**This post contains affiliate links: Click here to read my disclosure policy. If you make a purchase through any of these links, I will receive a small percentage of the sale, at no extra cost to you. Thank you!
A while ago I kept coming across posts about what people considered their “must-have” kitchen gadgets, and I thought to myself, that’s ridiculous, there is nothing in my kitchen that I couldn’t live without. Honestly there isn’t, but there are a few things that definitely make my life a bit easier.
My first kitchen love has been and always will be my Kitchen-Aid Stand Mixer. My MIL bought me this as my shower gift {I have the 6 qt professional}, and I have loved it forever! Growing up we didn’t have one of these, and when Matt and I started dating his mother did, and mine didn’t. It was a whole new world to have that thing {we’d been standing over bowls with a hand mixer or spoon}. There’s so much I can do with it, and tons that I have still never done with it.
My Immersion Blender didn’t become popular until Ave was born. It suddenly made baby food processing infinitely easier, then I realized I could do so much more with it! Chunky sauces thinned, guacamole, soups, anything! If something needs to get smoothed out, this is so much easier to use than a big food processor or blender {which my blenders always seem to be broken: Anyone else with that problem?}.
I’ve long been a believer in using cookie scoops, it was only this fall that I decided to splurge and by myself a 1/4 cup Muffin Scoop: Game changer! No more messes while making muffins or cupcakes or dishing out equal portions of ANYTHING {which are a necessity in this household!}.
Once upon a time I bought a Pampered Chef Mix’n Scraper, which I loved, then someone bought me a kitchen aid three pack of Assorted Scrappers and oh my…there was this thin, long handled scraper in there that was awesome! A medium scraper is great for mixing and stirring thinner batters, but that thin, long handled one is a dream to clean appliances {like the immersion blender} and scrape out containers.
When it comes to measuring ingredients there are two things that I couldn’t live without my Pyrex Liquid Measuring Cups and a 5 piece measuring cups {includes 3/4 cup}. The Pyrex is great because I can microwave or heat them and they’re just all around awesome {I use the bigger ones-2 cup and 4 cup} for mixing small batches of batter. The greatest thing about a 5 piece measuring cup set is the inclusion of a 3/4 cup…it takes all the work out of 1.5 cup measurements…there is no getting multiple pieces dirty, just one and it’s done!
While I love my Stand Mixer there are definitely times when it would be overkill to use {quick breads, muffins, and other easy to mix dough}, that’s is when it’s really handy to have a Big plastic mixing bowl or 3. They’re light weight, easy to clean, and make a lot less work than scrubbing out the beaters of a stand mixer.
Last, but certainly not least is our Kitchen Scale; this thing gets used constantly…several times a day; from ingredients for recipes, letters, and anything else you name it…our kitchen scale is used for it. It’s so small and convenient that it just sits in a drawer and I can whip it out and put it back in seconds!
What are your favorite kitchen tools? Are they expensive gizmos or common-sense gadgets?
