idk if it falls into the gadget category, but an immersion blender has been a game changer for me.

homemade salad dressings and sauces are so much easier.

Kitchen aid, my husband bought an off brand and it blew my mind then he used it once to make banana bread and thought the bump on the bottom needed be knocked out now the paddle had nothing to go around.

I angry stomped to my car and came back with a beautiful blue kitchen aid. I still love that thing. Or the toaster oven.

Instant pot hands down

Instant read thermometer, immersion blender, NexTrend garlic twist, scale....proper silicon spatulas . I could go on lol

I'm on the fence between my anova and my air fryer.

Kitchen aid with meat grinder attachment gets an honorable mention.

If I can include my smoker, it goes first.

i’ve got a Bamix immersion blender that I actually gave to my mother as a present in 1984 and inherited after her passing. It still works and it’s absolutely fantastic.

One gadget I can’t live without is my microplane zester.

100%. Everything these people said. I use my immersion blender all the time.

I also have a giant, 4 inch deep lasagna pan with handles that is great for everything from beef bourguignon to pork roast with cracklin on veggies to cottage pie.

And, you can never have a big enough stock pot, right?

Lastly, my life is so much better after getting a couple extra soup & gravy ladles. I use them all the time.

One of these and a vacuum sealer is a game changer. I'm not sure I can go back.

Yep-one of the best and most handy gadgets around. I’ve blown through so many, I finally splurged and bought the Vitamix, heavy duty one-

It's surprising how many avid home cooks don't own one. I've been cooking for a long time, but until a few years ago it never occurred to me to buy one. And then I watched a chef on Triple D use one to turn a chunky sauce into something silky and smooth and I realized that I just had to have one. 😁

I use mine more often for defrosting things than I do for cooking. Still an invaluable tool.

Great for sous vide cooking as well.

One thing that does get enough attention is a good board. You use it more than you think. I have a huge block end butchers board. It used every day. (Separate Plastic boards for fish/Chicken are nice too).

A good chefs knife and decent cookware. I use both every single day. Anything else is nice to have, but not a necessity. ( that being said, I have almost every conceivable kitchen appliance known to man)

12 inch cast iron skillet

Flexible spatula

Silicone spatula

Instant pot

Stainless steel bowls

They are light weight and durable. I have 1 large glass bowl with a lid as well.

Highly highly highly recommend a microplane. You don't really know how good they are until you get one. Good for grating cheeses, zest, garlic, ginger, anything, and so easy to clean.

Some people grate nutmeg too but I've heard that damages the blades.

Instant Pot! Good knives.

A great knife and the heavy as fuck cutting board

Cut my wife's time in the kitchen in half by doing mise en place

Currently I am in love with my new salad spinner. I cannot believe I went so long without one. I grow my own lettuce and it gets pretty dirty. I used to wash it and then lay it all out to dry or pat dry with paper towels. The result was limp lettuce most of the time. I feel like a fool for taking so long but I'm always hesitant to bring more clutter into my kitchen.

A microplane costs like $5 and is the best way to zest fruits or shred cheese.

Air Fryer..

Hands down. Less dishes and cooking time.

Chinois, colander, robo coupe, immersion blenders, whisks, rubber spats, ladles, vitamix, and always tongs

Stainless mixing bowls, 1/4 sheet pans, my favorite spat, any cambros with lid, one of the glass door beer coolers(I want a sausage curing fridge). I wouldn't mind getting a steam table, with six and third pans(for the holiday buffet our house always puts on. Shelving, maybe.

The mixer. If it’s a Hobart.

Of all the stuff that migrated to my personal inventory once my business closed, the ones that stuck around besides hand tools/ utensils are my cambros. Oh yeah, and SS bowls.

If I ever get the chance to design my own home kitchen, it's definitely going to have commercial reach-in fridges and speed racks that can handle hotel pans and inserts. I'll probably even have a lowboy prep station in there and a french top stove.

Seriously, can you even imagine how much nicer it would be to host a taco party or build your own pizza party with a lowboy filled with legit inserts instead of having a pile of random bowls and dishes for ingredients taking up all the counter space? And then the leftovers can go right into the fridge without having to decant them into food storage containers and making even more dishes to wash.

Yeah I have like a dozen 9th pans in my apartment... I use one(salt) besides that they don't really have a good use imo

Cambro for sure are always good. I use them also in my pantry.

Either an electric hand mixer or a stand mixer. Both highly useful. The hand mixer is much cheaper though, so I would recommend starting with a good quality hand mixer first to begin with, since there is quite a big difference in price. If you wind up cooking a lot, I would consider purchasing a good quality stand mixer, but only if you cook a lot since they cost hundreds of dollars. They're good to use if you bake a lot.

A garlic press that meant for instantly mincing garlic.

A way to organize & edit recipes. I don’t buy anything with recipes if I haven’t photographed a recipe, tried it, & it turned out a winner.

Good knives. You don’t need lots of them. And they need to be sharp.

Your pots & pans don’t have to match, so buy what you need.

I use a large cast iron skillet daily. (I don’t do sauces in cast iron)

My next most used pan is a Dutch oven. Tonight is pot roast.

Good, not gimmicky measuring tools.

The more you use a scale, the more you will use it.

I adore fresh bread. A bread machine from Goodwill is maybe $10. Fresh bread is only about 2 hours away. Pizza crust. Cinnamon rolls. Cute little dinner rolls.

Bench scrapers - they make transporting things from my large cutting board to pots and pans so much easier. And they’re good for cleaning something stubborn off my counters!

I agree with a lot of the other things people have said, especially the bench scrapper. I’ll add in one I haven’t seen mentioned yet: a decent set of mixing bowls. They’re great for holding prepped ingredients, mixing things (obviously); if they’re all metal or glass you can use them for gentle heating over boiling water (hollandaise, carbonara etc).

I also have a largish mesh strainer with a handle that I use regularly. It’s a lot more convenient than a colander when you don’t need that much capacity.

Small sheet pans (quarter and eighth sheets). Fantastic for organization, prep, chucking stuff under the broiler, carrying stuff out to the grill, you name it

Microplane

Lime/Lemon squeezer

The most used gadget in my kitchen is a food scale. Don't know how I could exist without one.

It all depends on your budget and cooking habits.

A stand mixer if you make a lot of doughs, baking. A food processor if you grate/chop/make nut butters. A vitamin for smoothies and soups. A Dutch oven if you stew or fry a lot.

There's no absolute. The gadgets that are worth it are the ones you'll use.

We love our bread machine. But plenty of people use theirs three times, stuff it in a closet, and then give it away.

Not sure how big your budget is, but a Thermomix or a Sous Vide comes to mind

Personally, I would go for a Vitamix.

I cook for 30 hours a week.

I have one gadget, and it's an instant pot...if that says anything.

While not a "gadget" persay, a dutch oven is also an amazing investment if you don't already own one.

A high quality japanese cleaver is also a staple and will replace all your knives. It's refreshing just having the one that does everything. Plus...less to clean.

Immersion blenders.

• blending directly in the pot

• more control

• saves counter space

I got one thinking I’d only use it to make tomato bisque and now I use it anytime I can

A meat thermometer

A kitchen scale in grams and imperial.

Useful for mixing drinks too.

Pressure cooker