My favorite and most used items of the year

Good, reliable kitchen tools are the best, and having cooked for many years, our kitchen was in need of some upgrades. Here are the 10 best kitchen tools that we used nearly everyday and would recommend to anyone looking for something new.

Number 1: Ninja Creami Swirl

This thing is a beast!! After trying a few ice-cream makers in the past, we were really excited about this one. Unlike typical ice-cream makers, you don’t need to pre-freeze the maker bowl, but instead freeze the individual filled pint cups. This means you aren’t limited to making just one flavor a day. The other feature that was very appealing was the promotion of “healthy” or “high-protein” options with built in settings and specific recipes to follow. The ability to “swirl” and create soft-serve style is also a really cool feature for an at home appliance. You have to check out our favorite recipes here.

Number 2: Instapot Vortex Airfryer

We use this thing everyday! Sometimes multiple times a day. We have two full size wall ovens, yet they take forever to come to heat. And with our small family, heating the whole oven for just one item or tray is wasteful. This heats up like a dream, is super easy to clean, and the food tastes amazing. We’ve cooked everything in it from meats, vegetables, breads, pastries and seafood. After you have tried air fried French fries, there is no going back.

Number 3: Hexclad Frying Pan

This is one of those chefs tools that got both good and bad press. Typical non-stick pans are on the out due to health concerns from the toxic chemicals used for the non-stick surface. Hexclad designed a hybrid pan that includes a stainless-steel raised grid which is meant to prevent the non-stick surface from getting scratches while providing a more professional searing experience similar to cast iron. We will admit that it takes some time to get used to cooking in this pan, especially when cooking items such as eggs. Low and slow. It does also require you to treat it like you would a cast iron pan – not soaking in soap etc.. This is our number one go-to pan and we use it pretty much every day for making everything from scrambled eggs to searing filets.

Number 4: Caraway Utensil Set

Probably the most boring on the list but it was such a great feeling to replace our old black plastic tools and broken wooden spoons. These tools are beautiful and well designed, and the tongs are a must have. Be sure to not put them in the dishwasher, not to soak them and to wipe dry after each use to keep them looking like new.

Number 5: Pickle Jar

With a garden full of Jalapeños and cucumbers this jar was a must have for making and storing pickles. You can flip the jar so the pickle juice goes to the bottom allowing you to easily retrieve pickles or whatever you are pickling from the top! If you don’t have a garden or don’t make your own pickles you can still pour in store bought pickles for the same effect! Last summer we were refilling this every week as we couldn’t get enough!

Number 6: Waring Pro Juicer

So full disclosure, this juicer isn’t new. And it also isn’t new to us. It was gifted to us about 10 years ago. We had used it a few times in the past and then it got relegated to the back of the pantry until recently. We wanted to make some lemon ginger shots, celery juice, and some other mixed juices and rediscovered the juicer. Obviously new juicers today are much improved but this one is simple to use, easy to clean, and makes great juice. Bonus is using the discards for the compost!

Number 7: Salad Spinner

Okay so maybe these aren’t the most exciting tools on lists ever, but this one at least is fun to use! Berries, salad greens, herbs, grapes, this gets it done and it really does save time. After spinning our produce we do still like to lay out the washed produce on a clean towel to make sure it is perfectly dry before storing just to prevent any mold. It’s actually our favorite Sunday activity – seeing all that fresh produce neatly lined up, clean and ready to use. My family usually devours any berries before we have time to put them away. On this spinner, we love how the top mechanism pushes in to make it easier to store. We also use the outer bowl for eating popcorn out of while on the couch during family movie nights.

Number 8: Shun Classic Knifes

The Shun Classic 8″ chef knife is our absolute favorite knife and a workhorse in the kitchen. We own many of the Shun classic knife’s such as the pairing knife, bread knife, carving knife and a set of steak knifes. We also own their scissors. They are all amazing. They keep a sharp edge and can be easily sharpened with a honing steel. We wouldn’t recommend putting these in the dishwasher- hand wash only to keep them sharp and like new.

Number 9: Caraway baking pans

 

These baking sheet pans and baking trays are wonderful. They are free from forever chemicals and toxic non-stick coatings, and the look beautiful. Granted we haven’t had them long enough to see if they stand the test of time, but we’re extremely hopeful given how they have performed so far. Like any products like this, the key is to follow the guidance on cleaning and maintenance to avoid issues.

Number 10: Milk Frother

The last item on this list might be one of our favorite tools or gadgets. We received this as a gift and it has been a game-changer to elevate a boring cup of coffee. We have used this to make protein foam, matcha, hot cocoa, and cold foam for iced lattes. It has a small profile so can easily stay out on the counter next to my coffee machine. The stainless steel carafe makes cleanup super easy and it has different settings for different types of foam or steamed milk. You can even add flavors or sweeteners to the milk. Our go-to milk is Fairlife fat free milk, which makes an amazing foam compared to typical cow milk, but this frother works with almond and oat milk just as well.

We hope that you found this list of our 10 best kitchen tools to be helpful in planning what your next kitchen tool purchase will be!