8 Popular Cooking Tools That Chefs Say Are A Waste Of Money

Anyone who dabbles in home cooking and who uses Instagram or TikTok is undoubtedly familiar with the many, many trendy kitchen tools on the market right now. These items have devoted influencer fan bases and look really pretty in photos and videos, but some professional chefs question their effectiveness and their dollar value.

We asked a group of kitchen pros to name the popular cookware pieces that they’d never add to their own shopping lists, and these are the eight that earn the most skepticism from folks who cook for a living.

Vegetable and herb “choppers”

For those with physical limitations, vegetable choppers can be a lifesaver. But if you’re able to master some basic knife skills, they might just be a big use of valuable space.

The inescapable “zoodle” trend from a few years ago led to the rise in spiralizers (devices designed to cut zucchini into thin ribbons) and other forms of specialized chopping devices for fruits, vegetables and herbs saw similar popularity growth. But according to Manuel Hewitt , the owner and executive chef of The Barrel Room in San Francisco, these items aren’t worth the money or the kitchen drawer real estate.

“These kitchen gadgets that only serve one function just get in the way, and [they] are hardly ever used due to their specialization. All the various ‘chopper’ style gadgets usually replace what could be considered a basic knife skill, and it’s better to just use a knife rather than clutter up your kitchen with more plastic junk,” Hewitt explained.

Garlic presses

On a similar note, garlic presses, which solely exist to squish garlic cloves into small pieces, aren’t seen as crucial tools by Scott Smith , head chef of The Oarsman in Marlow, United Kingdom. Smith finds that,