So a few weeks ago I alluded to a blog coming soon about my kitchen essentials. Well this is the week! As I have shared recipes over the last 8 months, you probably noticed I do utilize various kitchen gadgets. Today, I will share my list of top ten must have appliances/gadgets (in no particular order) from my kitchen. I am a Bed, Bath and Beyond junkie so will share a link to the products below on their website, assuming I can still find it there. If I couldn’t find it there, I have tried to find it somewhere, in case you are interested in adding it to your kitchen. Most all of these products you can get just about anywhere. I do tend to love Bed, Bath and Beyond though and with the 20% off coupons they send in the mail you can end up with a pretty good and comparable price.
Good set of knives
First up, is a good set of knives. This is imperative to successful and ease free cooking. My favorite knife is the santoku knife. I use this 98% of the time while I am cooking. It is known as an Asian Knife, hints the name, and is the one that is the widest in the picture and has the little divots on the blade edge (second from the top). I find it particularly helpful when chopping veggies. While I use this most of the time, I do think having a few other knives to choose from in your collection is important. Next up is a good paring knife. This will help with chopping smaller foods or more intricate prep work. With that said, there are certain foods that are easier to prepare with a serrated knife - tomatoes are always the first to come to mind. Last up is a good pair of kitchen shears. You can use shears for herbs, opening packages, etc. The next few knives are what I call ‘tier two’ knives. I think you can do everything you need with what I previously listed, but it would be nice to have a few others if your budget allows. I have a large serrated knife because I find cutting bread is easier with the larger size serrated knife. Lastly, what is known as a utility knife. I like to use this knife for my meats. You can find knives just about anywhere, although this is one place in your kitchen, where you may want to spend a little more money. The price of knives can vary pretty drastically, but keep in mind, some of the more expensive knives have a life time warranty, so you will pay a little more up front, but never have to spend another dime.
Find it here
Practice your knife skills with two kitchen basics - onion and garlic
Better Bonus Tip: Keep your knives sharp or they are doing you no good and can actually put you at risk of hurting yourself. You can purchase a knife sharpener, but I like to take my knives to Bass Pro Shop and they will sharpen them for free.
Knife block
When I went knife shopping I didn't find a knife set that I liked. I wanted to do open stock knives - meaning I pick each individual knife. While there are benefits to doing it this way, I still needed somewhere to store the knives and didn’t like the idea of storing them in a drawer even with their protective sleeve on. I found a knife block, known as Kapoosh, where you don’t have preset slots to fit your knives into, so whatever knives you have in your collection you can make fit. What a great idea! This particular brand comes in wood or stainless steel and the inside is dishwasher safe.
Find it here
Microplane
You have probably seen me use this gadget many times over the life of this blog. I love it! I probably use it the most often when zesting citrus fruits. Yes, you can just use the juice of the fruit, but the zest gives you maximum intense flavor because the zest is where all the essential oils live. I also find microplanes extremely helpful for grating just about anything that I need really fine - garlic, ginger, nutmeg, hard boiled eggs, onion, cheese and even chocolate.
Find it here
Great to use when preparing pesto, my tuna salad cakes, or my chicken cutlets with lemon sauce
Citrus Squeezer
So yes, you can squeeze the juice out of a lemon or lime with your good old fashion hands, but that’s no fun. You probably end up having to fish the seeds out after the fact and I am just a big wimp so can’t ever get that much juice. The first ‘juicer’ I purchased was what is known as a reamer. You stick the reamer into the flesh of the citrus and it helps release the juice. With this, I still found myself fetching after the seeds. Then some genius invented this tool! You slice the citrus in half, place in the slot and squeeze. The citrus is completely degraded, but the amount of juice obtained is not comparable to any other gadget. Plus, the seeds stay in the gadget. The one referenced below in the link is not the actual one I own. Mine has a slot for lemon and lime - not necessary!
Find it here
Great to use when preparing salsa, whether its my avocado dips or mango salsa
Better Bonus Tip: If you have a citrus fruit that doesn’t feel very ripe, pop it in the microwave for a few seconds.
Immersion blender
Again, who invents this stuff? Amazing! This is a must have if you like to make soup or smoothies. Yes, you can make blended soups or smoothies in a traditional blender, but with soup in particular, I don’t ever want to transfer the contents to another appliance for a couple of reasons. One - another difficult to wash appliance to clean. Two - risk of spilling and making a mess. Just plug the immersion blender in and insert the stick into the soup pot and blend. If you think you would like it for smoothies, you have a cup that comes with it where you can add your ingredients, mix directly in the cup and then drink from the cup. So easy!
Find it here
Great when making blended soups
Blender cup
Another must have if you are a smoothie fanatic. This is great for smoothies on the go and prefer this over the immersion blender . The same cup that is used to blend, is now the cup you can take with you - lid and all. Such a time saver and ideal appliance to help ensure I get a great start to my day every morning.
Find it here
Great for breakfast smoothies
Salad spinner
So to be honest, I can be a sucker for buying kitchen appliances that I don’t really need. This was something I registered for when we got married and I wasn't really sure why. Talk about lazy - wash your lettuce with your hands! Two years later though I have grown to love this. I can get home from the store and chop up a bunch of lettuce, stick it in this spinner and spray it down (while it is in the strainer piece). Then pump this thing to death and walk away. Once I come back, it is washed, dried and I can switch to the normal lid and store it in the fridge all week. Yes, I could probably still wash a head of lettuce and dry it in a towel, but I still feel like it doesn’t get as dry. If there is still moisture in the lettuce, it will go bad quickly. Plus, if hand drying the lettuce, I have broken and bruised the leaves in the process. My husband can take all the help he can when getting lunch ready during the week, so this is a big win for us.
Find it here
Seal a meal food-saver
Buying in bulk is great, if you have a way to maintain the freshness of the food you aren’t ready to eat yet. Having a food-saver can do just that. I use mine primarily for proteins, but you can really use it for just about anything. They even have vacuum capabilities for containers, in addition to the standard bags. I also like that thee bags come in all different sizes so I can portion out what I want to freeze to make it easier to use when I am ready later. I couldn’t find the one I own on any site, but there lots of brands and price ranges. To be honest, I am pretty sure the one I purchased was pretty cheap and it has lasted me many years - 5+.
Buying in bulk is great, if you have a way to maintain the freshness of the food you aren’t ready to eat yet. Having a food-saver can do just that. I use mine primarily for proteins, but you can really use it for just about anything. They even have vacuum capabilities for containers, in addition to the standard bags. I also like that thee bags come in all different sizes so I can portion out what I want to freeze to make it easier to use when I am ready later. I couldn’t find the one I own on any site, but there lots of brands and price ranges. To be honest, I am pretty sure the one I purchased was pretty cheap and it has lasted me many years - 5+.
Find it here
Great if you are a meal planner and/or buy in bulk.
Standard cooking set up
What do I mean by standing cooking set up? When I first started my blog, my mom said you say ‘drizzle of oil a lot. That doesn't really tell me anything’. You may have also noticed I really don’t state specific amounts of oil, salt or pepper in my recipes. That is because I don’t really know. I have what I call a standard cooking set up right next to my oven that consists of two oil dispensers, one with extra virgin olive oil and a second filled with canola/vegetable oil mix. A sugar tray, filled with salt and a pepper grinder. I also make sure I have a cooking spray close by, because oil is not always the answer. I love this, because these are standards I use in every single meal I make. I want them right there, easily accessible.
Egg timer
This one is a little dorky, but I love my egg timer! It takes the thinking out of cooking and sometimes we all need that. You stick the timer in your pot with your eggs and it lets you know when the eggs are done by changing color. Once the eggs reach your level of desired doneness - soft, medium or hard, the purple color will move to that level noted on the egg timer. Sure everyone probably has heard the best way to cook hard boiled eggs (one I heard just this week was bring water to a boil and remove from heat and let the eggs stay in the warm water for 13 minutes), but this is so much easier!!
Find it here
Great if making hard boiled eggs for your favorite egg or tuna salad or my tuna salad cakes.
Wine opener (bonus)
This one is just for fun. I am a wine drinker, but if you aren’t, you still may choose to cook with wine. I have a sign in my kitchen that says I like to cook with wine, sometimes I even put it in the food. Either way, if you need to open a bottle of wine for whatever reason, this is the opener for you. The wine opener comes as a 5 piece set - the opener itself, a stand to allow the opener to sit in on your counter, a foil opener, a second backup corkscrew and a wine stopper. It is a simple three step process. Use the foil cutter to remove the foil from the top of the bottle. Insert the corkscrew barely into the top of the cork. Push down on the opener handle and then push back up. Voila! You will never open a bottle of wine with a different opener again. I couldn’t find the exact model I have, but the one linked below is the same idea. The one I own is made exclusively for bed, bath and beyond and is cheaper than the one linked.
Find it here
So, there you have it, the gadgets and appliances I can’t live without in my kitchen! What is your favorite gadget/appliance in your kitchen?
~Ashley
I dont see a Channel Knife on here
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