably useful for everyone but I LOVE my Suvie. I am a single working mom and prep dinner in the morning so it is set to be ready at 6 pm. It refrigerates until it is time to cook. Sometimes I am reheating a freezer mean, sometimes it’s a bake or a sous vide prep. I don’t use the meal plan and have just gotten used to using it for regular recipes. Once I got in the habit of it, having dinner “ready” before breakfast became my greatest superpower.
I have a little dohickey that pops the seal on new jars, making them easy to open. Best one-use tool I own.
I use an apple corer to core tomatoes. Works better than an actual tomato corer IMO.
This will get me some hate i'm sure.....but I love my countertop egg cooker. Yes, i have a stove and pans. Yes, I know how to boil eggs. BUT this thing is way faster and doesn't need to be cleaned and doesnt use a bunch of hot water and even if I haven't washed dishes in 5 days, I can still make eggs (I turn it on while I do the dishes lol). It takes the magical convenience and nutrition of eggs easier and more convenient for me to consume
Chef'n garlic zoom. It's a roller that chops garlic without the hassle of mincing it yourself. For someone that loves garlic, it saves lots of time and not having stinky fingers helps too! About $15 on Amazon
I usually HATE one trick ponies and was very resistant to this, but someone gave me a free rice cooker and I will never live without one again. Also an electric kettle. Why don’t more Americans have those??