Essential Tools

We can't tell you how many times we've burned bread crumbs or forgotten about the nuts we were toasting in the oven. At least, we used to. That was all before we got ourselves a couple of these loud, easy-to-use kitchen timers that can hang around your neck—so you never forget about something in the kitchen, even if you leave the room.

These angled measuring cups from OXO have a clever marking system that makes it simple to measure liquid ingredients without having to bend down to eyeball the liquid height.

There's nothing better than a good cast iron skillet for searing meat and vegetables, baking cornbread, or making our delicious pull-apart stuffing rolls.

A good digital scale is an essential tool for bakers or home charcuterie makers. The OXO Food Scale comes with an easy-to-clean removable stainless steel weighing surface, great accuracy and precision, and a pull-out backlit display to make measuring simple, even for large or unwieldy items.

You don't need an electric knife to carve your turkey—just a nice, sharp carving knife, like this one from Wüsthof.

You can't bake a pie without pie plates, and the tough tempered-glass plates from Pyrex have proven themselves over the years.

This paring knife from Wüsthof is a classic, with a solid blade and handle construction, a full tang for strength and durability, and a razor-sharp edge to make trimming, peeling, and dicing vegetables a snap.

This epic set of stainless steel pastry tips will help you decorate holiday cakes and cookies with gorgeous piped flowers, leaves, stars, and beyond.

A workhorse cutting board is great to have in the kitchen, but for the dinner table, you'll want something a little showier, like this teak end-grain board.

The best recipe in the world won't help you if your oven is mis-calibrated. A simple oven thermometer will guarantee that you're cooking things right.

The Dutch oven is the true workhorse of your kitchen pot arsenal. It's where you'll par-cook your roasted potatoes, braise your brisket, and make creamy soups (not to mention stock from the leftover Christmas turkey bones).

Read reviews of fine mesh strainers and you'd think that they're made of delicate porcelain, their handles falling off if you put them down too heavily. In reality, with normal use, even an inexpensive model with welded (as opposed to riveted) handles will last you a long, long time. Kenji's been using this set of Culina strainers for nearly a decade now. Use them for straining gravies, draining blanched vegetables and pasta, and making extra-smooth soups.

Whether you're making your mashed potatoes extra-fluffy or rich and creamy, a potato ricer is the best tool for getting those cooked spuds silky smooth.

If you want to step up your game from a potato ricer, a good food mill will do the same job, plus it'll work year-round for straining tomatoes for sauce, fruits for jams, and any number of other straining or puréeing uses.

If you want to bake batch after batch of cookies, brownies, or cakes with no sticking—and no messing up your baking sheets and pans—you need baking parchment. The roll-style parchment paper stores more easily but just won't stay flat. We prefer flat sheets that are pre-cut to fit your rimmed baking sheets. Store them on top of the refrigerator where they can stay flat, out of the way, and within arm's reach of the oven.

Put away that wine bottle, and forget about those heavy-duty rolling pins with ball bearings. A simple tapered French-style rolling pin offers more control at a fraction of the price.

The Cadillac of kitchen thermometers is indispensable when you're roasting lamb, making candy, deep frying, or doing pretty much anything that requires precise temperature. With a big display and a blazing-fast measuring time of under two seconds, you won't find a better, easier-to-use thermometer out there.

This wooden spoon from Le Creuset is the one you'll reach for time and again. It's gorgeous to look at, its flat front makes it great for scraping up fond or stirring vegetables, and its smooth, ergonomic grip makes using it a joy.

The Microplane grater takes care of fine grating way better than those tiny, raspy holes on a box grater. Whether you're quickly grating fresh nutmeg and cinnamon or taking the zest off a lemon, the Microplane is the tool to reach for.

A half sheet tray is the quintessential holiday baking tool, whether you're baking cookies, crisping up potatoes, toasting spiced nuts, charring Brussels sprouts, or roasting a pork shoulder.

Our favorite measuring cups have solid steel construction, grippy rubberized handles, and a snap-on, snap-off ring that makes grabbing the right size easy.

Roasting pans come in triple-clad and copper-core models that run into the multiple hundreds of dollars. Here's the truth: unless you're roasting dozens of prime ribs a year and submitting your roaster to high heat over a direct burner, you don't need those expensive versions. This well priced single-clad stainless steel model from Cuisinart is large enough for a full prime rib or turkey and sturdy enough to last forever.

Magnets keep these measuring spoons firmly stacked. Each one has two heads: a traditional round head for large jars and containers, and a tapered head to fit into narrow spice jars.

If your kitchen becomes a cookie factory at holiday time, a stand mixer can be a game-changer. But doughs and batters aren't its only skills: with the right attachments, you can also use it to grind meat for sausages, make fresh pasta, and more.

There's form, and then there's function. The aprons from Tilit are great on both fronts. Made from waxed cotton, they offer breathability along with water resistance, and they're damned handsome to boot. Several NYC restaurants have even commissioned custom apron designs from the company. We're always psyched to throw one of these bad boys on, whether we're cooking at work or at home.

High-quality Swedish steel and Japanese design, along with great features like a perfectly balanced handle and blade and an ergonomic bolster, make the Misono UX10 Santoku one of our favorite tools in the kitchen.

If you want your pepper mill to produce a shower of evenly crushed peppercorns; if you want to be able to control the size of those grains, from a rough crush to a fine powder; and if you want that pepper mill to last, this is the mill for you.

You don't need to spend a lot of money on a good springform pan. In fact, there's not much difference between the most expensive and the most inexpensive models. They all have the same basic mechanism, they all have the same non-stick coating (that will eventually wear out), and they all leak when you put them in a water bath (yes, ALL of them). The only key features you're looking for are a good non-stick coating and construction that won't break down before the non-stick does. The Cuisinart Chef's Classic Nonstick Pan fits the bill at a lower price than most competitors.

Start (or finish) your holiday feast with a professional-looking salad, using this small mandoline to make paper-thin slices of fennel, beets, and other crispy vegetables. It's also great for getting even slices of potatoes for a gorgeous gratin.

A good bench scraper is one of those tools people don't think they need until they start using one. Use it for everything from transferring chopped vegetables or herbs from one place to another to portioning dough to giving your cutting board a quick clean.

Whether we're making a puréed soup directly in the pot or whipping up some whipped cream for a pie, a hand blender is the easiest way to go. The is one from Cuisinart pulls it weight in the ktichen and offers the best bang for your buck.

How do you make perfect gravies, sauces, and reductions? A nifty pot called a saucier. The durable stainless steel is clad with aluminum for even heating—essential for temperamental ingredients like caramel and egg custards. A curved bottom makes whisking a snap (no more lumpy gravy!), and the wide top encourages evaporation for fast sauce reductions. You can buy cheaper versions than this All-Clad saucier, but this is one case where quality really makes a difference.

Don't want to spring for a Thermapen? Get yourself the less expensive Thermopop. An easy-to-read display rotates at the touch of a button so you don't have to twist your head to read it. It takes a few seconds longer to register temperatures than its big brother, but it's every bit as accurate.

Casseroles are perfect for holiday feasts because they can be assembled ahead and baked off before supper. A good casserole dish will heat your food evenly and keep it piping hot at the table; this one does the job and looks good in the process.

This powerful food processor makes quick and easy work of creamy chicken liver pâté, shredded potatoes for latkes, and perfect pie dough.