22 Kitchen Tools That Make Your Cooking Simpler

Kitchen utensils are an integral part of cooking. There are multiple varieties to serve different purposes.

Over time, the number of kitchen utensils has increased significantly.

Let’s look at the different kitchen utensils that every enthusiastic cook should be aware of, and include in their collection.

1. Pans

The term “pan” is a generic term that refers to a variety of cooking utensils with a flat bottom and raised edges.

So, there are different types of pans, each better suited for a different purpose than the other.

Here are some of the most popular types of pans.

Frying Pans

A frying pan is also called a skillet. It has a flat bottom and slightly raised sides.

Frying pans are commonly used for shallow frying, searing and browning. Deep frying requires a vessel and heat source approved for that method, with enough capacity and safe space for the oil.

Woks or Stir-Fry Pans

A wok has sloping sides and a relatively small base that may be flat or rounded, depending on the design.

This makes it easy to stir ingredients. Woks are widely used in Chinese and Asian cuisines to stir fry ingredients like vegetables, meat, or rice.

Grill Pan

A grill pan resembles a frying pan, but it has ridges on the surface.

Ingredients cooked in a grill pan develop distinctive grill marks, that add color and texture to a dish.

Saucepan

A saucepan is a deep pan with raised edges and a long handle. It can easily hold liquids for cooking.

So they are typically used to make sauces, soups, stews, and other liquid-based dishes.

Roasting Pan

A roasting pan is designed for oven cooking. Follow the particular pan’s temperature limit and the recipe rather than assuming it suits any high-heat method.

Most roasting pans come with an internal rack that allows the liquid from the meat or vegetables to drip down.

Non-Stick Pan

Manufactured nonstick pans use a coating, such as PTFE or ceramic-nonstick, to help food release. Follow the particular coating’s heat, utensil and cleaning instructions.

Bare carbon steel and cast iron instead develop a seasoning layer when treated as their makers direct; some arrive pre-seasoned. They are not inherently permanent nonstick surfaces, and food can still stick.

Sauté Pan

A sauté pan typically has a broad base and relatively straight sides. Depth and capacity vary, so it is not always shallower than every frying pan.

This pan is typically used to brown meat or prepare vegetables for a casserole or stew.

Muffin Pans

As the name suggests, muffin pans are specially designed to make muffins.

They have holes or depressions into which you can place muffin liners and add muffin batter.

2. Dutch Oven

A Dutch oven is a heavy pot with a thick base and a heavy lid. You can use it for various purposes in the kitchen.

The heavy body retains heat and the lid reduces moisture loss. Use it on a stovetop only when the model is approved for that heat source.

You can use a Dutch oven for braising, making stews, soups, and casseroles.

Some Dutch ovens can move from stovetop to oven within their stated limits. Check the pot, handles, lid and knob before making that transfer.

3. Pressure Cooker

A pressure cooker uses high pressure to cook food quickly.

The design of this utensil is such that pressure builds up inside the compartment using heat from the stove.

The food cooks quickly in this steam, reducing the overall cooking time.

Pressure cookers can be used to make a variety of recipes using different ingredients.

Both stovetop and electrical versions are available.

Pressure cookers may also have multiple functions like slow cooking, steaming, and sauteing.

4. Instant Pot

An instant pot is a multicooker with various functions like pressure cooking, slow cooking, steaming, and heating.

You can even use some instant pots to make cakes. It’s a standalone device with a deep pot and a tight lid.

It uses the principle of pressure cooking to prepare food.

5. Casseroles

A casserole is a dish or vessel used for cooking and serving a casserole. Check its exact heat-source and temperature approvals: oven-safe glass or ceramic is not automatically suitable for a stovetop, grill or broiler.

It’s wide and holds a large amount of ingredients. So, you can use the casserole dish to make a single item or a layered dish like a lasagna.

6. Stock Pot

A stock pot is a wide pot with a flat bottom. It’s deep and can hold a large quantity of liquid.

As the name suggests, stock pots are typically used to make vegetable or meat-based stock or broth.

These pots have two handles on the sides, and they come with a lid.

They are typically made of heavy metal alloys like stainless steel or iron. But you can also find stock pots made of terracotta or clay.

7. Soup Pot

A soup pot resembles a stock pot with a round base, deep straight edges, and a cover. But it has a thick base.

Soup-pot and stock-pot designs overlap. Compare the actual base, capacity and weight rather than assuming one category is always lighter or thinner.

Though soup pots are typically used for making soups, you can also cook pasta and vegetables in them.

8. Knives

Knives are an essential tool for any chef. They come in a variety of shapes, sizes, and designs for different needs.

Depending on the shape and purpose, you can divide knives into the following:

• Fillet Knives and Boning Knives: To fillet and debone meat and fish neatly.
• Chef’s Knife: A multipurpose knife that serves a variety of functions.
• Bread Knife: This knife has a serrated edge to easily cut bread, but it can be used for other purposes too.
• Paring Knife: It’s smaller than a chef’s knife with a similar shape used for peeling and cutting fruits and vegetables.
• Santoku: A multipurpose Japanese-style knife used for tasks such as slicing and chopping. Shun is a knife brand, rather than a functional knife type.
• Cheese Knife: There are different types of cheese knives to cut various types of cheese, like pronged knives, soft cheese knives, cheese spreaders, and flat cheese knives.

9. Cooking Thermometers

Cooking thermometers help you check food against the safe internal temperature appropriate to the dish.

You can use cooking thermometers to check whether meat and other ingredients are thoroughly cooked.

Modern cooking thermometers have digital displays, but the traditional versions have analog displays.

10. Tongs

Tongs are an essential kitchen utensil to pick and move hot food or coals. It consists of two metallic or wooden arms connected at one end.

You can use it to lift hot items and flip them. Tongs are also useful for heating food on the stove without burning your fingers.

11. Strainers

A strainer is a device with a mesh or sieve to separate liquids from solids. The ingredient to be separated will be poured into a strainer.

This utensil holds the thicker or more solid part while allowing the liquid to flow through.

Strainers are commonly used to separate whey or tea leaves from tea.

12. Graters

A grater is a device with a base or side with holes. These holes have slightly raised edges that allow you to grate soft or semi-soft items like cheese.

You can also grate vegetables like carrots and beetroots using a grater.

The holes on a grater come in different sizes that yield gratings of different sizes. Graters can either be flat or standing models.

13. Bowls

A bowl is an open vessel with a hollow interior for holding or mixing ingredients. You can use a bowl for cooking only when its maker approves the exact heating method.

They have a spherical shape with a flat or round base and a hollow interior portion.

Bowls can be made of metal, ceramic, clay, wood, or other materials. They can be used to hold food or ingredients like salads and soups.

14. Griddle

A griddle has a broad, flat cooking surface useful for pancakes, eggs and similar foods. A ridged grill pan is a different tool.

Griddles can be round, square or rectangular. Some sit on an approved heat source, while electric versions have their own heating system.

Use the heat source, utensils and care method approved for the model. A flat griddle does not automatically give food outdoor-grill smoke flavor.

15. Double Boiler

A double boiler has two pots in such a way that one sits inside the other without touching the base.

Water is added to the lower pot and boiled, while the cooking ingredient is added to the pot on the top.

The steam from the water in the base pot will gently cook the ingredients in the other pot.

The main advantage of the double boiler is that it allows gentle and uniform cooking of food.

It’s typically used for cooking ingredients like egg-based sauces and melting chocolate.

16. Baking Dishes

Baking dishes come in different sizes, shapes and materials. Use the oven temperature and handling method approved for the exact product.

Some materials used to make baking dishes are iron, carbon steel, aluminum, ceramic, and terracotta.

Depending on the product’s instructions, baking dishes can suit different recipes. Baking approval does not automatically include grilling, broiling or stovetop use.

17. Colander

A colander is a perforated dish with holes in the base. It’s used for washing ingredients like rice or vegetables.

The main advantage of a colander is that the water passes through the holes in the base after washing. Colanders can be made of metal or plastic.

18. Chopping Board

As the name suggests, a chopping board is a surface used to cut vegetables, fruits, or meat.

They can be made of metal, wood, plastic, rubber, or bamboo. It can come in all shapes and is usually rectangular or round.

19. Garlic Press

A garlic press is a specialized device used to crush garlic. It has a barrel-like insert where you place the garlic.

Place a garlic clove, prepared as the tool’s instructions direct, in the chamber and press the handles to push crushed garlic through the holes. A clove is one segment of a bulb, not the whole bulb.

20. Egg Slicer

An egg slicer is a gadget with a string of cutting wires that makes it easy to cut a whole boiled egg into thin slices.

To use it, place the boiled egg on the perforated base and gently press down the cutting wire section.

This will chop the egg into fine slices. You can use an egg slicer to cut other ingredients like strawberries and mushrooms too.

21. Vegetable Peeler

A vegetable peeler can peel vegetables and fruits. You can use it to remove their outer skin.

These devices look like knives, with a flattened blade and a hole in the center to remove the peel.

22. Measuring Spoons

Measuring spoons help measure small ingredient quantities. They usually come in sets, with each size marked on the handle or bowl.

Measuring spoons measure small quantities, commonly in teaspoons and tablespoons. Use measuring cups for cup-sized amounts. Sets and materials vary, so read the markings on each measure.