Essential tools and appliances every kitchen needs

From everyday basic tools to investment items, here are the kitchen essentials you shouldn’t be without.

/medias/KWL90.004SI-Titanium-Chef-Patissier-XL-535-2-2.jpg?context=bWFzdGVyfHJvb3R8MjMzNTMyfGltYWdlL2pwZWd8YURWbUwyZzFOUzh4TnpVeU5UYzFOREV3TVRjNU1DOUxWMHc1TUM0d01EUlRTVjlVYVhSaGJtbDFiU0JEYUdWbUlGQmhkR2x6YzJsbGNpQllURjgxTXpVdE1pMHlMbXB3Wnd8NDc2ZDRkNjVjNGNhMGE2NzJmYWViNDc2NmZhNmUwNjJlN2E5Y2JmNTEwMWY0Y2Y0ZDFhMDQ0NzUzMTljNjZkOA

Whether you’re a seasoned home chef or more of a budding beginner, a kitchen stocked with the right tools and appliances makes cooking and baking a lot easier- and so much more enjoyable. There is an overwhelming array of kitchen tools and gadgets available, but the truth is some of them have such specific uses you’d probably only reach for them a couple of times a year, if that. As long as you invest in a selection of high quality, multifunctional essentials, you’ll be equipped to take on most everyday culinary tasks and won’t be left with drawers full of unused equipment.

So whether you’re compiling your kitchen must-haves from scratch for the first time, upgrading existing pieces for something more high quality or desperate to streamline your cluttered kitchen cupboards, we’re here to help with this guide to the tools and appliances every home cook should own.

The best kitchen utensils

From prepping ingredients and stirring sauces to handling hot food safely, the right utensils will transform how you cook. Here’s our pick of the key utensils no kitchen should be without:

Chef’s knife- for prepping ingredients. Invest in one that you feel comfortable using, and keep it sharp.

Spatula- ideally you want a metal one for flipping, tossing and serving, and a silicone one for baking- essential for scraping out your mixing bowl and icing cakes.

Spoons- wooden spoons won’t damage your non-stick pans, while a slotted one is useful for lifting food like pasta from liquid, so the excess can drain away.

Tongs- for turning food over in the oven or a pan.

Veg peeler-for prepping veg or shaving cheese.

Kitchen scissors- for snipping herbs, trimming meat and opening food packaging.

Useful kitchen appliances

The best kitchen gadgets save you time and effort in the kitchen- whizzing through the more laborious food prep tasks in a fraction of the time and helping you achieve even better results. Here’s the lowdown on some of the most versatile kitchen appliances and their uses:

Food processors are the ultimate kitchen multi-taskers. Whether you need to chop, slice, grate, mix, knead, mince, blend or purée, most food processors come with a range of attachments and accessories to help you tackle any food prep task quickly and easily- giving you more time to get on with the creative side of cooking. And thanks to their large capacity, models like the Multipro Excel allow you to prep big quantities at the same time, which is ideal for when you’re batch cooking or feeding a crowd.

When it comes to hand blenders, most people think of whizzing up endless batches of homemade soup. But with a range of attachments available, these versatile tools are brilliant at making so much more- think dips, smoothies, dressings- even silky smooth, lump-free mash. Using a hand blender allows you to blitz even small amounts of ingredients directly in the pan or bowl, so no additional washing up or mess, and once you’re done, they’re compact enough to just pop back in a drawer. With specially designed angled blades, our Triblade range of hand blenders can take on even the toughest of ingredients.

If you’re a keen home baker, a stand mixer is a very worthwhile investment. With multiple attachments, a powerful motor and large capacity bowl they take all the hard work out of mixing cake batter, kneading dough, whipping meringue and whisking eggs- while some of our models like the Cooking Chef XL include integrated digital weighing, and can even cook food, too. While all our stand mixers come with a selection of high-performance bowl tools to support you with every baking task as standard, there are more than 25 optional attachments available so you can personalise your mixer to suit your needs. From blender jugs and mini choppers to spiralizers, juicers and pasta shapers, there’s a stand mixer attachment available for every kind of dish- meaning there’s no limit to your creativity.

Must-have baking equipment

Anyone can learn to bake, but having the right tools will help you master the craft. There are the essentials like cake tins and trays, mixing bowls, a cooling rack, measuring spoons, weighing scales and a sieve which you will need to reach for at some point in pretty much any baking recipe. But to ensure your home-baked delights look every bit as good as they taste you’ll want some specialist cake decorating tools too. Including two palette knives for smoothing icing and cake fillings, icing scrapers, a rotating cake stand and piping bag with 14 different sized nozzles, our decorating set will help you get that professional finish.

If you enjoy baking regularly, using a stand mixer will save you time and effort, and help ensure consistent, evenly mixed results, every time. All our stand mixers boast powerful motors of at least 1000W with variable speed control, so whether you’re performing the most delicate of folds or kneading a heavy dough, you stay in complete control- and your ingredients stay in the bowl, rather than all over your worktop.

For a mixer that not only produces light and fluffy cakes, well-worked doughs and perfect Swiss meringue, but also weighs and warms, look no further than the innovative Titanium Chef Patissier XL. Thanks to the 7L EasyWarm bowl you can use this mixer to melt ingredients and prove dough. It also comes with a second smaller mixing bowl (which nests inside for easy storage) so you can swap seamlessly between bowls when a recipe requires and just carry on creating. Integrated weighing scales allow you to weigh ingredients directly into your bowl, while the six SimpleTouch presets mean everyday baking tasks such as dough kneading, egg white whisking or all-in-one cake mixing are just a tap away.

The Titanium Chef Baker also offers precise, direct to bowl weighing so you can bake without interruption, along with a powerful 1200W motor and a delicate fold function designed to create light as air meringues and mousses. The silver model has two mixing bowls to minimise mid-bake washing up, along with premium stainless steel tools, while, with a range of different coloured PopTops available to purchase, the white model is our first customisable Chef. Choose from a selection of stylish shades including soothing Sage Green and elegant Poppy Seed Grey, or add a pop of colour with Apricot Pink to make your mixer a real worktop talking point.