Which kitchen gadgets are actually worth having?

Kitchen equipment is bought for the cooking people imagine doing and stored for the cooking they actually do. The gap is what fills the cupboards.

Step by step

1. Apply one test to everything.Does it do something nothing else can, and will you use it monthly? Single-purpose items that fail either half are the ones that end up at the back.
2. Buy one good knife.A chef's knife you like the feel of, kept sharp. It does more than a block of six mediocre ones, and sharpness matters far more than price.
3. Get a large, heavy board.Bigger than you think. Most home prep is cramped onto something too small, which is both slower and less safe. Wood or thick plastic, and it should not slide.
4. Use digital scales.Cheap, and they make baking work. Cup measurements vary by how you fill them; weight does not. This is the single highest-value inexpensive item.
5. Get a probe thermometer.Removes the guesswork from meat, bread, oil and sugar. It is the difference between hoping and knowing, and instant-read ones are inexpensive now.
6. Buy one heavy pan and one heavy casserole.Thin pans have hot spots and burn things. A heavy-based frying pan and a lidded cast-iron casserole between them cover an enormous range of cooking.
7. Add a stick blender before a food processor.Cheaper, smaller, easier to wash, and it does soups and sauces in the pan. A processor earns its space only if you regularly do volume.
8. Judge the popular gadgets honestly.Air fryers genuinely earn their space for many households. Slow cookers do if you use them weekly. Spiralisers, egg cookers, garlic presses and avocado tools generally do not.
9. Prefer things that do several jobs.A bench scraper moves food, cleans the board and portions dough. A box grater does four things. Multi-use items justify their storage in a way single-use ones rarely do.
10. Borrow or hire the occasional thing.A stand mixer for one Christmas, a large stockpot once a year. Borrowing beats storing something for eleven months.
11. Buy for how you actually cook.Someone who bakes weekly should own a stand mixer. Someone who does not should not. The right list differs by household and there is no universal one.
12. Clear out what failed the test.Anything unused for a year. It is taking the space that makes the useful things reachable, which is the actual cost.

Tips

• Scales and a probe thermometer are the cheapest things that most improve results. Both under the price of a decent pan.
• One sharp knife beats a block of six blunt ones.
• If it only does one thing and you use it twice a year, borrow it instead of storing it.

Common mistakes

• Buying a knife block set — Most of the knives are never used and the steel is usually mediocre. One good chef's knife, kept sharp, does more.
• Buying equipment for aspirational cooking — It is bought for the cooking you imagine and stored for the cooking you do. Buy for your actual weekly habits.

If it doesn't work