7 Kitchen Tools to Level Up Your Cooking
Plus EOFY deals actually worth your time.
Hi everyone,
This week we’re shaking things up with a list of tools and gadgets that will take your cooking to the next level. Don’t worry — there will still be recipe links at the bottom of this newsletter, but with the end of the financial year swiftly approaching in Australia, now’s the perfect time to call out some of our favourite must-haves while they’re on sale.
Whether you’re a beginner cook or a seasoned chef, we’re sure that there will be something useful here for you. If cooking already feels like a chore sometimes (we’ve all been there), having the right gadgets on hand can make all the difference. So, without further ado, let’s get into it!
Who knew a simple roll of silicone could be so life-changing? Pop a clove in, roll it around on the benchtop, and voila — your garlic will come out perfectly peeled. While peeling garlic is arguably not the most arduous task, this will save you lots of effort, especially for garlic-heavy meals. For under $10, we think it’s worth it.
Hear us out, you might think that your catch-all grater is good enough. But once you try using a good-quality microplane, we promise you’ll never look back. Once you start using it, you’ll realise just how often you reach for it to grate ginger, mince garlic or zest citrus. The original Microplane brand is best known for its quality — but for a more affordable option, KitchenAid offers one for about half the price.
Every dinner is elevated with a light side salad, not to mention the health benefits! But we all know that washing greens can be a pain. Salad spinners might seem like a gimmick, but believe us when we say that they will inspire you to eat more greens. Not only are they fun to use (truly!), but they also take the hassle out of washing greens in a colander.
It’s not an exaggeration to say that getting a benchtop chopper transformed the way we cook. It’s so incredibly useful to be able to quickly dice onions, chop herbs or blend up a sauce. In short, you can use a small benchtop chopper like this whenever you'd reach for a food processor — without the hassle of having to wash a large piece of equipment. We also find this really helpful for quickly emulsifying sauces or blending up small amounts of dressing. With a 3.5-cup capacity, this KitchenAid one is the perfect size, looks perfectly retro and comes in a variety of chic colours. Point being, this could totally be a permanent fixture on our countertop, without looking out of place. The pistachio colour is especially fun for an old-school feel.
You can finally achieve ultra-thin onion slices with this mandoline. This Joseph Joseph option is especially wonderful, as it folds down completely flat, which means it will hardly take up any space in your kitchen cabinets. Better yet, this mandoline also comes with a ‘precision food grip’, AKA a finger cover, so that you don’t have to worry about accidentally nicking your fingers while chopping. Many reviewers say that this tool has cut their chopping time in half — which sounds about right!
Hand Blender/Immersion Blender
We’re entering soup season in Australia, so if you don’t already have a hand blender, consider this the perfect time to grab one while EOFY sales are on. While it may seem like more of a luxury, a hand blender will truly transform the way you make soups and sauces. The ability to blend your food in the pot is not only incredibly convenient — but it also means less mess to wash up afterwards. Like a benchtop chopper, this tool is also great for making smaller batches of dips, sauces and dressings without the need to pull out a heavy-duty food processor. Once again, KitchenAid’s are adorably retro (we especially love this glossy cranberry colour, which is currently $60 off).
This one is definitely more of a splurge, but you can save over $100 on it right now (which doesn’t happen often), so it’s definitely worth a mention! If you’re an avid home cook or baker, trust us when we say that a high-quality stand mixer is worth the investment. We love the classic KitchenAid for its endless array of accessories. Not only is it a professional-grade mixer, but it’s also compatible with all the attachments you could possibly want: pasta roller, food grinder, ice cream maker — KitchenAid mixers do it all. Of course, the gorgeous colour options don’t hurt either, making these stand mixers a perfectly acceptable benchtop accessory. We especially love the Almond Cream, Feather Pink and Juniper colourways at the moment!
Recipe recommendations
And of course, we wouldn’t leave you without a few recipe recs. Here are some dishes worth trying this week:
Asparagus and Tarragon Velouté (Dairy-Free Creamy Asparagus Soup)
Easy and Delicious Yuzu Cookies (the perfect use of a KitchenAid stand mixer!)
Which kitchen tools have changed the way you cook? We always love finding new ways to make cooking easier, so let us know in the comments below.
(Opening image credit: KitchenAid)