5 Clever Kitchen Tools

This push-to-dice chopper takes most of the work out of prepping veggies. It’s small but feels substantial, and it doesn’t slide around on your countertop while you’re using it (unlike some others we tried). We like the angled design, too, which increases your leverage as you press the chopper down, making it easier to cut up hard items like onions. Diced vegetables stay at the bottom of the container, which keeps your prep area neat, and all parts are dishwasher-safe.

Tired of struggling to open stubborn jars? Give your hands and wrists a break with this simple dome-shaped tool. Just place it over the problem lid and the tool’s ridged surface will give you the extra grip you need to twist off that too-tight top. It also comes in a smaller size for opening twist-off bottle tops. Tenura says its jar openers are nontoxic and dishwasher-safe.

If you’ve ever nicked your hand on a box grater, you’ll get the appeal of this rotary tool, which keeps your fingers far away from serrated edges. With a sturdy grip that’s made for both right- and left-handed users, this lightweight grater is comfortable to hold. Place a small block of cheese in the compartment, grip the handle, and spin the crank. It easily shaved down hard cheeses in our evaluations, turning 4 ounces of Parmesan into a fluffy pile in under a minute.

These electric grinders do all the work for you. The mills automatically start when you invert them—no twisting required. They produce evenly ground salt and pepper, and have other handy features, like a soft blue LED light that illuminates the food you’re seasoning and clear bottoms so that you can see when it’s time to refill (which is easy to do). We reviewed the battery-powered set, but a rechargeable USB version is also available.

This is the best automatic can opener we’ve tried. Place it on top of a can and press the center button, and it will cut in a circle without your guidance until you press the button again to stop it. When you lift up the opener, the magnetized bottom will take the lid off with it. The Kitchen Mama consistently provided a smooth-edge cut in our trials, a nice safety perk. We also liked that it’s small enough to fit easily into a kitchen drawer.