Best kitchen gadgets 2021: cool kitchen gadgets for home chefs

It may seem simple, but a good, sharp knife is essential for any aspiring chef. A blunt implement will just make chopping more difficult (and therefore a lot more tedious).This AnySharp knife sharpener does what it says on the tin. Sharpens any knife – even hardened and serrated knives. That dull old bread knife can get an upgrade too. It also has a suction grip, which attaches securely to the surface. A great, and cheap, way to up your cooking game.

The Sage Smoking Gun is the kind of gadget that once you own it, you won’t know how you ever lived without it. Using cold smoke, it lets you infuse a range of food and drinks with a natural smoky flavour. There’s a dual speed on the gun should you want to up to the intensity of the smoke and it’s currently being sold on its own, or as part of a gift set with a glass cloche that will keep the smoke contained. You can use the gentle smoke setting on a range of delicate foods such a meat, cheese, popcorn or ice cream and also use it to smoke cocktails and mocktails to dramatic effect. Anyone for a Smoky Martini? That’s Friday night sorted.

If you’d prefer to measure ingredients the old skool way, a basic measuring tool such as the Tala Traditional Dry Cooks Measure is a great option. Easy to use, it lets you measure at a glance making baking a breeze. Inside it highlights ingredients that can be easily measured inside including sugar, rice, lentils, flour and yeast and more.

Let's be real – even if you LOVE cooking, slicing vegetables isn't really that fun. But have no fear, this mandolin slicer will take the effort out of the whole procedure. With three thickness settings, you can use it as a hand-held device or over a bowl. Simple as anything.

Like chopping veg, chopping herbs can be a tedious and sometimes fiddly task. But with these five blade herb scissors, the job's a good'un. They cut quickly and efficiently, allowing you to get on with the good stuff. They're dishwasher safe, too.

Let's be real – even if you LOVEcooking, slicing vegetables isn't really that fun. But have no fear, this mandolin slicer will take the effort out of the whole procedure. With three thickness settings, you can use it as a hand-held device or over a bowl. Simple as anything.

As well as being able to slow cook cheaper cuts of meat effectively and use the temperature probe to check food is cooked exactly how you want it, this Russell Hobbs gadget also has a ‘sous vide’ setting. The worst kept secret of all Michelin-star chefs, sous vide works by cooking food inside a sealed pouch in a water bath at an accurately regulated temperature. Sous vide cooking not only makes meats and vegetables taste flavoursome and tender, but it retains maximum vitamins and nutrients and keeps prepping time low, which overall makes for a win-win situation.

No kitchen is complete without a decent set of chef knives. While it doesn’t come cheap, the Santoku from Blenheim Forge is one of the finest designs you can buy and will last you years. Made with a Japanese Blue Paper steel core with folded iron cladding it comes with a walnut handle with a solid copper ferrule that strengthens the handle. It also comes with the option of a leather sheath so you can keep it neatly stored. You can use it to simply cut a bunch of carrot battons for lunch or sashimi a fillet of cod for an evening feast – it won’t disappoint.

Clever and attractive, the KitchenAid Food Processor in Empire Red has got ‘both the looks’ and the books’. A flexible piece of kit, this food processor that comes with a stylish red aluminium body and is able to chop, shred, puree and slice foods. It comes with easy to install reversible medium shred/slice and thick slice blades as well as a dough blade should you want to knead bread or pasta dough too. The latched lid and feeding tube and paddle means its easy to top up with foods during use, while two high and low speeds, plus a pulse control keeps its simple yet effective to use. While we love this punchy Empire Red finish, you can also find it online in Matte Black, Grey and Almond Cream.

A sturdy chopping board is an essential foundation to any well-equipped kitchen – and you may as well get one that looks good. This simple chopping board is made from bamboo, and is a stylish addition to your repertoire. It measures 42.6 x 23 cm, so doesn't demand a giant kitchen worktop.

If you hark for the perfect blender for whizzing up soups and smoothies and the ideal juicer for fresh drinks, but simply don’t have much room on your kitchen worktop, the unique Sage 3X Bluicer Pro is a great option. A space-saving design, the Bluicer Pro is a juicer and blender in one and comes with an ergonomic body that lets you switch between both settings. It has a wide chute for inserting ingredients and a ‘Kinetix’ bowl and blade system that will crush and chop ice, as well as fold and aerate soups and smoothies. Built in ‘cold spin technology’ meanwhile, will juice fresh ingredients direct into a roomy 1.5L jug.

Baking is all about precision they say and once you’ve got the ideal quantities sorted, you’ll be closer to creating muffins that would give Mary Berry a run for her money. A set of decent kitchen scales such as the Heston Blumenthal Precision Scales by Salter are a great piece of kit to have close to hand. These scales have a dual platform – one for measuring up to 10kg in 1g increments and the other for measuring up to 200g in 0.1g increments. There’s an add and weigh feature and also an aquatronic feature for measuring liquids.

While bread is relatively simple and fun to make by hand - and you can find lots of recipes online with or without the need for yeast - a breadmaker will keep things neat, take out the kneading work and limit the mess. It will also fill your home with the delicious aroma of freshly baked bread. This Panasonic SD-ZX2522 Breadmaker is compact and features a simple stainless steel body and a flat glass touch controls. As well as being able to bake bread with it, you can use it for pasta and cake dough and even make jam should you feel particularly adventurous. It comes with 37 bake and dough programmes including a gluten free pasta and cake setting and an easy to access yeast and raisin/nut dispenser.

Want to make that treasured vintage bottle of wine last longer? If it’s topped with a cork, then the key is to use a preservation gadget to open it. The Coravin Wine System lets you drink wine without having to pull out the cork. There are a number of systems you can buy depending on your budget, but a great all rounder is the Coravin Model Two, which simply clamps onto the bottle and uses a special wine needle that gently pulls out the cork so you can pour your wine smoothly. It also comes with two Coravin gas capsules to protect the remaining wine from oxidation.