33 Kitchen Gadgets You Will Actually Use More Than Once

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The team over here at Esquire just loves The Bear, man. It's everything we want from television. Drama. Comedy. Storytelling. Italian family scenes. Other scenes dedicated entirely to pants. It's a great show. It's a stylish show from a stylish mind.

And there's a happy little consequence from our Italian beef obsession: We're now all becoming home chefs. (Maybe I'm only speaking for myself, but that's all that matters, in my honest opinion.) I'm on the line (my kitchen counters) using Japanese knives and chef's tweezers and squeeze bottles. I spend late nights awake thinking about plating, I'm simmering stocks for 24-plus hours, and I fucking love efficiency. That's why I'm telling you all the smart must-haves you should be stocking for your kitchen—the air fryer, the sous vide, the cast iron skillet, the works. Will it make you a better cook? Not immediately—but it's a step in the right direction.

As a gift to you, the people of the internet, I'm going to keep this as a running list of the best kitchen gadgets on the market, updated after I do the big testing for our Home Awards or Gadget Awards. These are the splurge-worthy appliances and easy accessories going in our carts, as well as the carts of better chefs than us and real restauranteur friends. Buy from this list, and you'll never be disappointed in your tools, only in your own cooking abilities.

5200 Pro-Grade Blender

I used to be skeptical of Vitamix, and I say that as a smoothie lover. Then, I got one... Now I might through an onion in there if I'm too lazy to chop it. It can do so much more than smoothies and soups. I make salad dressings at home in under a minute. I make all my own salsas. I even started making my own mayo in it.

if you like having control over everything that goes into your food, you need to have a Vitamix.

Stainless Steel Kettle

We awarded this kettle in our gadget awards because it's simply the most beautiful countertop gadget we have ever seen.

NP-HCC10XH

Do you need a $400 rice cooker? Not necessarily. That $50 one from Walmart will work. But! This thing makes the best rice—of any type and variety—ever. Plus, it'll last the rest of your life. In my mind, that makes it a solid investment.

The Brew

BALMUDA has such a beautifully Japanese approach to its products. This coffee pot looks beautiful, and it is programmed to insane precision to pour the perfect cup of coffee every single time. It's the ease of a drip coffee maker with all the precision of pour over. You might turn your nose up at the price, but it's worth every penny.

Joule Turbo Sous Vide

A sous vide is the gadget that makes precision cooked food possible, a staple tool in the highest caliber kitchens. You vacuum-seal your food—poultry, fish, vegetables, red meat, anything—put it in water and cook it to an exact temperature. This new Breville is the Rolls-Royce of sous vides, so you can get on your freaky foodie Noma shit.

Nano Sous Vide Precision Cooker

But if $250 is a bit steep, how's $150 sound? This option on Amazon from Anova is a bit less accurate, and it might need replacing sooner, but it's a great way to dip your toe in to fine cooking.

Smeg Espresso Machine Black

If you haven't gotten an espresso machine yet, you're missing out. Every barista-made coffee is just some combo of espresso and frothed milk, and this SMEG espresso machine does both. Plus, it looks better than any other coffee machine on the market.

Barista Express Impress

If you want something barista level, though, this Breville is the way to go. Fresh grinds for every drink, and every capability a real barista needs.

Oil Dispenser Set

This oil dispenser set went viral for a reason: It's too good. The oil pump mister or sprayer helps even out the coverage and prevents you from over-pouring. Next, the dispenser bottle comes in clutch during those "one tsp of oil" or "two tbsp of oil" recipe moments. And both have a measuring reservoir at the top. Portion control, people.

Squeeze Bottle with Basting Attachment

But for dispensing olive oil, sauces, and condiments, real chefs use squeeze bottles. When we say real chefs, we mean the Noma types again, the ones that use tweezers to finish a dish. This is the first thing they tell you to buy when becoming a serious home chef. Bonus: This one has a nifty basting attachment.

x Beastmode Blender

The Esquire Endorsed Beast blender is the ultimate smoothie-making machine. Now with a new big-name collaboration with Marshawn Lynch (aka Beastmode) you wanna buy this thing before it sells out.

Pizzaiolo

An indoor electric pizza oven is the cutting edge of kitchen gadgets. Like a real pizza oven, it heats up to 750+ degrees. Unlike a real pizza oven, no gas or wood fire is required. And unless your kitchen is horribly small, it won't even cause a temperature swing.

Karu 12G Multi-Fuel Pizza Oven

But if you're serious about pizza making, you want to be hitting 900°F. That can only really be done outdoors on a gas or wood stove. And what do you know, Ooni just made its best seller Karu 12 in a multi-fuel option. Use wood or charcoal for an authentic pie, or use gas for a quicker weeknight option.

Home Composter

For the gardeners, carbon neutral strivers, and tree huggers in general, Reencle has made a true apartment-sized compost. While an indoor compost might sound disgusting, the Reencle is actually quite pleasant. It blocks odors, turns quietly, and uses a bacteria/heat combo to break down food as quickly as possible. It works for apartments. It works for families with kids.

Pancake Batter Bottle

Batter mixer, egg beater, salad dressing maker: Pretty much anything that requires conventional whisking can be done in this blender bottle.

12 Inch Frying Pan

Nonstick is not a new invention, but HexClad's approach is definitely fresh. Instead of fully nonstick, there are hexagon shaped steel ridges. This allows you to get a proper sear on meats and veg, but you can still slide an omelette around, no problem.

Plus Smart Meat Thermometer

For the grill master, this smart accessory sticks into your rotisserie chicken or lamp chop and probes the internal temperature, ensuring your every bite thereafter is utterly satisfying and Salmonella-free. And it's completely wireless—the first of its kind.

The Essentials Bundle

We love our alternative milks over here, but ask us what's in the carton and... honestly, we've got no clue. But with an Almond Cow, we know exactly what's going into that almond milk latte. Make alternative milks to your taste, store it in a cute old timey jar, and keep it clean with a specially designed brush.

The Nutr

But that Almond Cow is big, and it's a bit limited in the scope of what it can make. The Nutr is an apartment sized option, and it makes great creams, as well as milks. Perfect for someone whose only using alternative milks for coffee or baked goods.

Professional Advanced Food Processor

The weirdest guys on the internet? The ones obsessed with kitchen knives. Give us this Ninja food processor, and you'd have to pay us to do our mise en place the old fashioned way.

Musui-Kamado

$730 at Food52

If there's ever a 12-in-one pressure cooker born into old money, it's Vermicular's Musui-Kamado. It combines a cast iron craft in the 80-year-old Hijikata family foundry in Japan with precise induction heating.

Steam Oven Toaster

$299 at huckberry

This is not your average joe of a toaster oven; it toasts by steaming, cranking out golden baked goods that's crunchy on the outside yet fluffy and warm on the inside. You won't know what luxury bakery tastes like until you've had a bagel—or pizza, or muffin, or croissant, or brioche—from it.

Stagg EKG Electric Kettle

$165 at nordstrom

$165 at williams sonoma

Upgrade the black hole that is your glass coffee maker with Fellow's electric pour-over kettle. It features include: precise temperature control, quick heating, optimal flow rate, timer, and just looking ridiculously good. It'll come in rather handy in your morning coffee ritual.

Carbonator III

Not many kitchens have a sparkling water or soda maker, and yet, we want fizzy carbonated water all the time. The Aarke III, with a price to match its look, is cordless, easy to use, customizable, and creates subtle, smaller bubbles that won't make you burp.

Blue Carbon Steel Wok

We know you have your skillet, your oven, and your pan. But we know for sure that you don't have a wok. Especially one that can heat stuff up better than a microwave—then cool down fast like taking an ice bath. You'll fry shrimps in it, turn up your egg game in it, or even redo your leftovers in it. See, woks don't have to be cheesy.

TRNR Double Rotation Waffle Maker

Ghetto Gastro, an activist-minded culinary collective in the Bronx, joined forces with Crux for a line of downright cool kitchen appliances—the coolest of which is this waffle maker, which won an Esquire 2021 Home Design Awards. It can bake up to eight Belgian waffles in just 10 minutes, with browning control, indicator lights, dishwasher safety, and a bold design (those grates!) to boot.

CREAMi Ice Cream Maker

$200 at Bed Bath & Beyond

$200 at walmart

Ice cream maker: good for those with a sweet tooth, even better for those with a discerning palates for gelatos, smoothie bowls, milkshakes, mix-ins, dairy-free, gluten-free, and more. Ninja's CREAMi can do it all and personalize at that.

Knife Sharpener

A dull knife is a faux pas in the kitchen. This sleek and simple sharpener keeps your blade of choice as honed as possible without taking much space. Simply run your knife through it a few times and it'll come up with a shine—handsome!—and ready for slicing a piece of raw Japanese A5 Wagyu steak.

Always Pan

It's called "Always" pan because you'll always use this do-it-all miracle worker that has managed to fill in for a fry pan, saute pan, steamer, skillet, saucier, saucepan, and etc. As for what or how can you cook in it, sky's the limit.

Warming Butter Knife

With this ingenious knife, the elaborate modus operandi of making toasted bread with a pan, a spatula, and a stove will be shortened to just smear and spread, since it can melt the butter as you apply it.

FoodCycler FC-50

It'll turn throwing out food waste into an environmentally friendly habit. Here's how: the FoodCycler will break down food scraps and turn them into nutrient-rich fertilizer for your soil. And yes, it eliminates odors, so you won't even know it's there.

Over-the-Sink Dish Drying Rack

Unlike most other over-the-sink drying rack, this one is expandable, which means you can roll it up to store in your drawer, or roll it out to air-dry both small objects like bottles and large ones like pot lids.

Digital Kitchen Food Scale with Bowl

This scale is crammed full of neat feats—unit conversion, detachable mixing bowl, five measuring modes—for your calorie-controlled diet or meticulously-prepped recipes.

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