For instance, my Le Creuset lidded baking dish and drop-dead gorgeous knives are among the many kitchen tools that are worth the investment. Alongside the flashy cookware, though, are the workhorse tools I use regularly. Each of these items, I've owned and used for years now. I love them today as much as I did the first moment I ripped open their package -- if not more.

I hope you like them, too. Note that both price and availability can and do change. Read more : 11 Must-Have Kitchen Buys That are Worth the Extra Dough. I've searched high and low for a spoon rest I don't hate -- and I finally found it. This space-saving Yamazaki Home stand keeps cooking spoons, ladles, tongs and pot lids from clattering to the counter and spraying my cooking surface with goopy sauces and splats.

Importantly, the bottom catch tray pops out, so all pieces are easy to clean. Note that lighter colors may have you more nervously eyeing stains, especially if you cook with lots of red, oily sauces or yellow seasonings like turmeric.

I haven't had a lasting stain yet, but when in doubt, the black color will be more forgiving. In my family, these Korean stew and rice spoons are now the dominant, and most asked-for spoon of choice -- to the point they've been nicknamed "life-changing spoons.

You can buy long-handled spoons online or in many Asian markets. My personal preference is to get a set with round handles, not the thin kind with the flat ends. The wide, saucer-shaped bowl, long handle and pleasant weight make these beautiful spoons perfect for almost everything -- eating soup, curries, rice dishes, spooning yogurt out of the tub, spooning anything out of any tub, really.

I'm a huge fan of countertop risers and have these shelf organizers from multiple brands in my kitchen, bathroom, shelving and right next to me here on my desk. They not only double your storage and organizational space by creating a second tier but also enhance the environment as an accent piece that happens to be functional.

Or perhaps create a hot drinks center like I did, with sugar and tea canisters on the top deck and flavored syrups below. For example, use them to elevate a paper towel holder or smart display while storing spices or other tools below.

I've owned my fair share of kitchen sink caddies. They're fine. I like how they corral the sponges and soap, but too often the decorative trays pool water, soap, and grime, while the more utility-focused are either bleh-looking, overwrought, or come equipped with suction cups always come unstuck, collects mold and deep grated bottoms hard to clean, traps gunk.

I finally found this Nieifi caddy, which neatly holds my sponge, cleaning wand, pot scraper see below , dish soap and hand soap. It looks nice and understated, and you can easily pick the whole thing up to tip out water from the collection tray below.

You can also pop that into the dishwasher, or soap off when it needs a refresh. So far, so good. I'm sure I could live without a pair of kitchen shears like this one from Henckels also known for making reliable knives , but I don't particularly want to.

A dedicated pair of shears makes opening food bags, cutting meat and fish and trimming green beans dead easy. Storing them with your knives or utensils keeps them accessible where you need them and eliminates cross-contamination with your other scissors. Sturdy shears can butterfly poultry and this model unhinges for dishwashing -- it's dishwasher safe if in need of thorough sanitizing, but it usually cleans easily with soapy hot water and a sponge.

Bench scrapers, also known as pastry or dough scrapers or cutters, are typically used to pry dough off a work surface, though I use mine multiple times a day for either scraping or lifting items from my cutting board to a pan or bowl. I used to use the side of whichever knife I had in my hand, but this useful kitchen tool shovels more diced onions at a time and is safer anyway.

I've also used straight-sided bench scrapers, but the offset design is much easier for sliding under a pile of chopped food. It's equally adept at its intended purpose of working with bread and pastry dough.

Small bowls are hardly interesting or new and I have plenty of them, especially fluted and ribbed ramekins. But these wonderful dip bowls have made cooking and serving food more of a delight. I just love them. They're useful enough for daily prep and pretty enough to serve on.

You can mound a surprising amount of food in the hollow, like lemon zest, olive oil, wasabi or even grated cheese like fresh parmesan. My dad endearingly referred to these as "rubber fingers.

Think the last little bit of something gooey like peanut butter from the jar, or getting every little bit of beaten egg out of a small bowl. I still use full-size spatulas for large work bowls, pots and pans, but these nonstick minis work better than spoons or my finger and fit really well into drawer dividers.

They're machine washable, too. I had never heard of a pan or pot scraper until my colleague Rich Brown sang its praises. I have an elaborate and finely tuned method for steaming and scraping off stuck-on crud from pots, pans and bakeware, but I started getting a lot of time back once I began using this indispensable tool.

This kitchen gadget fits into your palm and easily scrapes away gunk with its flat and curved edges, which can also better reach into corners. Still expect a little sponge work, but mostly to wipe away loosened and leftover stuff.

I was amazed with how my Lodge pot scraper obliterates the scum that builds up in a ring around the pan, say the leftovers of reduced marinara. It cuts through residue faster and more efficiently than a hard plastic spatula and it won't gunk up the scrubby side of a sponge with cheese, egg or starchy buildup.

I recommend keeping it visible on your sink, near your sponges and dish soap. I initially put it into a drawer and forgot about it, but now it's top of mind.

My friend bought a fancy new dishwasher with built-in wine holders and gave me three purple silicone tubes that help keep your wine glasses safe in the machine. She was right. They may look derpy, but this perfect gift probably saved my wine glasses more than once.

You fit one grippy end around your overturned stemware as pictured and slide the other end, a hollow tube, over a peg on the bottom rack of your dishwasher. A wire that runs two-thirds the length of the attachment supplies structure. If a glass feels extra wobbly in the center of the bottom rack, I've been known to clip on two of these silicone holders for extra stability, one on either side.

I used to hand-wash my wine glasses and still managed to break one here or there. Not anymore. It cut thin slices of tomato, apple, and red onion with ease, minced cilantro cleanly without crushing or tearing, and created a satisfying dice through a carrot.

It was also large enough, and tough enough, to cut the rind off a watermelon. With proof of purchase, IKEA allows you to return new, unopened products up to a year from purchase, or opened products up to days, for a full refund.

The all-metal handle is ridged for grip but could become slippery when oily or wet. But those flaws are not noticeable enough to be dealbreakers.

Also keep in mind that all knives eventually need sharpening , whether you opt for a knife-sharpening service, invest in a knife sharpener, or borrow a sharpener from a friend.

Comfortable and sharp, this little knife has a thin blade for delicate tasks. A paring knife is a necessary tool for performing in-hand knife work like peeling shrimp or hulling strawberries, for mincing small things like shallots or a single garlic clove, and for completing delicate tasks like segmenting citrus.

The Victorinox Swiss Classic Paring Knife is a reliable, beloved, sharp little tool more than capable of tough cuts like coring apples or gentle feats like cutting away orange pith. This cutting board has stabilizing rubber feet and a just-big-enough The rubber feet on either side hold it in place on a dry counter; placing a towel under the board helps it stay in place on a wet counter.

A channel around the cutting board catches liquids and prevents messy runoff. Beloved by pros and home cooks alike, this simple peeler does its job excellently. A Y-shaped vegetable peeler makes it easy and kind of fun to peel fruits and vegetables, and the Kuhn Rikon Original Swiss Peeler deftly tackles any piece of produce you want to peel.

Sharp, lightweight, and durable, this beloved peeler is ubiquitous in the kitchens of all sorts of cooks. The Y-shape, the swiveling blade, and the lightweight handle give you ample range of motion as you negotiate produce with the blade.

This springy model whisks efficiently and can rest in a hot pan without melting, though the handle will get hot in that situation. The Winco Inch Stainless Steel Piano Wire Whip is a springy, efficient whisk at a great price.

With two more wires than the average whisk of this size, it offers extra power and speeds up tasks like whipping cream. Just remember that the handle will heat up in that case.

You need a sheet pan to bake cookies, roast veggies, catch meat drippings in the oven, and make sheet-pan meals. This simple stainless steel bowl is wide, shallow, cheap, and durable.

You need a mixing bowl for cooking, baking, and sometimes even serving. Commonly found in commercial kitchens and restaurant-supply stores in a variety of sizes, Thunder Group Standard Weight Stainless Steel Mixing Bowls are durable and useful for any cook. The wide, shallow construction provides ample room for tossing ingredients or whisking air into a mixture.

These versatile stainless steel bowls are oven and dishwasher safe, as well. This scale measures just as accurately as our more expensive top-pick scale. Instead of buying a pricey and easy-to-lose set of measuring cups, go for a digital kitchen scale and score the added benefit of more accurate measurements and fewer dishes to clean.

The Ozeri Pronto Digital Multifunction Kitchen and Food Scale measures as accurately as the more expensive Escali Primo Digital Scale , the top pick in our guide to kitchen scales , and has just the minor downside of a shorter auto-off cycle.

If you want the most accurate possible measurement of small quantities, you may want to throw in a set of measuring spoons. This classic measuring cup is durable, legible, and easy to clean. A digital scale has you covered for measuring dry ingredients, but measuring liquids is often easier with a liquid measuring cup.

Such a tool also works well for slowly drizzling oil into a mixture, keeping water on hand to add gradually to a dough, or even watering plants. Made of durable tempered glass and labeled with clearly printed, legible measurement markings, this Pyrex measuring cup is another of our longtime favorite kitchen tools.

Its spout pours a smooth stream, and it stacks well with other Pyrex measuring cups. This durable can opener turns smoothly and cuts through cans with ease. The EZ-Duz-It grips cans securely and cuts through them smoothly, removing lids entirely rather than leaving you with a sharp disk clinging to the can.

You might want to hit the thrift store for plates, cups, bowls, and cutlery, as well as an oven mitt or a fun hobby appliance such as an ice cream maker or Instant Pot. Beyond that, here are a few more of our favorite inexpensive kitchen tools that can help you round out your newly equipped kitchen.

Scissors are indispensable if you want to fully debone or spatchcock a chicken, but you can also use them to cut kimchi into bite-size pieces, cut rings of green onion for a quick garnish, or just cut into a package.

The OXO Good Grips Kitchen Scissors can handle all those tasks smoothly. These scissors have sharp blades that come apart for easy cleaning, and one blade has a micro-serrated edge to keep slippery ingredients like raw poultry in place as you cut.

A silicone spatula is great for folding together cookie dough or scraping every drop of aioli out of your mixing bowl, and this one is the best. If you love to bake treats or make sauces, add a silicone spatula to your shopping list.

Perfect for scraping and folding, the GIR Ultimate Spatula adds a bit more precision and ease to tasks that you could otherwise do with a spoon. Like the Victorinox paring knife, the serrated Victorinox Swiss Classic Tomato and Table Knife is a reliable, inexpensive tool from a trusted brand known for great blades.

Add it to your kitchen if you love taking a baguette to the park or need your tomatoes sliced just so. A set of measuring spoons helps you get more precise measurements of small quantities of dry or wet ingredients.

The Ozeri digital scale we recommend in this guide measures quantities down to 1 gram, but digital scales can get iffy with smaller and fractional measurements—1. Trying to portion out small quantities while watching the scale can also be annoyingly slow and finicky compared with just dipping a spoon in a jar.

For the easiest, most accurate measurement of small quantities of ingredients, add a set of measuring spoons to your kitchen. The spoons in the Sur La Table Spice Measuring Spoons set are sturdy and accurate, and they fit into most spice jars.

These existing picks are the result of hundreds of hours of testing over the course of many years. Mace Dent Johnson is a staff writer on the kitchen team at Wirecutter.

Their background is in creative writing and academic research, and they are always thinking about food. After around 60 hours of research and testing since , we think the accurate and inexpensive Escali Primo Digital Kitchen Scale is the best for most people.

After dozens of hours researching and testing organizing options, we recommend more than 20 items to make the most out of your tiny kitchen.

Microwaves basically all perform the same, but we like the Toshiba EMA5C for its looks and its useful extra features. We tested 50 dinnerware sets in a wide range of designs and prices.

We found 11 favorites to suit any lifestyle and budget. Back to top Must-have essentials Optional extras Why you should trust us. Must-have essentials. An everyday pan plus a spatula pick a set.

Spoon rest Funnel sets Dish towels

Inexpensive cooking tools - Y peeler Spoon rest Funnel sets Dish towels

We thoroughly tested six models to find the best paring knife , and this one came out on top. It's nice and sharp, has a comfortable grip, and should fit any budget.

We don't recommend you lick it after you test those brownies, but what happens in your kitchen stays in your kitchen. A fine-mesh strainer has a multitude of uses , from removing the aromatics in creamy soups to poaching eggs and getting pesky seeds out of freshly squeezed fruit juice.

A really good strainer will also be rust-resistant and dishwasher-safe and have hooks on its rim so that it nests snugly over bowls and pots. Growing up, I assumed that wire racks were used exclusively for cooling just-baked chocolate chip cookies and, in the process, slowly torturing me.

It turns out that they're good for much more than that. First, they're ideal for resting meats, especially when placed over a half-sheet pan to catch any drippings.

If your goal is shatteringly crunchy baked chicken wings, resting the meat on a wire rack before you cook will provide even air circulation and help to dry out the skin, ensuring it crisps up nicely in the oven.

Aluminum sheet pans, often called rimmed baking sheets, are the MVP of restaurant kitchens, and our tested top pick from Nordic Ware will be the MVP of your kitchen, too.

Use them for a variety of sweet and savory cooking projects, from baking cookies and roasting veggies to cooking a whole chicken. Half sheet pans are most common, but you can also find them in quarter sizes , which are great for holding modest quantities of ingredients or baking a smaller batch of cookies just kidding—no one wants that.

Despite the name, fish spatulas aren't just used for flipping delicate pieces of fish. We tested and reviewed 12 models, and the Winco Fish Spatula was our favorite budget pick that performed almost as well as our pricier overall pick.

It's lightweight and easy to grip, flexible enough to turn fragile foods, but strong enough to serve up a hefty burger patty. A fish spatula won't work for everything—for one, the thin metal flipper on it will do a number on your nonstick pans.

If you're using a nonstick skillet to make airy pancakes or Crispy Fried Eggs , we suggest you turn to our favorite nonstick turner, preferably one with a flipper coated in heat-resistant silicone. In our rigorous testing , this one from OXO came out on top.

Bench scrapers aren't just for pastry. Sure, they may have been intended for portioning dough, but you can also use them to coax big piles of vegetables into a bowl, or clear scraps from a messy cutting board into the trash.

Your bench scraper will be an unbelievably valuable tool for the little money you spend on it, especially if you like to keep things tidy in the kitchen, and this model from OXO was our favorite overall pick after testing eight different models. There might be fancier-looking pie plates out there, but we've found in our testing that the Norpro Stainless Steel Pie Pan browned crusts more consistently than any competitor.

It may be humble, but this pan knocks it out of the park for performance and affordability. Speaking of making perfectly flaky pie crust , or festive sugar cookies , a rolling pin is a necessity for either project. A wine bottle may work in a pinch, but a tapered rolling pin will yield much better results plus, it's way easier to clean.

We love this model from J. Adams which stood out during testing for how even it was able to roll out pie dough without cracking. Save the wine for drinking, and use the rolling pin for its intended purpose. There are many different honing steels out there, but before you even decide to invest in one, you should learn what it's actually for—i.

They're actually for realigning your blade so that the knife cuts through your food with less resistance. This stainless steel honing steel will do the job at a reasonable price. You can hone your knives as often as you like, especially if you cook a lot, but if you start to feel like honing isn't helping, then it's time to break out the whetstone and give it a real edge.

So what's all the fuss about a mandoline? It's key to getting slices of restaurant-level thinness and uniformity at home. Use it for making super-crisp potato chips or thinly shaved radishes for a salad. If you want to make a ratatouille-like the one from the movie technically a tian , a mandoline is essential for that, too.

For grating small shreds of hard cheese or citrus zest, a Microplane should be your tool of choice, and it won out over all the other rasp-style graters in our testing.

It creates a fine shower of Parmesan cheese that'll melt right into a sauce, it can easily take the most delicate shavings off a lemon rind, and it'll turn garlic into a purée in no time. Just be careful to avoid shredding your skin while you use it. This can happen, and it hurts as much as you'd expect.

When Stella says that her favorite cake pan is this one from Fat Daddio's , we listen. It's the brand she worked with at restaurants, and it continues to be her preferred model today.

Why, you ask? For one thing, the anodized aluminum it's made from ensures that the cake pan itself is nonreactive, meaning you won't get weird flavors when using it with acidic batters. Second: the depth. Extra-tall sides act as a shield for your cake in the oven, so it rises nice and pale, with a delicate crust.

We have more cake pan top picks here. If you rely on freshly squeezed OJ in the morning, having an electric juicer at home can help you crank out a ton of juice at once.

But if you need only a little bit for a recipe, why dirty up the whole contraption when you can use a quick-to-clean manual juicer instead? Our testing found the Chef'n FreshForce Citrus Juicer was a great juicer for lemons and limes.

Use limited data to select advertising. Create profiles for personalised advertising. Use profiles to select personalised advertising. This heat-safe silicone cone helps keep the worst of the spatter contained, and is dishwasher safe and easily folded when you're done. Keep bags of snacks fresher and pest-free with this clever tool.

One side has a blade that makes it easy to open the bag—the other, a sealer mechanism that closes it back up when you're done. Use limited data to select advertising.

Create profiles for personalised advertising. Use profiles to select personalised advertising. Create profiles to personalise content.

Use profiles to select personalised content. Measure advertising performance. Measure content performance. Understand audiences through statistics or combinations of data from different sources. Develop and improve services. Use limited data to select content. List of Partners vendors. By Lisa Milbrand.

Lisa Milbrand. Lisa Milbrand has more than 20 years of experience as a lifestyle writer and editor, writing thousands of articles on topics that help people live better and healthier lives for Real Simple, Parents, and dozens of other top publications.

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Inexpensive cooking tools - Y peeler Spoon rest Funnel sets Dish towels

Reviewers report how easy it is to wash and clean too. If you have a small kitchen you need this compact strainer in your life. It has a built-in spout to maximize water drainage and clamps to the edges of pots, pans and bowls for a secure grip.

Sick of seeds getting in all your yummy lemon recipes? Because same. This two-in-one citrus press gets every last drop of juice out from lemons, limes and even small oranges. So effortless. The pretty parking lot for your cooking utensils you never knew you needed…until now.

The perfect omelet, poached or hard boiled egg, every time. It has an auto shut off feature and comes with different trays for poaching, boiling or whipping up omelets. A space-saver and a time-saver, this genius hand grater is great for quickly adding fresh parmesan cheese to salads, making your own slaw or zesting citrus for sauces, marinades, dressings and drinks.

I still use full-size spatulas for large work bowls, pots and pans, but these nonstick minis work better than spoons or my finger and fit really well into drawer dividers. They're machine washable, too.

I had never heard of a pan or pot scraper until my colleague Rich Brown sang its praises. I have an elaborate and finely tuned method for steaming and scraping off stuck-on crud from pots, pans and bakeware, but I started getting a lot of time back once I began using this indispensable tool.

This kitchen gadget fits into your palm and easily scrapes away gunk with its flat and curved edges, which can also better reach into corners.

Still expect a little sponge work, but mostly to wipe away loosened and leftover stuff. I was amazed with how my Lodge pot scraper obliterates the scum that builds up in a ring around the pan, say the leftovers of reduced marinara. It cuts through residue faster and more efficiently than a hard plastic spatula and it won't gunk up the scrubby side of a sponge with cheese, egg or starchy buildup.

I recommend keeping it visible on your sink, near your sponges and dish soap. I initially put it into a drawer and forgot about it, but now it's top of mind.

My friend bought a fancy new dishwasher with built-in wine holders and gave me three purple silicone tubes that help keep your wine glasses safe in the machine. She was right. They may look derpy, but this perfect gift probably saved my wine glasses more than once. You fit one grippy end around your overturned stemware as pictured and slide the other end, a hollow tube, over a peg on the bottom rack of your dishwasher.

A wire that runs two-thirds the length of the attachment supplies structure. If a glass feels extra wobbly in the center of the bottom rack, I've been known to clip on two of these silicone holders for extra stability, one on either side.

I used to hand-wash my wine glasses and still managed to break one here or there. Not anymore. I've run them in the dishwasher on a weekly basis for almost two years. Great for elegantly draining pasta, reaching for items on the top shelf, juicing lemons and even cleaning window blinds.

Here are seven clever uses for kitchen tongs. I love a small saucepan for so many reasons, including frying perfectly round eggs one at a time and reducing broth and sauces.

Melting butter and making modest quantities of caramel or hot milk and cream are also great in an itty-bitty pan, especially if you're trying to keep a small amount of liquid from evaporating too quickly.

I bought a "cup measuring pan" that's a lot like this one, with a long handle, and I like it, though it's not as thick as some of my other kitchen pots. I'd also happily consider a butter melting pot for butter, sauces, warming milk and boiling single eggs, but I currently use a tiny milk frothing jug for that, intended for espresso.

Written by Jessica Dolcourt. Our expert, award-winning staff selects the products we cover and rigorously researches and tests our top picks. If you buy through our links, we may get a commission. Reviews ethics statement. Jessica Dolcourt is a passionate content strategist and veteran leader of CNET coverage.

Her CNET career began in , testing desktop and mobile software for Download. com and CNET, including the first iPhone and Android apps and operating systems.

She continued to review, report on and write a wide range of commentary and analysis on all things phones, with an emphasis on iPhone and Samsung. Jessica was one of the first people in the world to test, review and report on foldable phones and 5G wireless speeds.

Jessica began leading CNET's How-To section for tips and FAQs in , guiding coverage of topics ranging from personal finance to phones and home. She holds an MA with Distinction from the University of Warwick UK.

Expertise Content strategy, team leadership, audience engagement, iPhone, Samsung, Android, iOS, tips and FAQs. See full bio. Why You Can Trust CNET. Holds multiple tools at once. Once it gets there, use this pizza cutter wheel to cut it yourself. It's super sharp and cuts through pizza really well - plus it's designed to protect your fingers while you cut.

If you're like me and pull up recipes on your iPad or phone while cooking, this device is super helpful for keeping it upright. Sometimes I just want to chop something up quickly, and I don't want to pull out a big heavy cutting board to do so. I like to put one of these over a big cutting board, so I can just wash the cover and not have to pull the big board into the sink and wash it or have the juices from the meat I'm preparing seep into the wood of the cutting board.

If you're preparing a few things that you want to keep separate, like raw meat and veggies, you can also use different covers for each! This 3-piece set covers your basic needs: a julienne peeler, a swivel peeler, and a serrated peeler.

I mostly use the julienne peeler -- it's great for making zoodles without a spiralizer. The others come in handy every once in a while -- for example, the serrated peeler is good for peeling something slippery.

If you cook with garlic and don't want your hands to smell like it for the rest of your life, this little bar "soap" is your friend. Your friends will thank you! This is my favorite wine aerator because it fits right into the neck of the bottle and you otherwise pour normally unlike the other variations, where you have to pour the wine through a separate piece.

Aerators are great for making cheap wine taste better. Do your own taste test -- it really makes a difference. They're also meant for quickly aerating a nicer bottle if you don't have time to let it sit in a decanter before you drink it.

But I find myself using it in the previous situation much more frequently. This little gadget is truly a life saver for any time you don't finish a full bottle of wine what?

does that happen to people? You use the little pump to suck the air out of the bottle and seal it, which keeps the wine good for days longer than if you just re-cork it. It's a game changer! They're reusable -- so they're WAY better than a plastic straw -- and they also come with a little cleaner tool you can use to clean the inside.

These cocktail picks are great for garnishing drinks -- and making you look fancier than you really are. These make a great gift because they're they type of thing a lot of people appreciate, probably don't already have, and probably wouldn't think to buy for themselves.

They're also a great gift for YOURSELF. And if you get in the habit of filling them right back up after you use them, you'll always have cool ice for your cocktails.

Life -- and cooking cleanup! And this marble option is super cute. While we're talking about functional pretty things, here's a pineapple trivet that's currently on sale from Williams-Sonoma. Here you go: Williams-Sonoma.

This will save you, your clothes, and your stovetop from splatter when cooking in oil. It's a pretty small price to pay for not burning your face off.