Gadgets to Add to Your Culinary Collection

Does your kitchen look a little sparse? Whether you're just getting your own place or if you simply don't have much experience in the kitchen, you could be missing out on great food (and fun!) due to lack of gadgets! Yes, gadgets can play an important role in the way your food turns out; not to mention the fact that the entire idea behind a kitchen gadget is to make cooking more convenient—thus you actually save time in preparing your meal. To give you an idea of which gadgets will save you a great deal of hassle, we've put together the following list...

Titan Peeler & Grater
There's a new and impressive tool out called the Titan Vegetable and Fruit Peeler, which can do the job of both a peeler and a grater, but it also has the ability to peel fruit and harder vegetables such as squash and onions. It's a pretty heavy-duty tool, so it might be something to consider if you see yourself doing a lot of shredding, grating, and peeling!

Kitchen Mixer
A kitchen mixer is a FANTASTIC tool to have if you do any kind of mixing. Making dough for bread, pizza crust, pastries, or even whipping up a quick cake batter is a much easier task if you have an electric mixer. Mixers come in a variety of prices, which are dependent upon the capability and quality of the machine you want to purchase. Brands such as KitchenAid and Cuisineart will cost quite a lot more than most other brands because they are the top names in small kitchen appliances, but they are also very durable (which is good if you're going to use a mixer often), but plenty of cheaper brands work just as well.

Thermometer
It's always a good idea to have a cooking thermometer handy, and not just for the holidays. Any time you cook pork, turkey, chicken, etc. should pop in your handy thermometer to test whether the meat has been cooked to a safe temperature.

Meat Tenderizer
A meat tenderizer looks like a mallet with a series of pyramid-like peaks on both sides. Like your steak tender? Give it several good whacks with the tenderizer (on both sides) just before cooking it and you are sure to notice a huge difference in the softness of your steak. You can also use the tenderizer for chicken and turkey breasts.

Coffee Grinder
What's better than freshly ground coffee in the morning? Buy your favorite coffee in bean form, fill the grinder's cup, switch it on and presto: you've got ground coffee in seconds!

Egg Poacher
Poached eggs on toast is a terrific breakfast, but poaching without egg poaching pods is a pain in the rear! Just pop a "pod" in a pan of boiling water (don't worry, it'll float!), put in your egg (sans shell) and let it cook.

As far as gadgets go, this is merely skimming the surface. There is a sea of fantastic and odd kitchen gadgets available on the market. Have a look online or browse local shops that sell kitchenware; you never know what gem you will find!