20 Kitchen Gadgets Worth the Space, Including Espresso Machines and Garlic Presses

Kitchen gadgets aren’t gimmicky. After years of testing, we’ve found indispensable gadgets that make cooking easier. The best gadgets, like unitaskers, are designed for a specific task. They can help you make better homemade pasta, cook a perfect batch of rice, or open a can easily every time. Of course, not all gadgets are smart buys, and you shouldn’t spend money on a tool that doesn’t work. That’s where our team comes in. We’ve combed through hundreds of our reviews to find 20 kitchen gadgets that make cooking easier.

An accurate, fast instant-read thermometer is useful for temping meat, but it can do so much more than that. We use them to test whether bread is done or to check the temperature of deep fryer oil. The Thermapen ONE is a staff favorite, and almost every Serious Eats editor owns one. 

Immersion circulators (sometimes called sous vide machines) are more affordable than they were a decade ago. Our favorite immersion circulator from Breville can keep a water bath at a consistent temperature for an hour or for 24 hours. It’s fast, too: In our tests, it heated a gallon of cold water in just 22 minutes. The Turbo is the second generation of Breville’s Joule, and we think it’s an impressive update.

For the best sous vide results, you need a vacuum-sealed bag. A vacuum sealer will make your bag airtight and can quickly infuse food with marinades that would otherwise take hours to permeate. Two of our favorite vacuum sealers come from Anova. The Precision Pro has a built-in bag cutter and bag storage. The Anova Precision is another good option with fewer features, although it’s still incredibly strong and airtight.

One thing became clear when we tested electric can openers: Stand-up models struggle more than handheld openers. They also take up a lot more space. That’s why we liked this petite can opener, which easily handled every size of can we threw at it. We loved the magnet on the bottom, which attaches to the lid and lifts it off.

For us, grinding coffee fresh is non-negotiable. But which coffee grinder is best? Our tests proved that the OXO Burr Grinder is the ideal option for most people. It’s priced fairly, and its grind accuracy is spot-on. If you want to splash out on an exceptional coffee grinder, you can’t go wrong with the Breville Smart Grinder Pro. 

A tested, reviewed, and recommended espresso machine for $500? It seems impossible, but the Bambino Plus is a hidden gem among Breville’s pricier offerings. Its ThermoJet heating system is lightning fast, so you don’t have to wait long between pulling shots. This is one of the few espresso machines we recommend for both beginners and experts.

We’ve been testing drip coffee makers for years, and we’ve yet to find one that performs better than the Ratio Six. It’s simple to use (just push one button), and its expertly designed showerhead and thermal carafe do the rest, evenly saturating the grounds for ideal extraction and keeping coffee hot for hours. 

With three foam and variable temperature settings, the Instant Magic Milk frother was a standout in our review. Unlike many other frothers, it works great with cold milk and plant-based milks, like oat or almond. Sure, it takes up more space than a whisk, but its performance is unbeatable if you enjoy lattes.

Are temperature control mugs silly? Maybe, but we love them anyway. The best hold their charge for a long time, so you can enjoy hot coffee for hours, even away from the charging pad. In our tests, the Ember 2 Mug met all of our criteria and looked good doing it. If you drink your coffee on the go, the Ember Travel Mug is worth consdiering. It keeps coffee hotter for way longer than a traditional travel mug.

High-speed blenders are worth the investment and storage space. Vitamix consistently tops our blender tests, but no model can outperform the 5200 with its tapered jar, uncluttered display, and incredibly powerful, variable speeds. We’ve been recommending it for over a decade and haven’t fallen out of love with it yet. If your blender budget is smaller, we have a few other recommendations here.

Air fryers are amazing. They’re convenient and efficiently make crispy food, like breaded chicken cutlets and fried Brussels sprouts. Plus, cleanup is about a zillion times easier than with a traditional deep fryer. The Instant Vortex was the clear winner in our air fryers review, thanks to its intuitive touchscreen and wide, square basket. Oh, and not for nothing, it browned food the best and most evenly.

A rice cooker is a must-have gadget for just about anyone. Our top pick from Hamilton Beach isn’t fancy, but it outperformed many of its pricier competitors. It made rice faster than any other cooker we tested, and kept it tender for hours on the Keep Warm setting. Looking for a smaller rice cooker? This one from Zojirushi makes just three cups.

Are multicookers worth it? Yes, especially if you buy one that has great searing capabilities. We tested and compared almost every type of Instant Pot, and the Pro came out on top. Its cookpot was ideal for sautéing and searing since it didn’t spin around, and it can be used on some stovetops. The stay-cool, silicone-coated handles were great, too.

Once you make popcorn in a popcorn maker, you’ll never go back to the “shaking a pot on the stove” method. The Presto Poplite Air Popper was impressively efficient in our tests, producing a batch with just 2% unpopped kernels. Plus, it doesn’t require any oil, which makes for easier cleanup.

If you have room for a full-size food processor and know you’ll use it often, go for it. Otherwise, spend less for a mini food processor. This one is designed just like our favorite regular food processors, with an ample food chute and the option to pulse or run continuously. It maxes out at a four-cup capacity, but that’s plenty for most sauces and other small tasks, like chopping an onion.

If fresh juice is important to you, no other appliance can stand in for a juicer. We tested centrifugal and masticating (a.k.a. cold press) juicers, and found winners in both categories. The Breville Juice Fountain Compact is a centrifugal juicer with a 700-watt motor that has a froth separator and a pulp collector for easier cleanup. The Omega Vertical Masticating Juicer stood out among its competitors thanks to a whisper-quiet motor and high-quality juice that tasted great and stayed fresh for up to 24 hours. 

This nut milk maker looks like a simple pitcher, but don’t discount it. It heats and blends your nut milk of choice, and includes two strainers so you can nail the consistency. It works with more than just nuts, too. There are also grains and beans settings, which are helpful if you prefer oat or soy milk.

Making fresh spaghetti and penne isn’t impasta-ble when you have the right tools. (Get it?) We’ve tested both manual pasta makers and electric pasta extruders, and have enthusiastic recommendations for both. The Marcato Atlas 150 is the gold standard manual machine, with a smooth crank and sharp, clean cutters. The Philips Arisan Smart Pasta Maker uses an internal scale to tell you how much water to add, based on the amount of flour you put in. It’s foolproof. 

We like the design of this food mill. Its silicone-covered feet fit a wide variety of bowls and surfaces, making it the most versatile mill we tested. It also comes with three different discs, so you can dial in your ideal processing size—it worked great with both a tomato passata and creamy mashed potatoes.

Who wants garlic-scented fingers? Well, even if that’s you, you can probably appreciate a gadget that turns whole cloves into a super fine mince. The garlic press is an undersung hero of food prep, which is why we tested 12 of them. The winning press by OXO was so good, we didn’t have any negative feedback about it—a rare occurrence in our reviews!

Why We’re the Experts

• Rochelle Bilow is an editor at Serious Eats.
• She is a culinary school graduate and has worked as a farmer, baker, and restaurant cook. 
• At Serious Eats, we rigorously test kitchen equipment. We regularly revisit our review to ensure our findings and recommendations stay current.