There are a million cooking tools, appliances, and household goods available to us at the touch of the return button. But which ones are good, which are unnecessary; which ones are worth the money, which ones are out standing?
Here I recommend my favorite tools for your kitchen, chosen for utility, value, and quality. I receive a small affiliate fee if you purchase using the Buy Now button. But please know these are the kitchen tools that I truly love and use.
This is my favorite knife company, and my favorite set. Truly all you need for anything you do in the kitchen is a chef's knife and a paring knife.
The only other knife you need besides a chef's knife and a paring knife is a proper bread knife. I stick with Wusthof.
Never really satisfied with pull-through home knife sharpeners, I splurged on this electric model. It really works and I highly recommend. Nothing beats a professional wet-grind service, but to keep your knives sharp throughout the year, this is the best choice.
Mom surprised me with a truly remarkable pepper mill. One crank delivers five times the pepper as one turn of a conventional mill. A tablespoon of freshly ground pepper takes but a moment. Best pepper mill I've ever used.
A kitchen essential for most cooks for uniform slicing and julienning. I don't know a single professional cook who doesn't own one.
One of the best ways to improve your cooking and your comfort in the kitchen is to use a large, heavy, wood cutting board. This is the one I use.
While most sautéing should be done in a stainless steel pan, nonstick pans are a must for things like eggs and fish. This is the one I use.
One of the best, most useful sauce pans I own, a 2-quart pan from All-Clad.
Like knives, you need a big one and a little one. I stick with All-Clad because the quality can't be beat. If you need a large, all-purpose skillet, this is the one.
This is the perfect small sauté pan.
A standing mixer is a big-ticket item that all serious kitchens should have. Kitchen Aid makes the best mixers and they will last a lifetime if you treat them well.
When I had to replace our food prcessor several years ago, this is the one I bought. It's perfect.
This 7.25 quart Dutch oven is one of the most useful pots in the kitchen, everything from making stews on the stove top, braises in the oven or even for baking bread..
This 3.5-quart Dutch oven is great for smaller households. A perfect gift for a young couple.
Great martini glasses that don't break!
Almost every time I serve a cocktail in one of these glasses, people invariably say, "Such a pretty glass." It is. It's, like, the perfect cocktail glass.
This has been our best friend in the morning for years now. It's a terrific, simple-to-use drip coffee maker. It drips into a thermos so the coffee stays hot without cooking it, the way burner coffee machines do. Good coffee is important!
This is the coffee we love, Peet's Major Dickason's Blend--we it love so much we have a subscription to receive 3 pounds each month. It's the best.
A hand-blender is a fabulous tool in the kitchen whether for pureeing, beating eggs, making vinaigrettes. This model is half the cost of most hand-blenders and I like it because the blade is low which makes good for making mayonnaise.
Whether I want to use the juices and not the fat, or just the fat to make a roux, I love a good fat separator.