Kitchen gadgets: Useless untensils or invaluable instruments? | Life and style | guardian.co.uk Most home cooks have an arsenal of rarely-used devices gathering dust on the shelf. But are there any which are genuinely useful?Not long ago on Food for Fort someone asked me what my favourite kitchen gadget was and which I thought the most useless. Like most home cooks, I am something of a sucker for bits and bobs of all kinds, which the manufacturers claim are designed to do this and that, will change our lives forever and without which no kitchen can possibly be complete. The competition for the most useless gadget is particularly fierce, but if push comes to shove, I reckon that the avocado flesh remover just had it over the fish scaler. In both instances, the blade of a knife is better. But when it comes to my favourite gadget, then one simple piece of equipment wins hands down – kitchen tongs. I reach for them in the heat of battle, to turn chops or steaks or sausages. They are the devices needed to turn a roasting chicken from one side or another or fish a clump of herbs from the casserole of beef. When I drop something on the floor, as happens even in the most regulated kitchen, I hardly have to bend over at all to retrieve the errant object. They are invaluable day in, day out.
