Open any kitchen drawer in the country and you’ll find at least three gadgets that seemed like a brilliant idea at the time. The avocado slicer. The herb scissors. That thing you bought from a market stall in Barcelona that you’ve never actually used. Kitchen gadgets have a terrible reputation because most of them are solutions looking for a problem. But some — the ones that earn their space — will change how you cook every single day. This is about those ones.
In This Article
- What Makes a Gadget Worth Keeping
- The Essential Tier: Use These Daily
- The Strong Tier: Use These Weekly
- The Occasional Tier: Worth It for Specific Cooks
- The Overrated Tier: Skip These
- Buying Smart: Avoiding Gadget Waste
- Storage Solutions for Small Kitchens
- Frequently Asked Questions
What Makes a Gadget Worth Keeping
Before getting into specifics, here’s the test I apply to everything in my kitchen drawers: does it do one thing faster, safer, or better than a knife and a chopping board? If yes, it stays. If it just does the same thing with extra steps and washing up, it goes.
The best kitchen gadgets share three qualities:
- They save real time — not 10 seconds, but minutes on tasks you do regularly
- They’re easy to clean — anything with 15 parts that needs hand-washing will end up in the back of a cupboard within a month
- They’re compact — UK kitchens are small. A gadget that takes up half a drawer needs to work twice as hard to justify its space
If you’ve struggled with kitchen organisation, our guide to organising a small kitchen covers the bigger picture of making everything fit.
The Essential Tier: Use These Daily
Digital Kitchen Scales
If you own one kitchen gadget, make it this. Weighing ingredients rather than using cups and spoons is faster, more accurate, and creates less washing up. You measure directly into the bowl, tare between ingredients, and never wonder whether a “cup” means packed, scooped, or levelled.
A decent set costs about £15-25 from Amazon UK or Lakeland. Look for:
- 0.1g precision — essential for baking, spices, and coffee
- Flat platform — so you can place bowls and plates directly on top
- Tare function — resets to zero so you can add multiple ingredients sequentially
- Battery life — AAA batteries are cheaper and easier to find than coin cells
The Salter 1036 (about £20) has been my daily workhorse for years. It’s thin enough to store upright in a drawer divider, accurate to 1g (0.1g on some settings), and runs on AAAs.
Microplane Grater/Zester
A Microplane transforms citrus zest, garlic, ginger, Parmesan, and nutmeg from “fiddly tasks I skip” into “done in three seconds.” The razor-sharp stainless steel teeth produce featherlight shavings that melt into sauces, dressings, and batter without lumps.
The classic Microplane Premium Zester costs about £12-15. The cheap supermarket copies are not the same — the teeth are stamped rather than photo-etched, and they tear rather than grate. This is one product where the branded version is worth every penny.
Good Peeler (Y-Peeler Specifically)
Most people own a swivel peeler — the kind with the blade at the end of a handle. They work, but a Y-peeler (blade across the top, like a safety razor) is faster, more controlled, and works on everything from carrots to butternut squash.
The Kuhn Rikon Original Swiss Peeler (about £3-5 for a three-pack) is legendary for a reason. It’s so cheap you can replace it yearly, and it outperforms peelers costing ten times as much. Keep one in the drawer permanently.
Instant-Read Thermometer
The difference between perfectly cooked chicken and dry chicken is about 5°C. Between a medium-rare steak and a well-done one, even less. Guessing is how people either undercook meat (dangerous) or overcook it (disappointing).
A probe thermometer removes all guesswork. The ThermoPro TP03 (about £10-12) gives a reading in 3-4 seconds and is accurate to ±0.5°C. Use it for meat, bread (internal temp tells you when it’s done), tempering chocolate, and checking oil temperature for frying.
According to the Food Standards Agency, the core temperature for safely cooked poultry should reach 75°C. A thermometer is the only way to know for certain.
The Strong Tier: Use These Weekly
Mandoline Slicer
Nothing produces paper-thin, perfectly uniform slices like a mandoline. Cucumber for salads, potatoes for gratins, onions for pickles, courgettes for tarts — all come out identical, which means they cook evenly and look professional.
The Benriner Japanese mandoline (about £25-35) is the industry standard in professional kitchens. The OXO Good Grips model (about £30) is more beginner-friendly with a better hand guard.
Safety warning: mandolines are genuinely dangerous. The blade is surgical-sharp and your fingers are millimetres away from it. Always use the hand guard. Always. I learned this the hard way and now have a small scar on my left thumb as a permanent reminder. A cut-resistant glove (about £8 from Amazon UK) is cheap insurance.
Kitchen Shears
Good kitchen scissors do things a knife can’t — or at least can’t do as quickly:
- Spatchcock a chicken in 30 seconds (two cuts up the backbone)
- Cut herbs directly over the pan — faster than chopping
- Open packaging without reaching for a separate tool
- Portion pizza more cleanly than a pizza wheel
- Trim fat and sinew from meat with precision
The OXO Good Grips kitchen shears (about £15) come apart for cleaning, which matters — scissor hinges trap raw meat residue. Any pair that doesn’t separate for washing will eventually develop a smell.
Garlic Press
This is controversial. Some chefs insist on mincing garlic with a knife — and yes, knife-minced garlic gives better texture in some dishes. But for curries, stir-fries, pasta sauces, and dressings where the garlic is going to dissolve anyway, a press saves time and produces a finer result than most home cooks achieve with a knife.
The Zyliss Susi 3 (about £12-14) is the one to get. It handles unpeeled cloves, has a built-in cleaner, and crushes rather than extrudes, which preserves more of the oils.
Box Grater (Four-Sided)
You probably already own one. The question is whether you’re using it enough. A box grater handles:
- Cheese for pasta, pizza, and toasties
- Butter into flour for scones and pastry (frozen butter, coarse side — faster than rubbing in by hand)
- Vegetables for slaws, fritters, and hash browns
- Ginger on the fine side when you don’t want fibrous chunks
Keep it near the prep area, not buried in a cupboard. The more accessible it is, the more you’ll use it.
The Occasional Tier: Worth It for Specific Cooks
Pasta Machine (Manual Roller)
If you make fresh pasta more than once a month, a manual pasta machine is transformative. Rolling by hand with a pin is romantic but slow, and getting even thickness across a sheet is properly difficult.
The Marcato Atlas 150 (about £45-55 from John Lewis or Amazon UK) is the classic. Italian-made, chrome-plated steel, and it’ll last decades. It clamps to the worktop, rolls sheets from thick to paper-thin in nine settings, and cuts fettuccine or tagliatelle with included attachments.
If you make pasta less than once a month, skip it. A rolling pin and knife work fine for occasional use, and a pasta machine takes up meaningful cupboard space.
Probe Thermometer (Leave-In/Wireless)
Different from the instant-read above — a leave-in probe sits in the meat while it cooks, with a wire running to a base unit (or Bluetooth to your phone). Essential for:
- Slow-roasting — monitoring a shoulder of lamb for 5 hours without opening the oven
- BBQ/smoking — knowing internal temperature without lifting the lid
- Bread — checking when a sourdough loaf hits 96°C internally
The Thermopro TP27 (about £30-35) has dual probes and a 150m wireless range, so you can sit in the garden while the brisket does its thing.
Herb Stripper
A small silicone or metal disc with different-sized holes for stripping thyme, rosemary, and other woody herbs from their stems. Costs about £3-5 and saves genuine time if you cook with fresh herbs regularly. If you only use dried herbs, skip it entirely.
The Overrated Tier: Skip These
Not every gadget earns its keep. These are popular sellers that rarely justify the drawer space:
Avocado Slicer
A knife and a spoon do the same job faster. The three-in-one avocado tools (split, de-stone, scoop) are gimmicky and worse at each task than the two tools you already own. Unless you’re preparing 20 avocados a day for a restaurant, this is pure drawer clutter.
Egg Slicer
Slices eggs beautifully — for about three weeks until the wires go slack or snap. A sharp knife does the job with zero maintenance and doesn’t take up a drawer slot.
Banana Slicer
This exists. People buy it. A knife works.
Strawberry Huller
A small claw that removes the green top and core from strawberries. It saves roughly one second per strawberry compared to a paring knife. At that rate, you’d need to hull about 10,000 strawberries to justify the purchase and storage cost.
Unitasker Choppers and Dicers
Those “vegetable chopper” sets with 47 interchangeable blade grids, a lid, a container, and instructions in 15 languages. They work for about the first month, then the blades dull, the hinges loosen, and cleaning the grid becomes a punishment. A knife and chopping board are faster, sharper, and take up less space. Our guide to choosing a chopping board covers the foundation every kitchen needs.
Buying Smart: Avoiding Gadget Waste
The 30-Day Rule
When you see a gadget that appeals to you — in a shop, online, in someone else’s kitchen — wait 30 days before buying it. If you still want it after a month, and you can think of three specific dishes you’ll use it for, buy it. This simple rule eliminates about 80% of impulse gadget purchases.
Where to Buy
- John Lewis — excellent range, good returns policy, can handle products before buying
- Lakeland — the UK’s gadget specialist. Huge range, though they stock as much gimmick as gold. Use their reviews to filter
- Amazon UK — widest range, fastest delivery, but harder to judge quality without handling
- TK Maxx — surprisingly good for branded kitchen tools at 30-50% off. Microplane, OXO, and Joseph Joseph show up regularly
- Aldi/Lidl specials — their weekly middle aisle kitchen finds are hit-and-miss, but occasionally excellent value
Materials That Last
- Stainless steel over plastic for anything that touches heat or sharp edges
- Silicone for utensils that contact non-stick pans — won’t scratch coatings
- Dishwasher-safe is non-negotiable for anything you’ll use daily
Storage Solutions for Small Kitchens
UK kitchens average about 13 square metres — half the size of American kitchens and roughly a third of Australian ones. Storage matters.
- Drawer dividers — separate gadgets by frequency of use. Daily items at the front, weekly items behind, occasional items in the back
- Magnetic knife strips — free up an entire drawer by mounting knives on the wall. Works for metal utensils too
- Vertical organisers — baking trays, chopping boards, and flat items store better standing up than stacked
- Inside cupboard door hooks — measuring cups, spoons, and small tools can hang on cheap adhesive hooks
- The “one in, one out” rule — every new gadget means one old one goes. No exceptions. If you can’t identify what leaves, you don’t need what’s arriving
Frequently Asked Questions
What are the most useful kitchen gadgets for beginners? Digital scales, a Microplane grater, an instant-read thermometer, and a Y-peeler. These four cost under £50 combined and improve every meal you cook. They’re also compact enough to fit in a single drawer.
Are expensive kitchen gadgets worth it? Sometimes. A £12 Microplane is worth ten times a £3 supermarket copy. A £45 pasta machine is worth it if you make pasta monthly. But a £30 avocado slicer is never worth it when a knife costs nothing extra. Judge each gadget on how often you’ll use it and whether a simpler tool does the same job.
How do I stop buying kitchen gadgets I never use? Apply the 30-day rule: wait a month before buying, and only proceed if you can name three specific dishes you’ll use it for. Also ask yourself whether a knife, chopping board, or existing tool already does the job. Most impulse kitchen purchases fail this test.
What kitchen gadgets do professional chefs actually use at home? Scales, instant-read thermometers, Microplanes, sharp knives, and kitchen shears. Professional chefs tend to own fewer gadgets than home cooks, not more. They rely on knife skills and a small number of high-quality tools rather than single-purpose devices.
Should kitchen gadgets be dishwasher safe? For daily-use items, yes — dishwasher safety is non-negotiable. Anything that requires hand-washing will eventually get used less often. For occasional items like a pasta machine or mandoline, hand-wash only is acceptable since you’re using them less frequently.