Our Favorite 11 Kitchen Gadgets

We are excited to share with you some of our favorite kitchen gadgets.  Thanks to all of you that respond to our questions on social media about topics you would like to hear more about.  We asked recently if you all would be interested in knowing our favorite kitchen gadgets and the answer was a resounding yes!  Just so you understand where we are coming from, we started out as “free from” home bakers almost 16 years ago.  Around 11 years ago we began baking most everything from scratch.  We are simple people in and out of the kitchen, so our list of favorite kitchen gadgets reflect our simplicity.  Of course we have a few favorite kitchen gadgets that aren’t simple, but we don’t deem those as necessary for good baking.  This list below are our favorites and items we think are necessary for good baking (and makes baking a whole lot easier).  All of the items in the top list are under $20 which we think is very reasonable and hopefully you do too.  We have given you Amazon links to see the brands, types of products, and prices.  These are not affiliate links so we do not get anything in return if you choose to buy any of these products.  We just really like these products and want you to be the best home baker you can be!  Please let us know if you have any questions and if this post is helpful.

From left to right, top to bottom in the photo.

1.  9x4 bread loaf pan-  Sure you can buy an inexpensive one at your local everything store, but quality really does matter.  We have used inexpensive brands and of course they make bread.  In our experience, they don’t radiate heat evenly and seem to burn the outside of bread more easily than a good quality pan.  This USA pan is heavy duty, thick aluminized steel which radiates heat evenly and properly without burning the outside of your loaf easily.  It’s a good price as well at $18.99 
2.  Tongs- Tongs are a must, and we think a small pair is a great place to start.  We use these small tongs almost daily for all kinds of things that need flipping.  The small ones are our preference for flipping because they are easy to get a good handle on.  We flip our pita bread, fry bread (recipe coming), serve mini donuts, cookies, and whoopie pies with them and also use them in cooking often as well.
3. A pastry dough cutter-  This can be used for so many things from measuring any kind of dough to cutting all kinds of dough as well.  This pastry dough cutter has measurements printed on it.  One of our favorite items to use this for is cinnamon rolls.  It makes measuring them exactly and cutting them precisely simple and easy.  
4. Pastry bags and tips-  If you plan on making cupcakes and cakes and want to pipe them, pastry bags and tips are a must.  They are inexpensive to buy and easy to use.  We have a frosting tutorial coming out one day to help those of you that would like it.  You can buy sets of tips or individual tips.  The two we use the most are on open tip and a star tip.  We also use piping bags and tips for deviled eggs, funnel cake, cookies, and more.
5. A food scale-  Hands down, we use a food scale more than any other item in our kitchen.  They are inexpensive to buy and will ensure you get exact measurements.  There is always room for error when measuring with cups and spoons, but a scale is always exact.
6. An oven thermometer-  It’s up at the top of importance right along with a food scale.  So much that we devoted a whole blog post to it.  You can read the whole thing here.  Trust us, you need to know the temperature of your oven, regardless of what you set your oven to.
7. A pizza cutter-  Well of course, we use this to cut our pizza.  We think our pizza should be on your weekly meal plan and then you definitely need a pizza cutter.  Other than that, we use a pizza cutter to cut crackers when we bake them, pancakes, cookies, granola bars, and anything else that needs cutting that is shallow in depth.  Easy peasy.
8. A cookie scoop-  There are so many different sizes of cookie scoops and we have found there aren’t universal sizes across companies which is frustrating.  We have bought several sets and they come with the sizes we think are generally most used.  Scoops are a staple that gets used almost daily in our house.  We use them to scoop pancake and waffle batter, cookie dough, muffin batter, pita bread dough, bagel dough, dinner roll dough, as well as meatballs and other items we cook.  They are a great way to measure batter and dough easily without having to weigh.  It is accurate enough for home baking.
9. Parchment paper-  We use parchment paper daily here.  It is non-stick and easy to use.  You can get bleached or unbleached, whatever you prefer.
10. A Zester-  While not necessary, we use it often, especially for muffins.  It is a quick and easy way to zest fruit for recipes, get chocolate shavings, garlic, dried spices, and whatever else you prefer to use it for
11. A cupcake pan-  Not just any cupcake pan, but a good quality cupcake pan.  Just like the bread loaf pan, the metal matters.  We love this Nordic Ware cupcake pan as it radiates heat evenly, is non-stick, and doesn’t rust.  If you plan on making muffins and/or cupcakes regularly, you definitely need a good quality cupcake pan. 

Two items that are not completely necessary, but important.  If you plan to do a lot of baking, then having a good stand mixer is important.  For many years, we used a hand mixer because a stand mixer wasn’t something we could afford.  That certainly can be done, but a stand mixer makes life in the kitchen much easier.  If you are looking for a stand mixer we have two that we love and highly recommend.  They are different in our minds which is why we are giving you two options.

1.  KitchenAid Stand Mixer-  This was our first big kitchen purchase.  We know they are expensive which is why we waited for quite a while to buy one.  You can often find them on sale which is a good option if you need it.  KitchenAid mixers are a life long purchase, they really last forever, are sturdy, and can handle thick dough.  They have so many different attachments too that make it versatile.  You can make noodles, grind meat, etc.
2. Nutrimill Artiste Mixer-  We found this mixer through a blogger we know and decided it was worth a try for us.  This mixer holds a lot of volume.  We make 5 dozen muffins at a time in this mixer.  That alone makes it worth the purchase for us as we make everything in bulk that we can.  This mixer is a lower price than a KitchenAid which we think is important for many people.  We would warn though that this mixer doesn’t do thick dough very well unless you have extra attachments.  The whisk attachments it comes with are virtually useless.  We purchased the batter attachments and they work well for almost all of our needs, even creaming butter.  As long as you know to not use the whisk attachments, and you purchase the batter attachments, we really love this mixer and highly recommend it.