Kitchen Utensils

The cheap things you reach for twenty times a meal. Worth buying once in metal rather than three times in plastic.

Spatulas

Silicone up to 250°C for non-stick, thin metal for everything else — a thick edge will not slide under an egg.

Wood does not scratch, does not conduct heat to your hand, and does not melt when you leave it in the pot.

A 120 ml ladle is one portion of soup, which turns serving into counting rather than guessing.

A balloon whisk for air, a flat whisk for pan sauces. The flat one gets into the corners of the pan.

The most-used tool in a working kitchen. Buy two lengths and never look for a fork again.

Presses the skin off with the clove inside, which saves the peeling that put you off using garlic.

A smooth-edge opener cuts the side seam, so there is no sharp lid and the lid reseals the tin.

A waiter’s friend fits a pocket and outlives every winged and electric opener you will buy instead.

Feet matter: a colander that sits in the sink puts your pasta back in the water you just drained.

Fine mesh does double duty: sifting flour and straining stock clear.

A ricer gives you lump-free mash without overworking the starch into glue. A masher will not.

Narrow spoons fit inside spice jars. Round ones do not, and that is the whole test.

Dry cups are filled to the brim, liquid cups to a line. They are not interchangeable.

Reads in two seconds. The single tool that turns "cook 25 minutes" into "cook until 74°C".

Three channels means three things in the oven at once without holding any of them in your head.

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