What Is Your Favorite Kitchen Gadget?

What is your favorite gadget? We don't mean tool. We don't mean a favorite spoon. We mean kitchen gadget — a contraption that perhaps others would find frivolous, useless, or (dare we say it?) unitasking. A fancy juicer? A salad spinner? A garlic masher thingie?

For me the choice is simple: my nutmeg mill. I saw one of these in France last year (blogged about it here) and received one, happily, as a birthday gift in the winter. This little gadget really isn't for everyone, but if you like nutmeg on your pasta, in your vegetables, and of course in your cookies and oatmeal, then this little mill is fabulous. I love the way its round shape feels in my hand, and the way it gently churns out piles of feathery nutmeg shavings. Lovely. I use it nearly every day.

OK, what about you? Do you have a specialized gadget in your kitchen that you just love to pieces? Apple corer? Tomato mill? Garlic unitasker?

(Image: Faith Durand)

Comments (26)

I recently bought the veggie chop from Williams-Sonoma and I LOVE it! Saves the time of pulling out the food processors for small jobs.
http://www.williams-sonoma.com/products/sku5834783/index.cfm?pkey=ccook%2Dtool%2Dtop%2Drated

My nut chopper, the best $9 I ever spent! http://www.amazon.com/Progressive-International-Heavy-Duty-Chopper/dp/B0007ZEU2W/ref=sr_1_2?ie=UTF8&s=home-garden&qid=1242402624&sr=8-2

My nut chopper, I love it!

http://www.amazon.com/Progressive-International-Heavy-Duty-Chopper/dp/B0007ZEU2W/ref=sr_1_2?ie=UTF8&s=home-garden&qid=1242402624&sr=8-2

I love my Magic Bullet! Yeah, one too many viewings of that infomercial convinced me to get one. I used it yesterday to puree some strawberries to make my son a smoothie, then made the smoothie in it. I use it if I need to chop a whole mess of garlic, or chop some peanuts, or make just a small amount of pesto or even whipped cream. I know, I fell for it, but it works!

I have an old Zassenhaus burr coffee mill (very similar to the one linked below, just an older model) that all my friends seem to think is ridiculous, yet I absolutely adore. I hate the jarring sound of electric coffee grinders and I don't like that most can't vary the grind. There's something wonderfully meditative about taking the few minutes to fill and hand crank the mill, and I find it a very satisfying ritual. It only takes a couple minutes, it's quiet, and it's fabulous on camping trips. Heck, hand grinding and brewing coffee out in the woods is almost a religious experience.

http://baldmountaincoffee.com/page/BMCC/PROD/Knee_Coffee_Mills/00002464#PROD_00002464

I <3 my vacuum sealer. Being able to buy a bunch of meat when it's on sale, or a whole pork loin to cut into chops and know they won't freezerburn for a long time is a wonderful thing.

My microplane and saladspinner.

Although not really a gadget, I'm in love with my (two months) new panasonic rice cooker that I've been using at least four times a week as steamer and slow
cooker- and a couple of times even as rice cooker. My best $50 dollar expenditure of 2009 and possibly 2008.

An old hand-me-down mortar and pestle from a food chemist's lab. After washing it a zillion times, I use it to crush notes and/or relieve stress.

@anothersplash
rice cooker as slow cooker? tell me more! i'm assuming you use the low heat (warming) setting? what have you cooked?

I use my old OXO cheese plane multiple times a day. It rarely sees the inside of the drawer because I seem to always be reaching for it. I love the easy way it cuts pieces of cheese that aren't too thick. Just right for crackers or melting on tortillas for my kids.

Mandolin, salad spinner, micro-plane, pestle and mortar, potato peeler, juicer - all used almost every day.

It is not a unitasker but like peggasus I have a little blender/processor thing, not a magic bullet, its a magic bullet knock-off. It was a gift I received and I was very skeptical of at first, but it gets a ton more use than my full size blender, it has several blade options and came with about 6 cups so there is always a clean one when you need it. Even for larger jobs i prefer to pull it out and do 2 batches rather than fuss with the full size blender. I dont have any of the original packaging anymore, the only writing i can find on it besides warnings not to stick your hand in it is "Elite". must be the brand?

If i had to pick a favorite unitasker it would be the french fry cutter. because sometimes you really just need homestyle french fries and that mood never corresponds with the desire to hand cut them.

Immersion blender - a gadget I have only because I don't like chunks of veggies floating in soups or tomato sauces.

Ice shaver - to make homemade sno-cones :)

My Pampered Chef garlic press. Awesome.

I get a little frisson of joy whenever I get to use my zester. Sad, but true.

I'm not sure if this qualifies as a gadget, or even what it's called, but I one of my favorites is this little glass disk you throw into a pot when you're boiling water. When the water starts boiling, it jumps around and makes noise so you know the water's ready.

I love it!

I love my mandoline slicer. I don't have to plug it in, it is easy to clean, and it makes everything look so pretty.

our Garlic Twist. I encountered one at a friend's and just had to have one. It works like magic.

Egg Slicer! Doubles for mushrooms.

My potatoe ricer. People always ask for the secret ingredient that makes my mashed potatoes so creamy. No fancy ingredients, just my favourite gadget!

micro plane!

I have a much-loved mini nutmeg grater similar to this one. I don't think it has ever met a nutmeg, but I use it to grate cheese over my eggs and salads, and to zest lemons and oranges.

My favorite frivolous gadget is my Norpro battery operated flour sifter.

I love my Garlic Twist

http://www.utilitieshome.com/store.php?crn=104

Egg poacher!!!

Microplane grater. Love it! Great for garlic, citrus zest, ginger, nutmeg.