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Roundup: Best of IKEA For the Kitchen

2008_10_06-IKEA01.jpgWe've been blogging some of our favorite IKEA products for the kitchen - good, cheap buys that are also of good quality. Here are our picks so far!

 
 

Best IKEA Buys for the Kitchen
Good products at a low price

DROPPAR Spice Jars

RATIONELL Cutlery Tray

HEAT Cork Trivets

CHARM Grater

TEKLA Towels (and Napkins)

2008_10_06-IKEA02.jpgBest IKEA Buys for the Pantry
Food for the kitchen from IKEA!

Elderberry Flower Syrup

Swedish Pearl Sugar

Hafi Black Currant Preserves

Related: A Few (More) Ikea Finds

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Cookware & Tools, Linens, IKEA

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Comments (15)

Great tips for someone trying to stock a new kitchen! Thanks!

Emily

posted by Emily Sneds on October 6th 2008 at 6:01pm
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Hands down, my favorite kitchen tool I picked up at IKEA is the DIREKT Whisk. Its flat mixing head makes it perfect for whisking something into shallow liquid in a sauté pan—say making a roux or mixing in corn starch or something else that might want to turn to lumps. The DIREKT Whisk won't let it. I’ve seen similar versions made of tightly coiled metal, but the business end of the DIREKT Whisk is made of heat-resistant plastic--that means it won’t scratch non-stick surfaces. And best of all? It costs about two bucks.

posted by Terry B on October 6th 2008 at 7:23pm
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I love my ORDNING dish drainer. It holds a full sinkload of dishes and takes up less room on my countertop than traditional square drainers. It's also very sturdy, which is important since I'm an incorrigable dish-overloader. (No accidents yet ... knock on wood.) And after four years of near-daily use, it shows no signs of rusting. Not bad for a $20 investment.

posted by Kalakala on October 7th 2008 at 6:22am
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we just moved in to a new place and went Ikea crazy!
they have a great grater that comes with a zesting top and a food catcher at the bottom, wine glasses (though one broke- we dropped it), utensils, pots, pans, cutting boards, etc. they have great stuff for getting a kitchen started!

posted by Oneformybaby on October 8th 2008 at 9:18am
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The IKEA 365 spice mill is really good, too. Useful for grindable salt, nutmeg, pepper, etc. It's dishwasher-safe and the ceramic parts last a long time.

posted by ysabella on October 8th 2008 at 12:11pm
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Ikea's garlic press is fantastic and it's designed in such a way that it is very easy to clean (even if, somehow, you forget to do it for a couple days).

posted by ebaucom on October 10th 2008 at 5:02pm
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The cast iron series is awesome, and a fantastic price compared with a certain Fronch brand. I also love the cutting boards that are so cheap you can afford to replace them the second they start to look grubby.

posted by wrenx on October 10th 2008 at 6:36pm
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wrenx, there was a looong comments thread here just the other week on the merits and faults of Ikea affordability and your statement above does not help the disposablity arguement. At all.

I'm glad they put out cast iron. That stuff lasts forever and so much utility. I happen to have a piece by that certain French brand. I may have paid a bit for it. But at least I'm not putting it in the dump anytime soon.

posted by neighborguy on June 10th 2009 at 1:01pm
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It's almost embarrassing to say, but my most recent IKEA I-love-it item is a dish scrubber with a suction cup at the end of the handle. I HATE when the scrubber just lays in the sink and gets muckier and muckier... with the suction cup you can use it then stick it to the counter standing up on end so it's out of the way but nearby.

posted by kdb on June 11th 2009 at 9:22am
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I have their Medalj pot. Its super cute and amazing.

Their Senior casserole dish is perfect for making my own tomato sauces and I've even cooked steaks in it.

ALL of my cooking utensils and cutting boards are from there and cost about 20 bucks in total.

I bought their 8 headed candelabra and it is PERFECT for holding my plastic bags above my fridge. And when I have dinner parties, I just pull it out. Very cool.

posted by birdablaze on June 11th 2009 at 10:05pm
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Ikea is about 30 miles from where I live, which is CLOSE...but far enough that I don't camp out there every single day!!

Personally, I love their ELLY dish towels! Four of them for $2.49 is a STEAL!! 100% cotton,

I've bleached them many times, with no worries!!!

posted by Jannarama on June 14th 2009 at 10:35pm
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i'm a huge fan of ikea's french press. ive had bodum models before but the plastic parts always break. the ikea french press i bought for ten bucks has lasted 5 years with only the filter having to be replaced. that cost $4. i really like their TEKLA kitchen towels since ten of them cost about 5 dollars and most people spend about 5 dollars a week on paper towels. i've had them for years too and all i do is bleach them and then wash them... when they get too threadbare i use them as rags in my art studio. i think a lot of stuff from ikea is viewed as "disposable" and a lot of it is, but i wouldn't buy something that i'll have to replace soon which has kept me from buying ikea furniture or redoing my kitchen with ikea cabinets... although i've read that they are really good products, i just think for the price i'd rather buy wood cabinets or recycle them when i start remodelling the kitchen this summer...

posted by austin Charles Benton on June 15th 2009 at 2:40pm
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My favorite item borders both kitchen & entertaining, it's the round stainless tray, it holds my salt/pepper grinders & specialty salts & oil/vinegar bottles & special sauces on the kitchen counter. When I need to entertain, those items remain in the kitchen, the tray is now pressed into service for appetizers. It's great for parties, I have 2 of them, the one drawback is you really have to sift through the pile at IKEA to find unscratched ones!

posted by Rucy on June 16th 2009 at 10:05am
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They have a stainless steel set of barware (zester, bottle opener, something else...) that is rather handsome.

I second the pot scrubber with the suction cup, the french press and those 50 cent towels, which are soft and absorbent. Like the previous commenter, I use them in place of paper towels, like for putting in the fridge with the lettuce after I've washed it.

They have airtight tins that work wonderfully for beans and grains and coffee. I like that they're rectangular because you can put them in a cupboard without wasting too much space. The colors aren't great - yellow and orange and avocado dots.

posted by tasterspoon on June 17th 2009 at 9:12pm
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We love our 365 white dinnerware. They've changed the bowls over time, but it's still easy to replace pieces. Plus, a full set is still only $20.

We also use their 2pc soup/sandwich set all the time - they're a deeper green color and come w/an oval sandwich plate and wide, shallow cup that sits in a small well on the plate. Perfect size for a light dinner or lunch. Wish I knew the name.

posted by keltrue on October 12th 2009 at 1:51pm
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