Upgrade Your Kitchen Game: 15 Essential Utensils for Food Lovers

We’re all looking for the latest gadgets to make our lives easier. This is especially true in the kitchen where the latest tech can be a real time-saver.

A popular online forum looked at some essential kitchen utensils, and all of these suggestions could help upgrade your cookery game.

1. Chopsticks

They’re not just for eating: One contributor pointed out that you can use chopsticks for stirring noodles and other foods in frying pans. I would also add that they can be used to test the temperature of cooking oil. Insert a chopstick, and it’s ready to go if the oil bubbles.

2. Tortilla Press

As someone who doesn’t make tortillas, I dismissed this gadget as too “niche.” However, one forum member underlines the versatility of a tortilla press, claiming that they use them to flatten a lot of different foods including chicken cutlets, potatoes, and anything else they want super thin and flat.

3. Air Fryer

This gadget gets a number of votes on this thread, and it could almost be seen as revolutionary. Could an air fryer be the only gadget you need? One respondent thinks so, telling us they barely use their oven and other appliances anymore.

4. Meat Thermometer

These aren’t just for professional chefs; you may wonder how you ever cooked without a meat thermometer. Replies confirm that they may become indispensable, with one stating that they need the tool because it cooks their meat perfectly every time. 

5. Immersion Blender

A hand-held immersion blender could be a true time saver in the kitchen. Use one to go beneath the surface for soups, smoothies, and more, and it may be a wise investment. Forum members love them, with one praising how versatile it is and how easy the clean up can be.

6. Fish Spatula

Thin, bendy, and wide, this tool is perfect for getting under anything that is difficult to lift from the pan. The fish spatula is popular among the forum, with one member confessing that they have one even though they don’t cook fish.

7. Cut Resistant Glove

This gadget ties in with another useful kitchen item – the mandolin. A mandolin is perfect for thin slicing, but it’s also very sharp, and it can be easy to get slices of finger in with your onions and mushrooms. These gloves let you use your hand to hold things against the mandolin without the fear of cutting your fingers.

8. Glass Measuring Cups

We’re all looking for versatility from our kitchen instruments. A glass measuring cup may seem basic, but one forum member underlines its usefulness. Within their kitchen, these are employed often for a lot of different tasks.

9. Sous Vide Cooker

A sous vide cooker is an immersion device that heats up and circulates water with the aim of maintaining even pressures. The forum loves it, with one contributor claiming they are an “exponential level-up” tool for cooking.

10. Smoker Tube

A small-scale smoker device could add a new dimension to your cooking. One individual recommends a smoker tube because they’re so easy to use and can be really cheap.

11. Spiralizer

This item could be considered a high-end luxury, but that’s OK. I’ve always wanted to make a potato rosti, but it seems far too time-consuming. Among the many recommendations on this thread, one points to a spiralizer as perfect for this dish, even if the gadget is only used a few times a year.

12. Kitchen Tweezers

A pair of tweezers in the kitchen will be useful for fish and seafood cookery as you look to remove those tiny bones. There may also be a hint of versatility, with one person wondering if they would work as chopstick substitutes.

13. Spider Strainer

This smart little gadget does the work of both a scoop and a sieve, draining liquid while you lift food from the pan. It’s a hit among posters, with one informing us that they use it so much for pasta and  vegetables.

14. Vacuum Sealer

Anyone who is into batch cooking should consider a vacuum sealer. It is better than cling film or food bags to keep food in optimum condition when placed in the freezer for heating through and serving at a later date.

15. Bench Scraper

We’ll sign off with one of the more basic tools that has become vital to many cooking surfaces. The bench scraper is an ideal weapon against messy worktops, with one commenter stating that it has become one of their most used utensils, making it easier to remove large amounts of chopped food.

Source: Reddit