14 Kitchen Gadgets That Will Improve Your Life

From essential to esoteric, these tools will spark joy.

Single-use gadgets are truly the black sheep of the kitchen. Most of us have limited storage, and it feels downright wasteful to reserve any drawer space for an item that can only be used in very, very specific scenarios. Food writers often deride items such as garlic presses as being “one trick ponies,” and honestly, I can’t and won’t argue that point.  But what I will say is… what if you really like that pony?  And more importantly, its one trick?

I personally don’t think every single-use gadget comes to us from the depths of Hades. There are actually a whole bunch of wonderful kitchen gadgets I’ve accumulated over the years that bring me great happiness — more so than alleged “badass” items such as mandolins and food mills (I have both, and they’re fine, but I honestly dislike them).  I want to share with you some of my favorite gadgets and gadget-adjacent thingies I have lurking in my kitchen. I won’t say that any of them are essentials (well, maybe a few), but they make my life significantly easier, and I suspect they’ll help with yours too.

Here they are in no particular order.

Dusting wand

Let’s just jump out of the gate with a truly ridiculous but joy-inducing gadget.  The dusting wand is like a tiny Death Star on a stick, but instead of dispensing misery and destruction, it showers powdered sugar!  What a refreshing update to a classic Star Wars trope.  Use this wand to dust cakes and confections with powdered sugar.  Its design is ingenious: twist the base of the wand, and the Death Star opens up, turning into something of a spoon which you can use to dig into your powdered sugar supply.  Close up the Death Star again, invert the contraption, and enjoy the absolute perfect sugar dusting you create.  Sure, you can achieve the same effect using a simple sifter, but I assure you this deliriously goofy gadget is an unassailable delight to use. Plus, as gadgets go, it’s pretty small. I highly recommend the dusting wand for anyone who enjoys baking… or simply likes a fancy looking French toast.

Find it on Amazon here.

Corn zipper

Slicing corn kernels off the cob is not particularly hard, but it is particularly annoying. A corn zipper makes it that much easier.  The gadget presents like a Y-peeler, but look closer and you’ll see two bands of metal shaped almost like a smiling mouth. This unique shape allows the corn zipper to effortlessly remove kernels from the cob with just a few easy strokes downward.  Unlike with a knife though, the kernels don’t tumble all over the kitchen (for what it’s worth, I still use a bowl to collect them just in case).  This is definitely not an essential item, but it’s small and makes quick and clean work of any ear of corn.

Find it on Amazon here.

Garlic press

I treasure my garlic press.  Sure, I can — and do — mince my garlic with a knife, but there are many times when I just want finely minced garlic, and I want it now.  Sounds intense, but I’m speaking my truth. The real upside to a garlic press — and this is something that I’m surprised not more people realize — is that you don’t have to even peel your garlic to use it.  Just place a clove in the little pocket and clamp it shut.  The pressure of the device will force the garlic out of its peel and through the grate, leaving any paper behind.  Honestly, this is a game changer for me, given that I hate, hate, hate peeling garlic.

Notably, I’ve recently learned about achieving similar results by grating a garlic clove with a Microplane.  No peeling involved in that technique either, which is honestly shocking.  I’m totally open to this.  Which brings me to my next gadget…

Find it on Amazon here.

Microplane

This is more of a tool than a gadget, but my kitchen is a big tent, and I choose to be inclusive.  Microplane is actually a brand name, but it’s become synonymous with a product à la Xerox and Kleenex.  Basically, it’s a long, narrow grate that’s essential for grating zest (and apparently garlic).  If you’re thinking a box grater is all you need, then a) yes, if you don’t have one you should have a box grater, and b) that is not enough!  The number of recipes that call for fresh zest is staggering; so, this is an absolutely mandatory purchase!  Wow, I am yelling in my head.

Find it on Amazon here.

Citrus squeezer

If you’re going to be grating citrus zest, you’ll probably be squeezing out some fresh juice too.  Enter a citrus squeezer – an extremely helpful and speedy tool that will force out a lemon’s, lime’s, or whatever-fits-in-it’s juice in mere seconds.  It’s a godsend.  I feel obliged to note that I have a full suite of citrus juicing options: a classic reamer, an electric citrus juicer, and a handheld citrus squeezer.  I adore all of them and believe they all have a time and a place.  But, if you must choose one, get the squeezer.  And if you can get two, the electric option is cheap and excellent.  (just know that an electric citrus juicer is not the same as a fruit juicer)

Here’s one like mine on Amazon.

Dough scraper

A dough scraper is intended to divide and conquer dough (and of course scrape it off surfaces), but I use it mostly to gather chopped items and scoop them into a bowl.  “What about my hands?” you ask?  Sure.  Go ahead.  Enjoy that sloppy gathering of food that will inevitably leave a trail from cutting board to bowl.  It’s your life.  Trust me – the tidiness that a dough scraper affords is really worth it.  Plus, just to circle back, it’s super helpful with dough!

Here’s one on Amazon.

Digital kitchen scale

If you are intending to bake anyyyyything, please stop reading this article and buy yourself a digital kitchen scale.  First advantage: precision.  No more guesswork about if your flour is sifted enough or leveled off enough or… whatever enough.  113g of flour will always be 113g of flour.  The second advantage is the real doozy: fewer dishes!  Instead of needing a variety of cup measures, all you need is one handy spoon.  Just scoop your dry ingredient into the mixing bowl until you’ve reached the needed weight, and you’re done.  Onto the next!  Third advantage:  it’s just good to have a small scale around.  Use it to measure out pasta.  Use it to weigh envelopes (!!), use it for literally anything.

Here’s one on Amazon.

Silicone bowl scraper

When you pour batter from a bowl, you leave residue behind.  You really have no idea how much remains until you get a silicone bowl scraper. With a few generous strokes around a bowl’s surface, I have been able to salvage enough batter to eke out an extra muffin or even several cookies.  It’s shocking.  Now, just to be clear, when I say scraper, I don’t mean a spatula type tool with a long handle.  My bowl scraper is a lima-bean shaped bit of silicone, but these days, it seems the most common variety is a semicircle.  I don’t imagine you can go wrong with either shape.

This option looks good.

Shrimp deveiner

I do not care what anyone says, using a paring knife to devein shrimp is pain in the ass. Come at me, bro. That’s why a shrimp deveiner is mandatory.  Looking like the finger of some evil witch, a deveiner inserts at the base of a shrimp’s head and glides forward to the tail, pushing out the digestive tract in the process. And did I mention that it also shells the shrimp in the process?  What a world.  You might not use this gadget all the time, but when you need it, you’ll never be happier that you have it.

Find it on Amazon here.

Salt cellar

File this one under kitchen essentials.  Of everything listed here today, a salt cellar is the one item that I insist everyone purchase.  It’s not really a gadget, nor is it a tool. A salt cellar is just a small, wide container for salt storage (realistically you can just repurpose some sort of container or Tupperware into a salt cellar if money is tight or you’re feeling crafty).  The real value of a salt cellar is not that it provides a home for your salt, but that it eases and improves seasoning.

First, pouring salt from a container into a tiny teaspoon is a ridiculous endeavor.  It’s so much easier (and therefore faster) to just scoop what you need from a salt cellar. Secondly, you’ll be much more effective at seasoning your food properly if you go into the salt cellar with your fingers.  Over time, you’ll develop a keen sense of “too much” and “too little” — it will actually be faster than endlessly measuring salt out of a container and into a spoon. And how annoying is that?  I always follow a recipe’s salting instructions, but there are times when tactility is the best way to go (dry brining meat, seasoning soup, preparing pasta water).  You really need to get your fingers all up in that cellar; so be sure to get one that’s wide enough for your hand to plunge into.

Here’s an example from Etsy.

Ricer

A ricer is a gadget that looks more or less like a giant garlic press.  Most people use it to mash veggies, but I find its greatest use is to press the liquid out of shredded potatoes or frozen spinach.  I have gone years — years, people — wrapping potatoes in kitchen towels and wringing the them to holy hell. It’s a tedious, lengthy, and messy process; a necessary evil on the road to delicious latkes.  One reader of this newsletter suggested using a ricer instead, and wow, my life is changed. It’s not like I wring moisture out of veggies all the time, but when I do, I absolutely hate it.  Now there’s one less annoyance in my life.

Check it out on Amazon here.

Apple corer

When it came to making apple pie or sauce or really anything with apples, I was a firm proponent of the slicer thingamajig — you know the one that looks like a Ferris wheel that you press down on the apple?  What’s not to love about it? It cores AND slices all in one go.  But here’s the thing – every time I used an apple slicer, it would get stuck or the core would be hard to remove, or it would somehow miss the seeds entirely.  It was never quite as perfect as I wanted it to be.

Introducing the seemingly less useful but actually more awesome apple corer.  While it won’t slice anything for you, the apple corer will bore a very authoritative tunnel through your apple and dispose of the core much more effectively than any slicer could ever dream of.  You’ll have much more control with a corer, and you’ll rarely need to go back and fix any mistakes.  In short, it does fewer things but saves more time.

My Crate & Barrel version comes ergonomically shaped like a pistol and features adorable jaws that when opened eject the excised apple core.  These are the things that bring me joy.

Here’s one that’s similar to mine on Amazon.

Digital meat thermometer

You should have an instant read meat thermometer.  That’s just a given. My pick is the Kizen digital meat thermometer for three distinct reasons.  1)  It’s digital. I can’t stand the ambiguity of a slow-moving analog needle.  2) It’s waterproof, which makes it easy to clean.  3)  It’s magnetic!  Don’t worry about finding space for it in your drawer because it can just stick to the fridge.  Perfection!

Find it on Amazon here.

Silicone pastry mat

Contrary to popular belief, I don’t think silicone mats are wonderful for baking. I mean, they are, but the cleanup is honestly very annoying, and they become too sticky over time.  I do, however, enjoy the Greenrain silicone pastry mat because dough is less likely to cling to it and also, diagrams!  Who doesn’t love a good diagram?  This mat comes with various diagrams representing anywhere from 5 to 12 inch diameter rounds.  No more estimating when rolling out dough!  There’s also a handy ruler printed on the edge for further utility.  I absolutely love this.  I am not someone who’s very good at guesstimating dimensions, and this mat removes any and all uncertainty.  And when you’re done, just roll it up and stick it in the back of a drawer.  Still annoying to wash, but I guess we can’t have it all.

Find it on Amazon here.

Some final thoughts on gadget storage

Obviously, kitchen storage is a premium for most people, and it may not be realistic to take on a bunch of gadgets.  If, however, you don’t want to be bound by the confines of your drawer space, might I suggest a deeply obvious yet somehow overlooked strategy? My podcast co-host Ronnie hipped me to this:  get a box.  I know — your mind is blown.  But seriously, get a shoebox and put all the gadgets that you don’t frequently use in it.  Then put that box in a nearby closet.  This way your gadgets aren’t cluttering up your high traffic kitchen drawer space but are still accessible. I don’t know why we feel like kitchen gadgets have to be at our fingertips at all times.  They don’t have to be!  Tools have a toolbox, and we call upon the toolbox when we need it.  Same goes for gadgets.  Boxes — is there anything they can’t do?

What are some of your favorite kitchen tools and gadgets?