Most kitchens are packed with tools that promise to make cooking easier. Some get used every day, while others sit in a drawer until a particular recipe calls for them. The funny thing is that many of these gadgets can do much more than we give them credit for.
A few kitchen tools also have a right way to use them. Using them incorrectly can make cooking harder, create uneven results, or leave you wondering why anyone thought the gadget was useful in the first place.
Here are 21 common kitchen tools that may have more uses than you realized, along with a few tips for getting more from the ones you already own.
Garlic Press
A garlic press can save you from spending several minutes mincing cloves with a knife. For the best results, check whether your particular press is designed to handle unpeeled garlic. Many models can crush the clove with the skin still on, leaving the peel behind when you open the press.
Place the clove in the chamber and squeeze the handles firmly. Scrape the crushed garlic from the other side and add it straight to your recipe.
A garlic press won’t necessarily give you the same texture as finely chopped garlic, so the best choice depends on the dish. For sauces, marinades, and soups, finely crushed garlic can work beautifully.
Vegetable Peeler
A vegetable peeler is handy for far more than removing potato or carrot skins. Once you start looking at it as a small slicing tool, you’ll find plenty of uses for it.
Use it to make thin ribbons of zucchini or carrots for salads, shave pieces of Parmesan over pasta, or create chocolate curls for dessert. A sharp peeler can also make quick work of tough vegetable skins.
Keep the pressure light and let the blade do the work. Pressing too hard can result in thick, uneven strips.
Citrus Zester
A citrus zester can add much more than a little lemon zest to a recipe. The outer layer of an orange, lime, grapefruit, or lemon contains aromatic oils that can bring a fresh flavor to desserts, drinks, sauces, and savory dishes.
Try zesting different citrus fruits instead of sticking with lemons and limes. You can also use the zest as a garnish for cocktails, salads, baked goods, or roasted vegetables.
Just be careful not to grate too deeply. The white pith underneath the colorful skin can taste bitter.
Egg Slicer
An egg slicer makes quick, even slices of hard-boiled eggs, but there’s no reason to stop there.
Try it with soft foods such as strawberries, kiwis, mushrooms, or mozzarella. It can be particularly useful when you want uniform pieces for salads, sandwiches, or a snack platter.
The key is choosing foods that are firm enough to hold their shape but soft enough for the slicer to pass through without crushing them.
Pizza Cutter
The pizza cutter sitting in your drawer can do much more than slice a pepperoni pizza.
Its rolling blade makes it handy for cutting quesadillas, flatbreads, pancakes, sandwiches, brownies, and even homemade pasta dough. It can also make quick, straight cuts through herbs or certain soft foods.
If you regularly make pizza at home, the tool is already earning its keep. But using it for other foods can save you from reaching for a knife every time you need a quick cut.
That’s one reason a pizza cutter has become a standard kitchen tool.
Tongs
Tongs are one of those kitchen tools that seem basic until you realize how often you reach for them.
They’re great for turning meat and vegetables in a hot pan, tossing pasta, serving salad, and handling foods that are awkward to pick up with a spoon. Tongs with silicone tips are especially useful for cookware with nonstick surfaces.
They can also make serving appetizers easier during a party. Once you start using them regularly, a good pair of tongs tends to become one of the most frequently used utensils in the kitchen.
Lemon Squeezer
A lemon squeezer is usually brought out when a recipe calls for fresh citrus juice, but it can handle more than lemons.
Depending on the size of the tool, you can use it with limes and other small citrus fruits. Some handheld squeezers can also help crush soft ingredients in a pinch.
For the best results, cut the fruit in half and place it cut-side down if your squeezer is designed for that orientation. Squeezing this way can help keep seeds out of your drink or recipe.
Box Grater
A box grater gives you several textures from one tool, and each side has a different job.
The larger holes work well for shredding cheese, potatoes, carrots, and zucchini. The smaller holes are useful for finer ingredients, while the slicing side can create thin pieces of certain vegetables.
You can also grate chocolate, nuts, and citrus zest for desserts and garnishes. If you’ve been using only one side of your box grater, you’re leaving several useful options untouched.
Apple Corer
An apple corer makes removing an apple’s center quick and easy, but its narrow shape can be useful for other foods.
Try it on bell peppers to remove the stem and seeds, or use it to make a small opening in cupcakes before filling them with frosting, jam, or cream.
It can also create a hole in an apple slice for a fun snack or dessert. Just make sure the food is firm enough for the corer to pass through safely.
Silicone Baking Mats
Silicone baking mats can save you from using parchment paper for many baking projects, but their usefulness doesn’t end when the cookies come out of the oven.
They provide a nonstick surface for rolling dough and can help protect your counter during messy projects. Some can also be used as a heat-resistant surface, provided the manufacturer’s temperature guidelines allow it.
If you’re working on creative projects that involve paint, glue, or other messy materials, an old silicone mat can also give you a surface that’s easier to clean afterward.
Always check the care and temperature instructions for your particular mat before putting it in the oven.
Can Opener
A manual can opener can be surprisingly confusing if you’ve never been shown how to use one.
Place the cutting wheel against the rim of the can and squeeze the handles together until the wheel grips the metal. Turn the knob to move the blade around the lid. Once you’ve gone all the way around, release the handles and lift the lid carefully.
Some modern openers are designed to leave a smoother edge than older models. Regardless of the style, be careful with the lid after opening because the metal can still be sharp.
Mandoline Slicer
A mandoline is great for making evenly sliced potatoes, cucumbers, onions, carrots, and other vegetables. It can give you consistent slices much faster than a knife.
Many models also have settings for different thicknesses and julienne cuts, which can be handy for salads, gratins, slaws, and stir-fries.
There’s one rule you shouldn’t ignore: use the hand guard. Mandoline blades are extremely sharp, and your fingers can get dangerously close to the blade as the vegetable gets smaller. Never slide your bare hand toward the blade just to finish the last piece.
You can use this tool to create even flavors and textures in your food, but safety should come before speed.
Microplane Grater
A Microplane is perfect for citrus zest, but its fine teeth can handle plenty of other ingredients.
Use it for fresh ginger, garlic, nutmeg, or Parmesan cheese. The fine texture is particularly useful when you want an ingredient to blend smoothly into a sauce, dressing, marinade, or batter.
Because the grater is so sharp, keep your fingers away from the surface as you work and stop before the food gets too small to hold safely.
Immersion Blender
An immersion blender can save you from transferring hot soup to a countertop blender.
Stick the blending head directly into the pot and blend until the soup reaches the texture you want. It’s also useful for sauces, purees, smoothies, and some dressings.
According to KitchenAid, an immersion blender is particularly convenient for jobs that require short blending sessions. It’s also easier to store than a full-size blender, making it useful for smaller kitchens.
If you’re blending hot liquids, keep the blade submerged and follow the manufacturer’s instructions to avoid splashing.
Mortar and Pestle
A mortar and pestle can do much more than crush peppercorns.
Use it to grind whole spices, crush fresh herbs, make pesto, prepare guacamole, or create pastes for marinades and sauces. The amount of pressure you use also gives you more control over the final texture.
For some recipes, that rough, homemade texture is exactly what you want. It can also be satisfying to prepare ingredients this way rather than reaching for an electric appliance.
Whisk
A whisk is usually associated with scrambled eggs and whipped cream, but it has plenty of other jobs.
Use one to combine dry ingredients before baking, smooth out lumps in sauces, mix salad dressings, or incorporate air into pancake and cake batter.
A whisk is especially useful for sauces because the constant movement helps combine ingredients evenly and can keep certain mixtures from becoming lumpy.
Related: Still Using These? 13 Kitchen Tools That Have Better Alternatives
Colander
A colander is the obvious choice for draining pasta and rinsing vegetables, but it can occasionally stand in for other kitchen tools.
A heat-safe colander can work as a basic steamer when placed over a suitable pot of boiling water, provided the setup is stable and the colander is made for high heat. It can also be used to rinse grains, drain canned foods, or wash berries and herbs.
Some colanders can even help sift dry ingredients in a pinch. Give it a gentle shake over a bowl and check that the holes are fine enough for the ingredient you’re working with.
Kitchen Shears
Kitchen shears are much more useful than ordinary scissors.
Use them to snip fresh herbs directly over a dish, cut through food packaging, trim poultry, or divide dough into smaller pieces. Some models are also built to handle tasks such as cutting through small bones or cracking shells.
Keep kitchen shears separate from regular household scissors, and wash them thoroughly after cutting raw meat or poultry.
For everyday cooking jobs, they’re often quicker to reach for than a knife and cutting board.
Potato Masher
A potato masher can do plenty of work outside of mashed potatoes.
Use it to break up ground beef or sausage while it cooks, mash avocados for guacamole, crush beans for refried beans, or break down cooked vegetables for soups and side dishes.
The shape of the masher makes it particularly handy for breaking larger pieces into smaller ones without turning everything into a completely smooth puree.
Meat Thermometer
A meat thermometer is one of the best tools for checking whether meat has reached a safe internal temperature, but it can also be useful for other cooking projects.
Use it to check the temperature of frying oil, candy mixtures, sugar syrups, bread, or other recipes where temperature affects the final result. The correct temperature can mean the difference between a recipe turning out properly and ending up undercooked or overdone.
For food safety, place the thermometer in the thickest part of the meat and avoid touching bone, which can affect the reading.
Salad Spinner
A salad spinner isn’t just for lettuce.
After washing fresh herbs, you can use the spinner to remove excess water without crushing them. It can also help dry certain leafy greens and other delicate vegetables.
Dry greens are especially useful for salads because dressing tends to cling better to the leaves instead of sliding off with leftover water.
If your spinner has been sitting in the cabinet because you only make salad occasionally, give it another try for herbs and freshly washed greens.
Your kitchen drawers may be filled with tools that seem to have one obvious purpose, but many of them can handle several jobs. A vegetable peeler can make ribbons, an egg slicer can cut soft fruit, and a potato masher can tackle everything from beans to ground meat.
The trick isn’t buying more gadgets. It’s getting familiar with the ones you already have and finding practical ways to use them. You might even discover that the tool you rarely reach for becomes one of your favorites once you see what it can actually do.
