If you’re trying to stick to a budget, you might think that buying a new kitchen gadget is the last thing you should do, but did you know that many of them can actually save you money in the long run? You’ll also save time, time that can be used to enjoy doing what really counts, like spending it with friends and family, or whatever your heart desires.
Thousands of new gadgets hit the markets every year, each one promises to do something special, and maybe even comes with a fancy video, but only a few ultimately find success and are actually worth owning.
All of these great kitchen tools are definitely worth the investment.
1. Smart Chef Al Dente Singing Pasta Timer
This is definitely a fun product, but it will also save you time and money because it means no more having to cook yet another batch of pasta because you accidentally forgot about that pot boiling on the stove. This is a waterproof timer that you drop into the boiling water when you add your pasta. When the pasta is perfectly cooked, al dente style, it will serenade you so that you’ll never overcook those noodles again. The Chef is available here on Amazon.
2. Japanese Mandoline
If you have a Japanese Mandoline no longer will you have to drag out your food processor, or put in a ton of effort by hand, to beautifully slice fruits or vegetables. A mandoline makes quick work of slicing, resulting in perfectly uniform, thin pieces without all the time and effort. You can produce pounds of matchstick-size carrots and loads of uniform apple or potato slices in a fraction of the time it would take to do it by hand. Coleslaw for a crowd isn’t a problem when you have one of these. Plus, you can just store it in a drawer, pull it out, rinse it off and dry on a dish rack.
Just watch your fingers, because these things can be very dangerous. Use the hand guard, they all have them and don’t try to get out every last bit of the fruit or vegetable, stop when you no longer have something to hold onto. Japanese Mandolines are available in many different price ranges, but the Benriner Professional Series Slicer No. 95 is one of the highest rated and best value on Amazon.
3. Breakfast Sandwich Maker
If you like to start your day off with a breakfast sandwich but want to save time, money, calories, and potentially your health by avoiding that processed junk at your local fast food joint, get a breakfast sandwich maker. You can pick up the Hamilton Beach Breakfast Sandwich Maker for on Amazon. It will toast your bread, cook the eggs and heat up meat, cheese, veggies and anything else you want on your perfect breakfast sandwich, and as its surfaces are non-stick, you don’t need to use any butter or oil either.
All you do is combine your ingredients in the sandwich maker, and voila! You’ll have a perfectly toasted breakfast sandwich.
4. Melon Baller & Fruit Scoop, 3-in-1
It’s so hard to come up with healthy tasty snacks, for your kids, for yourself, or for a party. But if you get this Melon Baller and Fruit Scoop from Amazon, you’ll be ahead of the game, turning juicy watermelons, aromatic honeydews, and irresistible cantaloupes into one big colorful, nutritious fiesta.
For a party or to please the kids on a hot summer day, start the day before by scooping up melon with the Super Scooper and then freeze all of the melon balls you make overnight. The next day, simply add them to sparkling water and garnish the drink with lemon wedges and/or mint sprigs. These are ideal tools for adults and kids alike to make quick, healthy work out of snack time.
5. Astro-Fruit & Veggie Keeper
Those organic fruits and vegetables can really be pricey, so you don’t want them to spoil before you have a chance to enjoy them. And, what happens when you only need a small amount of chopped apple, for example, and still have half an apple left? You put it in the Astro-Fruit & Veggie Keeper so that it doesn’t go bad. It’s a great way to save on the high cost of fruits and veggies. Get yours from this page on Amazon.
The “Keeper” can also be used to send your kids to school with chopped fruits and veggies to keep them fresh. Plus, it has a really cute design that’s sure to make anyone smile.
6. Yolkfish Egg Separator
This fun gadget is a gulping goldfish that can separate your eggs so you don’t make a mess, or get that yucky yolk on your hands or end up getting the shell in the yolk that you have to try and pull out by fingers. This cute little fish literally sucks the yolks right out – all you have to do is squeeze the fish, bringing its lips to the top of the yolk, and it will “swallow” it up when its mouth is released. It carries the separated part in its belly over to another bowl, so you can drop it out again with just a little push.
All of that fun, and time saved, head over to Amazon now.
7. Slow Cooker
While the word “fun” may not come to mind with a slow cooker, it definitely can be, as there are so many delicious, nutritious things you can make with it, you will be able to really get your creative juices flowing. Plus, it’s one of the most cost-saving kitchen gadgets you can own as it uses only a small amount of energy over a long period, much less electricity than a traditional oven does. It’s easy too – all you need to do is toss your dinner ingredients in before you go to work and when you get home you’ll have a hot meal all ready to serve.
The programmable Crock-Pot 6.5-Quart Touchscreen Slow Cooker is available on Amazon, and you can program your cooking time. Once it’s complete, it will automatically shift to “warm.”
8. Garlic Shaker
Garlic lovers, rejoice. This gadget eliminates the need to smash your own garlic cloves or buy cloves that were already peeled, and it may be the very best of its kind, allowing you to peel an entire head of garlic just by shaking. The handheld device looks like a pepper mill, all you do is add garlic cloves to its chamber and then shake it vigorously for 10 to 30 seconds. Then, remove the cap and pour out the contents: garlic cloves with their skins separated, just like magic. No hard work and no smelly hands only perfectly peeled garlic. It’s so much fun, your kids will actually be begging to help you out in the kitchen.
This one is so new, you’ll have to buy it directly from the manufacturer, garlicshaker.com. It sells for just $19.99.
9. The Breville Boss To GO
If you’re a smoothie fan, you won’t want to be without The Breville Boss To Go. Breville is a brand that has an outstanding reputation already, and this one is really the only one to buy if you want those thick, velvety smoothies. Even super thick blends are handled quickly, without any signs of the motor straining. It has hands-free operation and chews through frozen fruits, veggies and ice in an instant.
This recent 5-star review on Amazon sums it up perfectly: “This is one of the best products I’ve had the pleasure to purchase. I’ve used many blenders over the last 35 years, and they all have the same two problems: 1) you have to disassemble, clean, and reassemble them, and 2) they almost always jam up and require extra stirring. I love making fruit smoothies, but I often don’t because I can’t be bothered with the extra cleanup. It never seemed worth it for a single serving. The fact that you only get two things dirty, one being the cup you drink out of and the other being a tightly sealed blade that doesn’t require disassembling. I wonder where this thing has been all my life. The motor and blades are strong, so that it’s pretty difficult to get stuff stuck unless you don’t add any liquid. I think the way the glass narrows toward the top means the bulk of the contents are nearer the blade and not swirling around the top. The fact that you can’t overfill the cup no doubt helps, but this is actually a plus for me too. I don’t want extra.”
The Breville Boss To Go is currently on Amazon.
10. Sensor Can
With the Sensor Can you’ll never have to worry about having to have a hand free, or getting your garbage can dirty, again. It automatically opens as soon as you’re near it, and it stays open. That’s a fantastic perk to have when you’ve got to take out the trash. Made by superhuman, it uses an infrared field that senses the area above the can for automatic opening, and it also features a stainless steel liner rim that flips up so you can quickly and easily change the liner. Buy it on Amazon today.
11. Kitchen Craft Thermometer
This incredibly handy tool is a definite must for those who like to make jam at home, bake pastries, or do up a Sunday roast. It combines a large spoon with a detachable thermometer probe to make monitoring food in the oven or the pan a snap. In its spoon form, you can stir up a bubbling mixture of sugar and fruit while keeping an eye out on the jam setting temperature. As the end of the probe sits near the tip of the spoon, it gives an accurate reading on the digital display that’s located on the handle. That’s a significant difference from traditional Ethanol jam thermometers which are often really hard to read at certain angles, especially when enveloped in a cloud of steam.
By sliding the handle away from the spoon, this clever kitchen gadget becomes a 5″ probe that can be used to test pastries and meats. It has an accuracy reading to the nearest tenth of a degree, as well as a lightning fast temperature reading that allows you to neatly and quickly check to see if your meat is cooked, without having to waste your valuable time checking constantly.
The Kitchen Craft Thermometer Spoon is available here.
12. Smarter Fridge Cam
The future is here now with the Smarter Fridge Cam, an item showcased at the International Consumer Electronics Show in 2016. This is a Wi-Fi connected refrigerator camera, and while it probably sounds a little silly and totally unnecessary, when you delve further into what it actually does, you’ll realize how much you need it. Writing a grocery list is all well and good, but it never really gets everything – and, the worst thing is when you buy something you already have, taking up valuable space and usually leading to at least some of that food going bad. Just think about how many times you’ve been at the grocery store and ended up picking up eggs only to find out there are already a couple dozen at home? Wouldn’t be great if you could virtually open your fridge and see what’s in there while you’re away?
This device sits inside of the fridge and snaps a photo every time the door open to capture its contents. Then, the next time you’re in the market, you can avoid buying that extra gallon of milk, a carton of eggs or bunch of kale, when you already have one. At about $100, over time, it might just save you a good amount of cash. It’s available for pre-order now.
13. Smeg CJF01 Citrus Juicer
Smeg continues to expand on its outstanding range of small appliances, which now includes this really cool, retro-style citrus juicer. This classic is available on Amazon and comes in a variety of rich glossy colors, including pastel blue, pastel green, cream, red and black. It’s easy-to-use, works on any type of citrus fruit, and it’s easy to clean and store too, as the cord wraps neatly under the base. It’s also incredibly quiet – ideal for those who are concerned about waking a night shift worker or a baby. While there are cheaper citrus juicers available, there are none that have its luxurious, throwback look, and its performance is truly unbeatable.
14. Paragon Induction Cooktop
Hot off the press, as they say, this is the cooking tool to beat all cooking tools for those who don’t really know how to cook. A probe connects to your pan and communicates with your cooktop via Bluetooth technology to make sure you’re always sauteing, searing, frying, poaching or simmering at a consistently even temperature so that your dishes come out perfect every time. It’s currently available for pre-order for $299 on Indiegogo – if you pre-order now, you’ll not only be among the first to get one, you’ll save $50 off the retail price. The Paragon Induction Cooktop comes with the Bluetooth module, the mat, the probe, the cooktop, and the app.
15. Tefal Cook4Me Connect
This is the pressure cooker to beat all pressure cookers. It uses interactive technology to connect with your favorite electronic device, like an iPhone, iPad or Android phone, to make it quick and easy to cook up all sorts of nutritious, delicious meals. It not only comes with 60 recipes to choose from that can be uploaded directly from the app. But it automatically sets recipe times and cooking temperature based on the recipe selected and the number of people you plan to serve. And, the non-stick ceramic coated bowl is removable so that cleaning is easy too. With the app on your smartphone or tablet, you can keep an eye on cooking while you take a trip to the store, access hundreds of recipes online to send to the cooker, and then follow the convenient “smart” recipes. It can cook rice, steam vegetables, and complete dishes.
For those who are still learning to cook and have been living on takeout meals or frozen dinners, this one is ideal. As a pressure cooker, it cooks much faster than if you were to make the same dish in a saucepan. Still, the app connectivity is a huge plus for the advanced cook who wants to enjoy the total smart kitchen. Get it on Fruugo for $299.
16. GetTen 1-Step Corn Kerneler
This gadget may be simple, but it’s a must for corn lovers and for parents with kids who have missing teeth or braces and can’t eat off the cob. It works in one quick motion to easily remove the kernels from the cob and is lightweight so it won’t hurt your arm if you’re serving a lot of people. It comes with a stainless steel blade that easily adjusts to the size of the ear of corn, and it’s available here on Amazon.
17. Biem Butter Sprayer
You might have seen the Biem Butter Sprayer if you watch the reality show “Shark Tank.” You know how hard it is to spread cold butter on a piece of bread – it’s one of the most annoying things you can do in the kitchen. Well, this device aims to change all that. It uses an onboard motion sensor that triggers a heating element when the device is picked up, which liquefies the end of a stick of butter, allowing you to spray it through a nozzle. And, this thing actually works. You can use it on popcorn, for toast, popcorn, and just about anything else you want butter on. Don’t worry, it won’t melt the whole stick of butter, it only melts what you need, and it will alert you when you need to add butter. Head over to their website to find out more.