Kitchen Must-Haves: 5 Tools To Take Your Cooking To The Next Level
Whenever I move house, it’s always my kitchen stuff that fills up the most boxes – probably more than my clothes, shoes and bags combined. As someone who spends a ridiculous amount of my spare time in the kitchen baking and cooking for friends and family, I have, over the years, gathered quite a respectable array of kitchen tools and gadgets. So, let’s take a look at some of my favourite gizmos that I think are a must-have for anyone who owns a kitchen.
Victorinox Peeler, £6.50
Image: Victorinox via Amazon
You’re probably thinking – well I already have a peeler that works just fine. Think again, my friend! Most people know Victorinox as the Swiss Army Knife brand. Along with their well-known pocket knives, they also have a line of kitchen knives and utensils. What makes this peeler special then? For starters, I personally haven’t gone back to using a bog-standard peeler since my mum got me this for Christmas one year.
The peeler is long enough to hold and grip properly whilst peeling whatever it may be, making for a quicker, easier, and much more precise peel. Unlike your usual peeler, it only removes a very thin layer when peeling, meaning you don’t lose half your potato after you’ve finished peeling it. What’s great about this peeler is that it’s also very heavy duty, so you can peel a butternut squash no problem in a fraction of the time you would with a standard peeler. An added plus is that you can even use it to make stylish garnishes for cocktails or to decorate your baked goods!
Long Bar Spoon & Muddler, £12.99
Image: Bogoro via Amazon
It always amuses me that I use both these tools more for cooking than I do for making cocktails. The muddler comes in handy when I’m baking: it’s perfect for pressing a biscuit base firmly into a tin or for giving pastry a groovy pattern before baking. If you flip the muddler round and use it the “wrong” way, it’s a great tool to make holes with – e.g. when you’re making biscuits, donuts, or pastries.
The long spoon is especially useful for when you’re making something in a large pot or bowl that needs a good stir. With the spoon being quite thin and long, I find it mixes up large quantities more efficiently and with much less mess and splashing than if you were to use a large spatula or wooden spoon. When I have multiple pots on the go, I keep the spoon in a pint glass of hot veg broth or water so I can mix and taste everything as I go without cross contaminating the pots.
Of course, what’s great about this purchase is that you can obviously use the tools for their original purpose and make yourself a nice little cocktail before you start cooking!
Handheld 3-Blade Spiraliser, £21
Image: Oxo via Amazon
With all the trendy new cooking waves and crazes, surely most of you will have heard of courgetti – courgette that has been spiralised into thin ribbons that are a superb healthy alternative to noodles. It doesn’t stop at courgette, though…
With the various attachments, you can spiralise pretty much and fruit and veg into different thicknesses and shapes. Play around with the different textures of vegetables and get creative – from colourful summer salads to your favourite stir-fry or pasta dishes, you can even spiralise your fruit into desserts!
Cheese Parer, £5.49
Image: Kitchen Craft via Amazon
Being overly obsessed with cheese, I have gone through too many of these nifty cheese slicers. My mum always called it a cheese parer, which I think is a much more accurate term for it – paring basically means trimming or thinly slicing something in culinary terms. While they are more of a European thing, I would certainly recommend this tool to anyone who eats cheese on the reg!
Instead of destroying a perfectly good block of cheddar by cutting into it any which way, you can use the cheese parer to shave off very thin slices with ease and leaving the block of cheddar intact. Perfect for making sandwiches, grilled cheese, toasties, cheese crackers, you name it. I have even resorted to using this tool to shave off thin slices of butter for my toast in the morning when the butter is too hard to spread with a knife!
Food Thermometer, £15.99
Image: Temola via Amazon
While this gadget might seem over the top, I can assure you that it’s a very helpful aid that can actually take your cooking to the next level. I never saw the need for a food thermometer before my partner, who is a professional chef, introduced me to them. Once I got to know how and when to use it, I realised it really is an essential kitchen gadget…
I’ve never been a fan of cooking meat, as I tend to overcook it, leaving it dry and unexciting. However, with a thermometer and a simple google, you can easily find out what meat is cooked perfectly at what temp; just stick your probe into the meat to check the core temp and you’ll know exactly when to take it out.
It’s also super helpful if you’re making any kind of caramel where you need to know the precise temperature of the sugar at any given time. Further, I use the thermometer to check if my oil is hot enough when I am (deep) frying things. With a magnetic back and a large hole, it’s easy to store the thermometer anywhere in your kitchen so you can just grab it when you need it!
Even though I probably have more than enough gadgets at this point, I still get excited at the thought of sexy new additions to my ever-growing utensil collection – in kitchen shops, I’m honestly like a child at a pick-n-mix. I would certainly say that if you have the right tools, you can pretty much do anything in the kitchen, regardless of your culinary skills!
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Written by Maisie Gervais
