After spending almost 10 years as a professional chef, I’ve stocked my kitchen with tools I’ve used and loved for years. I’ve also come across many products I wouldn’t buy for my home kitchen.
Many of my qualms with products marketed to home cooks are that they’re unitaskers. My sharp Mac chef’s knife replaces a vegetable chopper, garlic press, and herb scissors, saving me precious drawer space and money. Many of my most hated tools boast time-saving qualities, but actually make it harder to cook efficiently or offer little benefit for the monetary or space investment. These are the seven items you’ll never find in my kitchen after years of cooking professionally, and the swaps I recommend to replace them.
Best Kitchen Tool Swaps Overall
Don’t: Floppy Plastic Cutting Boards
Do: “Rubber” Cutting Boards
Yoshihiro Hi Soft High Performance Professional Grade Cutting Board
Amazon
We’ve all used those thin, floppy plastic cutting boards. They slide all over, scratch, and are terrible for your knives. This Yoshihiro board is often called “rubber,” but it’s actually made of LDPE plastic. It’s soft yet dense, and the best surface for your knife’s edge. The texture grips the countertop, so there’s no risk of sliding. If you’re looking to avoid plastic altogether, I recommend a wooden cutting board, like our best overall John Boos Chop-N-Slice Series Rectangular Wooden Maple Cutting Board.
Don’t: Vegetable Chopper
Do: Sharp Knife
Mac Knife Professional Series 8-Inch Chef’s Knife
Amazon
There’s no substitute for a sharp chef’s knife. Unitaskers like vegetable choppers can undoubtedly shave off a few minutes of prep time. However, you still generally need to cut produce down first, and the grates can’t be sharpened, so they’ll stop working eventually. A razor-sharp knife makes quick work of almost any task, without adding additional specialty items to your drawers.
Don’t: Black Plastic Utensils
Do: Silicone Utensils
U-Taste Silicone Spatula Set
Amazon
Beyond the health concerns of black plastic utensils, I learned over time that plastic just isn’t durable in the long term. Silicone tools, however, can withstand constant high-heat cooking and run through the dishwasher unscathed. I bought this set of silicone spatulas for my home kitchen because it has four different sizes and shapes, which replaced tons of my plastic tools.
Don’t: Cookie Sheet
Do: Sheet Tray
Nordic Ware Naturals Half Sheet, 2-Pack
Amazon
A cookie sheet is usually a flat tray with a lip on one side, while a sheet tray has a lip all the way around and comes in standardized sizes across brands. In restaurants, we used huge stacks of these Nordic Ware sheet trays. The benefit of this set of trays is that they easily nest for better storage, and since they’re the same size, multiple fit better into an oven. Unlike thin cookie sheets, these pans stand up to being slammed around every night and still work just as well as they did the first time.
Don’t: Hand Mixer
Do: Stand Mixer
KitchenAid Artisan Series 5-Quart Tilt-Head Stand Mixer
Amazon
I don’t necessarily have anything against hand mixers; they’re just not as useful as a KitchenAid stand mixer. Admittedly, a stand mixer is a big investment. However, it not only whips up batters and doughs hands-free, but with the attachments, also doubles as an ice cream maker, pasta machine, spiralizer, and meat grinder. Stand mixers are also at a fixed height and position so they mix more evenly than hand mixers that you move around the bowl. Plus, I bought my KitchenAid secondhand in 2018, and it’s still going strong eight years later.
Don’t: Oven Mitts
Do: Dish Towels
Utopia Towels Blue Dish Towels, 12-Pack
Amazon
In professional kitchens, thin, flour-sack towels like these from Utopia are used to pull hot trays out of the oven, wipe down cutting boards, act as trivets, and more. I’ve had a few bad experiences in my home kitchen trying (and failing) to grip hot pans with bulky oven mitts. Now, I always keep a stack of these multi-purpose towels on hand; they can be folded as much or as little as you need to get a really sturdy grip without sacrificing dexterity.
Don’t: Bread Maker
Do: Dutch Oven
Lodge 6-Quart Enameled Cast Iron Dutch Oven
Amazon
I’ve heard a lot of folks say that bread makers make the process easier, but in my experience, making bread by hand and baking it in a Dutch oven is only slightly more work for exponentially better interior texture and browned crust. Plus, a bread maker can only make bread, while this Dutch oven can be used for soups, braises, stocks, and more. I love it because it’s inexpensive compared to its high-end peers, but it’s still made of durable, heavy cast iron with a thick enamel coating — I’m never worried about damaging it, and when it does come time to replace it, I’ll be out less than $100.
