10 Best Kitchen Tools for Easier Living

As someone who enjoys cooking and baking, through the years I have spent lots of time in the kitchen. Now with my small children, my time in the kitchen is more limited. However, I still need to prepare meals for my family. Since my time is more limited, I need the best kitchen tools and accessories to get the job done in less time.

Throughout my adult life I have bought and tried many different kitchen tools. Some were cheap and only lasted a month while others were cheap and have lasted me 15 years. Other gadgets I bought thinking they were going to work great. However, after the first try it just made things harder or didn’t work at all.

For what I cook and bake the following list is the best kitchen tools for me and ones I cannot live without. Some of them I have already replaced 2 or 3 times because I wore them out.

10 Best Kitchen Tools

Tongs

I use different size tongs for all sorts of different food prep and to serve food. Tongs are easier to use than forks and spoons in certain situations. Some examples of where I use a tongs:

• Toss and serve a large salad
• Pick up and serve various kinds of meat whether in a crock pot, baking dish or on a plate/platter
• Serve pasta noodles
• Pick up various finger foods

Parties and serving food to guests is a time where I use a lot of different tongs. Instead of everyone putting hands in chip bowls and grabbing food off trays, a tongs with food items helps keep things more sanitary.

Knives

Every kitchen needs a set or at least a couple of good knives. The last thing you want is to be standing there trying to cut thru something forever, have a knife slip, or an injury. Having a couple of good knives is helpful and in my house get used all the time. There are all different kinds and styles. With small kids in the house I like ones that come with a cover (pictured below).

Kitchen Scissors

A scissors is a tool I use frequently. I use a scissors so often I have 8 strategically placed throughout my house. For more information on where to keep scissors click here.

One of the scissors that gets used most in my house is the kitchen scissors. Between cutting open food packaging, cutting open boxes, and cutting the occasional food item the kitchen scissors is used multiple times daily.

Microwave Cover

The next best kitchen tool, and an underrated time saver is the microwave cover. Keep your microwave clean by putting the microwave cover over food that you heat up in the microwave. This cover will save you time from having to continually clean your microwave from splattered food. Once a week I throw my microwave cover in the dishwasher to get cleaned. No more stuck on, hard to clean microwave mess.

Cheese Slicer

Cheese is one of my favorite foods. Besides eating plain cheese we put cheese on and in lots of foods. Buying sliced cheese can get expensive and block or brick cheese can be much cheaper when on sale. With a good cheese slicer you can slice a brick of cheese in a couple minutes. Saving money is a reason the cheese slicer is one of my best kitchen tools.

Electric Can Opener

There is a debate whether a hand or electric can opener is better. Personally, I like an electric can opener for 3 reasons:

1. It is faster. Every time I try to use a hand can opener it ends up taking me at least double or triple the time my electric can opener does.
2. It is easier. An electric can opener is easier to line up and hold while cutting.
3. Smoother cut. An electric can opener makes a smoother cut around the can. A hand can opener leaves more jagged edges and more room for injury.

Spatulas

Spatulas are one of the best kitchen tools I wished I would have started using earlier in life. It has drastically improved the ease of my cooking/baking. I use to mix large quantities with a large spoon, until I realized how amazing spatulas were. Now anytime I have to mix a medium to large quantity or mix and/or transfer to a baking dish I use a spatula. It is easier and faster to mix ingredients together and scrape everything out of a bowl using a spatula.

Flipper/Turner

Another form of a spatula is what some call a flipper or a turner. They are actually in the spatula family, but have a little different job. They are used to flip items cooking like pancakes, eggs, burgers. In addition, they can be used to lift food out of a baking pan or dish that you want to stay together like lasagna, manicotti, enchiladas, or cake.

Banana Hanger

Bananas are a necessity in our house. We go through a couple bananas each day. Bananas “perfect eating window” is short. The time at which a banana is the perfect ripeness only lasts a couple days. We have found that a banana hanger helps extend that perfect eating window. Laying bananas on the counter or in a bowl makes them turn brown and go bad faster. But using a banana hanger lets air and light touch each side. This decreases bruising and makes your bananas last. In addition, I don’t have to run to the store as often to get bananas since they last longer with the banana hanger.

Bottle/Wine Opener

I like kitchen tools that have more than one function built into them. This saves space in my kitchen drawers because I can have one tool doing two things. So I got a wine opener that also opens glass bottles.

Cutting Board

A large, thick cutting board is helpful when using your good knife set. When you are cutting food, you want to make sure to cut on a surface that won’t move. In addition, cutting on a large board gives you space and keeps all your items confined to that area. A small, flimsy cutting board could cause injury. In addition, it can cause more mess because items end up falling off the cutting board.

Final Thoughts on the Best Kitchen Tools

In the end, there are lots of different options of kitchen tools you can use to make life easier. Honestly, what kitchen tools you find to be the best might depend on what you cook or bake. You have to find what kitchen tools work best for you. I have found the above 10 tools the most helpful for me. Give them a try to help ease your kitchen life.