Kitchen Gizmos I Actually Use

There are tons of kitchen gizmos out there, and plenty of them are crap. I'm not kidding. Utter crap. Egg crackers (can't crack an egg?), garlic presses, electric can openers (really?), bread machines (automatically make supermarket style bread at home? I don't get it). I've spent much of my cooking life avoiding these things, but at 42 years old I've managed to collect a few gizmos that have proven useful... to me, at least. Living in a NYC apartment where storage and counter space are limited means I have to be ruthless about which ones make the cut. But it's surprising how many I have. It's almost embarrassing to admit how dependent I've become on the following:

Gaggia espresso machine & burr grinder: I finally buckled on this one when I managed to get the machine at a garage sale price. Too good a deal to pass up. I tried using both cheap coffee and a whirling blade grinder, but neither worked with it. The thing was sensitive enough to tell when I was trying to cut corners, and rewarded my efforts with lousy shots. Had to up my game, shelling out the bucks for the burr grinder and good coffee. The result? Espresso as good as a coffee shop at home, for about one-third the cost. Tough to argue with for a household that drinks eight shots a day, minimum. Quite a step up after years of drinking Cafe Bustelo made in an aluminum Bialetti machine. Yes, I've tried the Nespresso rig. It's good - easy and foolproof. But my Gaggia blows its doors off (when fed Counter Culture espresso), in spite of taking up quite a bit of counter real estate along with the burr grinder. Plus the idea of throwing away a plastic capsule after each shot I pull seems wasteful, and I can't stand that.

Pressure cooker: (AKA the WWII microwave). For 20 years I avoided this one, in spite of endorsements from friends and grandmothers who knew what they were talking about. Useless for braising, but fantastic for soups, curries and stews. (Even roasts, though they'll never turn out the same way as they would in the oven). Any long-simmering dish can be made in one-third the time or less in one of these things. It doesn't work miracles, but it allows one to casually make dishes on a weeknight that otherwise would require the kind of time most people only have on a weekend. I'm a convert, using the thing twice a week, sometimes more. Mine is gigantic, as I was advised: You can make a small meal in a big pressure cooker, but you can't make a large meal in a small one. I've cooked for 12 with it, even though most of the time I'm making dinner for two. Today's models have safety valves built into them, so you're not going to replicate those stories you've heard about blowing the lid off and hot food spraying everywhere.

Rice cooker: I'm happy to own the cheapest, meanest example of a rice cooker possible. The kind that was popular in Japan a generation ago, at least. The one that goes for under $25. I love it. Whenever I'm cooking Chinese I can let the rice cook itself while I prep and cook all the dishes. It does a good enough job that I use it for other times I need rice, including Latino and South Asian meals. Only useful if you eat white rice often. I do. Unapologetically.

Electric Griddle/Sandwich press: It's supposed to be an electric grill as well. I wouldn't know; I just use it to make panini and other pressed sandwiches. Pretty much only in the summer, but that's enough to justify the space the thing takes up. If you have a source for good bread and good stuff to put in it this thing allows one to make fancy sandwiches much cheaper (and better, once you figure out what you're doing) than going out for them. Current fave: coppa ham and cheese (Pawlet, from Vermont) on ciabatta bread. Pure indulgence, I know, but affordable indulgence. (My favorite kind).

Immersion blender: I've lived with one of these and without. With is better. It's good for smooth soups and pasta sauces, and if you get one with a powerful enough motor it can also be your food processor and blender. My wife bought one like that, in spite of our inability to find a good reason to give Wolfgang Puck's empire a penny. (His name is on it). Got it from overstock.com. I have no idea how it'll hold up under heavy use, but it takes less space than having an immersion blender, food processor and blender. So far it does all of those functions, in spite of its attachments seeming a little flimsy. Its motor is very powerful. And it was cheaper than replacing the food processor when it died.

Spice grinder: It's an old whirling blade coffee grinder dedicated to spices. Buying whole spices means they last longer. Grinding them as needed only takes a minute, and results in better flavor. Coming up with your own blends is fun. (Amazing how much coriander I go through doing that). I'd recommend this to anyone.

Kitchen radio: Laugh if you like, but my Tivoli Model Two brings me more pleasure in the kitchen than any other gadget. I like good sound in the kitchen. (A sound engineer friend swears by an old KLH, and the Tivoli is just the modern riff on that concept). And it has a small footprint. When radio programming fails me I just plug in a computer or mp3 player and I'm good to go. Can't cook without music. I love this thing.

What about other gizmos? Slow cookers (crock pots) make sense, in spite of most recipes for them sharing a determination to undermine their respectability. They're not for me, but I completely understand where their fans are coming from. If I worked a 9 to 5 job I'd probably have one. What else? I'm not nearly enough of a geek to get a sous vide setup (yet), but I can't argue with its cleverness or usefulness. I loathe microwave ovens, but they are useful for reheating leftovers and thawing frozen blocks of food (and not else, in my opinion). I have yet to throw mine away, although its days are numbered. Also, I'm married to a woman who happens to be a very good baker, and she's fond of her red Kitchen Aid mixer. I've never touched the thing, but it looks good and she gets use out of it. She's even using it to grind grain and roll oats. Currently we're without a toaster (or toaster-oven), which means our oven broiler gets used very inefficiently every now and then. We're not the kind of people who need toasted bread to start the day. If we were, the microwave would already be gone, and there'd be a toaster-oven in its place. If we had more room I'd get a salad spinner, too, because those things are useful. Just can't fit it in. Life in the Big City.

Oh, and we have a kitchen thermometer, because my wife prefers her meat med-rare, over my tendency is to serve it bleu. Now we can debate which temperature constitutes the right level of done-ness, self always advocating a lower number, her having none of it.