You need a great chef’s knife. Yes, you do. No, that piece of garbage in your drawer won’t cut it for the time being. Replace it. Now. Cheap, dull knives are not something you should tolerate. For one, they will discourage you from cooking because they’ll massacre your food prep and you’ll end up with a much less desirable result. More importantly, they’re dangerous. Dull edges can require a lot more force to get through your food, which makes for clumsier handling. Slip up once while trying to muscle through a squash, and you could easily lose a bit of your finger.

This Global Santoku is a terrific deal. Global has been a favorite of pro chefs for years now and for good reason. The knife is one chunk of metal with non-slip grippy knobs on the handle making for a very solid feeling knife that’s easy to wield and clean. The well-formulated stainless steel will hold an edge unlike any other stainless knife, so you get the best of both worlds—rust-proof and enduring sharpness. We also really like the price. Comparable to the price of Wustofs and Henckels but the performance of these Japanese shoguns beat the lederhosen off their German counterparts.

When you find yourself in the kitchen more and more, you’ll notice that you’re constantly reaching for a knife. They’re generally the first things you pick up when preparing food. A magnetic knife bar can be great for holding your blade nearby so they’re always within easy reach. Also, a knife bar reduces the risk of nicking the blades by keeping them in a drawer. Knife bars can be more beneficial than knife blocks as well because they don’t have a surface that drags across your edge when removing them nor do they take up precious counter space. The Norpro bar comes in three lengths to help your customize your need depending on the number of knives you own (or plan to own).

You’re going to see a lot of Oxo product recommendations on Real Grubbin. And for good reason—we genuinely believe that Oxo puts more thinking into all of their kitchen gear than any other manufacturer. Almost all of their products feature their trademark non-slip material for secure, safe handling which is essential when working with sharp objects and heat. They also perform superbly are hold up very well.

These tongs are no exception. Excellent locking design with a convenient hanger built in. The strong hardedge ends grab foods very well for reliable handling.

A nice, deep ladle that is great for serving sauces, soups and stews. This ladle is also good for portioning out batters for pancakes, waffles and more. We like the nylon version best because it won’t scratch your cookware especially any that happen to be Teflon-coated.

Oxo once again goes the extra mile in design by placing holes all around the spoon instead of long slots. So, if you’ve got julienne veggies, they won’t fall through the holes when you’re draining out the liquid. The nylon again provides protection for delicate surfaces.

The perfect turner. The silicone is heat resistant up to 600 degrees F in case you leave it too long on a hot surface. Its thin edge gets under crepes and pancakes with ease and the added flexibility is great when negotiating food placed next to the side of your cookware.

At Real Grubbin, we appreciate honesty and frankness—that being said—there’s really no practical reason why anyone should choose a wooden spoon over a nylon spoon. Wood spoons can pick up flavors from aromatic ingredients and will most likely become stained after use. We kinda love that. If the smell of garlic and onion becomes part of the spoon—we don’t see anything wrong with that. Of course, not everybody writes for Real Grubbin so we understand if you don’t want your utensils carrying around the aroma of last week’s meal.

If you do want a wooden spoon for whatever reason, Oxo makes a great version. The handle is thick and strong which gives you confidence that it won’t break when you stirring around a batch of heavy ingredients. The flat-top handle also fits better in your hand than other wood spoons because it won’t turn in your palm.

Use this for seeding your fruit juices, removing foods from stocks, and sifting flours (nut flours, of course). The strainer features the usual Oxo comfortable handle, convenient hook to hang it or rest it on the rim of a bowl. A great asset to have.

These cups get their workout in the Real Grubbin kitchens. We use them for accurate measuring of dry or wet ingredients, portioning batters, and if they’re lying around nearby—scoops for anything you can imagine. So, why metal over nylon? Well, since the metal is silver and the nylon black, it’s easier to see the line of a clear ingredient as it’s filling up the cup in the metal version. When we were using the nylon cups, we had one too many water spills in low light. And Oxo seems to have fixed the flimsy handle problem from a few years ago as we haven’t had any problems with our cup handles bending.

As much as we love the steel measure cups, sometimes we want a bigger cup. The angled gauge makes accurate measuring super easy when you’re pouring ingredients while standing overhead. There’s also a metric gauge on the side in case you’re from across the pond(s).

Why not a Oxo spatula? Well, Oxo’s spatula have one problem—the seam. When you’re getting wild with your spatula-ing, food can get above and then underneath the spade around the handle. Orka got it right by making a seemless spatula that’s still got all the great benefits of other models. Heat resistant up to 600 degrees F, safe for all your nonstick, and comes in a few colors.

The grip on this whisk is what sets it apart from others. Mainly because on a balloon whisk, wires are wires. As with most Oxo products, their engineered Good Grip material makes handling this utensil much more enjoyable.

Part whisk, part spatula. The flat whisk pulls double duty when making omelets and crepes. This is also the easiest whisk to clean on the market. Due to its flat design, there are no tough spaces to navigate with a dishcloth.

Everybody should include more citrus in their cooking. The flavor of fresh squeezed juice combined with that fruit’s zest brings an awesome zip and freshness to just about any dish. To properly extract that zest of the fruit’s peel, you’ll need—well—a zester.

Microplane makes the de facto zester for many culinary pros and amateurs. Affordable, well designed, and consistently sharp, Microplane just does it right. It’s that simple.

Occasionally, you’ll need something shredded or coarse grated. So, let’s just condense that down to one kitchen tool. Oxo’s box grater fills that role very well.

It’s got the grippy handle you’d expect along with very sharp, resilient blades and a detachable measuring cup. The cup is a great thing to have when you’re trying to gauge how much food needs to be shredded or grated. Food simply falls below into the clear cup for quick reference while you’re in the heat of battle.

A corer is essential for prepping large amounts of apples, pears, and even pineapples. After about three of any of these fruits, we would consider that to be a large amount. So, save yourself some time and pick one of these up.

As you assemble your kitchen’s arsenal, you’re going to need somewhere to put your weapons. Simplehuman’s utensil holder is a beautiful piece of hardware. Clean lines coupled with smart design make this king of all holders. The back portion of the main compartments narrow toward the center, which is convenient for sorting tools for easy selection later. This design prevents tools from getting too jumbled up and stacked over each other. Another surprise with the Simplehuman holder is the removable spoon rest on the front. When not in use, the rest goes back on the holder to add to the attractiveness to this vessel.

If you’re like Real Grubbin, you love mangos but hate cutting them. Well, we used to hate it. Then, we got Oxo’s mango splitter, which makes quick work of seeding that delicious fruit. Just lop off both ends of the mango, peel, and then press this “Franken-knife” through and you’ve got two perfectly cut pieces ready to be devoured or diced.

Yeah, we’re even covering soap pumps here at Real Grubbin. We really like Simplehuman’s Precision line. This soap pump works very well when you’re cleaning up after cutting poultry as you can easily use it with your forearm. In addition to the practicality, Simplehuman has injected their trademark beautiful design into this product.

A great way to house your dish soap, scrub pad and maybe a bottle brush all in one place on your counter top. We like to set it up on the edge of the sink so we can squirt soap directly into the water when washing dishes.

Any cook can testify to the power of fresh cracked pepper. That dirt that’s in your pepper shaker might as well be sawdust compared to the flavor of freshly cracked peppercorns.

A good pepper mill can last a lifetime, and Peugeot makes a good pepper mill. Constructed from quality parts, these mills are reasonably priced, but they’re built to perform very well for a very long time. The price may seem a little higher than you’d want to pay for a single task tool but with pepper being such a universal spice, it’ll get its workout. Hell, it really should replace every pepper shaker in your house, just bring it to the table from the kitchen or season each dish before it leaves your culinary laboratory.

We’ve selected the small size of this salt box because once you’re on the paleo diet; you really should minimize your sodium consumption. Nevertheless, you need some salt in your system, so here we are. The Totally Bamboo Salt Box is super convenient and will keep your salt free of moisture for easy sprinkling. Since it’s made from bamboo, it’s got that whole green thing going on, too, which is always great. We also really like the minimalist look to it as well.

The next time you buy your cooking oil, skip past the spray cans. They’re filled with propellants and other garbage that’s completely unnecessary. With the Misto, you can still get the convenience of an oil spray without the extra chemicals. The Misto works by simply pressurizing the can with the lid, which doubles as a pump. Genius. Refilling the sprayer is effortless and allows you to swap out oils at will.

The people at Real Grubbin love their protein shakes. As anyone knows, getting your protein powder to mix well can get frustrating at times. Throw that same powder and water in the Blender Bottle with the wire shaker ball—frustration over. After about 8 seconds of shaking, you can guarantee that your protein shakes will be fully combined.

Don’t tell anyone but Real Grubbin’s writers have been known to use the Blender Bottle to make omelets, pancakes, and salad dressings with it as well.

Giving up dairy is one of the toughest things for most people, but eliminating moo juice from your diet is a recommendation of paleo eating. So, what’s a person to do? Nut milk, of course!

We use this bag to make our walnut milk every three or four days. It’s durable, easy to clean, and keeps all of the walnut pulp (nut flour) inside. We really couldn’t live without this thing.

We couldn’t claim to be big fans of Oxo without talking about their best-selling product—the salad spinner. A fresh salad starts with a good rinsing of the greens, but to keep those greens crisp for days, you need to remove as much water as possible before storing them. So, let centrifugal force do the work for you by taking your spinach and lettuce for a ride in this veggie tilt-a-whirl. Of course, it works for any vegetable, too.

With the exception of eating your vegetables raw, a quick steaming is the best way to retain all of the vitamins, minerals and other awesomeness in your produce. The same holds true for poultry and fish, too. Not that you’d want to eat chicken raw, but steaming is a terrific way to avoid adding any fat to your proteins.

Oxo’s collapsible steamer adjusts to just about any size pot and stores away nicely, too. We really like the foldable legs on the bottom that set the basket nicely above the water. There’s also a detachable handle to make removing a steamer full of grub from a pot much easier.

Buying bulk foods at your grocery store can be a good way to save some extra dough. When you bring those back, you’re going to need a place to store them that’s most likely airtight. Now, if those foods happen to not require refrigeration, then we’d like to direct you to Oxo’s convenient pop-top containers. We think the lids on these containers rock. They make opening and sealing just about as easy as you can imagine—literally the push of a button. The rubber gasket-lined lid guarantees an airtight seal every time.

Oxo makes them in a variety of sizes (by volume) so you’ve got a bunch of options to suit your need.

Although dried herbs are always great to have lying around, fresh herbs like basil, oregano and cilantro are an absolute necessity for building great flavor. The keep these herbs fresh, green and ready to use any time, we use the herb keeper made by Progressive. Just a little bit of water in the bottom keeps the stalks moist and fresh for up to a couple weeks—depending upon the freshness of the herbs when they were purchased.

Your refrigerator crisper might be a decent solution for storing your produce except it really isn’t. You’ll still have to put those veggies in a bowl or some other kind of container. Allow us to propose Progressive’s Lettuce Keeper. Not only does it keep your greens fresh, it’s also great for root vegetables, fruits and berries. With a bit of water in the removable bottom reservoir, your plant matter will remain exceptionally palatable for several days. A side vent allows you to modify the air circulation depending upon the type of food inside. Don’t worry, there’s a printed label on the side to help remind you which foods benefit from flowing air. Since this container is rather large, there’s a plastic separator included to partition different items together.

The lunch cube makes taking your lunch to work a snap. Larger items like your protein of choice fit nicely in one half that snaps independently, and smaller side items go nicely in the other half that is separated almost in half. This whole items seals up well with a locking blue snap on the side.

When it comes to food containers for the fridge, pantry, or freezer, we go with Klip It. The reliable locking lids seal up tighter than Fort Knox. We’ve also never had any problems with staining or discoloration regardless of the food it’s keeping. Same-sized containers also stack together quite nicely. Of course, all Klip It products are BPA-free and dishwasher safe for added piece of mind.

Oxo does it again with their take on the liquid thermos. The LiquiSeal is leak-proof and features a convenient button on the lid to prevent spills when moving around with a full cup of your favorite beverage. The well-insulated sides will even keep 16 ounces of soup warm for 2-3 hours if left sealed up tightly.