The useful kitchen utensils we refuse to cook without

Cooking is hard work, especially when you're doing it almost every night after a hard day.

Our team loves to cook but also loves to do it efficiently. As a group, we've rounded up some pretty nifty cooking utensils that we now refuse to live without.

From gadgets that save us from arduous chopping and squeezing, to 'fancy' graters, these are the things we need beside us in our kitchens.

NOTE: Prices are accurate at time of publishing.

Carina loves her tiny juicer

OXO Good Grips Citrus Juicer

On sale for $15.95

"This tiny juicer has been a saviour for my hands. I am always juicing limes for recipes and my poor hands aren't strong enough to squeeze all the juice out. This juicer is made for limes and smaller lemons and the measurement markings on the cup help stop me from making my food too zesty. How is this any different to a regular manual juicer? It's tiny juicer to help me whip up my Mexican dishes." – Carina.

The stand mixer that's given Chantelle 13 years

Sunbeam Planetary Mixmaster The Tasty One

Get yours for $199

"I got my Sunbeam Stand Mixer as a present when I was about 11 years old and it has lived with me ever since. It makes baking SO much easier, and it still works just as well as it did 13 years ago too! This one here is the newer model." – Chantelle.

Kahla is a microplane convert

Microplane Premium Zester Grater

On sale for $35.50

"The first time I saw the word "microplaned" on a menu, I rolled my eyes, thinking it was some pretentious, frivolous chef-fy thing. Fast forward several years and I truly couldn't live (well, cook) without mine. It makes finely grating garlic, ginger, lemon, etc so easy and it's much less fiddly than using a box grater to do it - plus, it's infinitely easier to clean!" – Kahla.

... and also loves her heavy-bottomed skillet

Chasseur Le Cuivre Copper Bonded Stainless Steel Skillet

$85 on Amazon

"After more than a decade of living in sharehouses with flimsy, awful cookware, I decided to invest in a good quality, heavy-bottomed skillet, and I couldn't believe the difference it made. I began to love cooking so much more because it was a lot more consistent in terms of heating up and cooking my food – no more random burning! No, it wasn't cheap (though I bought it at a discount) but I do think it's worth investing in a handful of really good-quality cooking pieces, if you can, rather than having heaps of cheaper but less effective ones." – Kahla.

Jess has swapped out her toaster for a sandwich press

Breville the Toast & Melt Sandwich Press

Was $89.95, now $64

When my aunt gave me her sandwich press I put my toaster away and never looked back. I much prefer the way a sandwich press toasts bread over a toaster – it could be because I mostly eat sourdough, rolls and baguettes, and they don't fit in the slots! – because it keeps the middle soft. I hate toast that's too crunchy. And you can use sandwich press for lots of other things, like heating up focaccia, pizza, pastries, waffles... let's just say we use it a lot." – Jess.

Erin met her match in a mandoline

Adjustable Mandoline Food Slicer

$16.96 here

"I bought a cheap mandoline slicer because I wasn't convinced it'd be any good. I hate chopping vegetables, but I assumed it was a part of life. Boy, was I wrong. I've never sliced an onion so quickly and tearlessly. I'm now looking to invest in a better one, and any other chopping device that will make prepping vegetables a bit less painful." – Erin.

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