Let’s say you’ve assembled your kitchen essentials—the cast-iron pan, the chef’s knife, the big wooden cutting board. You’re doing great! So many meals are within your reach! You’ve built a solid foundation, so now it’s time to consider your second-string kitchen tools. We’re not talking about $400 Vitamix-type upgrades (although, by all means, get the Vitamix if you should find a windfall in your sofa cushions). These humbler tools won’t break the bank but will save you time and energy, all while making your moments in the kitchen that much more enjoyable.
You’ve been using: A fork combined with the brute strength of your hands
Upgrade: A double-handled citrus squeezer that will catch the seeds and wring every last drop of juice from your lemon or lime. Just make sure to put the cut side of the fruit down, facing the holes!
You’ve been using: A wine bottle
Upgrade: If you plan on making more than one pie or batch of sugar cookies in your lifetime, purchasing a rolling pin is worth it. The simplicity of a French rolling pin, as opposed to the kind with the handles, gives you more control over your dough.
You’ve been using: A box grater
Upgrade: A microplane that will morph a brick of parm into fluffy, cheesy clouds. You’ll also never need to mince garlic or ginger again.
You’ve been using: The same scissors you keep by the door to open packages
Upgrade: A dedicated pair of heavy-duty kitchen shears to snip herbs and spatchcock chickens. We love the kind that comes apart for easy cleaning.
You’ve been using: A free plastic corkscrew from your local liquor store or that kind with the two arms that flap up and down (known as a de Gaulle in France for the exuberant open arms pose of the former président)
Upgrade: A reliable two-step corkscrew. There’s a reason it’s what waiters, sommeliers, and bartenders use—there’s a built-in blade to cut through foil and the articulating hinge gives you two steps of leverage so you’ll never break a cork again.
You’ve been using: Flimsy, linty kitchen towels
Upgrade: You can never have too many kitchen towels! Keep the thin ones on hand for slinging over your shoulder while cooking, but get yourself a set of thick, absorbent towels for wiping up spills.
You’ve been using: A steady hand
Upgrade: Maybe you bought a lot of bulk lentils in spring 2020. Maybe you needed to transfer them to smaller containers. Maybe you poured them from a flimsy plastic grocery bag into a mason jar too rapidly and spent the next 15 minutes picking tiny pink pulses off the counter and floor. Buy a funnel.
You’ve been using: Measuring cups, your mediocre powers of estimation
Upgrade: We’ve said it before, and we will say it again. And again. Guys. We really mean it. You will never regret owning a kitchen scale. Write us an angry letter if you do.
You’ve been using: Tea bags or a loose leaf tea ball that is impossible to fill without spilling
Upgrade: Just like we recommend buying whole coffee beans instead of preground coffee, we’ll pick loose leaf tea over tea bags any day. Get yourself an easy-to-use tea infuser so you’re not fussing with tiny tea balls or fill-your-own tea bags.
You’ve been using: Jam jars, a rando pint glass, a glass that used to hold a candle and still smells vaguely like vetiver
Upgrade: Matching drinking glasses like this set of indestructible French bistro tumblers from Duralex.
You’ve been using: A spoon that wasn’t invented by a four-star chef
Upgrade: Chef Gray Kunz couldn’t find a kitchen spoon quite to his liking, so he developed his own, perfectly proportioned and with a bowl deep enough to use for basting and saucing. This is now the spoon you’ll find in the kits of professional chefs everywhere.
You’ve been using: A cutting board and an open window
Upgrade: Intellectually, we can see why a cooling rack might seem unnecessary. Everything will cool eventually—pretty sure that’s science, you might be thinking. But nothing will take fried chicken from crispy to soggy faster than steam condensing on a baking sheet. Cooling racks promote air circulation, which means your perfectly baked cake will stay perfect instead of hot boxing in its tin as it comes to room temperature.
You’ve been using: Normal tongs
Upgrade: These are more like two sturdy metal chopsticks welded together than the delicate needle-nose tongs you picture when you think of “Tweezer food,” and Sohla really thinks you should get a pair. Use them for everything from flipping frying tofu to maneuvering a chicken thigh on the grill.
You’ve been using: Your biggest spoon
Upgrade: Ladle, ladle, ladle, I made you out of...stainless steel. Invest in one that isn’t plastic because serving chicken noodle soup with a melted ladle is a Sisyphean task.
You’ve been using: A normal spatula
Upgrade: “But I hardly ever cook fish!” I hear you saying. It doesn’t matter. A fish spatula is incredibly versatile—more flexible and delicate than a regular spatula, it allows you to nimbly maneuver pancakes in a crowded skillet or scrape up all the tasty good bits at the bottom of a small saucepan.
You’ve been using: A bowl covered with Saran Wrap, plastic take-out containers
Upgrade: The true mark of adulthood is not whether you have a mortgage or floss regularly, but whether you own stackable food storage containers that can go from the freezer to the microwave to the dishwasher.
You’ve been using: A slotted spoon
Upgrade: You need a spider if you do any type of deep frying, but it’s just as handy for fishing hard-boiled eggs, short pasta, or blanched vegetables out of a pot of hot water.
You’ve been using: A MacGyvered situation involving tinfoil
Upgrade: Sure, there are ways to steam veggies and fish without a steamer. You can poke holes in an aluminum pie plate and perch it atop wadded-up foil, or you can find a strainer that fits juuust so inside a pot and balance a lid on top. But this adjustable steamer basket will transform any pot into the steam room of your veggies’ dreams.
You’ve been using: A butter knife
Upgrade: If you bake and frost one birthday cake a year, a mini offset spatula is a worthwhile investment. But even if you don’t, this tiny boi will help you remove muffins from a warm tin, flip petite planks of tofu, and win presentation points as you swoosh hummus onto a snack plate.
You’ve been using: The same sponge for way too long
Upgrade: A sponge that doesn’t smell like a sponge. Skura sponges have antimicrobial properties that keep them smelling fresher longer.
You’ve been using: Your gentle, trusting nature
Upgrade: There’s a good chance your oven is telling you one thing but doing another. Our favorite oven thermometer from Thermoworks is $43, but a cheaper analog model is a big step up from nothing!
You’ve been using: The containers your spices came in
Upgrade: If you’ve got a large spice collection, chances are your spice drawer or rack is a jumble of different sized containers each fighting for space in cramped quarters. With a set of these uniform 2-oz. glass jars, you can keep the amount you need for immediate cooking on hand while storing the larger containers in a cool, dark place. Bonus: The mouths of these jars are wide enough to dip a teaspoon into.
You’ve been using: The same measuring cup you use for sugar and lentils
Upgrade: A measuring cup for liquid ingredients. Really! Remember when you learned about surface tension in sixth-grade science class? If you fill the type of measuring cup you normally use for flour to the top with water, you will likely end up with more than a cup of liquid. A liquid measuring cup allows you to more accurately gauge the volume—and this angled measuring cup makes it even easier.
You’ve been using: Your memory or a Sharpie and masking tape
Upgrade: Some may argue this is an office tool, but a label maker’s place is in the kitchen. Use it to organize your leftovers, your bulk pantry jars that you’ve filled with your funnel and your new tiny spice jars. So soothing.
You’ve been using: A knife or your hands
Upgrade: If you bake bread or biscuits, a bench scraper isn’t an upgrade—it’s a necessity. But a bench scraper comes in handy for non-bakers as well. Use it to transfer small mountains of diced vegetables from cutting board to pot. It’s a massive improvement over shuttling onions precariously balanced on your knife.
