When you cook in a from scratch kitchen for most meals of the day, your kitchen sink will always be full. There’s just no getting around that. But take heart! Here are 10 of the best kitchen tools that can help a from scratch kitchen work more efficiently. You know, so we can have more time to do all those dishes!
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10 Best Kitchen Tools
In no particular order of importance!
Clearly these are the opinion of Johnson Home NC and your own list may vary significantly.
From scratch or homemade meals are an important value to our family. That’s not to say that we cook every single thing we eat from scratch three times a day! It means wholesome and nutritious food is a value to us and so we attempt to make as many meals as possible without the “help” of a box or bag. Often known as “processed foods”.
Here are my favorite kitchen tools that help me efficiently get done the job of cooking as many meals from scratch as I can for my family.
1. Immersion Blender
I personally have one of these for my kitchen as well as for my soap making. Immersion blenders make life so much easier.
If I had to choose only one item from this list for you to invest in today, the immersion blender would be it!
Immersion blending helps me to make mayonnaise, jams and jellies, soap, tomato sauces, sweet potato casseroles, apple and pear sauces, mashed potatoes, potato soup, homemade baby food, smoothies and so much more!
No need to pour your food product into a standing blender and back into its pot, spilling contents everywhere. Just immerse the blender into your pot and carefully stir and lift as needed for bigger chunks.
SHOP FOR THE IMMERSION BLENDER.
2. Instant Pot
Goodbye, slow cooker (crock pot)!
With this handy dandy kitchen appliance, the Instant Pot cooks fast at high pressurized temperatures or most IPs have a slow cooker setting! One of my most used kitchen tools, hands down.
The stainless steel pot is much better than the controversial ceramic base of a slow cooker. You’ll need to look that up for yourself but my kitchen is slowly transforming to stainless steel and glass.
Now you can take a roast from frozen to dinner plate in about an hour, slightly over if it’s frozen solid.
How many days do you, too, forget to take tonight’s dinner meat out to thaw? Multiple times a week for me! The Instant Pot to the rescue!
3. Mini Blender
Magic Bullet, Ninja blender… so many other options but a mini blender is a fantastic kitchen tool for small jobs.
- Crushing up whole leaf herbs from my garden that I’ve air-dried is one favorite way to use the mini blender.
- Turning dried sourdough starter into powder to save in case of an emergency or to sell.
- Making small batches of powdered sugar.
- One-glass smoothies.
- Blending berries for homemade jam.
Super easy to clean with very few parts. Dishwasher safe is a plus!
4. Stainless Steel Cookware
GET RID OF ALL YOUR “non-stick” COOKWARE RIGHT NOW!
Pots, pans, baking sheets, cupcake tins, bundt pans, and more. Especially if it is nicked or scratched.
You are leaching nasty chemicals into your food. Again, go look this up for yourself.
When you know better, you’ll make the effort to do better.
Transitioning a from scratch kitchen to stainless steel, glass, and wood takes time and budgeting for sure but in the end, it’s worth it.
SHOP FOR STAINLESS STEEL BAKING SHEETS and COOKWARE.
5. Mason Jars and any ol’ jar
Possibly the most versatile of kitchen tools for a more efficient kitchen:
Mason jars have the most use because you can water bath, steam, and pressure can safely with them; however, I think any glass jar can fit into this category.
Again, when transitioning your kitchen from non-stick and plastics to glass, stainless steel, and wood; it can take time and budgeting. Thankfully glass jars are plentiful!
Spaghetti sauce jars, spice jars, pickle jars, etc. SAVE THEM!
Glass jars are great for fermenting fruits and vegetables, storing homegrown air-dried herbs, decanting wheat berries, rice, beans, etc.
Check your local thrift stores for surrendered mason jars. Just be weary of the prices. One local thrift store wants $1.98 for a single jar while another wants $0.25 per jar no matter the size!
SHOP MASON JAR WIDE MOUTH REUSABLE LIDS FOR STORAGE (not canning) and REGULAR MOUTH
6. Standing Mixer
By far one of my most used Christmas gifts!
Seems the older I get the more my “wish lists” contain large ticket kitchen appliance items. Usually my mom and sister go in together to gift me something like this and I AM SO GRATEFUL!
Baking cookies and homemade bread has never been easier with this machine!
Homemade butter, my son’s famous scones, and even sourdough pancake batter all get whipped up in this ol’ gal.
Set her up and turn her on and you can move on to another task while it is whipping, kneading, or paddling out your mixture.
SHOP THE STANDING MIXER HERE or MORE COST EFFICIENTLY HERE.
7. Hand Mixer
I wasn’t much of a cook in my early adult years and married life. But I did pay enough attention to my mom and Nana in the kitchen that I could figure dinner out.
I never owned a standing mixer or food processor but I’ve always had a hand-held mixer. It was on my wedding registry! After 15 years of marriage, I am now on my second ever hand mixer because it has made whipping up mashed or creamed potatoes, sweet potato souffle, and cream cheese frosting for easy cinnamon rolls that much easier for me.
As an alternative to the standing mixer that may be out of budget, I highly suggest starting with one of these. A hand-held electric mixer can accomplish a whole lot in a from scratch kitchen!
8. Digital Pressure Canner
Say hello to my new best friend!
Sure, she’s pricey. Absolutely, I saved up for this ol’ gal. Yes, I LOVE HER.
Take a quick gander at my honest and unpaid review of the Presto Electric/Digital Pressure Canner HERE.
I do own a traditional pressure canner (another Christmas gift!) but I’ve been too scared to use it.
This digital pressure canner is fool-proof. Seriously, go read that review I linked above for the Pros and Cons of the Digital Pressure Canner.
SHOP THE DIGITAL PRESSURE CANNER.
9. Nutrimill
Yes, I realize this list is giving “luxury item” but hear me out:
The more I’ve:
- researched and learned about milling your own wheat berries and the nutrients that are stripped from grocery store flour…
- seen proof that sourdough doesn’t spike blood sugar like regular store-bought breads do…
- learned about sourdough fermentation being a solution for those with gluten intolerances (NOT those with Celiac’s Disease! See my Disclosure Statement)…
- added high quality food to our value-based budget…
The more my family has started to pinch pennies to save them for higher ticketed items such as pressure canners and flour mills.
More on value-based budgeting below…
Back to the in-home grain mill: it’s a wonderful investment in your health and in great homemade bread.
My family loves good ol’ fashioned white bread. I’ve been transitioning us to unbleached, organic, all-purpose flour from the grocery store which has been easy enough to do. But my family just doesn’t love 100% whole wheat bread products yet. So for now I am mixing the two when I bake homemade bread.
I mill organic wheat berries from 4 Generations Organic Farms using the NurtiMill.
For the record, I saved up for this purchase and cashed in on all my “rewards” from various apps and websites to get Amazon gift cards which helped get this big purchase down by HALF!
10. A good cutting knife
Preferably one that is dishwasher safe!
I know not every kitchen owns a dishwasher either but know that, too, is a value-based budgeted item!
My mother gifted me a knife one Christmas MANY years before our values switched over. I was almost offended she gave me a kitchen knife as a gift!
Fast forward to today and let me tell something to you, dear reader– that knife has been the BEST tool in my kitchen.
I have not a clue where she purchased it but it slices like a dream. Dices like it was made for such a time as this. And stays sharp without much honing needed throughout the year.
A good cutting, dishwasher safe knife is something every from scratch kitchen needs! Nay, must have.
If I had to add a kitchen tool number 11, I would suggest a good wooden cutting board to pair with that exquisite kitchen knife.
Honorable Mention Kitchen Tools
I would suggest the Food Processor; however, since I do not own one, I cannot comment.
My mother swears by hers and perhaps it could take the place of a few of these mixers/blenders types of kitchen tools listed.
Definitely give the food processor a consideration and some research!
What is value-based budgeting?
Value-based budgeting is the approach a family takes with their budget that makes spending room based on their personal values.
- Some families value traveling and vacations.
- Others value technology and gadgets.
- Some value health and wellness by way of quality foods, gym memberships, supplements and vitamins, etc.
Families who choose the latter are probably not driving a brand new car with a $500 monthly car note. They likely aren’t eating out every other night of the week. These families aren’t going to have a Netflix, Hulu, or ESPN subscription and probably rarely buy brand new anything.
But these families are very likely to spend a mortgage in groceries each month. They very well don’t frequent the drive-thru burger and nuggets provider in town. These kinds of people probably spend their evenings binge reading research-based books on nutrition and holistic health practices. And they likely prefer thrifting over Brand New stickers.
Or is that just my boring family? Cool, cool.
In summary, no one family’s value-based budgeting system is better than another’s. They are simply different based on their personal values.
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If you agree with this list or have other favorite kitchen tools to add, leave a comment below! I’d love to hear what works best in YOUR efficient from scratch kitchen.
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I have 8 out of 10 of the tools mentioned
Yay, Sue! I bet some good cooking comes out of your kitchen. Thanks for reading!!