5 Must-Have Kitchen Tools

As anyone who loves cooking can attest to, there are an absolute plethora of tools that are available when it comes to cooking and the kitchen.  You can buy anything from a countertop pizza maker to a tomato saver to a banana slicer.  And while so many of the available kitchen tools are useful and fun, most of them are also not necessary.  And even though I love shopping for fun kitchen items, I almost never buy them.  It turns out that I have certain tools that I love and use all of the time, and I have no need for everything else.  So here are my 5 favorite kitchen/ cooking tools (this doesn’t include installed appliances) that I would always keep in my kitchen:

1.        A digital meat thermometer.  I used to always get nervous that my meat or chicken dishes were not cooked enough, especially the chicken dishes.  So much stress caused by temperature worries! But, can’t you tell if it is ready just by looking at the food? Yes. Mostly.  I have improved as a cook over the years and I can now mostly tell if they are cooked well enough, although I still tend to overcook my meats if I am just using visual cues.  Using the digital thermometer takes a lot of worry and questioning out of my cooking.  I insert the thermometer, it tells me if the food is ready, and then it either gets cooked more or it is ready.  No more uncertainties.  I love my digital thermometer.

2.       A zester.  I love fresh lemon and lime zest in my cakes, cookies, and even in many main dishes.  For years I used my big box shredder to zest my citrus, but my zest always turned out too large or mushy.  But once I got my zester, that completely changed!  My zest is always exactly the way I need it, it doesn’t take up much room, and it is easy to clean.  And to top it all off, it costs under $10! 

3.       An over-the-sink strainer.  Have you seen these?  They stretch across your sink from the front to the back and hover above the sink.  This means that even if there are dishes in the sink, you can rinse and strain above them without the worry of cross-contamination.  When I am cooking large amounts of food, I might have a dish soaking in the sink and I can still strain rice or wash vegetables high above the mess.  These have been a terrific addition to my kitchen and I would no longer want to do without them.

4.       A food processor.  And if you can afford it, I recommend a Cuisinart food processor (no, this is not sponsored).  A food processor will chop or powder your ingredients better and faster than if you do it by hand, so it is a very useful tool.  For many years I had a cheap food processor and it got the job done.  Did it help me make potato kugel?  Yes.  Was it loud and slow?  Yes. But when it died, I splurged and bought a nice Cuisinart one, and what a difference!  It is so much quieter, not to mention the speed and the quality and evenness of the chopping.  If my current one were to stop working, I would definitely repurchase this without hesitation.

5.       A stand mixer.  And yes, specifically a Kitchen Aid stand mixer (again, not sponsored).  This is an absolute workhorse in my kitchen.  From kneading challah and pizza dough, to whipping cream and mashed potatoes, this mixer does the hard work for me.  And mine is almost 23 years old!  Over a decade ago, I purchased an extra Kitchen Aid mixer as a backup for when my current one bites the dust.  I have been using it as a Pesach mixer in the meantime, and now I am completely spoiled.  If my old mixer dies, I will be purchasing a new one and keeping my Pesach one for Pesach.  What would I do without it?!

While there are other tools that I use in my kitchen (think spatulas, whisks, and more), the above five tools are items I would want to replace immediately if they were to stop working.  They help to make my kitchen and cooking a smoother process and would probably do the same for you.  Do you have a kitchen tool that has been really helpful to you?