Take it from Guy — these kitchen buys are out of bounds! (Portrait: Bryan Bedder/Getty Images for Waterloo Sparkling Water; products: Amazon)
When it comes to cookware, Guy Fieri is what you'd call a maximalist. The mayor of Flavortown (and sparkling water entrepreneur — he recently teamed up with Waterloo on three limited-edition flavors, including Spiced Mango Sorbet and Lemon Italian Ice) collects everything from knives to salt and pepper shakers. "In my kitchen, I have 100 knives hanging on the wall, no joke. My collection is crazy," he says. "And in our pool area, where the floaties and pool noodles are supposed to be? I keep huge stock pots!"
Guy knows not everyone needs quite as many kitchen supplies as he does — after all, most of us aren't cooking for massive crowds or filming Food Network shows from home. So when we asked him what tools he considers true essentials, the kind of stuff every home cook should have, he was quick to answer.
And though the only brands we could get Guy to endorse in our convo were his own, we found great products that fit his requirements and have outstanding reviews. Ready for a more fun and funkalicious kitchen? Start with these buys — then check out grilling gear from chef Michael Symon and cookbook recommendations from chef Marcus Samuelsson.
Guy wants everyone to experiment in the kitchen more: "We don't grab enough of what's readily available to us and play that game," he says. But can a Microplane zester help? "Lemon zest? Oh man, it's incredible. It's the oil and essence of citrus without having that heavy play. It's the real, truthful tone of the lemon." He also loves this tool for cheese. "Hit your pecorino with the Microplane to make it delicate," he says.
Microplane makes some of the best zesters out there and is a favorite of chefs like Bobby Flay, Andrew Zimmern and Eric Adjepong. Home cooks love it too: This model gets five stars from more than 42,000 Amazon reviews.
Just make sure to use the guard that comes with it before putting it away, advises Guy. Otherwise, you can wear down the little teeth on the blade.
Many restaurant supply stores sell Winco's polyethylene plastic boards, which are durable and non-porous so they don't stain or absorb liquids. At 2 feet wide, this board can cover a lot of countertop! It also comes in seven colors so you can easily assign different boards to different foods.
If you're trying to use less plastic in the kitchen, this 1-inch-thick bamboo board is a solid buy. Though it's not as big as the Winco option, it's more than a foot wide, plus it has a groove for containing juices. And the walnut-hued finish looks nice enough that you could display this on a shelf or leaned against your backsplash when you're not using it.
Looking for a quality pepper grinder that will last? Our food and cooking writer recently tested a bunch of these gadgets and awarded this pick best pepper mill overall.
"I liked looking at the Cole & Mason Derwent mill as much as I liked holding it ... The stainless steel and acrylic body feels substantial but not heavy and offers six precise settings for fine to coarse grounds that release from the bottom," she wrote in her review.
FYI, it also comes in a variety of finishes, including some beautiful metallic options, with matching salt mills.
KitchenAid has the mixer game on lock: Its stand mixers are the gold standard, and this powerful, portable blender gets an impressive 12,400 five-star reviews.
"I bought the KitchenAid stick blender expecting to make a few soups and smoothies. What I didn’t expect was a full-blown kitchen romance," wrote one shopper who took this kitchen tool for a spin. "This thing doesn’t blend — it obliterates in the most graceful, elegant way. Carrots? Pulverized. Ice? Crushed like my hopes when I try to diet. Chunks of uncooperative vegetables? Gone faster than my willpower near chocolate."
At about $200, this electric sharpener is an investment, but in our testing of the best knife sharpeners, it was our No. 1 pick. (It also happens to be Ina Garten's go-to!)
"It's about as foolproof as it gets," noted our cookware tester, who says all you need is about five minutes of sharpening with this gadget to get your blades looking like new. When you consider that it can save you from having to buy new chef's knives every few years, it's worth the cost.
"I'm a Diamond Crystal guy," says Guy, who prefers this No. 1 bestselling brand for its consistency of flavor. He also likes that it contains less sodium than other options, which reduces the chance of over-salting a dish.
"My thing about a kitchen is you gotta have the right size cutting boards," says Guy, who favors large boards that give you plenty of workspace. "I like bamboo boards — they're fun to work with and they look pretty. I don't like glass at all. But what's best are the big synthetic cutting boards, like what we use in restaurants." Having the right one is so important to him that he says he often stashes a couple of boards in his car in case he goes to someone's house and they decide to cook.
Freshly ground pepper can enhance a dish like few other ingredients, says Guy. "People don't give cracked pepper the weight it deserves." He thinks pepper should be thought of like coffee: A lot of people buy whole coffee beans to grind as they need them, and we should do the same with peppercorns.
Guy loves a standard blender as much as the next, well, guy — but "bang for the buck, dollar for dollar, an immersion blender is where it's at," he says. He likes that you can stash it in a drawer and just grab it whenever you need it, versus having to leave it out all the time. "An immersion blender is a lumpy gravy fixer, but you can also use it to emulsify salad dressings. Or you can buy San Marzano tomatoes and use it to make a simple, quick tomato sauce."
As much as Guy loves his knife collection, he has no patience for dull blades. "If I don't have sharp knives, I'll lose my mind," he says. Just like his beloved cutting boards, he'll stash one or two knives in his car if he's heading to a pal's house. "I'll see what they're working with and if the knives aren't sharp enough, I'll bring out my own."
If you're thinking salt is an ingredient, not a kitchen tool, Guy might disagree. He considers salt as important to a dish as good cookware. "Not all salts are made equal. Consistency is important — it's like if you're used to playing guitar with an amp at 10, but then you don't put it at 10, it throws the whole thing off," he says. Makes perfect sense, right?
The reviews quoted above reflect the most recent versions at the time of publication.
