Our kitchens are filled with tools and gadgets that are supposed to make whipping up dinner easier. While essential kitchen utensils can speed up the process, not every option available is worth stuffing into your cabinets. A quality knife or kitchen shears are more versatile options that won't end up sitting in a drawer taking up space and collecting dust.
Instead of chasing every buzzy new appliance, it pays to stick with gear that's functional, reliable and actually makes your life easier. To help you sort the essentials from the excess, we asked chefs and kitchen pros which gadgets are worth the hype -- and which ones are better left behind. Because when decluttering your kitchen, knowing what not to buy is just as important as knowing what to keep.
These career cooks are the ultimate authority on which kitchen gadgets should get the boot -- especially when cupboard, counter and drawer space is limited. Each one listed their least favorite kitchen tools and offered their preferred method or tool for completing the cooking task that they're meant to do.
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."
What to try instead: Mac 8-inch Japanese chef knife.
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