Being a great cook is about understanding ingredients and flavors, and how to balance them properly. Getting the best combinations makes for the best dishes. However, you can give yourself a bit of a head-start with the right equipment. All professional chefs will tell you that a good set of knives is the most important thing. That is true, but things have moved on a bit in recent years and there are plenty of new kitchen gadgets out there that can completely revolutionize the way that you cook. The only problem is that there are so many different kitchen tools coming out every year, it’s difficult to tell which ones are good and which ones are just a rubbish gimmick. We’ve put together a short list of some of the best kitchen gadgets to help you out.
Kitchen Shears
While knives are great, they can often be dangerous, especially for amateurs. It’s easy to slice a finger if you’re trying to cut through something a bit tougher, but there is a solution to that. You can cut it fine with a good pair of kitchen shears. Try looking at some reviews to find out which ones are the best. You can use them just like a pair of scissors, making it much safer than chopping with a traditional knife.
Thermometer Spoon
Checking the temperature of your food while you cook is of paramount importance. You could buy yourself a traditional thermometer, but why would you do that when you can get a thermometer spoon? Just replace your normal stirring spoon with this and you’ll never have to reach for a thermometer again. The probe is also detachable if, for any reason, you need to use the spoon on it’s own without it.
A Good Food Processor
Although it’s a fairly recent invention, the food processor seems to have infiltrated every single area of cooking. You can hardly look through a recipe these days without it telling you to throw everything into the food processor. When you’re looking at them, there’s no need to go for an extremely expensive one, but get a good mid-range one. The cheaper ones won’t last and they won’t be powerful enough to whizz up the harder stuff.
The Spiralizer
The Spiralizer was last year’s big Christmas gift, and for good reason. It sold in huge numbers because you can just do so much with it. It’s great for doing salads with, but one of the best uses is to make noodles out of a courgette for a much healthier alternative to starchy egg noodles.
Juicers
Whilst the best masticating juicer may not be at the top of everyone’s list when it comes to cooking, it actually has the ability to make a positive difference to your own personal health and wellness, as well as to that of your family. It’s not quite a cooking implement, but for anybody that is trying to live a healthy lifestyle, a juicer is very handy. Replacing unhealthy snacks with fruit or vegetable juices can really help you to shed the pounds. The Magimix juicer is perhaps one of the best ones out there at the moment, but it’s worth having a look around for any deals as most of them are essentially the same thing, apart from the very cheap ones.