"Mine Never Leaves My Counter": People Are Sharing 27 Kitchen Tools They Never Knew They Needed Until They Ended Up Using Them Constantly
"If you don't want to heat up the kitchen or your whole place when it's already hot, I highly recommend this."
As a gal that loves to cook but has a VERY small kitchen, I usually never shell out for new kitchen tools that will just take up space. That was until I made a cherry cake and found myself with stained red hands from pitting two pounds of cherries with a metal straw. A cherry pitter was in my Amazon cart that same day.
So, when Reddit user u/SuccessExtreme4373 asked the r/Cooking community about the kitchen tools they never knew they needed, I knew I had to dive into these responses to find more overlooked gadgets. Here are some that might just level up your cooking game:
1. "Microplane. I even have two of them now because I use them so often and I repaired the first one after it broke."
2. "Hand (immersion) blender with a chopping bowl."
"I LOVE the immersion blender! Especially when I need to break down or puree a soup. That I can now do that in the pot and not dirty up a Cuisinart or blender is magic to me. I appreciate it every single time I use it."
3. "A stand mixer. It took me years to shell out for a KitchenAid mini but I’m so glad I did. It’s much more convenient than using beaters and the dough hook is a lifesaver."
4. "Salad spinner — I use it every day."
5. "High-quality kitchen shears. Great for cutting garnishes, flatbread/pizzas, meats, or really anything. I mainly love not having to wash another cutting board."
6. "Tofu press. Yes, I could waste a ton of paper towels and make the Leaning Tower of Pisa of heavy things on top, but once I got the press, I’ll never go back!"
7. "Mortar and pestle — low tech and can really up your spice game when you crush them on the spot."
8. "Mandoline (with a cut-proof glove). I make a fair amount of pickles and this makes it easy!"
9. "I can’t believe I lived over 40 years without a knife sharpener. Truly, I was lost."
10. "A bench knife. Yes, useful when baking, but also a great way to pick up diced food and slide it into the pan."
11. "I dismissed air fryers for a long time because I have a perfectly good convection oven and considered them a gimmick. But, for reasons, I ended up buying one and I love it. It is just a convection oven, but it heats super fast without making the kitchen hot and yields really good vegetables. I use it almost every day and love it."
12. "I can’t believe I went so many years forming cookies, falafel, meatballs, fillings for pierogies and other dumplings, etc. without a cookie scoop."
"Restaurant secret for sure — I have them in all different sizes."
13. "Meat thermometer. Why did I spend years and years trying to guess when meat was done and then beating myself up when I was wrong?"
14. "A good vacuum sealer. A somewhat investment up front, but being able to buy bulk and shop sales (vac and freeze immediately), it has paid for itself."
15. "Potato ricer. I don't use it often, but you can make a big batch of mashed potatoes with the perfect texture in very little time."
16. "A slotted fish spatula. It was never even on my radar for the first 20 years I lived/cooked alone. A few years ago, a close friend (and chef) got me one and insisted that it’s life-changing. He was right."
"Yes!! I have about every kitchen tool known to man and this is my ‘desert island’ spatula. It's not just for fish. It’s thin enough and wide enough and flexible enough to scoop up anything like cookies, roasted veggies, eggs, burgers — whatever."
17. "A digital scale — changed my baking game for the better! I now rarely use measuring cups and have fewer dishes to wash."
18. "My bread machine. I got it for $20 on Facebook marketplace and now I live a life of fresh naan, pizza dough, baguettes, sandwich loaves, and cinnamon raisin bread. I know myself — I won’t spend time kneading these things, but I sure can toss them in the bread maker."
19. "Cherry pitter for sure! Our kids got us one that does five or six at a time. We both thought it was ridiculous, but they said it was fun to use, and it is."
20. "My pineapple corer. I love fresh pineapple but hated dealing with the peel and core. Not anymore: just chop off the top and use the corer. I basically get a spiralized pineapple that I just cut into individual chunks."
21. "Just bought an induction cooktop for the summer. If you don't want to heat up the kitchen or your whole place when it's already hot, I highly recommend. It's easy to clean and has two modes that are super simple to navigate and even a timer."
22. "Kitchen tweezers — I’ve got small and large ones now. They’re the best thing for getting anchovies out of those little skinny bottles, and I use the large ones for frying calamari rings in the wok."
23. "A hand lemon juicer! I don't know what else to call it — it looks like a big garlic press. A ZILLION TIMES more practical than a stupid lemon juicer with 10 parts. I use freshly squeezed lemon and lime juice all the time now when, before, I couldn't be bothered."
24. "Instant Pot — an electric pressure cooker. I don't use it for anything else and it's incredible at making broths, beans, and probably a bunch of other things."
25. "My kitchen blow torch — I use it to toast marshmallows for hot chocolate, for an easy lemon curd, and for toasted meringue desserts. I've also used it for lighting candles when I can't find a lighter/matches."
26. "My Danish dough whisk. It makes mixing thick batters/sticky doughs so much easier. Stuff doesn’t get stuck in it like it would in a balloon whisk and there’s practically no drag compared to using a wooden spoon or something."
27. "A rice cooker. My husband insisted on one and I really did not think it was necessary. Damnit, was I wrong. It makes way better rice than me."
