Gadgets to make life easier AND speedier in the kitchen

These days we're spoilt for choice when it comes to kitchen gadgets.
​Whatever your kitchen preparations are, there's bound to be a gadget that's designed to make life a little easier and speedier for you.

I've stockpiled quite a few kitchen gadgets over the years and am always introducing new ones.
Here are some of my favourites plus a few others which come highly recommended.
I’d be lost without my trusty blender. But I must confess I’ve gone through a few different brands over the last 3-4 years. Blenders make fantastic smoothies and are a great way of including more vegetables in your diet. They’re also useful for crushing nuts and ice or turning nuts and oats into flour.
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All the blenders below come with recipe books and have been owned by me at some stage. 

Click on the Photos for more information on the Amazon website.
NutriBullet 600 Series Blender, 600 W, Starter Kit, 5-Piece Set, Graphite

​The Nutri Bullet is probably the most well known and popular of this type of cup blender. The 600 series was the first but there is now a 900 series and 1,000 series, which are basically the same bender with a more powerful motor. However, the original does a fantastic job.

It comes with two blades - one for grinding nuts or coffee beans and the other for extracting fruit and vegetables, nuts and seeds etc.

The Nutri Bullet was my first cup blender and it lasted a long time, well over a year of daily use, before it unfortunately started leaking. I love the slim build of this make which is useful when you don't have much worktop space in your kitchen.
Nutri Ninja Blender with Auto IQ

​The Nutri Ninja has regularly been recommended as  'Best Buy' by consumer rights company, Which?

This has a powerful, 1,000W motor with two plastic cups (500ml and 650ml) with 'sip & seal' lids.

The four buttons include a start/stop button, a pulsing button and two automatic programs. 

It's brilliant at pulverising vegetables and fruit but not as good at crushing ice. It's also noisy.
Salter Nutri Pro Super Charged Multi-Purpose Nutrient Extractor Blender, 1 Litre, 1200W, Silver

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​The Salter is another excellent brand, powerful and a very purse friendly price.

This is a powerful blender with a 1,000W motor which  blasts through nuts, tough fibrous vegetables and fruit with ease. It's another noisy one and isn't brilliant at crushing ice.

It comes with a one litre plastic blending container and cup, and two 800ml BPA free blending cups as well as two easy-drink lids and two storage lids. 
BERG 1000W Nutri Extractor Smart Blender 
Finally, onto the Berg. This is the blender I currently have in my kitchen, along with the Nutri Ninja and it's fantastically good value for money. I picked the BERG as I specifically wanted a blender that coped well with frozen fruit and ice. This does both well but it stills a bit of help with extra liquid when using solid frozen fruit.

It sometimes needs to be held down when it's in action otherwise it dances across the table heading for the floor!

It's fantastically powerful with its 1,000W motor and has a multi speed function including HIGH, LOW and PULSE. It comes with 6 piece hardened stainless steel blades and 2 BPA free containers (one small and one large). 
These blenders are more sturdy than the cup blenders listed above. They are super powerful and can be used to do everything the blenders above do, plus they effortlessly crush ice, blend soups, make ice cream and even chop vegetables.
Magimix 11611 Le Blender, Cream Finish
The Blendermix system produces an ultra fine blend for veloute soups, smoothies, pancake batters, milkshakes, frozen desserts and much more.

​The four pre-set programmes are ideal for smoothies, soups, ice and frozen desserts. Manual mode gives optimum control of your preparations thanks to variable speed. Includes a paddle to help fold in ingredients. Quick and easy cleaning, the blender completely disassembles with the auto clean mode, fuss free.
  • Blendermix system for a finer blend
  • Powerful and quiet
  • Easy to use: Three buttons, four pre-set programmes
  • Easy to clean: Completely disassembles/express cleaning mode
  • Recipe book included with more than 80 recipes
Vitamix Professional 300 Food Processor & Blender 2L (40% Quieter)

​The Vitamix is the pinnacle of kitchen blenders. Besides blending to perfection, It also chops and dices vegetables and makes ice cream from frozen fruit.

This is one I aspire to own one day. But with a price tag of nearly half a grand, it’s still on my wish list. 
  • Makes smoothies, soups and ice creams in minutes
  • With a variable speed dial and pulse function you can prepare recipes to your own requirements
  • Low-friction ball-bearing motor & 2 litre Tritan unbreakable jug
  • Laser cut stainless steel blades, a cookbook & tutorial DVD
Kitchen Craft Stainless Steel 5-in-1 Avocado Tool
Avocados are such a popular food these days, but as their popularity grows, so too is the increase in accident and emergency admissions for cut fingers (nicknamed avocado finger)!

A gadget such as this avocado slicer makes light work of cutting through avocado skin, pitting the stone and slicing and scooping the avocado flesh, without losing any digits.

The KitchenCraft Stainless Steel 5-in-1 Avocado Tool offers a quick, mess-free way to prepare and enjoy fresh avocados and it has great reviews on Amazon.

You can slice, cut, de-stone, mash and scoop in seconds – and because you’re only using one tool, you save on hassle and washing up.

Dishwasher safe and lifetime guarantee.
Gefu spirelli spiral cutter ​



​If you've joined the recent trend in spiralising vegetables or haven't had a go at making your own yet, these handy vegetable spiralisers are easy to use and they work just like a pencil sharpener.

A bonus for those with smaller kitchens is they're small, so can be stored away in a kitchen drawer when not in use.

The Gefu spirelli spiral cutter is also available in yellow, red, blue, black and pink.
OXO Good Grips Mango Splitter 
While it’s quite easy preparing a mango with a sharp knife, it can be difficult removing all the mango flesh from around the stone. But, with a mango cutter, you can be sure every piece of mango is removed. The OXO Good Grips Mango Splitter is a well-known and trusty brand.
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One simple press removes the seed and cuts the fruit in half. The Mango Splitter slices cleanly through the fruit and leaves almost nothing behind on the seed. Soft grips cushion while you press and the stainless steel blades are sharp and sturdy. The Mango Splitter is dishwasher safe.
  
  • Removes mango seed and slices fruit in half with one simple press
  • Soft, comfortable handles
  • Sharp, sturdy, stainless steel
  • Dimensions (L x W x H): 4.5 x 13 x 17 cm
  • Dishwasher Safe
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