Saturday Sips: 10 Essential Kitchen Tools

What do 10 essential kitchen tools have to do with insights for uncommon joy in the everyday?

Simply this: With the right equipment, quality ingredients, and simple, tasty recipes, working in the kitchen can truly be a delight. 

I speak from experience. Been there, done that, and am a convert who enjoys cooking and baking. And eating, of course. I didn’t have to be converted to that.

Since we all have to eat, and we’d go broke eating out all the time, it’s important to at least not hate being in the kitchen.

An added bonus: If you have your children and/or spouse work with you, and ultimately take turns sharing the preparation—and cleanup—it’s a chance to build relationships and teach important skills. Besides, you might discover as some of my friends have, that one of your children loves to cook more than you.

Here is the list of my 10 essential kitchen tools. And learn from my mistakes: When you are ready to buy, buy once and buy the best quality you can. 

1.  Serving spoon and fork.  Did you know you could buy restaurant quality kitchen ware even if you aren’t a restauranteur? Squeeee! When I was an innkeeper I was amazed at the difference in quality when we worked with commercial cookware, plus the prices and value were great. At publication, these were under $5 each!

I love the size, feel, and clean design of these pieces, especially with the contoured grips on the underside. When your regular silverware spoons just aren’t big enough for the task, these are terrific! Links are to Katom, the restaurant supplier we used as innkeepers. They also sell to the general public.

2.  Microplane. This is used for zesting fruit, grating parmesan, making fine chocolate shavings, and especially to grate fresh nutmeg to release its aromatic oils. These small touches make your creations sparkle with flavor! First link is to the fine grater. Coarse grater is here.

3.  Tongs.  I can’t imagine cooking without these. Handier than a spatula, with an easy-lock handle for tangle-free storage, solid durability, and dishwasher safe, all for a little more than $10. That is a true bargain!

4.  Measuring Spoons. At $14, these measuring spoons may seem pricy, but they are heavy duty and will last for years. Plus, their long and narrow design allows them to fit easily into any spice container. After having a multitude of cheap plastic sets, these are a dream to use.

5.  AccuSharp Knife Sharpener. That white plastic, funny shaped thing in the picture? It’s the simplest, effective, and long-lasting sharpener you’ll ever use, and it’s under ten bucks.

6.  Food Scale with Pull-Out Display. I wasn’t a believer until I started using my mom’s. The difference between a measuring cup of flour vs 120 grams—what one cup of flour weighs—can be critical. It can translate to the difference between dry and crumbly or perfectly moist and delicious goodies.

Plus, do you see in the photo how the display portion is pulled out? So very handy when you place a larger bowl on the scale, as it allows you to still read the weight! I use this so much I keep  it out on my shelf. It will measure mere ounces—or grams—or handle up to 11 pounds.

7.  Mix ‘n Chop. Although for me this is a single use tool, when I use it to cook ground beef, I love it. The tool crumbles that meat into nice, little bits, and it doesn’t scratch my pans. Nothing else I own will do this simple task so well.

8.  Cookie and Muffin Scoop. I used to scoff at women who owned scoops. “Why waste the money when a spoon will do?” I thought. My apologies, friends. After helping bake thousands of cookies and muffins, these are a lifesaver for this simple reason: Even-sized dollops of batter all cook at the same pace; no more overcooking to make sure everything in the pan is baked through.

9.  Baking Sheet. These are bigger and sturdier than what you normally will find in the stores, plus they have a 1″ lipped edge. No more food running off the edge, adhering like concrete onto the bottom of the oven. The lip makes them handy for baking larger recipes of bar cookies, too. Get several of these and you’ll wonder how you did without this dependable workhorse.

10.  Cook’s Illustrated Cookbooks. Here is the biggest secret about cooking: Working from time-tested recipes, you can mix together quality, affordable, accessible ingredients using well-made tools, and you are almost guaranteed a great result every time.

Your go-to place for those recipes? Cook’s Illustrated. Their mission: “to develop the absolute best recipes for all of your favorite foods. To do this, we test each recipe 30, 40, sometimes as many as 70 times, until we arrive at the combination of ingredients, technique, temperature, cooking time, and equipment that yields the best, most-foolproof recipe.”

My cooking ability really took a jump when I started using these books and recipes, plus it’s such a relief to choose a recipe knowing already it’s going to come out tasting great. Cook’s also includes techniques, favorite tools, and other helpful information along with the recipes.

There you have my 10 essential kitchen tools. If you don’t need them now, pin them for later by hovering over the photo and clicking.

Remember these are great too, as gifts for newlyweds, birthdays, and Valentine’s Day.

Disclosure: Some links are affiliate links, and Mr. Too Darn Happy and I appreciate your support when you buy through them. xo

Question: What is your favorite kitchen tool you use?

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