HDo you have a top-of-the-line blender? Do you have a fancy garlic press you can't live without? Or maybe your grandma's set of measuring spoons? British households spend around £14 billion a year on kitchenware and utensils, some of which we use every day and others that sit in the back of the cupboard dusting. Some of them are sleeping (and regretting) wrapped in. Sometimes old is best. A recent Waitrose report ranked the rustic microwave oven higher than the air fryer on the list of kitchen essentials you can't live without.
But with so many new feature gizmos on the market, it can be difficult to determine which are useful and which are just hype. If you really want to differentiate between time savers and money wasters, It is better to ask experts who have rigorously tried and tested many things.
Here are the gadgets that top chefs love.
From left: Silicon Spoonra, Marcato Atlas Pasta Roller. source skimmer. Mexican elbow squeezer.kitchen aid stand mixer
Rosie Brandreth
Spoonra
£4.95, procook.co.uk
“Spoonula, or Spoontula, is an absolute revelation. I teach a lot of online classes and my American students kept talking about it, so I bragged for a while that I knew what this was.” Then I snapped and googled it. It's a combination of a spatula and a spoon, usually made of silicone. It was the best of the simple kits I've bought recently. It leaves no residue and is great for stirring thick mixtures and scraping bowls.”
Rosie is Semi-finalist upon great british bake off 2019
Roberta Delias
pasta maker
£125, selfridges.com
“When I'm making pasta by hand all day at work, a pasta roller helps me make all the shapes I want, like tagliatelle or linguine, in minutes. I've been using a pasta machine for as long as I can remember. I've had this model for three years now, and it looks great in my kitchen, and it's not a gadget that needs to be put away.
pastaevangelists.com
Tom de Keyser
source skimmer
£7.59, amazon.co.uk
“Sauces are an essential element in cooking. They marry flavors. A sauce skimmer allows you to keep skimming with precision as you reduce the sauce from the base to the desired consistency. It is ideal for removing contaminated impurities and fats, ensuring a clean and clear final product.”
Tom is the Head Chef at the two Michelin starred The Hand and Flowers, Marlow.
Jorge Martinez
mexican elbow squeezer
£15, urbanbar.com
“I use this inexpensive squeezer almost every day. A few years ago, after I had a pretty serious accident with a mandolin, my husband used it after I told him how painful it was to squeeze lemon juice. It does the light work of squeezing limes and lemons, so if you're hosting at home and plan on making cocktails, lemon tarts, key lime pie, etc., it's exactly what you need. is.”
Jorge is head chef at Oscar at the Charlotte Street Hotel in London.
mark hix
kitchen aid stand mixer
£699, johnlewis.com
“Over the years, I've collected all kinds of kitchen gadgets. But when I say gadgets, I'm interested in things that are sitting in a drawer, like a five-blade chives snipper or an avocado wedger.” I've been using a KitchenAid artisan mixer for 25 years and it's still working. I have one in Dorset and one in London and use it every week for whipping. It can be pounded and kneaded, and with a few additional attachments, it can also be crushed, crushed, shredded, juiced, and strained.
From left: Bamix hand blender, stove grill. Cherry and olive pita. Garlic rocker.tower air fryer
Thomasina Mears
bar mix hand blender
£109, bamixuk.com
“I couldn't live without my Bamix hand blender. My parents had one as a wedding present over 50 years ago, and it's still in working order except for a little tinkering with the electronics. I bought them when I graduated from college and moved into my first apartment.These are very useful appliances that are easy to clean up, take up very little space, and can be used to make soups, purees, smoothies, and pestos. , perfect for making mayonnaise.
olly bridgewater
stove grill
£251, souvidetools.com
“The Konro Japanese BBQ is an absolute game-changer and a must-have piece of kit for home and professional kitchens. The extremely high temperatures allow you to cook delicate items without overcooking the food. It cooks quickly at high temperatures and adds color, flavor, texture, and a wonderful smoky aroma. It requires charcoal and can be placed on your kitchen countertop, but it produces a lot of smoke and cannot be extracted. We recommend using it outdoors unless it is very strong.
Ollie is the head chef at the Michelin-starred Sauce at Windermere's Gilpin Hotel.
Angela Crutchin
cherry and olive pita
£4.99, souchef.co.uk
“I love cherries for tarts, clafoutis, and ice cream, and this cherry pitter makes it easy to get the cherry stones out with the sharp metal spikes and push them out with ease.'' Damson, Mirabel plums, and also great for removing stones from olives all year long. I absolutely hate seeing people take stones out of their mouths.”
The author of Angela is vinegar cupboard (Bloomsbury)
Joe Fox
garlic locker
£13, johnlewis.com
“A garlic locker is a handy piece of kit. It's easy to clean and makes crushing lots of cloves an easy task. It's also something the whole family can use, much safer for kids than using a knife, and more traditional than using a knife.” It's less fiddly than a grinder. You'll have to peel the cloves first, but for a speedy, rustic method, this is fine. It's easy to clean under running water, and it's dishwasher safe. ”
Joe is the Executive Chef at the Farmdale Hotel.
alex aitken
tower air fryer
£100, argos.co.uk
“I love the Tower Air Fryer and unlike many other models, it feels like a replica oven because it has shelves rather than drawers. Air fryers may become obsolete, but not in my house.
Alex is a regular chef at the Christchurch Harbor Hotel Pier
lisa goodwin allen
meeter smart thermometer
£99.99, currys.co.uk
“Meater is a probe that can be linked to your phone and is very useful for people who love barbecue and want to cook the perfect steak. If you have a lot of friends and want to do a large collaboration on the barbecue. It's perfect. I use it for big chunks of meat. I recently made some great jerk ham.”
Lisa is the Executive Chef of the Michelin-starred Northcote in Lanhou
ed kimber
offset palette knife
£4.40, hartsofstur.com
“Measuring less than 5 inches, this small palette knife with an angled blade is extremely useful for everything from spreading cake batter into molds to lifting cookies from trays to decorating cakes. It's useful. I always lose it at work, so I keep a lot of it at home so I can use it easily.
theboywhobakes.co.uk
michelle roux jr.
hot water faucet
From £1,150, quooker.co.uk
“They're very practical. They have a small tank installed under the sink, and you have boiling water at hand. You can boil pasta or make a cup of tea in no time. Kettles are cluttered in the kitchen, and boiling water is at hand. It will take some time.”
Bruno Loubet
ortu spice mill
£54, dreamfarm.com
“Designed in Brisbane, Australia, I believe this pepper grinder is by far the best out there. It grinds with one hand and has 6 settings from extra-fine to coarse. , it's very easy to change what you want to grind. At my culinary school in Gold Coast, Australia, we use one for pepper and one for salt.”
willowvalleycookingschool.com
Sat Bains
Aerolatte mini whisk
£12.99, lakeland.co.uk
“This is a mini battery-powered frother for frothing warm milk. I use it for sauces at work and at home to mix up protein shakes. I first encountered it in the 2000s. Early on, I was having lunch with Heston at the Fat Duck. [Blumenthal]. I have two at home, but I always take one with me on holidays. ”
restaurant satbains.com
Tom Westerlund
plumber's torch
£115.25, diy.com
“I know it's a bit unusual, but my favorite tool is a plumber's torch. I got it from B&Q. It's an easy way to add a barbecue or charred flavor to your food at home. I always use it. I use it to barbecue mackerel and make salads. Just be careful not to set anything on fire. Luckily, fire extinguishers are sold in the aisle next door.”
Tom is the head chef at Kneipp Grill at Gilpin Lake House in Windermere
Henry Firth and Ian Sheasby of Bosch!
Vostov beef knife 20cm
£139, wusthof.co.uk
“The tool we can't live without is our Wusthof 20cm chef's knife. Perfect weight, comfortable handle, and really, really sharp. We bought it six years ago as a treat after Bosch. It has over 1 million likes on Facebook and I still use it every day. ”
Aldo Giri
wolf blender
£562, cooksandcompany.co.uk
“Wolf's semi-professional blender is essential on prep days at Casa Gili, our family business in Surrey. I use it for bisques, soups (I can make hot soups from start to finish) and pestos. Using different speeds allows you to control the blending and slow down the cooking so you can get on with other tasks in the kitchen.
casa-zilli.com
stephen carter bailey
stainless steel soap
£4.99, lakeland.co.uk
“Trust me on this: when you wash your hands with stainless steel, the smells of garlic, fish, etc. go away.'' It was originally sent to me by my aunt in America, and I added some humor to her. But it turns out she was spot on. I keep it next to my sink to avoid scrubbing it with harsh chemicals.”
Stephen was a finalist. Great British Bake Off 2017
Hywel Jones
lantana safety can opener
£11.95, lantanahome.com
“A few years ago, one of our junior chefs sustained a serious cut on the edge of an opened food can. A few days later, a Lantana safety can opener was discovered in the kitchen. One of our kitchen porters One dino said he bought it for his kitchen so that no one else would cut it themselves, separating the lid from the can by cutting the folded metal seam (not the side of the can). That means no sharp edges. This is a great piece of equipment, extremely durable, and the best can opener ever.”
Hywel runs the Michelin-starred restaurant Hywel Jones in Lucknam Park, Wiltshire.
juliet shear, baker
Kenwood MultiProgo Super Compact Food Processor
£49.99, kenwoodworld.com
“This mini food processor is really nice. It's small but very powerful and has enough capacity for most recipes. It fits easily in your cupboard if you don't want a mess and it has a handy chute so you can You can chop it directly into a bowl to make a big salad or prepare a large chili or pasta dish.
@julietear on Instagram
dean banks
julienne peeler
£1.99, lakeland.co.uk
“I bought it about 5 years ago to save time slicing mangoes. Grab a carrot or zucchini and let the little peeler do its magic within seconds. Use it with parmesan cheese. It doesn't require a power supply and is small so you can hide it anywhere.
Dean is the head chef at Pompadour at the Waldorf Astoria Edinburgh.
Raymond Blanc
Kenwood Sign Titanium Chef Baker
£599.99, johnlewis.com
“I've been using the original Chef Baker since it was released several years ago. It's functional, stylish, and designed to last. And it's much more than your average mixer. It does a lot of work. Several additional attachments allow you to grate, blend, slice, juice, mince, spiralize, and more.
