What are your "must have" kitchen gadgets or utensils?

[brownleyedgirl]

A few months ago, my boyfriend of five years and I got engaged. Just recently, we started working on our wedding registry. We tried doing it in store, but got totally overwhelmed! We realized... we don't know what to register for! Part of the dilemma is that we don't have a house... we don't plan to buy a home until after we say "I do." Therefore, we don't know what colors to look for or if we need specific decor items. Another part of the problem is that, between the two of us, we have a pretty well established kitchen. Were in our late twenties and so have managed to collect a good amount of kitchen gear through birthdays and holidays.

At this point, he and I are looking to (a) fill gaps in our collection and (b) upgrade the quality. So, here are my questions to you, Yahoo! community.

(1) What items in your kitchen -- small or large, simple or complex -- can you not live without?
(2) What items do you wish your current kitchen collection contained?
(3) If you could upgrade any of your current kitchen items, what would you upgrade to and why?
(4) Is there anything you suggest registering for that is non-kitchen related in preparation for eventually owning a home? We plan on storing all of the gifts until we purchase a home, so storage space is not an issue.

Thank you! THANK YOU! I really appreciate your advice!

 

[Blahhhh]

Pots & pans
Strainer
Spoons and spatulas
Can opener
Toaster
Tea pitcher
Microwave
Hand held or stand mixer

These are my basic must haves for me

All my kitchen appliances are fairly new so no upgrade except for microwave

 

[PaulinSanDiego]

Nothing is more valuable in the kitchen than a good set of knives. I got the Wusthof 10-piece set for about $350 a few years ago and can't do without them any more.

I also do a lot of baking and couldn't get by without my Kitchen Aid stand mixer.

A good set of pans is also invaluable. I had an Analon non-stick aluminum set, but found that I really needed some stainless steel skillets and sauciers (I got All-Clad), as well as a standard cast iron skillet. Another very valuable pan I got as a 15th anniversary gift from work is a Le Creuset 5 quart French oven, which is basically a covered cast iron pot with an enamel coating (I priced it on Amazon for about $250).

Also, splurge on high quality items. They work better and will last a lot longer (sometimes forever). For example, I once needed a colander. So, I got a stainless steel model at a store for about $100. It's heavy duty commercial quality, but it will last forever in a home environment.

A couple of the handiest gadgets I own are an instant read thermometer and a surface read infrared thermometer. The instant read is a ThermoWorks Thermapen. It has a long metal tip that you stick into things to get an instant digital readout up to like 600 F. The infrared is shaped like a little gun. You just pull the trigger and point the laser light at the surface you want to read. I use this to check the temperatures of skillets, the BBQ, etc.

Currently, I have just about everything I would want. Then again, I often see things on Chopped or Iron Chef that I could add to my collection some day. I'm just running out of room to put stuff in the kitchen.

 

[KarenL]

I'm afraid my "must haves" in the kitchen would make a fairly long list, but with the exception of the KitchenAid stand mixer, a set of stainless pans, and a Dualit toaster, most of it is exactly the kind of thing a person would register for wedding gifts. Some came from Ikea, some came from dollar stores, some came from Winners.

The only thing i would upgrade in my kitchen is the stove itself. You really can't do that as a wedding present.

If you are in your late twenties and cook at least half of the food you eat, chances are pretty good that you really do already have what you really need in a kitchen.

If you have a hankering for stainless-lined copper cookware, which is very expensive, put that on the list, though not many stores sell it.

What I would register for is the traditional silverware and china ware, and possibly some of the better cookware like Le Creuset or Emile Henry casserole dishes and bakeware. That's the kind of thing that is really nice to have but is definitely a luxury.

The things you will need as homeowners that you don't need now are probably things like power tools and gardening equipment, and if you aren't handy or don't intend to be, and if you don't even know how much you will garden, if at all, there is really no use getting those things as gifts. And you won't even know what you need until you get the house.