My Top Ten Favorite Kitchen Tools + Appliances
One of the questions I’m asked most often is where to start when stocking a kitchen and I totally understand why — it can be daunting to know what you really need in the kitchen when there are SO many tools and products out there!
My philosophy is less is more when it comes to kitchen tools and appliances. We live in a relatively small SF apartment, so I like to keep our limited kitchen drawers and cabinets stocked with only the things I love and use frequently. I choose function over fashion in the kitchen (Alec would joke that this is literally the only area of our apartment where I don’t care as much about how “chic” something is…LOL). An example of this is the world’s best peeler (which I have in red) and the most amazing salad spinner…not the most sexy products and not something I’d display on open shelving but they work SO well!
It was hard to do, but I’ve narrowed down my kitchen favorites to the top ten kitchen tools and appliances I recommend the most. I use the majority of these things daily and know you’ll love them in your kitchen. If you’re looking for a more extensive + complete list of all of my favorite kitchen tools + appliances, check out my Amazon Shop!
Kendall’s Top Ten Kitchen Tools + Appliances
Fish Spatula — This might have to be my ultimate favorite tool in the kitchen. As the name suggests, this spatula is delicate enough to handle fish but it’s the perfect all-purpose spatula for anything and everything — I use it for eggs, pancakes, vegetables, etc.
Bench Scraper — This is one of my secret weapons in the kitchen. It’s the perfect tool to use when scraping prepped vegetables off of a cutting board into a pan or bowl. It’s also great for bringing certain doughs together (i.e. biscuits and pie dough) and portioning out doughs for breads, pizza, etc. I also love this flexible version — it’s great for scraping things out of bowls.
Classic Chef’s Knife — I highly recommend investing in a quality chef’s knife. Anything from 6-8 inches in length is ideal — any larger and the knife becomes really tough to manage and isn’t as all-purpose. I also recommend trying different knives out in person if you’re able to. I love Wustoff knives but since knives are so personal, what I like may not feel good in your hand. It’s worth noting that in addition to a classic chef’s knife, I use my paring knife and bread knife often but they aren’t as essential for everyday jobs.
Mandolin — This is a serious workhorse in my kitchen! It helps me achieve beautiful, unformed slices of vegetables which makes for even cooking and beautiful presentation. I prefer this Japanese Mandolin but there are a bunch of different styles on the market. If you’re worried about hurting yourself while using a mandolin, I recommend investing in these gloves. They'll prevent you from slicing your fingers + will give you peace of mind!
Kitchen Scale — If you’ve been following along for a while, you know how much I love my kitchen scale. It’s truly my ride-or-die. I mostly use it for pickling vegetables (a weekly occurrence at our house!) and bread + focaccia baking but it’s so useful for tons of other jobs. It helps achieve precise measurements in a recipe (which can make or break baked good recipes!) and it’s amazing for cocktail recipes when the measurements are in ounces.
Microplane — I use my microplane daily for jobs like zesting citrus, grating cheese (especially parmesan — it tends to work best for harder cheeses), and grating garlic + ginger (which can be really hard to mince with a knife). I couldn’t recommend investing in one more!
Non-Stick Stainless Steel Skillets — I use these pans for almost everything. From alll the egg dishes (omelettes, fried eggs, and frittata to name a few) to searing things like fish, skin-on chicken thighs and steak I use these pans daily. I love that these pans come in a set with 8 and 10 inch sizes — such a versatile combination and at a really reasonable price too!
Cast Iron Skillet — Cast Iron skillets are one of my favorite kitchen weapons. Cast iron helps achieve a perfect sear on protein due to its even heat distribution + heat retention properties. I make a lot of one-pot meals in my cast iron skillet and it’s my secret weapon for seared meats such as steak and chicken (I don’t tend to use for seared fish since it’s really difficult to get the fishy smell out of it). One thing worth mentioning is that non-enameled cast iron (like this skillet) is reactive, meaning you should avoid cooking anything acidic in it (i.e. tomatoes, wine, citrus, etc.). The acid will eat at the cast iron and will result in layers of the cast iron coming off into your food. If you don’t want to deal with this and have a little more money to drop, I recommend an enameled cast iron skillet.
Dutch Oven — My Dutch Oven is one of the most-used items in my kitchen. I use it to cook risotto, soups, stews, braises (the list goes on and on!) and I love that it transitions from the stovetop to the oven seamlessly. Dutch ovens are made of enamel-coated cast iron, so they have all the benefits of heat-retaining cast iron with the added bonus of being easy to clean and non-reactive (meaning you can cook acidic things in them without any issue!). I recommend a round 5.5 quart Dutch Oven for all-purpose jobs — it cooks meals large enough to serve 5-6 and fits really well on your stovetop. I personally have a Le Creuset and absolutely love it but there are tons of other brands, including Lodge which makes a more affordable but still equally amazing Dutch Oven.
High Power Blender — This is another one of those machines we use daily at home! I’ve had my Vitamix for almost ten years now (I linked the exact model I have) and I could not be more obsessed with it. It has stood the test of time and is 10000% worth the hype + price point. I use it to make my Caesar Dressing, hummus, soups, smoothies, etc.! It’s worth noting that if this was a top 11 list, I would have also included my trusty food processor which I use more for making pestos, salsa verdes, etc. I prefer the food processor for these things because it helps achieve more texture in the finished product BUT since the Vitamix can still make all of those things + more, I had to choose it! PS — an 8 cup food processor, like the one linked, is the perfect size unless you’re constantly cooking for large groups!
I hope you found this round-up helpful! I’d love to hear about your favorite kitchen tools and appliances — drop me a line in the comments or on Instagram. xx