We have a rule in our house since 2020: if you buy another kitchen gadget, something has to be given to a charity shop or sold.

So much to unpack here, don’t you mean stakes in the ground?

No, I don’t, we’re talking about food. Let me continue.

OK, but wait, you have a ginormous kitchen. You don’t need to do that!

Maybe, but we’d soon run out of room. Plus, how many gadgets sit in cupboards unused about the world?

So what makes the cut for you?

After my years of cooking and living in a kitchen, these are the basics.

Food processor.

I started off with a food mixer, but actually, if space was short, I would have a smallish food processor. You can make pastry, meringue, stuffing, mayonnaise, salads, soups, even bread if you get one with a dough hook.

Combination microwave.

From roasting to soups, to flans, rice, puddings, proving dough, cooking fish, and eggs. I’ve had a microwave since I was 20, and am now on my third – they typically last 15 years. Sterilising baby’s bottles and warming the milk. Making toast. Warms up instantly and when I am on my own provides tasty meals in minutes. Cost effectively too.

Mine has a fan oven, so it doubles as our air fryer. The microwave function means they self-clean too.

Bread machine.

This is my luxury tool but mine gives me so much. Fresh small loaves that last a week and are done while I sleep. I do pizza doughs, baguettes, and rolls, which I finish off in another oven, and tea cakes.

Mine is ancient, but is still going strong. I have a fund to replace it when the time comes, if it can’t be repaired.

Hand blender.

So, if you have a food mixer, the question I have is do you really need a hand blender? Probably not. But a very basic unit with a metal blade allows you to make soups in your microwave with so little washing up.

Of course, many have attachments, so if you are not sure you want a dough hook on your big food processor, forget the big food processor and get a grater and slicer attachment for your hand blender. Most of it goes straight in the dishwasher too.

When my son buys his own place, I am getting this as a house warming present. For those on a budget, a fully kitted out Braun Multiquick 9 can be bought in 2026 for £130, e.g. Curry’s offer.

You can even get a potato ricer in this kit!

Food mixer or no food mixer?

So, I don’t have a dedicated food processor because I got a food mixer (Kenwood Chef) when my grandma down-sized. There’s an argument I don’t need the Bread Maker, because I have my food mixer.

What being given this did for me was allow me to add attachments over the years.

1. Mixer – the basic function, but you can buy different tools and bowls to give you more options. I have the whisk, dough hook, k-beater, and creamer. I don’t have the folding tool yet.
2. Pasta roller – to make spaghetti and lasagna.
3. Blender – to make soups and shakes and mayonnaise.
4. Mincer – I make my own mince. For burgers and meatballs or sausages! And gives the name of this article, a grounding in what you need as I make steak mince into delicious custom burgers.
5. Pasta shaper – for linguini, macaroni, and orecchiette, and fusilli.
6. Food processor – which changed my life. All of it goes in the dishwasher. Dicer, graters, “mixer blade”, and adjustable blade. It’s a great tool as you can make pastry with from the freezer butter!
7. Continuous Slicer Grater Attachment – which allows you to do the slicing and grating option of a food processing but without limitation – I got this before the food processor. Technically, I may not need this any more…
8. Fruit Press Attachment – juice seeded fruit to get something without the seeds. Not an essential.
9. Blend Xtract Sport Attachment – love this, I use it for milkshakes. Everything goes in the dishwasher!
10. A coffee grinder.
11. A smaller grinder for bread crumbs. I use this where a pestle and mortar is required.

It is a very capable tool and I have used everything. Over the summer, I use the sport attachment a great deal with produce from the garden.

I make my own pasta. Fresh pasta is amazing and the Kenwood kneads the pasta dough, then allows me to roll out the shapes I need. Priceless. Homemade lasagna is something I do twice a year (if you read the recipe, you see why, not the effort, it’s the calories), and it is amazing.

The continuous slicer told me a food processor would be worthwhile, and I use the food processor four or five times a week, though the grater and “mixing blade” more than anything else.

It helped me work out what I needed and if someone offers you one, get it if you can squeeze it into you kitchen. But if space is an issue, a hand blender will give you 80% of the functionality.

Toaster.

If you have a grill, you can make toast. Our combination microwave gives us this capability, so maybe.

Kettle and coffee maker.

I am going to be controversial and say, maybe. The modern kettles are incredible, 95% efficient. The same could be said for the modern coffee maker. Both take room on your counter.

Induction hob.

This is a fourth place item – teamed with a combination microwave, this gives you the ability to cook multiple things at once in a variety of ways. As efficient and with timers and programmes can be a real aid. If you have a hob, this is the one to go for.

I have cooked on old element electric hobs, gas, induction and halogen. For quick food, and real controllability, induction wins hands down. Halogens I think do some things better. Gas is versatile, but nowhere near as efficient. If you miss the “flame” cooking, a hand held cooking blow torch does the job.

If you had to have four things?

Food processor (with all the attachments), stick blender for soups, induction hob, combination microwave. I could live with these. The others give me flexibility but these are my essentials.

As I’ve said, my bread maker is my luxury item. I could live with the four above, but the bread maker brings a smile to my face.