The Kitchen Gadgets Chefs Can’t Live Without Inline

“My corn peeler. I only get to use it in the summer, but I love that thing!” —Dan Kluger Zyliss corn stripper, $8 amazon.com “The one thing I can’t live without would be my bench scraper.” —Lisa Giffen, Maison Premiere Rachel Ray Cucina bench scrape, $10 For information: newegg.com “A slotted Kunz spoon—they are so damn handy.” —Josh DeChellis, Il Buco Alimentari JB Prince Gray Kunz Perforated Spoon, $14 amazon.com “A rice cooker. Every house should have one.” —Rob Newton, Wilma Jean, Nightingale 9, and Smith Canteen Cuisinart CRC-400 brushed stainless steel 4-cup rice cooker, $50 overstock.com “I feel naked without my cake tester_.”_ —Jamie Bissonnette, Toro NYC, Toro Boston, and Coppa Crate & Barrel metal cake tester, $5 crateandbarrel.com “A mortar and pestle. They are such a great and indispensible tool in so many ways. I collect them; they are just pretty.” —Phillip Kirschen-Clark, Cafe Cluny Food52 dipped stoneware mortar and wood pestle, $125 food52.com “Canning tongs. I do a lot of canning and it’s a pain to put the jars in boiling water and take them out when they’re hot. A pair of canning tongs is one of the best (and only) specialty cooking tools in my kitchen.” —Daniel Holzman, The Meatball Shop Williams-Sonoma canning tongs, $10 williams-sonoma.com “A spice grinder—the only way to get the maximum flavor from a spice for your dish.” —Ken Oringer, Toro NYC, Toro Boston, and Coppa KitchenAid coffee and spice grinder, $50 target.com “My SodaStream soda maker. So in my desperation-party-planning mode—when the most creative work is typically done—I make à la minute Lambrusco with any type of wine, preferably red, in my SodaStream soda maker. Focus on the haves, not the have-nots. (I’m pretty sure my mom taught me that.) The advantage of making it with a SodaStream is you can make it as bubbly (or not bubbly) as you’d like! It’s incredibly refreshing!” —Christina Tosi, Milk Bar SodaStream Power Source Carbonator, $120 williams-sonoma.com “Small offset forceps. I use them to test doneness of meat and fish and baked goods, picking herbs—they also currently hold the On switch down for our pasta machine.” —Andrew Whitcomb, Colonie Aven serrated forcep, from $6 amazon.com “I love my Vitamix, but that’s not very unexpected today, is it?” —Kerry Diamond, restaurateur Vitamix 5200 Standard, $449 vitamix.com “Believe it or not, my favorite kitchen gadget is my small meat fork. While it’s intended to be used to carve meat, I use it for everything, but mostly to check the readiness of fish to see if it’s ready to be plated. I carry it with me everywhere, and it has a lot of meaning for me. I’ve been using it since I worked with chef Gérald Passédat in Marseille, and it reminds me of my hometown and cooking with the beautiful fish from the Mediterranean.” —Frédéric Duca, Racines NY Wüsthof gourmet meat fork, $40 surlatable.com