Cooking Gadgets You Didn't Know You Needed

I love cooking. I love the feeling of taking separate items and making a meal to feed to others, the warm feeling of knowing I have taken care of family and friends, and the act in itself calms me. As I have grown as a cook I have come across several items on Amazon that have been amazing in prep and cook times. Some may not be needed, but they sure are handy! In addition, all of these items are under $10, making them easily accessible by everyone and within a reasonable price range. These would be fantastic for the cook in your life as affordable gifts with the holiday season rapidly approaching. I will post links to some of these. However, these are not affiliate links and I will receive no compensation from the sale of these. I’m simply one cook showcasing items I love to others who share my passion, or know others who do.

Prior to this find, I was always either taking the hard stems out by hand, or ending up with bits of chard and kale in my salad that were too hard to eat. While in itself this is not a problem, it is time consuming to slice around the stems and only leave the edible leaves. This tool has taken it to a new level with various sizes for even the largest stems down to tiny stems in fresh oregano, thyme, and rosemary, for example. One quick pull and you are left with the leaves only, making cooking a snap. I have found this particularly worthwhile when prepping salad items for work on mornings I have forgotten to pack, or when I need large quantities of an ingredient.

I have found when making items requiring the separation of eggs, this is particularly useful. The telescoping handles make it easy to stretch across a bowl, freeing your hands up a bit and ensuring that there are no pieces of shell falling in the bowl. Easy to use and easy to clean, this has upped my baking game even more.

I have a family member with arthritis in their jaw that makes eating corn on the cob next to impossible. This allows me to fix farm fresh corn on the cob and allow them to enjoy the fresh taste along with us instead of having to settle for canned or frozen corn during the summer months when fresh corn is plentiful. This tool has also come in handy for some of my go to recipes including a southwestern pasta salad with corn and black beans, adding a pop of brightness to summer potlucks and BBQs.

Every Southern Belle has their own BBQ that they swear by. I am no different. I love to slow cook my pork or brisket and pull it apart. These claws have become my go to in the kitchen instead of using two forks, which take much longer and don’t shred as well to the proper BBQ consistency. Plus, waving these around like a bear is kind of fun sometimes.

Great for dumplings, pierogies, empanadas, and even wontons on occasion, this tool is extremely versatile and used often in my kitchen. I love making pot stickers and empanadas in here. With its easy to fold hinges and easy to clean (dishwasher safe) material, I use this quite frequently for different ethnic foods and it is so highly coveted by me that I have a backup on hand in case I break mine due to overuse.

These are just a few simple tools that will take cooking to the next level in terms of ease and prep time. I hope you found this as useful as I found these tools!