Five Kitchen Gadgets That Earn Their Counter Space

Counter space is the scarcest resource in a city kitchen, so a gadget has to justify its footprint weekly, not yearly. Most do not. After a decade of testing, exactly five have survived my purges.

The winners are boring champions: a fast kettle, a stick blender, a decent digital scale, a rice cooker, and a compact food processor. Each replaces five minutes of daily friction, and each is used four or more times a week.

Everything single-purpose - the egg cooker, the avocado slicer, the mini waffle maker - eventually met the donation box. Buy for the week you actually live, not the dinner party you imagine.