Favorite Kitchen Gadgets?

[skilletlicker]

I use my food scale every time I cook eat, but it isn't accurate enough to measure small quantities like salt/sodium or dietary supplements.

This little scale gets used several every day. Turns out my one finger kosher salt pinch is consistently ~0.38 grams. Don't know if I'd call it my favorite gadget but it is handy for me and probably won't get mentioned by anybody else.

 

[taxlady]

I use my food scale every time I cook eat, but it isn't accurate enough to measure small quantities like salt/sodium or dietary supplements.

This little scale gets used several every day. Turns out my one finger kosher salt pinch is consistently ~0.38 grams. Don't know if I'd call it my favorite gadget but it is handy for me and probably won't get mentioned by anybody else.
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Yup, my kitchen scale gets used a lot too. I guess it's become so standard to me, that I forget about it in a thread like this. But, yes, a digital kitchen scale is definitely worth having.

 

[pepperhead212]

Another vote for kitchen scales! I also use it so much, that I forget about it. And actually, I have a few of them! lol I have the original, battery operated one that I got, which was back in the 80s sometime, and it still works accurately. I got another, several years later, so that I had one large enough to put a plate on, and still see the display, plus an a.c. adapter. About 10 years ago, I gave that one to a friend, starting up his kitchen, and I got one that had even more weighing modes, and to 1/20th of an ounce, in those modes, plus the baker's percentage, which is great for bread bakers (the reason that I wanted it). I also have a very small scale, which measures to 1/10 of a gram, which I only use for things like salt, when pickling, or some of those chemicals I use in my gardening. I have a set of testing weights, and amazingly, none of these scales have ever tested off, though they do have ways to adjust.

I use this so much that on the upper sides of all of my metal bowls I took an engraver and put the weights on all of them - in ounces/tenths of ounces, and grams, so that if I want to weigh something, or weigh something into it, when I can't tare the bowl, I know how much they weigh. Some, like the KA bowl, I have memorized!

 

[msmofet]

One of my favourites, and it gets used a lot, is an immersion blender with a mini food processor and whisk attachments. I'm not sure it's this exact model, but it looks like mine. I had something similar in a different brand before, but this one seems to be holding up really well.

I have the Braun version and also love it.

A channel knife is fun for making decorative pieces of fruit and curls for garnishing food and cocktails. Andy mentioned a citrus zester. I didn't know they made a gadget with both!

I made this bowl of flower pickles (our own K'girl's recipe) for a party with the channel knife and garnish for the stuffed grape leaves with the zester. You can also use the zester to make citrus shreds for a marinade.
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I have one of those OXO brand tools.

 

[Andy M.]

I have had several immersion blenders over the years. I have never used any of the attachments that came with the tool. I have one currently that has a twist-off end that can go in the dishwasher. A great feature.

 

[GotGarlic]

I have had several immersion blenders over the years. I have never used any of the attachments that came with the tool. I have one currently that has a twist-off end that can go in the dishwasher. A great feature.

I was making guacamole a few weeks ago and the avocados were just under-ripe - edible but difficult to mash. I put them in the immersion blender cup and boom! Smooth as silk in about 10 seconds. I've used the chopper for nuts. It's a nice little gadget.

 

[Andy M.]

No doubt they work well. I just go a different way for those tasks.

 

[taxlady]

I have had several immersion blenders over the years. I have never used any of the attachments that came with the tool. I have one currently that has a twist-off end that can go in the dishwasher. A great feature.

One of the reasons I like the attachments is easy clean up, much easier than the big food processor. The Cuisinart one's bottom half comes off with the push of a button. I don't even know if that end is dishwasher safe, but it might be. I should look that up. It's also smaller. I don't have to schlep out a big stand mixer to beat egg whites or whip cream.

 

[Cooking Goddess]

Hello chefs! I just moved into a new apartment and am looking for some gadgets that make the kitchen life easier. What are some of your favorites? Im looking for gadgets that aren't extremely common but make the kitchen life easier.
Thanks!

Welcome to DC, Easy. My favorite gadget is the same as my favorite gizmo from a previous thread. Just used it yesterday, too!

What is your favorite kitchen gizmo?

 

[Kayelle]

Welcome to DC, Easy. My favorite gadget is the same as my favorite gizmo from a previous thread. Just used it yesterday, too!

What is your favorite kitchen gizmo?

My favorite is just below yours CG. I use it really often.
By the way, I ordered the same cheese slicer after seeing yours, and I love it too.


I found a good spot for it as a stand for a decorative rooster on the counter.

 

[Chief Longwind Of The North]

Two of my favorites are
1. mini spring-form pans - https://www.amazon.com/Wilton-Springform-Cheesecakes-Quiches-Non-Stick/dp/B00AK4ADQ2

2. cake leveler - https://www.amazon.com/s?k=cake+leveler+%26+slicer&i=garden&crid=1S0KKG0234ACB&sprefix=Cake+leveler%2Cgarden%2C225&ref=nb_sb_ss_i_2_12

I love making six, or even eight layer cakes, with a rally good filling between layers. Its dramatic, and delicious. And the little spring-form pans are great for everything from Mexican lasagna, to regular lasagna, mini cheesecakes. Cookie sandwiches, napoleons, or with anything that is stacked and firm.

Seeeeeya; Chief Longwind of the North

 

[Easychefboi]

Gadgets to me are a novelty thing - something that is not really necessary to everyday cooking.

But a gadget can also be something that has been around so long that it has become a standard in a kitchen. A good example is a peeler. A knife can do the job just as well and did for years but now peelers have been around so long almost every kitchen has one.

Gadgets and tools are basically the same to me. Whether its a gadget or a tool I still love the recommendations. Thanks!

 

[pepperhead212]

Chief, I had to look to see what a cake leveler is - I was thinking, who needs a cake leveler, you just level it with a spatula! As soon as I saw it I said "Oh yeah, those things!" I got them back in the 80s, (or earlier?), and I think those were called "Cake Insulaters", with the same idea - they rose evenly, since the sides don't harden quickly, causing it to rise in a hump the middle, and you don't get browned sides, which is something you don't want on most cakes. I've actually used those, placed end to end, to go around a rectangular or square pan, for baking brownies. Those center brownies are always my favorites (those gooey ones!), and this keeps the outside softer than usual.

 

[Vinylhanger]

My favorite kitchen gadget is my Circulon whisk. I realize they were recalled, but mine was bought used with the pin already missing.

It is like a nuclear whisk. Easy to use, stiff and powerful. Love it.