There are kitchen utensils that save time and those that are a waste of money. Here are the one’s you should invest in according to a cooking expert.
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They say a tradesperson is only as good as their tools, and the same is true in the kitchen. Without the right utensils, even the best ingredients and the most finely-tuned culinary skills will still leave you teetering on the verge of a kitchen nightmare.
After thousands of hours in the kitchen, both at home and in restaurants, I’ve come to learn that sometimes the difference between culinary success and humiliating, horrifying disaster can be as simple as using the right whisk.
Foodies love gadgets, but with tools available for every imaginable job, which are genuine time savers and which are destined for relegation to the back of the junk drawer?
I’m looking at you, wire egg slicer that I haven’t touched since 1998 and that weird ‘olive spoon’ with a hole in it …
Whether they’re important for making a single job easier, or are a multipurpose superstar, these are the utensils I find myself reaching for every time I’m in the kitchen.
EDITOR’S PICKS: BEST KITCHEN GADGETS AND UTENSILS
Microplane Grater Gourmet Ribbon, Amazon Australia, $34.19
Garlic makes pretty much everything taste better; that’s simple science. But finely chopping every clove before you can start cooking is a fiddly job that not only takes time, but puts my fingers in constant danger of being finely chopped too. Easy to clean and safe to use, a Microplane grater practically dissolves a clove of garlic or a chunk of ginger in seconds, saving on cleaning up and on inadvertent finger slices. It’s just as great (grate…?) for zesting citrus peel for cakes, adding a sprinkle of chocolate to a cappuccino and covering a bowl of al dente pasta with parmesan.
KitchenAid Maple Wood Scraper Spatula Silicone, Myer, $14.95
Forget the wooden spoon. Ditch the tongs. If I could recommend welding one tool permanently to your hand, this would be it. The spatula’s heat-resistant silicon paddle lets you stir your saucepan right to the corners, preventing those impossible-to-clean sticky bits, while the flat surface makes it easy to get in under those omelettes and pancakes for easy flipping. From getting the last of the milkshake out of the blender, to smoothing the top of your cake before baking, it’s tough to find a more all-purpose tool than a comfortable, wooden-handled spatula.
Appetito Metal Skewers Set of 6, Catch, $11.99
Whether I’m testing to see if a cake or steak is done, binding together the back of a roast chook to hold in the stuffing, piercing holes in the skin of a duck breast before grilling or throwing together some quick lamb skewers for the barbecue, a little bundle of metal skewers is an affordable multi-use addition to the kitchen drawer.
Easy Grips 2 in 1 Scraper, House, $14.99
Sure, it might look like a simple piece of plastic, but this nifty tool – which takes up almost no space – is a baker’s best friend. I use it to persuade dough out of a bowl, to divide my dough into sections without damaging the benchtop with a knife, and to scrape up flour and those crusty bits of dough when I’m done.
Of all the risky kitchen tasks, there’s no good reason why simply squeezing the juice from a lemon should be the most painful. Load this handheld squeezer with half a lemon or lime, press the ends together with one hand and a steady stream of juice pours right into my bowl, measuring cup or saucepan, rather than squirting directly into my eyeballs.
OXO Kitchen & Herb Scissors, House, $29.99 (RRP $47.99)
The kitchen might traditionally be the knife’s domain, but there are plenty of jobs a good pair of kitchen scissors are better suited for. Having some robust, easily cleanable scissors dedicated to the kitchen means I can snip herbs directly into a salad, cut pita bread or tortillas into snacky shards, butterfly a chicken or trim lasagne sheets to the exact size of my baking dish.
BEST GADGETS FOR GETTING ORGANISED
Pyrex 4-Piece Glass Measuring Cup Set, Amazon Australia, $50.99 (RRP $59.99)
The key to calm cooking is preparation, and a stack of these durable ovenproof, microwave-safe measuring cups has taken my prep-game to a whole new level. Now I have all my ingredients measured, my liquid ingredients pre-mixed, my butter pre-melted and my seasonings pre-weighed and by my side before I even think about turning on the stove.
Soffritto Professional Tina III Digital Scale Black, House, $49.99
Measuring ingredients by the cup or tablespoon can be imprecise, and that can lead to disaster; particularly when baking. I tend to look for recipes that use weights instead of cup measurements, so I can use my digital scales to ensure I get the exact amount of egg white those tricky meringues, the right volume of salt for those pickles, and the perfect amount of sugar for my next ambitious baking project.
BEST GADGETS FOR SAFE COOKING
AcuRite Digital Instant Read Thermometer With Folding Probe, Myer, $32.95
As a fan of medium-rare meat, the idea of cooking steak at home used to terrify me. Cook it too long and it becomes cardboard, not enough and it’s blue. Not only has this pocket-sized digital device saved my steak, it gets stuck into a roast chicken to see if it’s cooked inside, swirled around a pot of oil to test the temp before I start frying, and used to instantly see if my water’s just warm enough to poach those eggs.
Shun Classic Combination Honing Steel, Amazon Australia, $77.14
There’s nothing more dangerous in the kitchen than a blunt knife. Swiping your blade across a honing steel after every 20-30 cuts realigns the sharp edge and keeps your knives operating in peak, safe condition.
KitchenAid Artisan Stand Mixer with attachments, Myer, $899
Any baker will tell you they couldn’t live without their stand mixer, but KitchenAid takes it a step further. As well as the usual whisking, beating and kneading, the wide array of attachments available make this the tool I turn to for rolling pasta, churning ice cream, mincing meat, pressing juice, milling flour and even stuffing sausages at home. It’s an investment, sure, but my KitchenAid is one of my most beloved, and most used, pieces of kitchen kit.
Baccarat Butchers Corner 48 x 32cm Acacia Chopping Board, House, $179.99
No matter how fancy or tough your knives, using anything other than a soft wooden chopping block will dull them in no time. I’m a big fan of these heavy, thick blocks, not only for their durability and how kind they are to my knives, but because there’s no chance of them sliding around while I’m chopping.
Simpli-Magic Herringbone Dish Towels Multi-Colour 18 Pack, Amazon, $41.14
You might think, as I once did, that a tea towel is just a tea towel. But it turns out there’s no substitute for genuine, quality linen. Not only are they great for polishing plates, glasses and cookware, they’re absorbent enough to clean up spills, thick enough to help handle hot pans and – get this – with proper linen, the fibres actually strengthen with every wash.
White Magic Eco Basics Vegetable Brush, House, $4.99
Did you know the moment you hit those beautiful carrots you bought from the farmers market with a peeler, you’re stripping away half their nutrients? The tough bristles of this vegetable brush clean up your carrots, potatoes, radishes, and any other hardy vegetables without damaging them, and without removing that beautiful, nutritious peel.
Avanti Pastry Brush 40mm Boar Bristles, Catch, $10.95
A fixture in many kitchens for brushing an attractive milk or egg wash over pastry before baking, I find myself reaching for my pastry brush to add a lustrous glaze to ham, to evenly coat a roast chicken in olive oil, to brush honey over roast carrots, and to distribute that sticky marinade over BBQ skewers and ribs.
100% Natural Cotton Natural Reusable Cheese Cloths, Amazon, $12.99
Sure, it’s not so much a gadget or a tool as it is a piece of loosely-woven fabric, but what a magic piece of fabric it is. As well as straining stocks, fruit jellies and yoghurt, I use muslin to press the liquid from carrots, spinach and other veggies before baking them into frittata, make a ‘tea bag’ of whole spices to infuse into a stew, tagine or pot of mulled wine, and even douse it in wine and use it to cover a roast chicken to keep it juicy.
BEST GADGETS FOR UPPING YOUR FOOD GAME
Avanti Plating Tweezers Set of 3, House, $16.99
Thinking about how you arrange your food on a plate can have a huge impact on how people enjoy it. Carefully adding a few parsley leaves, some thin slices of pickled radish, or an edible flower from the herb garden with these long-armed plating tweezers can make even a thrown-together salad look like a restaurant dish.
Wilton Plastic Decorating Squeeze Bottle Regular 54ml, House, $5.99
This is the most insider-chef trick on this list, and probably also the simplest. Decanting olive and vegetable oils, vinegar, stock, lemon juice, cream, glazes, sauces, dressings and any other liquid you use regularly into these plastic squeeze bottles can take your cooking from ‘home enthusiast’ to ‘pro chef’. Keep the bottles nearby as you cook and adjust the flavour of your dishes on the go; give your risotto or steak a precise drizzle of oil before serving, add a hit of acid to those sauteed veggies or even use it squeeze pancake batter into the pan!
Tristan Lutze is a recipe creator, restaurant reviewer, and food and travel writer currently living on a farm in country NSW. As well as News.com.au, he contributes to Delicious, Qantas magazine, Gourmet Traveller and Broadsheet, and is a regular guest on ABC Radio. He shares his farming and culinary adventures on Instagram at @tristancooksandeats.
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