48 Kitchen Gadgets You Should Never Spend Money On (2024)

What you'll save: $30-$330
It's not even worth doing the math to find out how much popcorn you'd have to eat for a personal popcorn machineto be cost-effective. Save your valuable cupboard space and throw a bag of Jiffy Pop on the stove, reap the money-saving benefits of popping raw kernels in a brown paper bag, or buy microwave popcorn. To really impress movie-night companions, jazz it up with spicesalready in the cabinet such as paprika, curry powder, or an Italian spice blend.

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What you'll save: $30-$285
Unless you're rolling out pounds of fresh pasta each night, a pasta machineisn't worth the money. It takes some work to use, and it's a major pain to clean. Dry noodles are ultra-cheap and there are plenty of easy pasta recipes, so a pasta machine isn't a major money saver. Also, Italian grandmothers have also been making fresh pasta for decades without machines. This Epicurious recipecalls for just two ingredients: semolina flour and water.

What you'll save: $13-$50
To be fair, an automatic wine openercan be a handy gadget for vino lovers who lack the strength or dexterity for a corkscrew. Otherwise, the downsides are myriad: These gadgets are single-use, expensive, and require a spot (and an outlet) on your counter. A corkscrew barely takes up any space, usually includes a bottle opener, and keeps your wine-lover street credintact.

What you'll save: $6-$28
Chances are that if you know what a pie birdis, you probably already have one. For the rest of us pie novices, here's a quick explainer: These little ceramic birds can help vent steam as your pie bakes and keep the filling where it should be, instead of bubbling over. Of course, most home bakers still manage to turn out tasty pies sans pie birds, and owners admit they're more of an adorable kitchen accent than a must-have baking tool.

What you'll save: $40-$1,068
A deep fryermight sound like a fun purchase when there are visions of onion rings and funnel cake dancing in your head. But it definitely won't see enough use to justify its size, cost, and labor. Achieve all your deep-frying needs with a heavy-duty medium or large pot (or even a wok) plus a thermometer. Serious Eats offers deep-frying instructionsso you can be a pro without the machine.

There are also plenty of other secrets to making delicious fried chickenthat don't require a pricey deep fryer.

What you'll save: $25-$37
Toss a tortilla onto a lightly greased pan, add cheese and other toppings, fold it and flip after a few minutes. That's all it takes to make a quesadilla — crispy on the outside with a gooey, melty inside. There's no need for specialized equipment for this inexpensive Mexican dish, just a sauté pan and a spatula. After using a quesadilla makera few times and scraping bits of dried cheese from its crevices, you'll send it to collect dust in the garage with other single-purpose appliances.

What you'll save: $7-$29
Perhaps taco holdersfacilitate a more civilized taco-eating experience. They can allow an intrepid home chef to pre-make each precious taco, then keep everything upright and together once it's on the plate. But we're just not convinced. In the interest of saving money and space, we'll be over with the barbarians who assemble their tacos as they go, finishing off any spilled toppings with a fork and a smile.

Related: 30 Cheap, Delicious Ways to Fill Your Tacos

What you'll save: $49-$569
Though pizza-only countertop ovensclaim to save energy and cook more evenly, these small appliances aren't that small, and they will take up a lot of cabinet or counter space for something you may use just once a week (unless you have a deep, unabiding love for DiGiorno). The beauty of the oven you already have? It bakes everything, including pizzas.

What you'll save: $20-$35
Most of us mere mortals make our omeletswith a nonstick fry pan and a stove. Heck, some of us even enjoy waiting for that perfect moment to flip them. But if you're anti-flip (or anti-stove, or anti-pan), rejoice in the ridiculousness of a dedicated, plug-in omelet maker. Bonus: It will take you twice as long to make omelets now — and that's even after the thing is preheated.

What you'll save: $30-$100
The '70s called, and it wants its fondue setback. There's a reason fondue was a trend that hasn't exactly seen a revival: This is the quintessential single-use appliance, and it typically ends up gathering dust in the garage, or on the shelves of a thrift store. If you're nostalgic for vintage kitchenware, invest in a good cast-iron pan instead. And if you really want fondue, splurge on a nice evening at The Melting Pot.

What you'll save: $7-$25
We all scream for ice cream, but apparently some of us are more impatient about it than others. Enter the self-warming ice cream scoop, which promises to make quick work of even the hardest ice cream using some sort of thermodynamic voodoo. Cool idea, but we'll stick to the time-tested methods of running a regular ice-cream scoop under warm water, or simply letting that pint of frozen goodnesssoften on the counter for a few minutes.

What you'll save: $15-$50
A prime example of a gadget that occupies too much precious space on a kitchen counter, an electric can openerdoesn't save money or make food taste better. If it breaks, it's a hassle and an extra cost to repair or replace. Unless you have arthritis or another condition that necessitates an electric can opener, stick to the manual version.

What you'll save: $30-$119
Store-bought carbonated drinks are relatively inexpensive, and what are the chances that you'll improve on the formula for Coca-Cola in your home kitchen? If you consume a lot of seltzer on a weekly basis, consider a hand-held carbonated soda maker, which is easily stored and a fraction of the cost of a countertop soda maker.

What you'll save: $7-$35
When a rolling pizza cutter just doesn't clutter your drawers enough, it's pizza scissorsto the rescue. These stainless-steel wonders promise to slice through your piewith ease, and many even come with an attached wedge-shaped spatula to keep your fingers grease-free. (Hope you aren't one of those weirdos who likes square pieces of pizza.)

What you'll save: $5-$13
Sure, salmonella is nothing to take lightly, but a dedicated egg separatorseems especially superfluous when most of us have long used the shell itself to isolate the yolk and the white, taking care to wash up afterward.

(Bonus: This egg separatormight just be one of the grossest and most hilarious things we've ever seen on Amazon.)

What you'll save: $40-$222
Does your family really like breakfast? Enough to buy an appliance the size of a small dog that is dedicated to churning out your daily bacon, eggs, toast and coffee? Then by all means, snap up the multi-functional gizmo that is the breakfast station, which typically combines a toaster oven, griddle, and coffee maker.

(Seem excessive? A breakfast sandwich makercan let you indulge your morning-meal fantasies on a smaller scale.)

What you'll save: $50
Smart water bottles have to be one of the more inexplicable smart innovations to reach the masses. HidrateSpark PROaims to keep you ultra-hydrated, automatically tracking your water intake and syncing the data to assorted fitness apps. Of course, the same apps have places where you can (gasp) manually record water intake, but what fun would that be?

What you'll save: $6
If you're dipping your Oreos in your milk using your fingers, the makers of cookie dipperskindly want you to STOP IT NOW. There is a better way, they insist. The dipper "cradles the cookie by the cream and prevents the cookie from crumbling when dunked." So, no more cookie search-and-rescue operations, as long as you're willing to devote precious dollars and drawer space to this very specific little gizmo.

What you'll save: $10-$40
We always thought shaping patties was part of the fun of homemade burgers, but if touching raw meat isn't your thing, there's a burger pressout there ready and willing to come to the rescue. If you're intrepid enough to keep using your hands — they're free, after all — Serious Eats recommends putting a shallow dimplein each disc-shaped patty to keep them from puffing up into awkward golf balls once cooked.

What you'll save: $10-$40
No oven? No grill? No stove? Then maybe, just maybe, a microwavable bacon cookeris for you. But if the thought of rubbery bacon makes you die a little inside, steer clear of these hard-to-clean plastic contraptions, some of which may even be prone to melting. After all, some things are supposed to be sacred. Bacon is one of them.

Besides, there are better options out there for gifts for bacon lovers.

What you'll save: $20-$61
You have to be eating a whole lot of greens to get your money's worth from a salad spinner, which simply makes washing and drying those leafy veggies a little bit quicker than the ol' rinse-and-pat method. Steer clear unless you plan on putting it to work in other capacities, like as a serving bowl or a colander.

What you'll save: $30-$50
Again, perhaps you could justify electric salt and pepper grindersif you have arthritic hands or another condition that prevents you from twisting a handle. Otherwise, it's hard to justify these automatic contraptions that have motors and batteries that die, leaving your dishes tragically unseasoned. (Yes, many of them have LED lights, but unless you're preparing dinner in the dark, they're probably not worth the extra spend.)

What you'll save: $20-$60
You've got to really love yogurt to want one of these yogurt makerstaking up space in your kitchen, especially since you can make even make yogurt in everyone's favorite multiple-use small appliance, the Instant Pot. Even worse, most of these gadgets won't turn out yogurt for at least half a day, and only do so in very small quantities. We'll stick to grabbing a six-pack on sale at the grocery store.

What you'll save: $15
If you can't stand to eat messy foods like chicken wingsor ribs without getting your fingers slathered in sauce or grease, Trongsare angling for a spot in your utensil drawer. These bizarre plastic pinchers with grooves for your fingertips supposedly make mealtime a cleaner affair, but reviewers say they're awkward to use (surprise, surprise). We'll stick with fingers (and plenty of soap and water once we're done).

What you'll save: $13-$60
Wine aeratorsshould get a pass from any penny pincher. Unless you're in a real hurry to aerate a wine, some experts say there's no reasonto pony up for yet another useless bar accoutrement. Slowly swirling wine around in your glass should add plenty of oxygen, helping flavors deepen. (Bonus: You look like such a serious wine connoisseur when you do it.)

Heck, you don't even need a corkscrew to open a wine bottleif you're truly dedicated.

What You'll Save:$65-$679

While an electric knife sharpenermay offer an easier and faster way to sharpen kitchen knives, the significantly higher price tag (I mean seriously — Home Depot is charging nearly $700 for one) is just not worth it. With a little practice, manual sharpeners($5 on Amazon) can produce edges that are just as sharp as their electric counterparts. Traditional sharpening tools also provide more control over the angle and pressure, enabling users to fine-tune their blades to the desired sharpness. Plus, you get a nice little arm workout while doing it.