Expensive kitchen gadgets may seem like fun and a good purchase at the time, but often they just end up looking good on your kitchen shelves, or taking up space on your counter. I love cooking and have found stocking my kitchen with some of the most important basic tools is essential to meal prep success and a worthwhile investment! I have picked some of my favourite kitchen gadgets, and shared why I think these items are must haves!
Wire strainer and sifter: You never have to use the lid of your pot to drain boiling water from your cooked vegetables or pasta again! No more watery pasta, and a strainer can prevent you from getting burned by the steam or boiling water when draining. I recommend buying one big enough to hold a pot of pasta or potatoes. You can also use a strainer as a flour sifter when baking.
Box grater: A ‘grate’ edition to your kitchen tool kit is a box grater! Most often used for grating cheese, it can also be used for all kinds of vegetables. Try using it to make add a variety of graded vegetables to add to salad, soups, sauces and even baking. Think zucchini and carrots. A box grater is the most versatile with six different grate options so you can grate, shred, slice and zest. Choose one with a sturdy handle.
Potato ricer: If you are tired of sticky, gluey or lumpy mashed potatoes, then a potato ricer is an essential tool for your kitchen. By using a ricer, you are guaranteed fluffy mashed potatoes every time. This tool forces cooked potato through small holes, resulting in rice-like pieces of potato (hence the name). Because air is incorporated into the potato as it’s pressed, you get the lightest mashed potatoes possible. A ricer guarantees no lumps, so your potatoes will be very smooth.
Kitchen whisk: I love whisks so much I stock my kitchen with several different sizes. They are perfect for blending ingredients when baking like mixing eggs with oil or sugar, for preventing lumps when making sauces or gravies, and are excellent for creating an emulsion when making homemade salad dressing. Tiny bar whisks are perfect for whisking beverages like matcha green tea and hot chocolate.
Lemon press or juicer: This gadget allows you to season food with lemon or lime juice effortlessly. Just place half a lemon (or lime) between the presses, squeeze the handles and like magic the lemon juice will be extracted onto your food, without the worry of seeds or getting sprayed. Also great for making fresh lemon juice for recipes (again without having to pick out the annoying seeds). Adding lemon juice is a healthy and easy way to add flavour and vitamin C to a variety of foods without adding salt. I love adding fresh lemon juice to steamed or stir fired vegetables, and it is great for preventing the browning of pre-cut apples and avocadoes.
Oil mister: This tool gives you precise control over how much oil you are using. The mister allows you to perfectly coat your veggies for roasting, mist your salad greens, or coat your baking pan in a fine spray of oil to prevent sticking.
Measuring spoon and cup sets: Measuring spoons are perfect for measuring small amounts of liquids and for adding just the right amount of herbs or spices into your recipe. You will also want a set of measuring cups for dry ingredients to ensure your recipe success, and glass measuring cups are a great investment too for accurately measuring liquids.
Knives: A good set of knives are true kitchen essentials – the three most important ones are a chef’s knife, a serrated and a paring knife. A chef’s knife is the most important knife. It has a longer edge making the knife the most versatile and efficient. Use it for slicing and dicing vegetables, fruits, meat, poultry and fish. For smaller jobs like chopping garlic or strawberries a paring knife is the perfect choice. Serrated knives are most commonly associated with slicing bread, which is why they are also called bread knives. But a serrated knife is especially useful for foods with waxy surfaces, such as tomatoes and peppers, and for items like pineapples, watermelons, and citrus fruits. The jagged edge can grip and penetrate slippery exteriors. Well-constructed, sharp knives are a worthwhile investment, and speed up any meal prep. Think for a moment – do you ever prepare a meal without having to chop at least one or two items? Also, you are less apt to get cut when using the right type of knife for the task, and one that has a good handle and sharp a blade.