These days, there is a bewildering number of kitchen gadgets and utensils out there. While a lot of them may be unnecessary and take up extra space, quite a few of them can make life a lot easier and help prepare food faster. Here are my favorite seven kitchen tools and why I like them.
Bread Makers: Whoever invented this wonderful device should get a trophy or an award. We use our bread maker all the time to get fresh, homemade bread without all of the hard work. If you love fresh bread at home, consider a bread maker.
Coffee Maker with Timer: If you plan ahead, you can use this handy tool to make coffee for you that will be ready when your alarm clock goes off. Of course, it can be used without the timer and it is pretty useful that way too.
Kitchen Knives with Block: For safe storage of your knives, you need a knife block. This way you won't reach into a drawer and stab yourself, and they are easier to get at too. A high quality set will last a lot longer and stay sharper.
Different Sizes of Plastic Food Containers: These days, you can get low cost plastic containers at the supermarket for a reasonable price. They are microwave safe and are excellent for leftovers, freezing food or taking it for lunches.
Hand Held Immersion Blender: Just like the name says, you hold these in your hand and put the business end into pots, mixing bowls or even drink glasses. For small blending jobs, a hand held blender is fast and easy to clean.
Classic Toaster Oven: These aren't as popular as they used to be, but they are still pretty useful to toast or bake small items like sandwiches and such. The main advantage to a toaster oven is that it is suited to cooking for one or two people in small portions. If you want to make big batches, the conventional kitchen oven is more suitable.
Sandwich Grill: For grilled cheese, tuna melts and patty melts, these grills seal the edge of the sandwich so cheese and other things can't leak out.
So there you have it, my favorite kitchen gadgets. Before running out and buying all of these items, think it through and make sure you will actually use it. It might end up like that food dehydrator I have stored in the closet, wasting space. Our bread maker, coffee maker, knives and food containers are always being used, while the sandwich grill and toaster oven are a once a week kind of item. In general, they are all a good investment for my kitchen.