20 Kitchen Gadgets Chefs Say You Don’t Need
Walk into any kitchen store and you’ll find endless tools and gadgets claiming to make cooking faster, easier, or more fun. The reality? Most of them just create clutter.
Professional chefs tend to keep things simple: sharp knives, solid cutting boards, reliable pans. Those essentials last for years and help you become more confident in the kitchen. Flashy gadgets, on the other hand, often fall short.
To help separate the useful from the wasteful, chefs and culinary instructors shared the items they’d never spend money on—and what to use instead.
1. Mandolin
Chef Masaharu Morimoto believes knife skills are more valuable than relying on a mandolin. While these slicers deliver uniform cuts, they’re bulky, tough to clean, and potentially dangerous. Developing control with a sharp chef’s knife will serve you better in almost every recipe.
Better alternative: Invest in a quality chef’s knife, such as a Japanese blade.
2. Onion Holders
These gadgets look more like weapons than kitchen tools. Their only purpose is holding an onion while you chop. Instead, simply cut the onion in half for stability or stick a fork in the root when slicing rings.
Better alternative: Good knife technique.
3. Onion Goggles
They might look quirky, but they don’t work. The goggles fail to seal tightly, so the sulfur compounds still make your eyes water.
Better alternative: Keep your knife sharp, open a window, or turn on a fan.
4. Glass, Metal, Stone, or Acrylic Cutting Boards
Hard surfaces damage knives quickly. While they might work for serving, they’re terrible for everyday chopping.
Better alternative: Wood or poly cutting boards.
5. Chicken Shredder
A single-use gadget for shredding chicken is unnecessary—even restaurants rarely use them.
Better alternative: Two forks work just as well.
6. Herb Stripper
These promise to pull leaves off stems quickly but rarely deliver. Many chefs admit theirs ended up collecting dust in a drawer.
Better alternative: Slide the leaves off with your fingers.
7. Bluetooth Probe Thermometer
While accurate, these are expensive and easy to break, lose, or accidentally toss.
Better alternative: A sturdy, traditional instant-read thermometer.
8. Electric Can Opener
Once a kitchen staple, these take up counter space, require cleaning, and don’t handle irregular cans well.
Better alternative: A reliable manual can opener.
9. Avocado Slicer
Knives and spoons handle avocados just fine. Specialized slicers often don’t fit every size of avocado anyway.
Better alternative: Knife + spoon combo.
10. Egg Separator
This gadget has a single function—separating yolks. It’s rarely worth the space.
Better alternative: Use the shell or your hand.
11. Garlic Peeler Tube
It works, but why keep a gadget just for garlic?
Better alternative: Crush the cloves with a knife and peel.
12. Pizza Scissors
A pizza cutter or sharp knife is quicker, easier to clean, and less bulky.
13. Herb Scissors
Multiple blades seem clever, but they crush delicate herbs and are a nightmare to clean.
Better alternative: A sharp knife.
14. Electric Egg Cooker
Boiling eggs in a pot is simple. Unless you eat boiled eggs every day, this is unnecessary.
15. Butter Cutter
It slices sticks of butter into pats—but so does any knife, without extra cleanup.
16. Pasta Measurer
A plastic disc with holes to measure spaghetti portions isn’t worth drawer space.
Better alternative: Eyeball portions or weigh pasta if precision is needed.
17. Oil Mister
These clog easily and spray unevenly.
Better alternative: Use a spoon or brush.
18. Electric Potato Peeler
Bulky, slow, and only useful if you peel potatoes by the dozen.
Better alternative: A handheld peeler.
19. Bagel Guillotine
Marketed as safer, but it’s oversized and hard to clean.
Better alternative: A serrated bread knife.
20. Oven Mitts
Surprisingly, some chefs consider them overrated. Towels are more versatile, easier to wash, and always nearby.
Final Thought
A clutter-free kitchen is often a more efficient one. Chefs agree that mastering the basics with a few high-quality tools is the smarter way to cook. Before buying into the next trendy gadget, ask yourself: will it really save time—or just space in your drawer?