One of the features that I am looking forward to starting this year is a weekly Ask the Readers feature.
Every Saturday I will be posting a question.
Sometimes it will just be a random question that I am curious about, other times it will be a question that I have received from a reader.
If you have a cooking, recipe, kitchen tool, or other kitchen related question, that you would like featured, please email me using my contact form. I would love to start featuring some of your questions.
This week to start things off I want to talk about kitchen tools.
What is your favorite kitchen tool? What is the tool you love and use the most in your kitchen?
I’m going to be one of the sheep I think. I’m going to say our new shiny kitchenaid mixer! I’ve always hated mixers, I tried to do things by hand whenever possible… I never thought I’d be a mixer person!!!!!!
My favorite is my 5 inch Santoku knife, I use it daily it’s stays sharp a long time and is the perfect size for cutting most fruits and veggies.
Silpats!
Silicone spoonulas and Vidalia Chop Wizard. I use the chopper for everything from onions to strawberries.
@Donna,
My favorite kitchen tool is the Vidalia Chop Wizard also. I love this tool! It saves so much time by using this. It is one of the best birthday presents that I have ever received!
My Rachael Ray garbage bowl!
My toaster oven! I can reheat things so they are crispy again, make toast, broil a single steak for me and hubby, bake just enough biscuits…I love it!!!
I love my kitchen shears from Pampered Chef. I use them to open packages, snip veggies, meat, fruit, and just about everything else.
@Heidi, I love my Pampered Chef shears, too!!! So easy to use and I love the locking feature.
@Stacia J,
I love this tool also. I use it weekly for cutting salads. I never thought to use it for meat, I will have to try that now. The locking feature is great also.
Well, if the sheep are bleating for the Kitchen Aid mixer, let me join the flock! I love my (hand-me-down and thus FREE) Kitchen Aid mixer sooooo much, because it does sooooo many things: Mix stuff, knead dough, whip cream, grate cheese, slice/grate veggies…. I just wish we had more attachments for it!
My favorite basic tool is a Santoku-type knife, closely followed by silicone baking mats.
My favorite electric gadget is my Bosch Universal Mixer. I literally wore out my Kitchen Aid and love the Bosch even more.
I’d have to say my enameled “bread bowl” or my silicone spatulas.
Well…I just got a KitchenAid Mixer for Christmas…so I still need time before I declare it a favorite. However, my love for Silicone Spatula’s/spoons…is as an all time high. I just got one about six months ago…and added another over the hoildays…and I think I hear angels sing everytime I use them.
I would have to say my silicone spatulas. I have a whole crock of them all sizes and shapes, and they are the first go-to with any kitchen project!
FoodSaver vacuum sealer…hands down! I am buy in bulk then seal in portions just right for my family. Just yesterday I bought 16 chicken breast at $1.99/lb and now they are frozen in packs of 2. Love the kitchen tool!!
I don’t think I can choose just one. If truly a “tool”, then I’d say my peeler – that thing peels like a dream and its super old!
For appliance type tools, I’d say its a tie between my bread machine (although I don’t love my existing one as much as the one I had for about 15 years – that one was the BEST but the replacement I received as a gift just doesn’t fit the bill as well) and my trusty Kitchen Aid, which is about 16 years old now and going strong – just replaced the whisk type attachment this holiday season!
I love my Bialetti pizza chopper. It’s works so much better than a pizza wheel! I also use it when I’m slicing brownies into serving-size squares and for slicing quesadillas. Love it!
I love my crock pot! I use it all the time. It’s so nice to put ingredients in the CP in the morning, and return home to a delicious meal that afternoon. Next runner up, is my Zorjirushi bread machine. I wore the first one out after 15 years of use, now on #2.
@Casey,
I love my crockpot also. There are many tools that I love to use in the kitchen. The crockpot works great when I am busy, I can just throw together a meal in the crockpot. I love the crockpot for soup, it can simmer all day without having my stove on so that I can go out while it is cooking. I have also found that cooking ribs in the crockpot makes the best ribs.
My favorite kitchen tool is my KitchenAid mini chopper. It is easy to grab and chop veggies, meats, etc. It really cuts down on my prep time. I have even convinced my husband to use it!
I have 4 favorite tools… all from Pampered Chef.. my Mix ‘N Chop (great for perfectly chopped hamburger, sausage, chicken, potatoes and for mixing frozen OJ), my Food Chopper (good bye food processor!), my Smooth Edge Can Opener and my Kitchen Shears. I use these tools on a daily basis in my kitchen and not just because I’m an consultant. I just LOVE them!!
Great idea! I’ll go along with those that have already mentioned the Kitchen Aid stand mixer but I think of that as more of an appliance than a tool. For a hand tool, one of my favorite things is my Pampered Chef long spatula. It is GREAT for getting peanut butter out of the bottom of the jar (or anything else like that) without getting it all over your hands trying to get the last of it out. No more waste…I can use every last bit up!
I’m going to have to go with my Bosch Universal and Nutrimill. I make all our bread products and I couldn’t do it without these machines. Out of everything in my kitchen, I’d grab those two if I had to evacuate.
@Deb,
it has to be my Magic Bullet and embarressed to admit it but I love my automatic can opener. I’m a lefty and I struggle with the manual ones, this one is so easy, no need to ask hubby to help
It’s hard to pick just one…I love my Pampered Chef cheese cutter and pizza stone and I also have a kitchenaid mixer that gets a workout at least 3x a week!
Kitchen Aid Stand Mixer – So versatile, handles everything from making meringue with egg whites to heavy cookie batters. Don’t use it every day, but when I do there is nothing else I would reach for.
This may sound odd, but I really find my pizza cutter handy!! I use it cut the quesadillas in triangles for my boys, sandwiches and other foods as well.
I’m tempted to say my Kitchen Aid Mixer…but I’m going to go with my adjustable measuring spoons! I have 2 sets and they are always dirty! I love being able to get out 1 or 2 spoons to measure everything instead of a zillion spoons. 2 is way easier to wash than a zillion 😉
I agree…it’s hard to pick just one! Of course, my KA mixer {just got the new slice/grate attachement for Christmas…can’t wait to use!}. Also my silicone spatulas, especially the small ones…perfect for getting everything out of cans and measuring cups! Ok, one more. My salt pig {a small wooden container with a magnetic swing lid}…perfect for measuring out salt or for when you just need a pinch.
Goofy though it is, I love my cherry/olive pitter. It’s a great tool for the job and makes it so much easier to use those ingredients.
I’ve had many favorites over the years – I LOVED my old food processor – don’t remember the brand, but haven’t found one since that I love. In the days when my daughter was younger I would have said my pizza cutter – especially when cutting pancakes. Now, it would be my Mix ‘n Chop from Pampered Chef (a friend renamed it “The Hamburger Smasher”) – I sell PC and have sold more of those than anything in the years I have been a consultant. It is by far the most repeated purchase women make – they buy them for stocking-stuffers, wedding gifts, their moms, daughters, campers, you name it!!!
I would have to say that my favorite tool is a silicone spoonula. You can get all of the cake mix out of the bowl, they are great for making scrambled eggs….endless!!! Favorite kitchen machine-toaster oven, hands down!
Hands down, my KitchenAid mixer. My husband gave it to me a year ago and its been a life saver ever since. I use it to mix everything and cleanup is so easy. I LOVE IT!! I also love my Pampered Chef chopper, garlic press and can opener.
I agree with the others, I cannot pick just one. My Kitchen Aid Mixer is GREAT! Thank God for my Grandma. She thought all of us needed one. I got one for a Wedding present 18 1/2 years ago and still use it almost daily. My Pampered Chef 2 cup measurer, it is for solids and liquids. Great for peanutbutter, molassas, anything sticky, you just push it out and it is not messy. I also use my mini spatchula from Pampered Chef all the time. It’s great to serve brownies, lemon bars, etc and great to cook with too.
Foodsaver vacuum sealer, Bread Machine and my Kitchen Aid mixer followed by my mini food processor! I could not live without these items in my kitchen!
I enjoyed the multi-blogger tips. Those were Parsnips and have in the refrig.
I love a manual concentric ring egg beater.
My KA mixer of course! It gets a workout at least twice a week. But I also love my mini-chopper (I use it almost daily for chopping onions – no more tears!) and, oddly enough, my wooden spoon that’s flat instead of round at the end. I got it at Wal-Mart in some sort of spoon set and I find it the best wooden spoon for sauteing. Unless I’m baking, it’s the only spoon I use!
I love my slow cooker! and my wustoff paring knife