Kitchen Utensils

18/10 stainless, one piece, with a pouring rim that runs the whole way round so it drips from no angle, and the hook that gives the range its name. There is no joint between handle and bowl, which is where every cheap ladle eventually works loose, and the matte finish hides fingerprints rather than collecting them.

• 18/10 stainless, single piece
• All round pouring rim, drip free
• Hook handle for hanging
• Designed in Germany

A stainless canister with an inner lid that pushes down onto whatever is inside and forces the air out through a one way valve, which is the only mechanical way to store coffee without a pump or a pack of absorbers. The valve is the sole moving part, there is no battery and no cartridge, and the body is the same steel as a good pan.

• Inner lid pushes the air out
• One way valve, nothing to replace
• Stainless body, holds 500g
• Works for tea, flour and sugar too

Turned from hardwood in Maine, with a two-step stainless mechanism that cracks the corn before it grinds it. The mechanism pops out for cleaning rather than being sealed into the base, which is the part that goes wrong on cheaper mills.

• Two-step stainless mechanism, cracks then grinds
• Mechanism pops out for cleaning
• Turned from hardwood in Maine
• Nothing powered in it
• Adjustable at the top

A stainless steel masher with a wire head and a non-slip handle. There are no joints or welds in the head to fail.

• Stainless steel
• Wire head
• Non-slip handle

A single stainless steel blade, photo-etched rather than stamped, set in a handle with no hinge, spring or moving part, so there is nothing to loosen or snap.

• Photo-etched stainless steel blade
• No moving parts
• Zests citrus, grates hard cheese, garlic, ginger and nutmeg

Stainless steel tongs with a pull-ring lock and non-slip grips, simple enough that there is little to go wrong beyond the spring.

• Stainless steel arms
• Pull-ring lock
• Non-slip grips

A stainless steel ladle with a pouring lip and a non-slip handle, all one simple piece of steel and grip.

• Stainless steel
• Pouring lip
• Non-slip handle

A stainless steel blade with a non-slip handle and a measuring scale on the edge. There is nothing on it to break.

• Stainless steel blade
• Measuring marks
• Non-slip handle

A swivel peeler with a stainless blade and a soft non-slip handle, backed by OXO's guarantee to replace it if it fails.

• Stainless swivel blade
• Non-slip handle
• OXO Better Guarantee

Stainless mesh on a stainless frame, with a base ring that holds it off the sink so what drains out does not run back in. A colander has nothing to fail except the joint between the mesh and the rim, and on this one that joint is welded rather than crimped.

• Perforated stainless steel, not mesh
• Base ring keeps it clear of the sink
• 5 quart capacity
• Dishwasher safe

Twelve wires in a narrow profile that reaches the corner of a jug or a saucepan where a balloon whisk cannot, welded into a solid 18/10 handle with no plastic collar to split. The same hook as the rest of the range.

• 12 wires, narrow jug profile
• 18/10 stainless, welded
• No plastic collar to fail
• Hook handle

The small one, for rinsing rice and straining stock, built with two rods across the frame instead of one so it sits on a bowl or a pan rim without tipping. Stainless throughout and the mesh is fine enough for quinoa, which is the usual test.

• Double rod rests on a bowl or pan
• Fine stainless mesh
• 8 inch, non-slip handle
• Dishwasher safe

The wider blade, built for parmesan and the hard cheeses that defeat a zester: the same photo etched teeth over a fourteen inch frame, which turns a block into something closer to powder than to shreds. Stainless throughout, so the acid in citrus and the salt in cheese take nothing off it.

• Wide photo etched blade
• For parmesan, ginger, garlic and chilli
• Stainless steel
• Fourteen inches, two handed

A one-pump pump-and-brake mechanism that has barely changed since OXO introduced it, because nobody has improved on it. The polycarbonate bowl and basket resist cracking far longer than the flimsier pull-cord spinners that preceded it, and America's Test Kitchen has repeatedly named it the best on the market across more than a decade of retests.

• One-touch pump mechanism with brake button
• 6.22 quart capacity bowl doubles as a serving bowl
• BPA-free, dishwasher safe
• Non-slip base
• OXO lifetime guarantee

A stainless steel whisk with the wires sealed into the handle, so water and food cannot get trapped inside and the wires do not loosen with years of use.

• Stainless steel throughout
• Wires sealed into the handle
• Dishwasher safe

Four wires in a flat plane, which is the shape for a roux and for anything being lifted off the bottom of a pan rather than aerated. Same 18/10 steel and the same welded construction as the rest, in the one whisk shape most kitchens are missing.

• 4 wires, flat plane
• For roux, gravy and deglazing
• 18/10 stainless, welded
• 10.6 inches, hook handle

A stainless and acrylic mill with a carbon steel grinder and six marked settings, so the same coarseness comes back every time rather than being guessed. The mechanism is the part that matters and Cole & Mason guarantee theirs for the life of the mill.

• Carbon steel grinder, six marked settings
• Lifetime guarantee on the mechanism
• Stainless and acrylic, see the level without opening it
• Nothing powered in it
• 7.5 inches

An instant-read thermometer with a fold-away probe that reads in about a second. It runs on a single AAA battery you replace yourself, needs no app, and ThermoWorks backs it with a five-year warranty.

• Reads in about one second
• Replaceable AAA battery
• ThermoWorks five-year warranty

Five stainless bowls from 20 ounces to 8 quarts, which covers everything from a beaten egg to a bread dough, with lids that turn them into storage. Steel bowls do not stain, do not hold smells and do not crack when dropped, which is the whole case against glass and plastic ones.

• Five bowls, 20 oz to 8 quarts
• Stainless, with volume markings inside
• Lids included, non-slip bases
• Will not stain, crack or hold odours

A manual can opener with stainless cutting wheels and large handles. OXO replaces its products if they fail under its guarantee.

• Stainless cutting wheel
• Large non-slip handles
• OXO Better Guarantee

The cheaper instant read from the house that makes the Thermapen, with the same kind of thermocouple sensor and a one second reading, in a body that takes a coin cell rather than a rechargeable pack. It is the thermometer to own if the expensive one feels like too much, and it reads within a degree of it.

• One second reading
• Replaceable coin cell
• Rotating display reads either way up
• Probe sheath included

Stainless kitchen shears that come apart at the pivot for cleaning and sharpening, with a serrated edge for grip.

• Take-apart for cleaning
• Stainless steel
• Serrated edge

The original, and the cheapest thing in this part of the site that will outlive the kitchen it is in. The blades are photo etched rather than stamped, which means the cutting edges are chemically dissolved to shape and never bent, so they arrive sharper than a stamped grater ever is and stay that way. Made in the USA.

• Photo etched stainless blades
• Made in the USA
• Zests citrus without the pith
• The low cost option here

The heavier straight peeler, with a swivel blade that follows the curve of whatever it is on and a stainless body rather than a plastic one. It is the version to buy if peelers in this house get bent, which is the usual way they die.

• Swivel blade follows the curve
• Die-cast zinc body, hardened stainless blade
• Dishwasher safe
• Harder to bend than the standard one

The Y shape is the one professional kitchens use, because the blade is pulled towards you across the vegetable rather than pushed along it, which takes less effort and less skin. Hardened stainless blade, soft handle that does not turn in a wet hand, and a potato eyer on the end.

• Y shape, pulled rather than pushed
• Hardened stainless blade
• Non-slip handle, dishwasher safe
• Built in potato eyer

It grinds from the top, so the pepper lands on the food instead of in a ring round the base, and it stands upside down to be refilled. The grinder is ceramic, which does not corrode and does not take on the smell of what came before it.

• Grinds from the top, no ring on the counter
• Non-corroding ceramic grinder
• Stands upside down to refill
• Sliding tab adjusts the grind
• OXO replaces anything that disappoints

The mill professional kitchens buy, designed on Nantucket thirty years ago and now made in Italy by Tre Spade. The case is a plain tube with no finish to wear off and the grinder is hardened steel, which is the only part that could ever need replacing.

• Hardened steel grinder
• Holds about a cup of peppercorns
• Plain tube, no finish to wear
• Adjustment knob on the top, not the base
• Designed 1990s on Nantucket, made by Tre Spade in Italy

A plain Japanese mandoline with an adjustable thickness plate and interchangeable blades. When the main blade dulls it can be replaced on its own, so the frame outlives any number of blades.

• Adjustable thickness
• Interchangeable and replaceable blades
• Simple frame with few parts

Swiss-made gears that cut around the outer rim of the lid rather than through the top, so there's no sharp edge left on the can or the lid. It's a design that also means the cutting wheel doesn't dull or bind the way cheaper openers do after a couple of years. The soft-grip handle and geared mechanism are built to outlast the flimsier stamped-metal openers most people cycle through every year or two.

• Cuts the outer rim, leaving smooth edges
• Also opens bottles and jar lids
• Swiss-engineered geared mechanism
• Soft-grip ergonomic handle
• Dishwasher safe

Two buttons, a sealed control panel and a rounded body with no seam for flour to get into, which is why this scale is still the one recommended two decades after it appeared. It runs on ordinary AA cells, needs no app and has no account, so nothing about it can be withdrawn. Accurate to a gram up to eleven pounds.

• Sealed panel, wipes clean
• AA cells, no charging
• Accurate to a gram, up to 11 pounds
• Two button operation