by Colin Morley

Created on: March 04, 2011   Last Updated: May 30, 2011

If you’re a lover of cooking, you will have your favourite kitchen gadgets.  Maybe some of them will hardly come out of their packaging.  Such gadgets seemed really useful when you first saw them, but are they really indispensable?

If you don’t have a professional sized kitchen, and especially if you are obliged to cook in a really small kitchen, then it makes sense to limit your gadgetry to those tools which really are indispensable.

It’s wise to make your choice around the kind of food you like to cook regularly.  If you don’t cook deep fried foods more than once in a blue moon then you really don’t need to take up valuable working space with that fancy deep fat fryer.  If you’re not an avid fan of pancakes or waffles then what on earth is that waffle iron and pancake platter doing taking up valuable shelf space?

Number one in a list of indispensable kitchen tools is a good, sharp knife.  You could invest in a whole fancy, chef’s set of sharp kitchen knives, but unless you regularly perform your own butchery or fishmongery, you can get by on just one really good quality knife. 

Go for one with which you feel comfortable, but aim to settle for a five to seven inch blade – big enough to tackle just about any kitchen task but not so huge that it makes your wrist ache when you use it and frightens you each time you need to clean or sharpen it.

Don’t settle for a cheap knife; get the very best you can afford.  If the blade bends under pressure then put it back on the shelf – it won’t last you very long and could be the cause of a nasty injury if not used correctly.

Second in the list of indispensable kitchen tools is the humble sieve.  Not only can you use your sieve for its intended purpose of ensuring flour has no unwanted lumps – but you can equally use it to strain rice, pasta and vegetables. Unless you’re making large quantities it will usually take the place of a colander and is much smaller and lighter, taking up less space.

Indispensable in the kitchen is a hand blender, sometimes known as a kitchen wand.  It is a powerful electric blender, but is smaller, neater, easy to use, far easier to clean and extremely versatile.  If you make a lot of cakes and pastries you may still need a larger food mixer or blender/liquidiser, but if your blending is mainly for soups and sauces then why take up valuable shelf space with an expensive

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