[0 - 6] - So that really tells you how good of control they have. (dog barks) Tanner! (upbeat music)
[7 - 9] - When it comes to kitchen gear,
[9 - 12] there are few greater pleasures than saving space,
[12 - 14] reducing clutter and avoiding food waste.
[14 - 16] - Whether you're cooking for just one or two people,
[16 - 19] have a household with diverse dietary needs
[19 - 20] or just don't have that much kitchen space.
[20 - 22] We've tested some great options
[22 - 24] for scaled down kitchen equipment.
[24 - 26] - The fact is bigger isn't always better.
[26 - 28] Lisa and I are gonna show you some of our favorite
[28 - 31] small gear so you can decide what is right for you.
[31 - 34] - First up, Hannah. (upbeat music)
[34 - 35] - All right, so the first piece of equipment
[35 - 39] I wanna talk about is this small two-quart saucepan.
[39 - 41] And whether you're cooking for one to two people,
[41 - 42] whether you have a small apartment,
[42 - 44] whether you have a giant mansion,
[44 - 47] I think this size saucepan is super useful.
[47 - 50] I use this all the time to heat up leftovers, oatmeal,
[50 - 53] I made stove top mac and cheese for one in it right now,
[53 - 54] I'll show you in a minute,
[54 - 56] but this is our winner here by All-Clad,
[56 - 59] but it has a long ergonomic, super comfortable handle.
[60 - 62] which means it's made from three pieces of metal
[62 - 64] sandwiched together so it's super durable.
[64 - 66] This is a pan that will outlast you.
[66 - 67] You'll be giving this to your kids.
[67 - 72] All right, let's check out some of this mac and cheese. (upbeat music)
[77 - 79] If you already have A four-quart pan,
[79 - 82] a two-quart pan can be a super useful addition
[82 - 82] to your cookware collection,
[82 - 84] it's just a handy size
[84 - 86] I find myself reaching for all the time.
[86 - 87] If you don't have a saucepan,
[87 - 89] and you're short on space or cooking for one to two people,
[89 - 92] a two-quart saucepan might be a good starting place
[92 - 94] before you rev it up to the four-quart.
[94 - 96] The next piece of equipment I wanna talk about,
[96 - 98] rimmed baking sheets.
[98 - 101] We absolutely love these at the Test Kitchen,
[101 - 103] but I wanna turn you on to their smaller siblings,
[103 - 106] which I actually reach for more, nowadays.
[106 - 107] We'll put this big boy away.
[107 - 110] Also, the only difference between these ones
[110 - 112] is I've had this for like five years,
[112 - 116] this for two years, and I just got this.
[116 - 117] It's okay if they're a different color,
[117 - 120] they're actually better after they get a little dark.
[120 - 121] These are both by Nordic Ware,
[121 - 123] as is our half sheet pan winner.
[123 - 125] This fits in my toaster oven,
[125 - 128] and it's the most perfect size for toasting nuts.
[128 - 130] So they're not to spread out and get burned on a big pan.
[130 - 132] Small pan keeps them contained.
[132 - 135] Two or three chicken thighs and a side of broccoli on here.
[135 - 138] They're extra reinforced, they're really, really sturdy.
[138 - 141] Whether you are short on storage space,
[141 - 144] maybe cooking for one person or two people,
[144 - 146] or don't wanna wield a big pan
[146 - 148] that you have to flip around and clean.
[148 - 150] These pans are a fantastic option,
[150 - 153] I really do think I actually reached for these more now
[153 - 155] than I do for my big pans.
[155 - 156] All right, so the next piece of equipment
[156 - 159] I wanna talk to you about is a smaller cutting board.
[159 - 160] You know a big cutting board is nice, right?
[160 - 162] Because you can have everything there,
[162 - 163] you can cut something and move it over here
[163 - 165] and cut something and move it over here, and that's great.
[165 - 167] But they can be, oh, such a bear.
[167 - 170] I like personally to get a smaller board
[170 - 172] and then use MES bowls or small trays
[172 - 173] or small room baking sheets
[173 - 175] to dispense my food after I've cut it
[175 - 177] to make more room on my board.
[177 - 179] It's a lot easier to wash, a lot easier to maneuver.
[179 - 182] And this still has a reasonably good amount
[182 - 183] of working space.
[183 - 185] This is our winner from Oxo,
[185 - 187] it won because it's lightweight and thin,
[187 - 188] but it has these rubber grips
[188 - 190] so it really stays put on the counter.
[190 - 191] We also love this channel,
[191 - 193] around here it's got a juice channel
[193 - 194] in case you're cutting something extra juicy.
[194 - 196] It keeps your counters clean.
[196 - 198] This is a fantastic small cutting board
[198 - 200] and it's something that can really save a lot of space.
[200 - 201] If you're tight on space,
[201 - 203] or if you just don't need that much board.
[203 - 205] Next up kitchen tongs,
[205 - 206] Oxo makes our winner
[206 - 208] and we have all different sizes of them.
[208 - 210] I wanted to show you this for comparison.
[210 - 213] I've got three here, these are grilling tongs.
[213 - 214] What you get in the length
[214 - 216] is to move your hand away from the heat.
[216 - 218] So we prefer to keep these just on the grill.
[218 - 222] Next up we have 12-inch tongs and nine-inch tongs.
[222 - 225] You'll notice that the tips are coated and uncoated.
[225 - 227] These have a little more grip
[227 - 229] if you're grabbing slippery things, but these,
[229 - 232] you don't have to worry about the tips getting messed up
[232 - 233] and they're heat proof.
[233 - 236] Coated or uncoated, that's a personal preference.
[236 - 237] I like to stock both.
[237 - 239] frankly, if I had to pick one, it would be uncoated,
[239 - 240] but I do like both.
[240 - 242] The shorter ones is gonna offer you
[242 - 244] some space saving convenience.
[244 - 247] And these nine-inch tongs are super useful.
[247 - 249] I really love them for tossing salads,
[249 - 252] be really gentle and turn your greens over softly.
[252 - 254] I love that extra control.
[254 - 258] They're super secure, easy to lock, comfortable to hold.
[258 - 259] They have these nice grips on here
[259 - 261] and they have really secure pincers.
[261 - 263] That was important, not all of the pincers we tested,
[263 - 266] some of them didn't even come together all of the way.
[266 - 270] These were really precise, agile, comfortable,
[270 - 273] and truly felt like an extension of our hands.
[273 - 275] And that's why Oxo has won our tong testings
[275 - 276] across the board.
[276 - 277] Do you use tongs in your kitchen?
[277 - 278] How do you use them?
[278 - 279] Tell us in the comments.
[279 - 281] And now let's go to Lisa with some of her favorite
[281 - 285] space saving gear. (upbeat music)
[287 - 289] - So the first thing I wanna talk about is this.
[289 - 293] This is the Oxo little salad and herbs spinner.
[293 - 296] This one really removes all the water from the greens.
[296 - 298] It's got different pieces, it's got this outer bowl,
[298 - 300] which is nice enough to bring to the table
[300 - 302] with your salad in it or once you wash your greens,
[302 - 305] you can store them right in this bowl
[305 - 306] and put the whole thing in the fridge
[306 - 307] if you have that much space.
[307 - 311] To clean the top, it just pulls apart and pops back together
[311 - 312] and you can lock it down with this little thing.
[312 - 315] So it's flatter and you can actually stack things
[315 - 318] on top of it, it just slides into a smaller space.
[318 - 320] So this is the Oxo, good grips,
[320 - 321] little salad and herbs spinner.
[321 - 327] I'm gonna show you how I use it. (upbeat music)
[341 - 343] It's easy to use and it's actually kind of fun.
[343 - 346] I mean, they make kids toys that do this.
[346 - 348] So how hard is this? Not very.
[348 - 353] So there you have it, nice dry herbs, ready to cook with.
[353 - 354] The next thing I wanna talk about
[354 - 357] is our favorite small food processor.
[357 - 360] This is our full-size model, it's 14 cups,
[360 - 361] unless you're doing really big jobs
[361 - 363] where you need a ton of capacity.
[363 - 366] This little guy might be the answer.
[366 - 369] So this is the Cuisinart Elite Collection,
[369 - 372] 4-cup mini chopper and grinder.
[372 - 375] It's great for chopping herbs or making pesto.
[375 - 378] The blade sits close to the bottom and they go to the wall.
[378 - 379] So nothing really escapes.
[379 - 382] So it can chop or grind, it's got little rubbery feet,
[382 - 384] so it doesn't scoot around.
[384 - 385] And it has a really nice capacity.
[385 - 389] One of the nice parts about it is that the top
[389 - 392] has two little down slopes with a tiny hole in the bottom,
[392 - 396] and you can put oil in there and it will drizzle in
[396 - 398] to the food processor at just the right rate.
[398 - 399] I'm gonna chop some,
[399 - 406] Hey, guess what I have right here, clean parsley. (upbeat music)
[415 - 417] Now, the piece of equipment you might wanna think about
[417 - 418] is your skillet.
[418 - 421] Scaled down our standard size is a 12-inch,
[421 - 423] you can get a 10-inch or even an eight-inch.
[423 - 425] Personally, I think the sweet spot is the 10-inch
[425 - 427] because it gives you a lot more flexibility
[427 - 430] and we've baked apple pies, cornbread,
[430 - 432] and sear steak or burgers or chicken
[432 - 433] or fish or vegetables.
[433 - 437] And this one is our favorite, this is 10 inches.
[437 - 440] Every skillet's measured from rim to rim on the outside,
[440 - 443] it's sturdy and heavy and thick.
[443 - 444] Those are important things in cast iron
[444 - 446] because you want that for heat retention.
[446 - 449] That is the superpower of cast iron.
[449 - 451] It gets hot and it can hold that heat.
[451 - 454] It's all metal so there's nothing that's gonna wear out
[455 - 458] What other piece of kitchen gear is there that you can say,
[458 - 461] that's gonna be better in a hundred years than it is now.
[461 - 463] This is never going to the landfill and if it does,
[463 - 465] it's a natural material, it's all iron.
[465 - 467] So if you're trying to choose,
[467 - 469] we know what kind of skillet should I get
[469 - 470] if I can only really fit one?
[470 - 472] I would say, go for cast iron,
[472 - 473] I really thought about this
[473 - 476] because cast iron gives you a lot of different abilities,
[476 - 479] but you can also bake and roast in it.
[479 - 481] So this replaces a lot of other pieces of cookware
[481 - 484] that you don't have to buy or store.
[484 - 485] So if you like to bake,
[485 - 489] but you don't have space for a full-size stand mixer,
[489 - 490] this is your answer.
[490 - 492] Kitchenaid, ultra power hand mixer.
[492 - 495] And it stores really compactly.
[495 - 497] These are easy to wash in the dishwasher or by hand.
[497 - 499] And we really liked their open shape
[499 - 501] because things don't get stuck in there.
[501 - 502] And one of the things we loved about this is that
[502 - 506] each of the five speeds has a distinct jump in power.
[506 - 508] The other thing we loved is this is so light,
[508 - 510] if you've ever used one of these,
[510 - 512] you are the stand mixer.
[512 - 514] You're holding the weight up
[514 - 516] and you're going in there for a long time.
[516 - 518] And the heavy ones just kill you.
[518 - 521] So this is great and we love it.
[521 - 526] I'm gonna whip some cream and show you how well it works. (upbeat music)
[535 - 538] If you do heavy duty baking, bread doughs, and stuff,
[538 - 539] this can't compete with that.
[539 - 541] But anything short of that, cakes, cookies,
[541 - 544] it's a great solution at a fraction of the cost
[544 - 546] and a tiny fraction of the space.
[546 - 547] - All right, so there you go.
[547 - 548] As you can see,
[548 - 550] smaller kitchen gear can do just as good of a job
[550 - 551] as some of the big stuff.
[551 - 553] So whether you're cooking for one or two,
[553 - 555] have dietary needs or have space restrictions,
[555 - 557] we've got you covered.
[557 - 558] - So for more information
[558 - 559] on all the products we talked about,
[559 - 560] check out the links below.
[560 - 562] - Ask us any questions you have in the comments
[563 - 568] hit that like button, and don't forget to subscribe. (upbeat music)