Kitchen gadgets are supposed to help with preparing meals in your home. From holding produce, to making it easier to slice up ingredients, you picked up these items to make the process easier but it's likely they're now gathering dust in drawers and cabinets. So how do you know which gadgets to keep and which ones aren't worth the space they take up?
I talked to actual professional chefs, and they all said the same thing: stick to the basics. You don't need a drawer full of single-task gimmicks when a sharp knife, a solid cutting board and a decent pan can do it all. Mastering a few quality tools will make you a better cook and save you from a kitchen full of junk.
To separate the essential from the superfluous or downright useless, we asked culinary pros to share the tools they swear by and the gadgets they'd skip. Their advice will help you avoid falling for flashy products and instead invest in items that you'll reach for every single day. When decluttering your kitchen, you'll have to make some tough decisions but we're here to help.
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Masaharu Morimoto
Celebrity chef, restaurateur
Masaharu Morimoto shared his pick for the most overrated kitchen tool. Dave Kotinsky/Getty Images
1. Mandolin
Chef Morimoto encourages beefing up your knife skills to make thin and uniform vegetable slices. Milk Street
Why: "While it brings good slices, mastering proper knife skills gives you more control, precision and safety in the long run. Mandolins can be bulky, hard to clean and risky if you're not extremely careful. Relying too much on a mandolin or tools like a two-in-one apple cutter or a tomato corer can hold you back from developing real technique. Taking the time to learn how to handle a sharp chef's knife or Japanese blade will help you in almost every recipe."
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