Great Kitchen Products to Make Life Easier

To make the most out of your high quality designer kitchen, you’re going to need more then just chic worktops and the latest appliances; you’re going to need the best possible tools available to you. In what we hope to be the first in an ongoing series, we at Silke would like to list a couple of great kitchen products that we recommend.

Oxo Good Grips Sugar Dispenser

Sugar, much like it’s polar opposite Salt, can be an overwhelming thing in large quantities- and when looking for a dispenser, you want to make sure it’s functional enough to not dump pounds of sugar at the slightest tip. Oxo’s Good Grips Sugar Dispenser is perhaps one of the better designs on the market, featuring an easily removable see-through lid that allows you to see exactly when it needs to be refilled.

It also features a side spout that can be toggled open or shut, removing the possibility for accidental spillages when knocked over, a function it’s actually kind of remarkable isn’t as common among other designs. Whilst typically associated with cafes and diners, Sugar Dispensers can be invaluable within the home, especially if you do a lot of  baking and require precise measurements of sugar.

Prepworks Mini Prokeeper

Storing spices, baking soda, flour, or anything of that kind in ways that make good use of your cupboard space and keep the goods fresh is, as most of us can attest to, an almighty pain in the backside. Many of us are simply content to use the store-bought glass jars or ruse old coffee tins, but in the long run your ingredients are going to dry out. That’s where great kitchen products like the prepworks Mini Prokeeper comes in; a neat little plastic container that stands at 354ml capacity.

The combination of a silicone seal, leveller, and sliding dusting screen make it not only an effective storage unit that will keep everything contained within fresher for longer, but will also allow for a fear easier application of the ingredients contained within when preparing a dish. If you like to make use of a plethora of spices across your various dishes, then this is an essential piece of kit you need to get your hands on.

Zyliss Classic Cheese Grater

Cheese can be difficult to grate, especially when using a hand grater. It can quickly become tiring work, and it can lead to a heck of a mess if you’re not careful. With that in mind, it’s essential to be on the lookout for a top quality automatic or hand-pump cheese grater, and for our money, you can’t go wrong with Zyliss’ Classic Cheese Grater. Two big pluses right out the gate are that it’s suitable for both right handed and left handed individuals (something that pleases our left-handed editorial writer greatly), and that it’s completely dishwasher safe.

It only gets better from there however, featuring a hand pump that’s comfortable to grip and doesn’t require much pressure to great evenly; that it’s also reasonably sized and thus easily storable when not in use is the icing on the cake. If you’ve spent most of your kitchen life achingly grating using one of those archaic hand graters, do yourself a favour and upgrade to this immediately.

Silvermark Herb Slicers

When it comes to growing your own herbs at home, there are times that they require something of a delicate touch; usually, when cutting off small stems or clipping the plant down a bit. Regular old scissors are great kitchen products in themselves, but are usually too big and unwieldy for the job, so substituting them for a proper set of Herb Slicers is an absolute no-no. Silvermark’s Herb Slicer rates as one of the best available as far as many consumers are concerned, with perfectly sliced and very fine edged blades that are absolutely perfect for finely trimming herb plants, feel extremely comfortable and lightweight in the hand.

They also have a stripper located just below the hinge of the blades that’s perfect for removing those tougher stems on herbs like Thyme easily and effectively. They could arguably serve as a multi-purpose tool with further cooking applications (finely cutting certain types of vegetable like Spring Onions, for example), and even non-cooking applications such as gardening or twine- and consumers have regularly used them for such purposes- so that’s something of a plus as well.

Charcoal Companion Circle Kebob Skewers

Kebabs are an incredibly popular foodstuff, serving as a reliable staple of many barbecues’ and mixed grills throughout the decades, so the keen eyed among you are probably baulking at the very idea of circular kebab skewers. To answer the question before you even answer it, Charcoal Companions’ innovative kebab skewer design solves numerous problems that typically arise from the standard straight design.

First as foremost, the circular shape stops the kebobs from rolling around on the grill or when being ferried from place to place; no doubt we’ve all lost a chicken skewer to the ground at some point in our lives, so this fact alone justified the unusual shape. Beyond that, though, the shape also means it better fits on circular plates (another factor that makes them easier to cart around) and they’re a lot less likely to accidentally jab you or your guests in the hand when being prepared or eaten. Whether the fanciful aesthetic the skewers have looks good will depend entirely on the person, but as far as functionality is concerned, it’s hard to argue that they don’t give traditional skewers a run for their money.

Zwilling Twin Pizza Cutter

A decent pizza slicer seems like something you’d find fairly easily just looking around your local high street, but time and time again many of us have been burned by a £1 slicer that either doesn’t do it’s job properly, or breaks after maybe one or two uses. Sometimes you need to spring for something a little better, and you can’t do much better then a Zwilling Twin Pizza Cutter. The first notable thing about it is the very simple design; handle, finger guard, circular blade, absolutely no frills what so ever. This will likely lead some of you to ask exactly where your money is going, and the answer to that is in the durability and functionality.

Available with a handle in satin-finished stainless steel or with a non-slip lightweight synthetic surface, the Zwilling Twin Pizza Cutter is completely dishwasher safe and will is heat resistant up to a total of 300 degrees Celsius; it practically glides through pizza to boot. A pizza slicer might not seem like something you’d need very often nor something you’d be willing to spend over a couple of pounds on, but if there’s one thing you’ll quickly learn with your modern kitchen, it’s that you will always need to be prepared (and you’re always going to want the best tools for the job when the situation arises).

Fusionbrands PoachPod

Poached Eggs; the scourge of many a kitchen experience. When done just right, they can be a delicious, decadent treat that really adds to a meal; when things go horribly wrong, they become tasteless mounds of matter. There certainly is a technique to it, but it’s one that takes time and practise to matter, and not everybody has the time to learn. The good folks at Fusionbrands have us covered, however, with their handy little PoachPod.

Essentially, the PoachPod is an easily malleable silicone pod you crack an egg into, gently place into boiling water, and will cleanly and easily poach the egg without any of the fuss or mess typically associated with the process. It’s heat resistant up to 357°C, nonstick, has further cooking and baking applications, and is both dishwasher and microwave safe. You can also purchase the PoachPod in a set that includes an especially designed lift moulded to work specifically with the PoachPod, and is available in a wide range of vibrant colours.

KitchenAid Silicone Spatula

Soft material spatula’s have become something of a growing trend these last few years, and there are a great number of outlets and companies that provide ranges of them. One of the best designs on the market it KitchenAid’s Silicone Mixing Spatula, a sturdy spatula capable of handling temperatures up to 232°C.

Although primarily designed to be used in conjunction with KitchenAid’s other products (their mixing bowl specifically), it’s a handy tool in of itself that can be used for any task you can think of that would require a spatula. It’s also very sleekly designed for a silicone spatula, with a professionally fashioned modern look that is as durable as it is eye catching.

Norpro Cheese Slicer

At a first glance, the Norpro Cheese Slicer is as simple as they come; reasonably sized, 181 grams in weight, made of a zinc alloy and coloured silver.  However, we have often reiterated the virtue of “simple form, reliable function”, and if this product is any indication Norpro have embraced it fully. The slicer is easily adjustable so it can be used with cheeses of varying sizes, the zinc alloy makes it both sturdy and dishwasher safe, and it comes with a spare wire as standard in case of an emergency.

Chef’n Switchit Dual Ended Silicone Spatula

A product that truly pushes the boundaries of modern design to it’s absolute limit, the Chef’n Switchit Dual Ended Silicone Spatula easily blows other soft textile spatula’s out of the water. First and foremost, the outer portion of product is all one single piece of Silicone with a stainless steel core; not only does this save on heads popping out of it’s seat in the spatula, it also makes it incredibly flexible- doubly so when combined with the asymmetrical heads at either end of the utensil, allowing it to fit a multitude of differently sized and shaped bowls and pots. Toss in little touches like the non-stick surface, the fact that it’s heat resistant up to 340 degrees Celsius, and the fact that it saves shelf space with it’s design ethic alone, and it’s hard to understand why this isn’t a more popular kitchen utensil then it currently is.

Progressive Avocado Slicer

Avocado’s can be very difficult to prepare, and not only because of their thick skin or hefty pits; though the flesh is soft and malleable, it’s those very things that can lead to a lot of mess and cursing under one’s breath in the process. In an effort to solve the problem, Progressive have stepped up to the plate with an Avocado Slicer that looks more intimidating then it really is; one the avocado has been sliced in half and the pit removed, simply insert the slicer right into the flesh. The outermost portion of the cuter will remove the flesh from the skin, and the wires running through the middle will slice it into more easily manageable strips.