What is your essential cooking tool?

[Pinky Green 260]

My mother sent me $100 for my birthday. She usually gives me more for Christmas and my boyfriend gave me a $50 gift card. What should I get? I want to get some cookware and tools that make cooking easy. I have some stainless steel cookware, a cast Iron skillet, a blender, a food processor and a slow cooker. I want to get a cast iron reversible griddle/grill. And of course I have too many things to name and some that are perhaps, useless.

What would you throw out or not bother with?

[Aaron in Tulsa 147]

My #1 kitchen utensil is a GOOD 8" chef's knife. Mine cost about $50. I've had it for years and I just take it to a kitchen supply store to be sharpened once a year. It's invaluable. I also love my mandoline slicer. You can get cheap plastic versions (which is what I have) for $20-$30. It can slice veggies super-thin really quickly and can also julienne slice. Takes about 30 seconds to slice a cucumber or potato into uniform slices. Mine has three slicing disks of different widths. You can also stick it in the dishwasher.

[TakeCareGirl 161]

Well you already have a version of it, but when I met 1/3 to goal weight loss (60 pounds), I bought myself a LeCreuset 2 quart dutch oven. I had a much larger non-brand name version, and it was such a hassle to clean.

With just me and my daughter and my smaller portion sizes, this little dutch oven gets used for everything.

[icon23 273]

Happy birthday! I really like my immersion blender--easier cleanup than a full blender.

[TheGamer 406]

As silly as this sounds, I can't live without my microwave steamers. They're pretty cheap at $10 each and I have one that's for veggies and one that's like a flat tray. For a simple, portion controlled, healthy dinner all I have to do is put a piece of salmon and some broccoli florets in the tray, season them with a little salt and pepper and in 5 minutes I have delicious food. It's great if you have no kitchen (like me) or are in a hurry or just plain lazy when it comes to cooking

[Fallenangel2904 494]

Ramekins are a good idea. Perfect serving size (though I know not a cooking utensil) I would recommend a vegetable julliener. You can use it to julienne zuccini to make zucchini 'pasta. Awesome Pasta swap idea!

[MaryDrew 41]

The new ceramic nonstick pans--usually Italian made. They are awesome. Nothing sticks and they are super easy to clean. Plus no bad emmisions like with the old nonstick kind.

[Nicolanz 1,484]

food processor! I'm lazy and I hate chopping veggies. Plus I can make a pretty awesome hummus and creamy soups!

[Nicolanz 1,484]

I didn't read your whole post, obviously haha!

[.......... 129]

looking forward to trying muffin tin recipes so I got a few muffin pans and bought a small size George Forman grill and a few healthy themed cookbooks.

I hid away my frying pans and my sauce pan in exchange.

[grannyk 58]

Love my stick blender. It is a fairly good one (Sharper Image), but it makes great smoothies and Soups. Also I have a tiny food processor that I wouldn't trade. It's great for making small servings without messing up the big one. K

[johnlatte 1,232]

+1 on good knives. A good serrated knife is good for slicing things thinly. I also would invest in a good saute pan. Not one with a non stick surface and one with a heavy metal handle. Really good for making eggs, crepes, quick saute of veggies etc. You can brown a little chicken and the put the whole thing in the oven to finish. I got mine from a restaurant supply house, but they are available retail as well.

[Ljp 157]

I would get a Nuwave oven. You can cook a whole meal and no need for cooking oil

[GeauxForIt 659]

My Husband! But he's not for sale.

[FatFreeMe 37]

My husband does 90% of the cooking. My surgeon requested he attend all my NUT appointments because of this.