5 Favorite Specialty Kitchen Tools

With specialty tools available for almost any cooking need, it can be tempting to pick up new gadgets. Many of these wind up being used once and then relegated to the back of the drawer. Avocado slicer, anyone? When the urge to make a purchase strikes, or you’re seeking a gift for the cook in your life, consider one of these five tools. Though their purposes are specialized, they help you to accomplish kitchen tasks that would otherwise be time-consuming, messy, or downright difficult enough to interfere with the enjoyment of cooking.

Cherry Pitter

Farmers’ market season is right around the corner, and with it comes hauls of fresh sweet and sour cherries like the Bing and Morello varieties. Delicious on their own, cherries are easy to devour by the bowl, but when the abundance on your counter gets overwhelming, it’s time to bake, pickle, and otherwise transform them while still ripe. This is when a cherry pitter comes in handy.

There are techniques for removing pits with a knife, tweezers, or even a paper clip, but a designated cherry pitter makes the job easy and satisfying as it pops the pit through the bottom of each fruit. Even better, the cherries make it through the process without becoming squished or misshapen. This is especially important for recipes in which you’ll be using them whole, like these quick pickled cherries.

Pineapple Corer/Slicer

Pick up a magazine or take a walk through your local home design shop, and you will see pineapple motifs on everything from wallpaper to pillows. With their bright exterior and whimsical tops, it’s no surprise that designers have found so many ways to make use of its visual appeal. Yet despite being a symbolically hospitable fruit, those of us enjoy cooking know that it can be a challenge to access the sweetness nestled between its prickly skin and core.

Whether you’re serving a tropical cocktail, fresh salsa, or caramelized fruit slices, a corer/slicer allows you to extract as much of the fruit you need while preserving the pineapple for use as a serving bowl or cup. The whimsical shape makes them perfect for a party tablescape, and I always love recipes that help you to use the entire fruit.

Doughnut Pan

Freshly baked doughnuts have become my favorite substitute for pancakes on a weekend morning, and they’re simpler to prepare. With a batter that comes together as easily as your favorite pancake recipe and plenty of doughnut shop flavor, this classic baked variety may become your brunch staple – no pouring, flipping, and monitoring required.

Plenty of baked doughnut recipes require piping thick batter, rolling and shaping dough, and other techniques that make for a messy and possibly stress-filled morning. Sure, you can pipe, roll, and bake the night before, but nothing compares with enjoying the freshest of doughnuts with your morning coffee or tea. That’s where a doughnut pan comes in handy. Whip together the batter, distribute it in the wells, and bake. This specialty pan gets used in my house all the time.

Lemon Press

Perhaps the simplest of the tools on this list, a lemon/lime press is nonetheless a specialty tool that has a solid place in the kitchen. Unless you’re in the mood to scoop the pits from a pan sauce or, even worse, the elusive solitary pit in a bowl of batter, you need this tool. Sure, there are times that I pop them out with a knife and then squeeze a lemon cut side up in my hand, but when an errant pit makes its way into my dish, I always remind myself to use the lemon press next time.

Offset Spatula

Most recipes that require spreading are easier with an offset spatula. Whether you’re working with rich ganache or fluffy buttercream, the handle shape on this tool gives you better leverage and more control, elevating the position of your hand so it doesn’t wind up touching the surface you just frosted. I use mine for candy making as well, since recipes like this pumpkin seed brittle require quick, even spreading while it’s still at a scorching heat level.

The next time you are in the mood to buy a new kitchen tool, consider adding one of these items to your stock. They also make the perfect gift for the most loved cook in your life.