Wednesday, October 10, 2012

Must-Have Kitchen Tools

It's no secret to those around me.....I LOVE kitchen gadgets and tools. However, I am not one of those people who has everything under the sun in their kitchen, I only love stuff that works and is useful. I don't buy gadgets just because they're cool or because I might use it once a year, I buy them for functionality. I've had some dud gadgets and I've had some phenomenal ones. Here are the ones I just don't think I'd be happy without...sometimes it's not necessarily the brand of the product, but sometimes it is.
I love my garlic press.  I use garlic in almost every dish and the thought of having to finely chop and press every single clove is enough to make me cry.  I have the Pampered Chef garlic press now, but I've heard some good things about this OXO press.  What I love most is that you can put the garlic in the press without having to take the time to peel it first.

 

I fell in love with this Zyliss can opener the day I opened the package.  It doesn't slip off the can, it's smooth to operate, and it locks into place while you're opening the can so you don't have to exert continuous pressure.  My son is left handed, so he's broken all our other can openers, but this one works great for left or right handed people.




I've blogged about the many benefits of this apple peeler, corer, slicer before.  If you want to read the full review, check it out here.  Needless to say, this is a fantastic product for those who do a lot of apple dishes or canning in the fall.  It's saved me a ton of time and hand pain and I don't think this is one item that I'd want to do without.






This is such an awesome and versatile product.  The main use is as an immersion blender for things like making mashed potatoes, gravies, soup base, etc.  However, you can get some affordable attachments for this as well that turn it into a mini food chopper/processor, a high speed whisk, etc.  I use this all the time to avoid pulling out the bigger appliances.



I love this little appliance because of it's versatility.  Not only can you use it as your main toaster, but you can often times avoid using the main oven when you're making smaller dishes like scalloped potatoes, brownies, small batches of corn muffins, etc.  It saves me a lot off of my electric bill and also time in pre-heating the oven.


I could go on and on about some of the other essentials in my kitchen, but we'll save that for a later time!  So, do you own any of these?  What's on your "essential kitchen gadget" list?

21 comments:

Sofia said...

That is one fancy apple corer!! With my boys lving apples so much this gadget would come in handy!! And it is red!! :D

Unknown said...

My Hubby has been asking me for an apple peeler since we lost one in a move 5 years ago, LOL

Unknown said...

I agree with everything but the toaster oven and immersion blender. I always viewed these as kitchen gimmicks ^^;;

Unknown said...

I really like the apple peeler best!! The garlic press is something I really want!!!

Kelly said...

I love the garlic press...

Happy Gardening, Kim said...

We are definitely kitchen gadget people. Love my garlic press.

Carries Rambles said...

I wish my kitchen was bigger! I'd have all those gadgets and more :)

Unknown said...

Would love to have one of those blenders. all these gadgets are cool.. and handy...

CelloMom said...

My garlic press and vegetable peeler see almost daily use. The immersion blender once or twice a week. The can opener less and less these days.

Unknown said...

I miss have a toaster oven! unfortunately we don't have the counter space for it =(

Annie @ MontanaSolarCreations said...

I love our toaster oven and don't know what I'd do without it! It definitely heats more evenly than a microwave and is so much more versatile.

Jenny K said...

I definitely want an apple peeler!

Pam said...

I love kitchen gadgets too. I guess I just don't cook enough to justify buying some of them. I wish I had enough counter space for a toaster oven.

crunchyfarmbaby said...

I used to use so many gadgets and now I find that my trusty knife and wooden spoon seem to do just about everything I need them to do, haha! I do love my juicer though - can't really imagine not having that.

Unknown said...

I'm totally a gadget person too! I love that convection toaster oven, we hardly use our microwave and I've been looking for a toaster oven to replace it with!

Unknown said...

I need a garlic press so badly! And I love the apple peeler! I am a huge kitchen gadget junkie!!

Jessica said...

I just got a "Thunder Stick" when I ordered some new pots and pans. Love that thing! Think the next one on my list will be the garlic press!

Anonymous said...

I need an immersion blender soooo bad!

Jennifer Hall said...

I would love to have these gadgets!

Unknown said...

I love my apple peeler when it works. my emulsion blender is my favorite

Erin S said...

That apple core is awesome and love the Garlic Press-not having to peel the garlic! Erinn from http://www.3sonshavei.com/