Cooking tools

What makes a cooking tool worth buying

A good kitchen tool does one job better than the thing it replaces and is easy to put away afterwards. The test we use is simple: would you reach for it every week? A gadget that saves thirty seconds once a year is clutter, however clever it looks in a video.

The tools here cover the jobs around the hob: a strainer that clips onto your pot, a microwave omelette maker for a quick breakfast, an automatic stirrer that keeps a sauce moving while you prep, and a glass oil sprayer that coats a pan with a fine mist instead of a glug.

Sizes, materials and heat

Every product page lists measurements in full. For anything that clips or rests on a pan, compare those numbers with the rim of the pans you cook with most, since a tool that needs a lip will not grip a square dish or a rimless pan.

Silicone is flexible and copes well with boiling water, which is why it turns up on strainers and spatulas. Plastic frames keep a tool light and stiff but should not sit on a hot pan for long, so read the care notes and use the tool for the job it was made for.

Storing tools in a small kitchen

Drawer space runs out before cupboard space does. Tools that fold flat, nest together or hang from a rail are easier to live with than ones that only fit on a shelf, and that is a large part of how we choose what to stock.