I am someone who does a lot of cooking. I very rarely buy anything pre-packaged or pre-made (except for the M&S Chilli Pesto because that is divine!), and I prefer to eat at home rather than get a takeaway. I do save a lot of money doing this- our household monthly food shop bill is around £300.00 for both myself and my partner (and our dog), which is a pretty big steal considering we shop at M&S. Because of this, however, I feel I am justified in buying some spectacularly unnecessary kitchen gadgets. Honestly, some of these I thought were gimmicky and I’d use for a few days and then forget about it; but all of them have changed the cooking game for me, making cooking delicious and nutritious meals significantly easier, quicker and with better flavours and textures due to their function. So, here are my top 3 completely unnecessary kitchen gadgets which I would 100% buy again due to how useful they are.
Note: This is not a sponsored post, by M&S, KitchenAid, Ninja or Tefal. I just love these products. (though that being said if any of the sales reps of these companies are reading, I’d absolutely be down for a sponsorship in the future).
The KitchenAid Mixer Tilt-Head 4.8L Artisan Stand Mixer in Pistachio- £449.00
If you know anything about me, you’ll know my main hobby for the past 10 years has been baking. I have made all sorts; from macarons to meringues, from bagels to baklava, you name it, I’ve probably tried it.
It has been my dream since I was about 16 to own a KitchenAid one day. I was very much fed up of kneading bread by hand, whipping egg whites with a hand whisk and combining cakes with a wooden spoon, often leading to under-mixing or subpar results.
I could never quite justify the price to myself of a KitchenAid, however. I made do with a cheap stand mixer from Aldi for a few years, but to be honest that never cut it. The whisk/ dough hook/ paddle didn’t reach the bottom of the bowl or the sides properly, and often meant I would have clumps of unmixed flour or sugar in my mixture. Not to mention, it was horrifically loud and gave up the ghost after about a year and a half because the motor burnt out whilst making a cake of all things. That mixer felt flimsy and weak, and once it broke in 2019 I just survived without another stand mixer as I thought that if all stand mixers were like that one, they weren’t worth it.
Then last year, for my birthday, I opened one of the best presents I have ever received; my partner, Max, had bought me a KitchenAid. Since opening that fantastic present, I haven’t gone more than two days without using it in some capacity.
It effortlessly kneads breads (my focaccia and bagels being firm favourites), whips egg whites (fantastic for making chiffon or angel food cakes, as well as meringues), incorporates cake batters without over-mixing. It takes it all in it’s stride- it has never sounded like it has struggled and has always fully mixed everything I have given it to mix.
Not to mention, you can buy lots of separate accessories to make your KitchenAid fully functional. I received an ice-cream maker with my KitchenAid, and since receiving it I have made some incredible flavours- fresh strawberry, pistachio, hazelnut chocolate. And as someone who tries to reduce their consumption of ultra-processed foods as much as possible, this is great. My KitchenAid allows me to bake and make sweet treats, breads and ice-creams and be able to enjoy them without having to turn to the shop bought (and often less delicious) varieties. If you are someone who is looking to make a lot more food from home, I genuinely think the KitchenAid is a fantastic investment.
Ninja Foodi MAX 15-in-1 SmartLid MultiCooker with Smart Cook System 7.5L- £319.00
I bought my Ninja Foodi when I decided I wanted to produce more recipes as a part of my job. I knew I needed a slow cooker, air fryer and pressure cooker anyway, and when I came across the Ninja Foodi, I realised it had all of that in one, plus a whole heap more. The Foodi offers 15 different functions; slow cooking, pressure cooking, air frying, grilling, baking, dehydrating, proving, searing/sauteing, steaming, meal steaming, steam air fry, steam bake, bread baking and roasting, alongside a yoghurt making function.
At this point in time I have only tried half of these functions, but they do them all so well you would be forgiven in thinking that this bit of kit was a dedicated piece of equipment for that function. I personally use the pressure cooking function the most; it has enabled me to create stocks and jiggly bone broths in a fraction of the time that it used to take (2.5 hours vs 12 hours), and I also find due to it’s pressure function I actually need less collagen rich bones to create the delicious stocks, as it extracts more collagen from the bones. I also use the slow cooker quite a bit; one thing I love about it is I can brown off/sear veggies and meats in the same pot I slow cook in, allowing the delicious fond to build but also saving on the washing up. It has a timer you can set to the exact length of time you want something to cook for, so if you do set it and forget it, you don’t have to rush back lest risking burning your food.
The airfryer function is very useful too; I can make crispy potatoes or veggies in half of the time it would take in the oven, using much less energy. I also really enjoy the steamer; I’ve been meaning to buy one for years but never got round to it, so the steam function is well utilised here.
The Foodi also comes with an instruction guide which tells you how long each thing will take to cook in the Foodi, which is super helpful. Whilst I’ve not been brave enough to cook a joint of meat in there, it comes with a probe so you can stop the cooking when it reaches temperature, ensuring you never overcook it. Reviews on this function have been pretty good from what I can see too.
Ultimately, my Foodi is a piece of kit which is used multiple times a week for hours at a time. It’s great to have another oven/ hob/ steamer within the kitchen for when the oven or hob is too crowded, and will be a lifesaver for me if our oven or hob are ever out of action.
If you’re someone who is looking for multiple pieces of equipment at a time like I was, this could be a great solution for you. Although it is large, the fact you don’t need lots of different appliances for different functions does save space, and it is super useful for a wide variety of functions.
Tefal Ingenio Emotion 22-Piece Pan Set Stainless Steel- £375.00
I was in desperate need of new pots and pans this time last year. I had had the same, cheap non-stick pans for years and the coating was coming off, making me shudder every time I ate anything made in them at the thought of the PFA’s and whatnot I was consuming with every bite. My dad asked me what I wanted for my birthday (can you see a theme in my birthday presents here?!) and I said I wanted new pots and pans. To my great surprise, I was gifted with this behemoth of a cooking set, and I am telling you now, the removable handle is a stroke of genius that I hadn’t even considered before receiving these.
These pans are essentially cooking pots (small, medium and large), woks (rounded and flat bottomed) and frying pans (4 different sizes) that are completely oven safe and have a removable handle. This doesn’t seem majorly useful at first, but once you use them, my god the benefits are huge.
Firstly, if you have a lot of pots on the stove, you don’t have to do the juggling and shuffling you usually would to get all of the handles out of the way. I can imagine this function is also very useful if you have small children; they won’t be able to reach the handle of something on the hob because it has been removed.
But it isn’t just that. Because the pots and pans are completely oven safe, you can sauté something on the hob, and then place it directly in the oven to finish cooking, minimising the washing of additional baking trays. The pans can be brought to the table and you can remove the handle so they are in what looks like a serving dish; again, saving on washing up. Got leftovers? No problem! If you wish, you can put them straight into the fridge with the lid on and the handle doesn’t get in the way.
The removable handle also means these pots and pans are so convenient to store. Whereas my pots and pans used to take up a whole cupboard on their own because they didn’t stack properly, they now take up a quarter of the space.
I’ve been using these for almost a year, and I have not seen any scratches or deterioration in the non-stick of the frying pans; in fact, they still look brand new. The only things that don’t are the 100% steel cooking pots- they mark pretty easily and it is difficult to get the marks off, but this is purely cosmetic and not damage to the pot in anyway.
The handles themselves are a little flimsy, I do have to say. Sometimes the mechanism gets stuck, but I have always been able to unstick it and make it work properly again.
If you’re someone who is looking for a comprehensive pot and pan set which will save space and is convenient, these could be a good buy for you.
What do you think of these gadgets? Would you buy any of them, or do you have your own favourite gadgets you use? Leave your comments down below!
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