Cora's Cottage

It’s a typical Tuesday night and you are in the middle of prepping dinner.  Without even thinking you swing open the cabinet door, you know the one with all the kitchen gadgets that have collect over the years, only be to bombarded with things falling out at you.

Not only can you not find that one, very specific tool you were looking for, but now you have a mess of kitchen gadgets to pick up while the baby fusses to be picked up … and dinner still needs to get on the table.

We all have that dreaded kitchen cabinet with all the kitchen gadgets we have been told will solve all our kitchen whoas, but in reality they just take up space, collect dust, and cause us more stress than they are worth.

So, which kitchen gadgets are truly worth the hype? And does everyone need every kitchen gadget??

I’m of the persuasion that each cook only needs the tools that serve them in their kitchen and everything else is just clutter. And clutter in the kitchen doesn’t bring even the most ardent cook joy.

The kitchen staples are almost always my go-to items, but are some gadgets useful? You bet! In fact, I have a handful of kitchen gadgets that are used regularly, or at least a lot during certain times of year, in my kitchen that I wouldn’t want to go without. However, I wouldn’t necessarily recommend every one of these gadgets for every cook.

Vegetable Slicer

Some might consider this tool a staple, but I would disagree. It falls in the gadget category because it helps to speed up a job but isn’t necessary for it.  The staple would be a good solid (and sharp) knife.

This handy little tool allows you to quickly slice everything from onions and potatoes to carrots and zucchini.

This is one of my most used tools when I am trying to preserve the harvest because it is much faster, and more uniform, than slicing everything by hand with a knife. 

The speed is always a plus when processing large quantities of vegetables within a limited amount of time while the uniformity is great especially when dehydrating. Thinner, more uniform slices will dehydrated better than thicker, varying slices.

While some kitchen gadgets are hard to clean, this vegetable slicer is super easy to wash by hand or rinse and run through the dishwasher (on the top rack).  I love a kitchen tool that is easy to clean and bonus if it can go in the dishwasher!!

Misto Spray Bottle

This Misto spray bottle is a must-have gadget if you are looking to get rid of aerosol cans in your home or use cleaner oils when cooking.

When I was in the hunt fur a cleaner option to aerosolized cooking sprays, it was hard to find an economical option but this Misto sprayer checked all my boxes.

Instead of disposable aerosol cans, this sprayer is refillable and uses a pressure system to spray the oil.  For each use, simple pump up the sprayer to build pressure before spray the baking dish, cookie sheet, or bowl.

I like to fill it with olive or avocado oil for healthier cooking oil options.  However, it is important to only fill the canister half full to allow room to build pressure when spraying.

Reusable and a healthier cooking oil? Check and check!

Label Maker

While markers and tape do work for labeling things, this label maker makes life so much easier when labeling small things or printing multiples of the same label.

I use this label maker to label everything from bulk food storage to ferments.  It is rechargeable and has multiple font and text size settings. 

When I’m labeling things like bulk food storage buckets, I like to label on opposite sides of the bucket and on the lid.  This allows us to quickly see what is in a bucket without having to twist and turn it or pull it out from the shelf saving us time in the future. Blessing our future selves as Steph over at Homestead on Purpose likes to say!

Apple Peeler/Corer/Slicer Combo

I put off purchasing this tool for a whole year and I greatly regret it.  This handy tool is a game changer for processing apples and pears. 

This peeling, coring, and slicing combo tool easily cut my processing time in half (probably more!) by combining steps and allowing me to process each apple or pear in a fraction of the time.

It is easy to set up and operate too! Simple suction it to the counter (there are clamp options as well), and push an apple or pear onto the tines.  Turn the crank until the fruit as been peeled completely and pushed the coring and slicing knife.

Another pro to this tool is the uniformity of slices. It crests thin slices of fruit that cook down or dehydrate must better than odd, varying sized chunks.

Dicer Tool

This is another kitchen gadget that I put off purchasing and wish I hadn’t! It has several inserts but my favorites are the two dicing inserts.  These once again greatly decrease the processing time when I am trying to get a garden harvest in the freezer.

I use the two dicing attachments for everything from apples (for cookies, get the recipe here!) to onions and potatoes to tomatoes. 

Making salsa has become a breeze because I can run all my ingredients through this chopper and be ready to go in a fraction of the time.  Uniformity and efficiency is a perk of this tool once again! Dicing onions for the freezer before they go bad? No problem with this handy tool!

Food Mill

I picked this kitchen gadget up at the thrift store after watching Ruth Ann Zimmerman of Homesteading with the Zimmermans on YouTube.

It works great for making things like apple sauce, pear sauce, and ketchup. 

To use it, just drop in your product (cooked apples, pears, or tomatoes) and turn the handle.  Every 6-10 turns rotate the handle backwards and repeat the process until all the food has been pressed through the mill.  Dump out the peels, seeds, and cores before adding another batch. 

I thought a blender would be fine fit blending all my things for apple sauce, pear sauce, and ketchup; but sometimes it needs more and this food mill has saved me!

While many of these gadgets can be useful in any kitchen, they are most useful when processing large quantities of food.